ChessBase 9.0 Printout, Miguel Illescas, 15/10/2008 1
2 E25
Anand,Viswanathan
Kramnik,Vladimir
WCC Bonn (2) 15.10.2008
There was a lot of expectation about the
opening moves. We can presume that Anand
will start with his beloved 1.e4, but black's
answer can't be easily anticipated. Will it be
the solid Russian Defence? Maybe the Anti-
Kasparov weapo n , t h e Ber l in wal l? A
respectable Caro-kann? Or a sharp sicilian?
Only Kramnik knows... 1.d4 ¡Kind of surprise!
Of course Kramnik should be ready... ¤f6
2.c4 e6 Main Kramnik's weapon 3.¤c3
Second surprise: in most of the games Anand
was avoiding the Nimzoindia with 3.¤f3 ¥b4
4.f3 And the third and last surprise from white.
The fashion here is now 4 .£ c 2 , " a lo
Capablanca". From the very top players, only
Shirov was playing this agressive approach in
the 90's. Anand never had played this move
before and Kramnik was never before facing
it! d5 5.a3 ¥c3 6.bc3 c5 7.cd5 ¤d5
Blac k i s f o l lowing the main l ine 8.dc5
The last try from white. Grab the pawn and try
to keep it, very much in "computer style".
Practical and psychological factors may have
benn taken into account by Anand when
making this choice. Kramnik likes the pair of
bishops, here he has to fight against them.
Kramnik doesn't like to give material so early,
here he is pawn down. And most important:
Kramnik likes to have the initiative in the
opening battle: here he may be less prepared
than his opponent. Nice plan but Kramnik had
something to say... f5!? The second choice of
strong players, a very dinamyc move which
fights versus the advance e2-e4. Now it is
Kramnik who is probably surpri sing his
opponent. [T h e ma i n l i n e i s 8...£a5
favourite of Karpov] 9.£c2 Most logical,
i n s i s t i n g o n p l a y i n g e 4 [ Another popular
moves are the quiet 9.¤h3 or the agressive;
9.e4 fe4 10.£c2 ] 9...¤d7!? And here it
comes the second surprise from Kramnik. This
early knight move is almost a novelty. It shows
how deep knowledge and understanding has
Kramn ik when deal ing with openi ngs.
[ The natural 9...0-0 ; and the bizarre 9...f4
have been tried] 10.e4 fe4 [ Seirawan was
proposing 10...¤5f6?! but it seems to me that
after 11.ef5 0-0 12.¥f4! it becomes
strategically very risky for black] 11.fe4 ¤5f6
12.c6! The best chance, spoiling black's pawn
structure. [ 12.¥e3?! ¤g4 ; 12.¤f3 ¤c5= ]
12...bc6 [ Again Seirawan was claiming for
active play. After 12...¤c5!? 13.e5 ¤fe4
white should probably refrain from taking on
b 7 , a n d a f t e r 14.¥e3 0-0 15.¤f3²
white is doing fine] 13.¤f3 £a5! [ Much more
passive was 13...£c7 14.¥d3 0-0 15.0-0
¤g4 16.h3 ¤ge5 17.¤e5 ¦f1 18.¥f1 £e5
19.¥e3 ¤f6 20.¥d3 and white was better in
Portisch,L-Kluger,G/Budapest 1962 (25);
The computer proposes 13...¤g4!? 14.¥e2
0-0 and after 15.h3 ¦f3!÷ the game becomes
a real mess] 14.¥d2N Strictly speaking this is
the new move in this game. Anan d i s
preparing c4 to prevent the exchange of the
l i g h t s q u a r e d b i s h o p s . Ver y logi c a l .
[ Worst for white was 14.¥e3?! ¤g4 15.¥g1
0-0³ Moehring,G-Neukirch,D/Annaberg-
Buchholz 1965] 14...¥a6 15.c4 £c5
Whi te wi l l have problems to castle. The
opening battle was won by black who has an
easy game. 16.¥d3 ¤g4!? [ Very reasonable
was 16...0-0 17.¥b4 £e3 18.£e2 £e2
19.¢e2 c5= with a good game for black.]
17.¥b4 £e3 [ Black could take some risk with
17...£b6!? but Kramnik went for the most solid
continuation.] 18.£e2 0-0-0 This move was
critiziced by Anand. [Very safe was 18...c5
19.¥d2 £e2 20.¥e2 h6= preventing ¤g5
and getting a comfortable position for black.;
Anand suggested 18...£e2 but after 19.¢e2
¤ge5 20.¤e5 ¤e5 21.¥d6!? white may be
slightly better even after ¤d3 22.¢d3² ]
19.£e3
[ Maybe it makes sense for white to try
19.¥e7!? ¦de8 20.¥d6² ] 19...¤e3 20.¢f2
¤g4 [Of course is weak 20...¤c4?! 21.¦ac1
¤db6 22.¥c4 ¤c4 23.¦c2 where white gets
a dangerous initiative] 21.¢g3 ¤df6?
This looks like a real mistake as both players
admitted after the game. Black is loosing
c o o r d i n a t i o n . [T h e n a t u r a l 21...¤ge5=
seems to hold the equal ity without much
trouble. ] 22.¥b1! Here Kramnik understood
that he was overoptimistic and thought for a
long time. h5! The best defence! [ 22...¥c4
23.e5± ; 22...¤e3 23.¤e5± ] 23.h3 h4!
The russian GM is going to play a string of
p r e c i s e d e f e n s i v e mo v e s . [ 23...¤h6
ChessBase 9.0 Printout, Miguel Illescas, 15/10/2008 2
24.¤e5± ; 23...¤e3 24.¤e5 ¤c4 25.¤f7± ]
24.¤h4 ¤e5 25.¤f3 ¤h5! 26.¢f2 ¤f3!
27.¢f3 e5! After this active play things are
not so easy for white. He needs to coordinate
his queen s ide. 28.¦c1 [ I like to give the
pawn back. After 28.¥c2!? ¥c4 29.¦hd1²
It looks very promising for white, thanks to the
pair of bishops and his better pawn structure.]
28...¤f4! Again Kramnik is going to find the
more stubborn defence. 29.¦a2! ¤d3!
30.¦c3 [ White could get practical chances
with 30.¥d3!? ¦d3 31.¢g4² ] 30...¤f4
Of course black should be happy with the
draw. 31.¥c2?! Ugly move. White's rook on
a2 was probably very unhappy wi th this
de c i s s io n . [After 31.¦f2 ¦d1 32.¥c2²
white is slightly better but black gets serious
counterplay.] 31...¤e6 [ Probably stronger
was 31...¦h6!© keeping the white king on the
center. ] 32.¢g3! Good move. White king
goes to a safer place and the pawn up
remains. ¦d4 a natural move which came
with a powerful complement: a draw offer.
Surprisingly, Anand agreed, probably worried
at the clock (he had less than 3 minutes to
reach the 40 moves co ntro l ) or maybe
dissapointed with the lack of coordination of
h i s p i e c e s . [ 32...¦d4 On the press
con fe re nc e Ana nd s ai d t ha t af te r 33.c5
he couldn't see a way to make progress. Well,
white is pawn up and he can try to play ¦f3,
¥c3, for example. It seems to me that white
was still better and could go on with little risk.
A demo variation: ¤f4 34.¦e3 ¦h6 35.¢h2
¦g6 36.g3 ¥c4 37.¦b2 ¤d3 38.¥d3 ¦d3
39.¦d3 ¥d3 40.¥c3 ¦e6 41.¦b4 and white
is undoubtely pressing ]
½-½