“Except for the loss of concentration in the 10th game,” Kasparov said, Anand “played consistently and managed to enforce his style. His choice to open with 1.d4 was excellent. He reached playable positions with life in them, so he could make Kramnik work at the board. Anand outprepared Kramnik completely. In this way it reminded me of my match with Kramnik in London 2000. Like I was then, Kramnik may have been very well prepared for this match, but we never saw it. I didn’t expect the Berlin and ended up fighting on Kramnik’s preferred terrain.”
Kasparov said Kramnik “did not expect tough, sharp challenges with white, and this was the key for Anand. He kicked some sand in Kramnik’s face and hit Kramnik’s weakness: his conservative approach to the game itself. Suddenly Kramnik had to fight in these sharp positions and he wasn’t able to do it. This result ends the illusion that Kramnik is a great match player. London was a unique occurrence and I still stand with Leonid Yudasin [and Veselin Topalov] as the only players Kramnik has ever beaten in a match! Kramnik now has some work to do. His overly-defensive play seems to represent a general decline in strength. A great result for Anand and for chess. Vishy deserved the win in every way and I’m very happy for him. It will not be easy for the younger generation to push him aside.”
Game of the week. Here is the Indian superGM in game five of the match repeating, as GM Levon Aronian noted, “the same risky line against Kramnik…. And his confident approach was very well rewarded. It is a known that Anand likes spicy positions, and with less skilled opponents he walks on a tactical tightrope without fear. But to do it in the match for the greatest trophy? Did he summon the spirit of the great Mikhail Tal to aid him? There is no explanation other than that something magical or surreal is going on in Bonn.” Annotations by IM Malcolm Pein
White: V. Kramnik (2772)
Black: V. Anand (2783)
Queen’s Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran
World Championship, Bonn 2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5. The sharp Meran again. Vishy is not afraid of what Kramnik might have come up with. 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Kramnik’s analysis clearly came up with an improvement on game three but he is in for a surprise. 14…Bb7. Repeating the novelty in game three. 15.Bxb5 1Rg8 Vishy gets his novelty in first! 15…Bd6 Game three. 16.Bf4. Played quickly, and at this point Kramnik dispensed with his jacket. 16…Bd6. Also played quickly. Now Kramnik has a problem, Vishy has shown he has two ways to play this position and he is still in his preparation. Once again Kramnik has been out-prepared. Although he gets a perfectly good position, Kramnik used 45 minutes on move 18 and was soon in time pressure. 17.Bg3 f5! Seeking to prise open the g file. 17…Bxg3 18.hxg3 has the opposite effect. 18.Rfc1. After the game Kramnik said he preferred this to 18.Rd1 because he was already concerned about the possibility of Qc5-d5. I think he may also have reasonably assumed that Vishy had prepared for 18.Rd1. 18…f4. In the VIP room Yusupov, Norwood and Pein (in pecking order) were having fun with 18…Ke7 19.Nxd4 Qxd4 20.Rd1 Rxg3 21.Rxd4 Rxg2+ 22.Kf1 Rag8 23.Qd2 Bf3 but 24.Ke1! spoilt all the fun. 19.Bh4 Be7 20.a4 Bxh4 21.Nxh4. Now Qd6 to try and play Qd5 was possible but Ke7 has to be played at some point. Suddenly Kramnik has to reckon with Rxg2+. However he is still absolutely fine. 21…Ke7 22.Ra3. Not 22.b4 Rxg2+! 23.Nxg2 Rg8 24.f3 d3+ 25.Qf2 Bxf3 26.Qxb6 Rxg2+ 27.Kf1 Nxb6 28.Bxd3 Nd5 With threats of Nxb4 Rxh2 and Ne3; However 22.Qh5 Qd6 (22…Nf6 23.Qe5!) 23.Bxd7 Qxd7 24.f3 suggested by the computers is hard to refute. f3 looks anti positional but Qe5 is coming. Indeed the human 24.Qe5 in this line is not bad. I can’t wholly trust this but 22.Qh5 crudely threatens Bxd7 One interesting line is 24…Rac8 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Re1 Rc2 27.Qg5+ Kf8 28.Nf5 exf5 29.Qf6 Kg8 30.Re7 Rc1+ 31.Kf2 Rc2+ 32.Ke1 Rc1+ 33.Kd2+/-. 22…Rac8 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Ra1 Qc5 25.Qg4 Qe5! Strongly centralizing. 26.Nf3 26…Qf6! 26…Bxf3 27.Qxf3+/= Nf6 28.Bd3. 27.Re1. 27.Bxd7 Kxd7 28.Nxd4 Ke7! with compensation in the form of a beautiful bishop 29.Rd1 Rc4 30.Ne2 Rxa4; 27.Rd1 Ne5 28.Nxe5 Qxe5 29.Qh4+ Qf6 30.Qxf6+ Kxf6 is better for Black has Rxd4 loses to Rc1+ and Black plays e6-e5 and Rc2. 27…Rc5. 27…Nf8!? Yusupov. 28.b4?! Rc3. Now Black is better. Kramnik is losing control and misses a tactic. 29.Nxd4?? Qxd4 30.Rd1 Nf6 31.Rxd4 Nxg4 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.Rxb7 Rc1+ 34.Bf1 Ne3!! 35.fxe3 fxe3 Vishy has outprepared Vlad again and he is playing more quickly and accurately. 0-1.
Puzzler. Finally. My pal Glenn Cruz, a filmmaker who now lives in Paris, France, has cracked our puzzle: 1. Qf8 a4 2. Qf3+ Kd4 and the White queen mates. As I’ve earlier said, the challenge of these puzzles sometimes is to find the stipulated number of moves, even if it involves unforced moves.
For this week, try this:
White — pawns on a2, c3, f3; Ba6, Ra7, Ne4, Kg3
Black — pawn on c6, Ke3
White to play and mate in four moves.
Send your answers to “64” c/o Marianas Variety, P.O. Box 500231, Saipan MP 96950. Our fax no. is 670-234-9271. You can also e-mail idlasts @lycos.com or [email protected].
