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 r...