[Event "2008 World Championship"]
[Site "Bonn"]
[Date "2008.10.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Anand, V"]
[Black "Kramnik, V"]
[ECO "D37"]
[White Elo "2783"]
[Black Elo "2772"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. a3 c5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 The players cranked out the first 11 moves at rapid pace. These are all book moves so far. I believe the most popular option for Black here is 11...Bf6. There are also many other playable moves such as 11...Bf5, 11...Bg4, 11...Be6, or 11... f6. I do not expect Black to go all out in this game because of a few reasons: 1. He is very experienced and he will not panic after just one loss. 2. One of the common strategies in big matches is you want to try to stabilize the bleeding after a bad loss. Tomorrow would be an off day and Kramnik can then prepare to even up the score with the White pieces in game 5.
11...Bf5 This is not the most common continuation but definitely playable. White's most logical response here would be 12.Be2. This position is roughly even.
12. Be2 Bf6 White has a number of choices such as 13.0-0, 13.Rc1, or 13.Bxf6, which most likely will be Anand's choice. Black is equal in any of the above lines. I am having a hard time finding a convincing plan for White. This opening choice suits Kramnik fine as he will try to grind things out without much risks. 12...Bf6 is technically a new move here but it really just transpose to another line.
13.Bxf6 Qxf6 If Anand wants a quiet game, 14.Nd4 would be a logical choice. But if he wants something more lively, he may want to consider 14.0-0 allowing 14...Qxb2 15 .Qxd5
14.Nd4 I do not expect much happening in this game. It seems that Anand is content with a +1 so far. Even if Kramnik can even up the score by the end of the match, I have to believe that Anand is quite confident with his rapid chess skill. They have played 45 rapid games against each other and Anand has a big edge with +10 =33 –2. One interesting note, Kramnik has never beaten Anand with the Black pieces in classical chess.
14...Ne6 I expect Anand to capture the Bishop and head to a Bishop versus Knight set up. After 0-0, White has nothing to fear and his focus will be on the isolated d5 pawn. I still believe the position is even.
15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.O-O Things move along as expected. Black now can place his f Rook on d8 threatening d4 to get rid of that isolated pawn. In the mean time, White can always play Bg4 to get rid of the Knight. This is certainly not an exciting position for either side.
16...Rfd8 The best thing of this match so far for the chess fans is to have Anand strike first. This way, Kramnik has to force the issues to even things out. If Kramnik would have scored first, he would just play very safe to hold. I expect Anand to play Bg4 and not take any chances.
17.Bg4 Black can safely play 17...Qe5, 17...Qf6, or 17...Qg6 without much difference.
17...Qe5 This is a possibility 18.Qb3 d4 19.Bxe6 Qxe6 20.Qxe6 fxe6 21.exd4 Rxd4 =
18.Qb3 Unfortunately for the chess fans, basically all lines will most likely lead to a peaceful ending.
18...Nc5 An interesting try but White can simply move out of the way with 19.Qb5. Black eventually has to trade the d5 pawn which will lead to a symmetrical pawn structure.
19.Qb5 Black's most logical move is 19...b6 to protect the Knight since it is located on a good square. White can start moving his Rooks to the d and c files.
19...b6 20.Rfd1 Rd6 Black obviously will double his Rooks on the d file. White can simply chase the Knight away with b4 and if the Knight retreats to e6, White can simply trade the Bishop and Knight then move the Rook to d4 to block Black's pawn from advancing. White can also play 21.Rd4 immediately. It really does not matter which order White chooses. Even with all of that, the position will not yield a decisive result for either side. Perhaps a draw will be agreed around move 30.
21.Rd4 a6 Now White has only one move which is 22.Qb4 to stop the Nb3 threat.
22.Qb4 Anand responded with this move instantly. Black has a wide range of possible moves such as 22...h5, 22...f5, or 22...Rad8. They are all perfectly playable.
22...h5 It will be interesting to see if Anand will choose to retreat to the d1-h5 diagonal with 23.Be2 or 23.Be3 or go the other way with 23.Bh3. The ladder one is probably safer to prevent Ne6 to chase the Rook away from the nice d4 square.
23.Bh3 Rad8 Simply a logical move. Sometimes, it is better to follow the most logical path and not complicate things for no reason. An interesting option for White now is 24.g3 to allow the flexibility for the Bishop to go back to g2 or even f1. It is risky for Kramnik to go crazy with the g5 - g4 idea because he definitely does not want to take a chance to go down a serious 0-2 hole. He is too calm and cool to panic this early with 8 games left after this one.
24.g3 g5 I have to give Kramnik a lot of credit for at least trying to mix things up. White needs to double up his Rooks to put additional pressure on Black's d5 pawn.
25.Rad1 g4 26.Bg2 Ne6 White can simply play R4d3 = Black can start pushing the d pawn now that the Knight is on e6 to reinforce this.
27.R4d3 d4 28.exd4 If Black recaptures with the Knight, White could move his King to h1. Kramnik is trying to make something happen out of very little. Black's Knight will be quite active after 28...Nxd4. The other option is 28...Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Nxd4 30.Kh1.
28...Rxd4 I believe Anand has to take the Rook. 29.Qc3 is too risky.
29.Rxd4 Rxd4 White can play 30.Rxd4 Nxc4 31.Qxb6 Qe1+ 32.Bf1 =
1/2 The players agreed to a draw. As I expected early on, I expected a draw around move 30 due to the position on the board. Having said that, I think this is a good game for Kramnik psychologically. He held easily with Black and even tried to make something happen which forced Anand to think and to be very careful. He could have tried to push on for a few more moves but it would lead to the same result.
Tomorrow is a day off and it is time for Kramnik and his team to get back to the drawing board and come up with something for game 5 with White.
.JPG)
Posts
68 comments:
Kramnik visiting the loo to look up a move.
Gazprom to cut off gas to Germany if Anand wins.
Kramnik will certainly need help from the side. His seconds are shaking, as the are about to be fired if Kram loses again.
How could he not hire better seconds beats me.
How much does one second cost per day? More than a babysitter?
Are there any live pictures? This can be boring after a while.
Why are you blogging live for free, when you probably get up to 500US$ per game live?
Why are you blogging live for free, when you probably can get up to 500US$ per game live?
Are the moves being relayed live somewhere?
http://chessok.com/broadcast/
live.php?key=bonn4.pgn&game=0
With a elo 3200 commenting.
Is the video being relayed live somewhere?
Live video with SP analyzing would suffice, if it doesn't invade privacy.
I find commenting games as much boring as games themselves, in general.
Join us here, it's more interesting than one game only: http://www.fide.com/component/
content/article/4-tournaments/
3390-european-club-cup-
round-2-is-live
courtesy of FIDE, the prime minister of chess.
Susan, what a babe.
In the name of everybody I thank SP for the live commentary
Kram is better developed, and therefore has a better game, it is not even. Wait 4 more moves, and tehn remember what I wrote. I love USCF, by the way and will leave my books collection to them when I depart to another world.
'In the name of everybody I thank SP for the live commentary'
In my name you talk??
You talk well.
Anand getting thrashed for playing crap. Kramnik just understands these positions and can relay to them as if they were his soulmates.
How to download SP commentary into chessbase, without retyping everything she writes and plays?
How did Vladimir become FM?
He wrote to FIDE through Brezhniev's administration. Russia was more powerful then than FIDE.
'his focus will be on the isolated d5 pawn.'
Isn't that a backward pawn? One that can't be defended by other pawns of it's own colour?
In chess, a backward pawn is a pawn that is behind the pawns of the same color on the adjacent files and that cannot be advanced without loss of material, usually the backward pawn itself.
I understand this game (and commentary) better than the yesterdays one. This is why more games like these will attract audience like me.
Aw, come on!
How to download SP commentary into chessbase, without retyping everything she writes and plays?
This may not be best or simplest, but one plan you can follow is to cut and paste Susan's notes from your web browser into a no-frills word processor. (In my case those are Firefox and Wordpad; other tools probably work similarly.) Then go in and put parentheses () around all of Susan's variations and curly braces { } around all of her words. Save the file. Now open it with Chessbase (or whatever you use).
If anybody's got a better way, please share.
'Unfortunately, basically all lines will most likely lead to a peaceful ending.'
Why unfortunately?
'This may not be best or simplest'
Great idea! It is good to preserve historical comentary in chessbase, better than in word processoring utilities.
'Black eventually has to trade the d5 pawn which will lead to a symmetrical pawn structure.'
Isn't a bishop better than knight in pawns on both sides positions?
'Isn't a bishop better than knight in pawns on both sides positions?'
It depends who pushes the wood. If you do, maybe it's not. If a GM pushes, then maybe yes. All chess principles that we learn are wrong. All chess teachers teach wrong because we have no common material to learn from. Everyone tells us a different story, as if chess were not understood by any.
'Black's most logical move is 19...b6 to protect the Knight since it is located on a good square.'
Now this is commentary I understand perfectly!!
Thanks for providing your comments.
Its amazing for a normal chess enthusiast to see the accuracy with which you analyze and predict the continuing variations of the game.
"Isn't a bishop better than knight in pawns on both sides positions?"
The basic rule (which isn't correct in each situation of course; and which is the most true when there are only bishop/knight and pawns (and kings) left (*)) is that the bishop is stronger than the knight when the pawn numbers on the sides are different (e.g. white having 3 pawns on king side and 2 on black side, black just the other way round) as then passed pawns can be created by either side and the bishop is better in supporting his own while stopping the other passed pawn.
(*) While there are rooks and queens on the board everything looks a bit otherwise...
I (as Patzer) probably would prepare the bishop in this open position, too.
Best regards from Germany
Jochen
'Its amazing for a normal chess enthusiast to see the accuracy with which you analyze and predict the continuing variations of the game.'
This is why chess will remain a clean sport as there can never be betting on chess moves. No corruption in chess!
'as then passed pawns can be created by either side and the bishop is better in supporting his own while stopping the other passed pawn.'
But, then the knight can blockade that passed pawn (knight is the best blocker!) and try to win on the other side where there is one pawn more, so draw, because bishop is there to blockade the passed black pawn?
It's clear that Anand, the world champion says here that the bishop is better than the knight, because he is not trading this piece. He had a chance to do it. This must go down in chess textbooks. I only hope he will say otherwise later in the press conference.
'Perhaps a draw will be agreed after move 30.'
If this happens lets say up to move 35, I will bow to SP as being the strongest GM blogger on the planet. If not happens, its ok, too.
'Blockading the d-pawn was the first order of business, and the knight is the classic blockader. That explains White's 14th, and it explains Black's rejoinder as well. Black wants to swap off the isolated d-pawn, if possible, and if not to give White his own isolani in turn.'
a FIDE Master said this from anotehr site.
I wonder that at such a higher level of chess where the Grandmasters are able to read their opponent's moves completely(except perhaps in a few complicated positions) , what makes results possible!
? I might have understood better if you blogged in Palestinian.
'23.Bh3 Rad8 Simply a logical move.'
I don't understand the logic behind that move. Rooks belong on open files, not half open files that are blockaded and cannot be opened?
Obviously, it will end in a dead draw, with no checks given by either player. Unless a visit to the toilets dictate otherwise. Where can we see photos of their toilets?
Problem of today is how can human say white is better if engine says black is better?
"I cannot imagine Kramnik going crazy with the g5 idea" :D
too bad Kramink can't see the blog...;)
'Perhaps a draw will be agreed after move 30.'
And perhaps not.
This is avoiding clear-cut comments. Why? Is chess so far yet from being understood, even by world champions?
'too bad Kramink can't see the blog...;)'
I seriously doubt that. Did you see his last toilet with computer and internet inside?
They said that the main arbiter can see inside players restrooms for free. Can he see inside their toilets, too? Maybe they forgot about the trick from the last match?
'It is risky for Kramnik to go crazy with the g5 - g4 idea because he definitely does not want to take a chance to go down a serious 0-2 hole'
Thank you for your honest comments!!
Now mine. Kramnik went mad with g5! Go Kram!!!!
This is SP best commentary as so far. Bored to say thank you each time, ok?
Polgare said she was between airports and documentary shoot in the past week, she could not do the commentary. She said that this is the first time she's home to do normal analysis.
28...Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 30.Rxd4 Nxd4 31.Qxb6 Qe1+ 32.Bf1 Nf3+ 33.Kg2 Qe4 34.Qxa6 and Black has perpetual check.
both players haven't used much time today i guess
Why guess?
Go here:http://chessok.com/broadcast/
live.php?key=bonn4.pgn&game=0
and see exaclty how much time they used so far.
I demandedly don't see the purpose of thousands of bloggers blogging away instead of getting out on fresh air, or teaching children to be better humans. This earth will end once the sun stops shining, make the most of it 'till then.
"It really does not matter which order White chooses. Even with all of that, the position will not yield a decisive result for either side. Perhaps a draw will be agreed after move 30"
Nice comment Susan
1/2-1/2 29 moves
Doesn't draws below 30 moves are not allowed?
'Nice comment Susan'
She is obviously 2800 potential. Too bad she is not immortal, then could play chess, too.
'As I expected early on, I expected a draw around move 30.'
Thanks for the reminder! Other than your correct expectations, you got 90% moves prediction correct, too!
"Tomorrow is a day off and it is time for Kramnik and his team to get back to the drawing board and come up with something for game 5 with White."
DRAWING BOARD...LOL!!! Yeah Kramnik loves the drawing board HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH
we indians are delighted to see the scoreboard.... both in cricket and in chess
'Tomorrow is a day off and it is time for Kramnik and his team to get back to the drawing board and come up with something for game 5 with White.'
It doesn't work that way in modern days, maybe it was like that 20 years ago. Kramnik now strolls, the highly paid seconds work, and present him the knowledge upon his majesty's return.
Tomorrow is a day off and it is time for Kramnik and his team to get back to their toilets and come up with something for game 5 with White.
is what you wanted to say, right? I'm bad wih smileys, how do you get them in here?
anybody aware of anywebsite giving free audio commentary by a GM
Love you all! Time to go nighty, nighty!
'anybody aware of anywebsite giving free audio commentary by a GM'
I am unaware, sorry.
You people friends seems to like free stuff, not to pay. Here is more free stuff I found yesterday afternoon - http://chessasia.net/?p=271
Before sending your excellent analysis to FIDE, do some editing, for examples:
http://www.fide.com/component/
content/article/1-fide-news/
3391-4th-game-is-draw-anand-leads-25-15-
"White can simply play R4e3 ="
The move is illegal.
"The White can start moving his Rooks to the d and c files."
"The" is unnecessary.
ettcettera.
There are many bloggers here who would be be willing to help you do the editing wothout a charge.
You can get a free seven day trial with ICC, and then can access Chess FM for that time, with audio GM commentaries.
See this article on how to copy a text game into chessbase:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4873
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