Anand chose not to play 1.e4. He instead played 1.d4. Here is the game:
GM Anand (2783) – GM Kramnik (2772) [E25]
World Championship (2), 15.10.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 f5 9.Qc2 Nd7 10.e4 fxe4 11.fxe4 N5f6 12.c6 bxc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 I would give White a very small plus here. 14. Bd2 Ba6 15. c4 Qc5 16. Bd3 Ng4 17. Bb4 Qe3+ 18. Qe2 O-O-O 19. Qxe3 Nxe3 20. Kf2 Ng4+ 21. Kg3 Ndf6 22. Bb1 += (22…h5 is the strongest continuation here for Black but it still gives White a small edge) 22…h5 (a possible line is 23. h3 h4+ 24. Nxh4 Ne5 25. Nf3 Nxc4 26. Rc1 +=) I am between airports right now. Therefore, the update may be delayed a bit. I should be back doing live commentary right here by game 4. 23.h3 h4+ 24. Nxh4 Ne5 25. Nf3 Nh5+ 26. Kf2 Nxf3 27. Kxf3 e5 28. Rc1 Nf4 29. Ra2 Nd3 30. Rc3 Nf4 31. Bc2 Ne6 32. Kg3 Rd4 {Game drawn} 1/2-1/2
Click here to replay the game. Even though Black does have compensation, I believe White can safely play on in this position. After all, there are only 10 games left after this game and a win will create big pressure for the other side. This could be a possible continuation as I quickly scanned through the game: 33. c5 Nf4 34. Re3 Rhd8 35. Ba4 +=
Go Vishy!
Go Kram! Use those Horses to capture all Vishy’s pieces!
‘Awesome! How often does white make 12 moves before moving a minor piece?’
Never. White played Hb1-c3 on move three.
“‘Awesome! How often does white make 12 moves before moving a minor piece?’
Never. White played Hb1-c3 on move three.”
hey don’t bother us with “facts”
why is there 30 minutes delay from official website?
After 18…0-0-0 I believe black is clearly better and white has some trouble with its bishops and c4 pawn.
White seems to have gained an advantage recently.
in http://chessok.com/broadcast/
live.php?key=bonn2.pgn&game=0
Rybka, world champion said white is better, then, after 10 minutes, black is better?
I still prefer human grand-master annotations (live).
21. …Ndf6?
21…Ndf6 is inacurate, so black lost its slight advantage. It’s about even now.
Now black needs to play 22…h5 and then h4, sacrifycing a pawn to activiate his pieces.
This is a critical moment for black, 22…h5 seems the only way to make some threat.
22…h5 Yeah! Kramnik saw what I posted. It took him more time to come up with this decision, though he is far better than me. There is really no other serious choice.
“It took him more time to come up with this decision, though he is far better than me.”
No it didn’t. He planned that alraedy before playing Nf6…
23 h3 A tough decision for black now, 23…h4!? or 23…Ne3
23…h4 24 Nh4 Ne5 looks like black has some compensentation
23…Ne3 24 Re1 Nc4? 25 Ba2 white is better.
Kramnik should hire me as his second! I can foresee his moves so quickly, hoho.
I think black has enough counter-play here, so the position is balanced, probably leading to a draw.
And it’s a draw.
close, but draw agreed. good 2nd game!
I have deactived the blog-powered butt plug the FSB planted in Kramnik.
He will lose now.
‘close, but draw agreed. good 2nd game!’
You call that a game? It was a shameless display of nothing. How does Kram do it? Wow!
This will make a new chapter in chess history, proving that two bishops pose no advantage.
Black could be more aggressively for an initiative by playing Ne6, c5, Nd4.
Now white has some problems to solve. c5 and Nd4 become very real. I’d prefer black.
“You call that a game?”
yup, both sides made mistakes, full of tension, a good 2nd game 2 me. tho i preferd black’s position, i didn’t know who was going to win.
“It was a shameless display of nothing. How does Kram do it?”
let it go, mate… shesh!
What’s wrong with Kramnik? Black had a clear initiative when he agreed with draw. Kramnik is not really a fighter. Had Topalov played black at this position, Anand would have suffered much more.
Is there any radio station doing a live transimission of the match?
I’m looking for one, but I can’t find anything yet.
Thanks!
It is funny how both the first two games ended in 32 moves- the number of pieces in the start position, half the number of squares on the board! Very strange!
Interesting game, full of ideas.
Unfortunate that Vishy apparently felt nervous and accepted the draw. I’m sure he made Vlady feel uncomfortable today as well!
Looking forward to game three!
32…Rd4? Instead, 32…c5! is much stronger, which gives black an advantage.
32…c5! 33 Ba5 Rd4 I don’t see any reason black not to continue.
SP wrote:
“there are only 10 games left after this game and a win will create big pressure for the other side.”
Thank goodness other sports like baseball do not have this same draw problem. ‘Only’ 10 games left…
‘”You call that a game?”
yup, both sides made mistakes, full of tension, a good 2nd game 2 me.’
This was not a chess game. Only a blogger wishing to get into a girl’s pants might think so.
What school did FIDE Makro finish?
What school did FIDE Makro finish?
Echo!
“This was not a chess game.”
tiddlywinks?
“Only a blogger wishing to get into a girl’s pants might think so.”
lulz!
i’m not a big fan of Kramnik, and it could hav been more coz of the advantage Vishy had (and should hav really pushd more), but Vlad playd beyond his usual safety-1st routine in game 2 – i really liked the way he utilized his dervish knight/s between moves 21-31.
if the rest of the match has this type of play from these 2 chessgods, it could be a great match. so just relax and enjoy it, mate.
Great analysis I found here:
http://www.fide.com/component/
content/article/1-fide-news/
3377-anand-12-kramnik-game-2
bhopkm
Kasparov claims to be a friend of mig, who writes about and fights against corruption in chess?
“Kasparov claims to be a friend of mig, who writes about and fights against corruption in chess?”
Are you kidding? Mig wrote Garry’s last book! Man!
I don’t know about Mig writing about and fighting corruption in chess, but he knows a phoney when he sees one.
Despite claiming not to be a key analyst of these games, he wrote a great piece on Game 2.
Unique combination of chess and journalistic skill.
if these viral adverts r acheiving anything, it’s turning me off from visiting this mig character’s blog, with it’s the whiff of insecurity, desperation, & cheap colonge.