Anand Kramnik - Game 2 World Chess Championships 2008
Game 2 has Anand with the white pieces. The fact that he easily stood his ground with black in the first game is quite a psychological advantage. Anand usually goes all out when he is prepared, as we saw in Mexico. Let's see what he has up his sleeve today.
Live Annotated Game
Key Moments (Please see Diagram)
1. d4
(Already a surprise. Anand usually plays e4 in almost all of his games. Kramnik will surely be surprised but this is the World Championships and I'm sure he is prepared for d4 but probably not for what follows)
1.... Nf6 2. c4 e6. 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 f3 ?!
Probably it's a good weapon in Anand's hands. Surely, Kramnik may not have prepared for this line. It's a Nimzo Indian Sämisch variation. Kramnik will be tested today and has to demonstrate all his technical skills to equalize. Go Anand!
4...d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5
This is a popular continuation in this variation. White has scattered pawns, but he still has an extra pawn. Note that white restricts the activity of the black pieces that are active on the Queen side due to pawns on the dark squares.
8...f5 (to stop e4) 9.Qc2 Nd7
O-O is more common
10. e4
Anand took time here, pretty aggressive intentions. Only time will tell if Anand has something specially cooked up for Kramnik.
10 ...fxe4 11 fxe4 N5f6 12 c6 bxc6 13 Nf3 Qa5
Also possible was to play on to hang on to the pawn to give it later, for example (12 Nf3 Qc7 13 Bc4 Nxc5 14 e5 Ng4.) But c6 is a top choice for sure. Anand is prepared! One can definitely feel it. At the same time, we should give credit to Kramnik. He is playing solid moves, with the spirit that the position deserves.)
14.Bd2 Ba6 15.c4 Qc5 16. Bd3 Ng4 17. Bb4 Qe3+ 18 Qe2
Anand still testing Kramnik's prep and Kramnik still playing accurately. Amazingly, both of them have not yet castled!
18 ... O-O-O
Well, here's the castle. Here's a line that is unlikely to be played and will be welcomed with gasps if it is played out. (19 Be7 Nc5 20 Qxe3 Nxd3 21 Ke2 Nxe3 22 Bxd8 Rxd8)
19.Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21.Kg3
Anand's King is out in the open, but there is no real threat from any of Kramnik's pieces.
21 ... Ndf6
On hindsight, this may be a positional blunder. Probably, 1.d4 and 21 ... Ndf6 are clearly the key moves of this game.
22. Bb1 (Be2 is possible, but uncomfortable)
22 ... h5
Here's another of our wild continuation possibility - (23 Rc1 g5 24 Nxg5 h4+ 25 Kf3 Nxh2+ 26 Kf2 Nhg4+ 27 Ke2 Rd7 28 Nxe6 Ne5. Slightly plus for white, but still pretty balanced. There was a lot of noise on the servers, most chatters yelling for h3. Anand did play that but Rc1 was worth considering.)
23. h3 h4+ 24 Nxh4 Ne5 25 Nf3 Nh5+ 26 Kf2 Nxf3 27 Kxf3 e5
Well, well something is happening here. Anand has some real chances to win!
Consider the following line (28 Ke3 Nf4 29 g3 Nh5 30 h4 Nxg3 31 Rg1 Nh5 32 Bc3 Nf6 33 Rxg7 and white's position is good.)
28.Rc1 Nf4 29.Ra2 Nd3 30.Rc3 Nf4 31. Bc2
Anand loses the edge with this move. Rb2 was required. Even now, anything is possible. Time scramble begins soon.
31... Ne6 32 Kg3 Rd4
Draw. Sad, especially after showing so much promise, Anand loses the thread in time trouble. It's definitely another moral victory for Anand, but he could have taken the lead and a huge edge by winning today.
1/2-1/2
Live Annotated Game
Key Moments (Please see Diagram)
1. d4
(Already a surprise. Anand usually plays e4 in almost all of his games. Kramnik will surely be surprised but this is the World Championships and I'm sure he is prepared for d4 but probably not for what follows)
1.... Nf6 2. c4 e6. 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 f3 ?!
Probably it's a good weapon in Anand's hands. Surely, Kramnik may not have prepared for this line. It's a Nimzo Indian Sämisch variation. Kramnik will be tested today and has to demonstrate all his technical skills to equalize. Go Anand!
4...d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5
This is a popular continuation in this variation. White has scattered pawns, but he still has an extra pawn. Note that white restricts the activity of the black pieces that are active on the Queen side due to pawns on the dark squares.
8...f5 (to stop e4) 9.Qc2 Nd7
O-O is more common
10. e4
Anand took time here, pretty aggressive intentions. Only time will tell if Anand has something specially cooked up for Kramnik.
10 ...fxe4 11 fxe4 N5f6 12 c6 bxc6 13 Nf3 Qa5
Also possible was to play on to hang on to the pawn to give it later, for example (12 Nf3 Qc7 13 Bc4 Nxc5 14 e5 Ng4.) But c6 is a top choice for sure. Anand is prepared! One can definitely feel it. At the same time, we should give credit to Kramnik. He is playing solid moves, with the spirit that the position deserves.)
14.Bd2 Ba6 15.c4 Qc5 16. Bd3 Ng4 17. Bb4 Qe3+ 18 Qe2
Anand still testing Kramnik's prep and Kramnik still playing accurately. Amazingly, both of them have not yet castled!
18 ... O-O-O
Well, here's the castle. Here's a line that is unlikely to be played and will be welcomed with gasps if it is played out. (19 Be7 Nc5 20 Qxe3 Nxd3 21 Ke2 Nxe3 22 Bxd8 Rxd8)
19.Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21.Kg3
Anand's King is out in the open, but there is no real threat from any of Kramnik's pieces.
21 ... Ndf6
On hindsight, this may be a positional blunder. Probably, 1.d4 and 21 ... Ndf6 are clearly the key moves of this game.
22. Bb1 (Be2 is possible, but uncomfortable)
22 ... h5
Here's another of our wild continuation possibility - (23 Rc1 g5 24 Nxg5 h4+ 25 Kf3 Nxh2+ 26 Kf2 Nhg4+ 27 Ke2 Rd7 28 Nxe6 Ne5. Slightly plus for white, but still pretty balanced. There was a lot of noise on the servers, most chatters yelling for h3. Anand did play that but Rc1 was worth considering.)
23. h3 h4+ 24 Nxh4 Ne5 25 Nf3 Nh5+ 26 Kf2 Nxf3 27 Kxf3 e5
Well, well something is happening here. Anand has some real chances to win!
Consider the following line (28 Ke3 Nf4 29 g3 Nh5 30 h4 Nxg3 31 Rg1 Nh5 32 Bc3 Nf6 33 Rxg7 and white's position is good.)
28.Rc1 Nf4 29.Ra2 Nd3 30.Rc3 Nf4 31. Bc2
Anand loses the edge with this move. Rb2 was required. Even now, anything is possible. Time scramble begins soon.
31... Ne6 32 Kg3 Rd4
Draw. Sad, especially after showing so much promise, Anand loses the thread in time trouble. It's definitely another moral victory for Anand, but he could have taken the lead and a huge edge by winning today.
1/2-1/2
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