Kramnik beats Anand in chess game to stay alive
By Robert Huntington
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:45 a.m. October 27, 2008
BONN, Germany – With his back to the wall, Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik won game 10 against world chess champion Viswanathan Anand of India in Germany on Monday to keep their title match going.
Kramnik now trails 6-4 in the 12-game match and must win the next two games to force a playoff. Anand needs only one draw from the last two games to retain his title.
Asked about his chances, Kramnik told reporters, “It’s better for me not to think about them – they’re still less than 50 percent.”
Kramnik had the white side of what he called “a fashionable line” in the Nimzo-Indian Defense. His 18th move was a novelty that Anand called “tricky.” “It’s not clear where Black should place his pieces,” Anand said.
Kramnik said that the position was highly nuanced. “It’s very difficult to understand even for top players,” he said.
Anand seem to achieve a comfortable position as German grandmaster Vlastimil Hort used the tiny space between his thumb and index finger to describe Kramnik’s advantage. American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan said Kramnik was “playing for the most minute of advantages.”
But Anand was using a lot of time compared to Kramnik. For the first time in the match, Kramnik was significantly ahead on the clock – a half hour on move 22. Each player gets two hours for the first 40 moves.
Kramnik questioned the accuracy of Anand’s 22nd move and called his 23rd “the decisive mistake.” Rather than reposition his bishop as Kramnik suggested, Anand moved his f-pawn, weakening the squares around his king to bring his queen back into play. “It didn’t fit the needs of the position,” Seirawan said.
With the correct move, Kramnik said that “White is better but Black gets some play.”
The punishment came with remarkable swiftness. Kramnik advanced his a-pawn to dislodge his opponent’s knight on b6. Anand told reporters, “After 24.a4, it’s incredibly difficult. I didn’t know what to do. I’m not sure exactly what I did wrong.”
Source: http://www.signonsandiego.com
Kramnik understands chess more than Anand.
Anand feels chess more…
I am still not clear why Anand resigned so early, maybe he could still draw? Can someone give me a lead on the mating line? I can’t see any obvious one in say 5/6 moves.
Anand throws Kranik a bone.
From TWIC IM Malcolm Peim: The threats are Re7 and Qb7 they can’t both be prevented, what a nice game by Kramnik, he got his kind of position and played it beautifully #
[29.Qd6 Bf7 30.Qb4 with the simple plan of a6 and taking on a7 with total control; 29.Qd6 Rd8 30.Qb4 Rab8 31.a6 when Black can hardly move and a7 falls]
” Kramnik understands chess more than Anand.”
In limited number of positions, as this match shows.
my predictions were incorrect, despite kramnik winning this match. Anand will retain, the difference is too big between two players of similar strength
You should really learn the difference between the words ‘game’ and ‘match’.
If Kramnik would have won the match (like you wrote) then how can Anand retain the title anyway???
Your sentence makes no sence whatsoever.