Anand Kramnik Game 9

Anand leads the match 5.5 - 2.5 and has the white pieces. If he has any novelties left up his sleeve, he can seal the match on Sunday with a win. A slower route is via two draws.

An interesting point to note here is that Anand has now moved ahead in the head to head scores against Kramnik in the Classical games section.

Please note that the German time has now moved to Winter time and so the games start one hour later for most of you not in Europe.

Classical Games

59 Games, 46 draws
Anand +1 (7 wins, 6 losses)

For all the scores in all formats, see the earlier head to head post.

Match Score

V Anand ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ Total - 5.5
Kramnik ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ Total - 2.5

V Anand vs V Kramnik
Round 9
World Chess Championship
Bonn, Germany



1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6
It's the Slav Defence

5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4
Anand prefers the sharp line in the anti-Moscow gambit. Slower is 6. Bxf6

6 ...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.Qc2
Not seen in regular play. Kramnik can get an edge with an immediate g pawn thrust, but as Anand correctly guesses, Kramnik goes for the more solid Nbd7

10 ... Nbd7
Both the contestants are playing very fast.

11 Rd1
This move in conjunction with the earlier move from Anand give the impression that he has something prepared.

11 ...Bb4 12 Ne5 Qe7 13 O-O Nxe5 14 Bxe5 O-O
The 10 ... Nbd7 instead of g4 enables Kramnik to safely castle. Almost safely.
Now Anand has a slight edge and can start attacking with 15 b3 cxb3 16 axb3 Rac8 13 f3 Nd7 18 Bg3 and so on.
Ironically, Anand can easily propose a draw, which will deserve accepting. But these days, there is immense pressure against early draws, so they'll probably play on.

15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16 f4
Anand playing aggressively, but Kramnik can get the edge by going gxf4, but it's usually not his style. Anand trying to force Kramnik to venture out of his comfort zone and also make him think. Kramnik can be two pawns up, but Anand can create an atmosphere of tactical possibilities.

16 ... Qg7
Again, Anand plays provocatively, but Kramnik does not respond.

17 e5
Kramnik again taking a long time to think this out since this is a crucial stage.

17 ... c5 18. Nxb5 cxd4
The pace had really slowed down. Now, Anand is back in the saddle, but the position is almost balanced now.

19 Qxc4 a5 20 Kh1
This move is dubious. Anand could have played Bf3 and hope for eventual simplification - 20 Bf3 Rac8 21 Qd3 Ba6 22 Be4 should hold with accurate play. Anand is in trouble. Also, time pressure looms. He is behind on the clock by around 20 minutes now.

20 ... Rac8?
Again, Kramnik plays safe instead of going for the jugular. Anand must have heaved a sigh of relief. A question mark since Kramnik could have got a very strong position with 20 ... gxf4 21 Bf3 Bxf3 22 Rxf3 Qxe5 23 Nxd4 Rfd8 24 Rfd3 Qe4
Time pressure still exists, although it should be easy to draw now.

21 Qxd4 gxf4 22 Bf3 Ba6 23 a4 Rc5 24 Qxf4 Rxe5 25 b3 Bxb5 26 axb5 Rxb5 27 Be4 Bc3 28 Bc2
The shocker is not that Anand is in such a bad position for the first time in the match, but there are rumors doing the rounds that Kramnik may retire from chess if he loses this match. You can read more about this on the latest post on our home page.
Back to the game, both the players are in serious time trouble.

29 Qf2 Bb8 30 Qf3
Please see the diagram

30 ...Rc5 31 Bd3 Rc3 32 g3 Kh8 33 Qb7
Anand is banging out correct moves in time trouble, but he is still clearly behind in material.

33 ... f5
And so is Kramnik.

34 Qb6 Qe5 35 Qb7 Qc7
35 ... Bc7 or Rg8 are routes to clear wins. Now Anand has hopes with Qxc7

36 Qxc7 Bxc7 37 Bc4
Vishy got it right yet again! He's getting the right moves, but a draw is still a long way off. Kramnik is still a pawn up.

37 ... Re8
Mistake. a4 was required. At least now, Anand should be able to wriggle out.

38 Rd7
Mistakes by both in time trouble. The simple Rde1 is a draw.

38 ... a4
Two moves each to reach the 40th move on time.

39 Rxc7 axb3 40 Rf2 Rb8
Phew! In my opinion, a draw will be proposed shortly. This is a draw at GM levels.

41 Rb2
The pace has slowed down again since the players have successfully reached the first time control. The drawing line should be the following - 41 ... Rc2 42 Rxc2 bxc2 43 Bf1 Rb1 44 Rxc2 Rxf1+ and remember all Rook endings, at least at this level, are drawn.
Some viewers suggest that Bf1 may get Anand into a tricky situation and may be difficult to draw. Bb5 in this line may be the easier way.
See Diagram at the start of this post.

41 ... h5
Kramnik finally makes his move after a long thought. It's not a good move. Anand is clearly off the hook now.

42 Kg2 h4
Anand making his moves quickly since he's seen it all the way to the draw, probably.
Anand to move now, but its a dead draw. Draw has not yet been agreed.

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To be continued as soon as Anand makes his next move

Repeat, dead draw, but Kramnik wants to push until he's sure.
43 Rc3 hxg3 44 hxg3 Rg8 45 Rxe6 Rxc4. Draw Agreed
1/2-1/2