Anand-Kramnik: Game 11

Will Anand win today? He deserves the title, but not if he cannot find the resources to draw with White. However, as they say, attepting to draw with White is a good way to lose a game. Anand must play actively to get what he needs and finally exorcise those demons that place footnotes next to his World Chess Championship title indicating that he did no earn it through a match. He might today. We''ll know soon.

Anand,V-Kramnik,V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.e4!!

Anand returns to his own style, and what is going on?

1...c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6

Kramnik started his career with the Sicilian Defense, and he's playing it again. Anand plays both sides of the Sicilian in tournament after tournament, year after year.

6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7

7:07am PDT; 3:07pm in Bonn

8.bxf6 gxf6 9.f5

Fifty-eight games dating back to 1960. I choose to highlight one by a couple of less known players because I have faced the White player in OTB play:

Pitre,H - Hoeffler,D [B96]
Seattle op Seattle (3), 1994
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Nc6 10.Bc4 Qb6 11.Nde2 Ne5 12.Bb3 Bh6 13.Qd4 Qxd4 14.Nxd4 Ke7 15.Na4 Nc6 16.c3 Nxd4 17.cxd4 b5 18.Nb6 Rb8 19.Nxc8+ Rbxc8 20.Kf2 Rc7 21.Rhd1 Rhc8 22.Rab1 Rc1 23.Ke2 Rxb1 24.Rxb1 Rc1 25.Rxc1 Bxc1 26.a4 bxa4 27.Bxa4 Bxb2 28.d5 exd5 29.exd5 Kf8 30.Kd3 Kg7 31.Kc4 Kh6 32.Kb4 Kg5 33.Bd7 Kf4 34.Ka5 Ke5 35.Be6 Kf4 36.Kxa6 Ke3 37.Bxf7 Kf2 38.g4 Kf3 39.Bh5 Ke4 40.Bf7 h5 41.Bxh5 Kxd5 42.h4 Ke4 43.Kb6 d5 44.Kb5 Bd4 45.Bf7 Bf2 46.g5 fxg5 ½–½

9...Qc5

They are slowing down. Now we're down to nineteen games in the ChessBase online database. Across these games, White and Black have an even score, and there is a low drawing percentage. The data is thin, but my intuition tells me that both players are playing to win today.

7:21am PDT



Anand has used twenty minutes and is using more.

10.Qd3 Nc6

11.Nb3 is usual. Anand is thinking about it almost certainly. 11.O-O-O has been played, as has 11.Nxc6.

11.Nb3 Qe5

It looks as though the game is within Kramnik's preparation.

7:38am PDT

12.O-O-O

Three games in database, including one from the 1991 Russian Correspondence championship.

Zelinskis,J - Kopylov,I [B96]
URS-ch19 corr Russia, 1991
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.0–0–0 Bd7 13.Kb1 Be7 14.Na4 Nb4 15.Qd2 Bxa4 16.Qxb4 Bc6 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.Nd4 d5 19.Qb3 Bc5 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.Bc4 Bxd4 22.Bxd5 Qxd5 23.Qxd5 exd5 24.Rxd4 0–0–0 25.Rf1 Rhe8 26.Rd2 Kc7 27.Rdf2 Rd6 28.Kc1 Ree6 29.Kd2 Kd7 30.Rf5 Ke8 31.Rh5 Rd7 32.Re1 1–0

Is Kramnik forced to think here, or is he bluffing?



12...exf5 has not been played prior to this game, so far as I have found. Will Kramnik's fourth novelty in eleven games give him his much needed second victory?

13.Qe3

8:15am PDT

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go. I'm off to train some youth chess players without the aid of silicon and software, and most of all, my internet connection. When I'm able to check in again, this game almost certainly will be history.

If Kramnik pulls off a win, I'll be here for the blow by blow tomorrow. If not, I'll be forced to become content with blogging about things with less immediacy. Thank you to all that have joined me in this enterprise the past two weeks. Let's not be strangers.

Kramnik is ahead on the clock and has an interesting pawn formation.

11:37am PDT Update

Lunch is served at the Classic Cafe in Deer Park, Washington where the coffee is great and the service excellent. Moreover, they have a wireless connection available. The game in Bonn is over, and appears to have been an interesting but relatively short draw.

13...Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8



19.Nxc8 Rxc8

As pieces come off the board, Kramnik's chances vanish. Or, do they improve?

20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3 ½–½



There's a bit more that White might play for in this position than for Black, as White has fewer weaknesses. Both players have their pieces in the game, and their coordination might improve, but when White is seeking a draw, there's precious little hope for Black to subvert his plan.

Excellent match for World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand! Vladimir Kramnik showed signs of making a comeback in the past few days, but it was too little, too late. It appears that Anand's excellent preparation prior to the match gave him an early and decisive edge.

It was a WCC match that was good for the players, organizers, fans, and, in short, good for chess.

Kramnik Scores!

In Game 10 of the World Chess Championship in Bonn, Vladimir Kramnik won his first game. He now trails Viswanathan Anand by two games with two games to play. A draw in either game will secure the championship for Anand. Two more Kramnik wins will force rapid game tiebreaks.

Play through today's game:



My post just before this one was written during the game.

Kramnik-Anand: Game 10

This could be the end. I have nothing against Viswanathan Anand. Indeed I've long enjoyed his chess. But I am a partisan in favor of Vladimir Kramnik. He must win today to keep the World Chess Championship match going. I'm looking forward to an exciting game.

I recall buying Kramnik: My Life and Games (2000) before he became the World Chess Champion, but the publication date renders that improbable. Chances are that my memory is playing tricks on me and that I became a fan of Kramnik because of his performance against a former idol, Garry Kasparov. In any case, when I bought that book, the Sveshnikov and Kalashnikov variations of the Sicialian Defense were a central component of my repertoire. There are many exciting examples of so-called high risk Sicilians in Kramnik's early career.

Then, following his lead I added the Russian Defense (AKA Petroff) and Berlin Defense in the Spanish to my efforts. As I was struggling to break away from the C-class plateau, Kramnik's play offered a model for extracting wins from seemingly even positions, as well as stubbornly defending slightly inferior positions.

6:56am PDT; 2:56pm in Bonn

The game clock on Playchess is counting down to two hours.

Kramnik,V-Anand,V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5



At least thirteen games have reached this position, including:

Kasparov,G (2851) - Anand,V (2769) [E20]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (7), 15.01.2000
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0–0 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Nc6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.0–0 Qa5 12.Bd2 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5 18.Be3 Be2 19.Rd2 Rab8 20.Bxb6 axb6 21.Qd6 Bf3 22.Qxc6 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Qe5 24.Qc4 Rfc8 25.Qd4 Qa5 26.Rb1 h6 27.Rb4 Qc5 28.Rd3 Qc7 29.a4 Rd8 30.Qe3 Rxd3 31.Qxd3 Rc8 32.Qb1 Qxc3 33.Rxb6 Rc4 34.Rb8+ Kh7 35.Rb7 f6 36.Re7 Rb4 37.Qa2 Qc4 38.Qxc4 Rxc4 39.a5 Ra4 40.Rxe6 Rxa5 41.Rd6 Ra4 42.Kf3 Ra3+ 43.Ke2 h5 44.Rd3 Ra2+ 45.Ke3 Kg6 46.h3 Ra4 47.f4 Rb4 48.Ra3 Rc4 49.g4 hxg4 50.hxg4 Rb4 51.Ra6 Kf7 52.Ra7+ Kg6 53.f5+ Kh6 54.g5+ fxg5 55.e5 g4 56.e6 Kg5 ½–½

18.Re1

Kramnik finds his third novelty of the match. Anand goes into a think.

7:32am PDT

18...c5 19.Qa5 Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2

Anand has used approximately forty minutes.

7:57am PDT; 3:57pm in Bonn

21.Bf4



Kramnik has used approximately twenty-three minutes.

21...e5

Kramnik is thirty minutes ahead on the clock.

8:21am PDT

Opening Nomenclature

This game is a Nimzo-Indian Defense, but which variation? 4.g3 is given as the Steiner Variation (for Lajos Steiner, Hungarian champion in the 1930s) in David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess (1992) and at Chess Archaeology. In the comments section of this blog, the Romanishin Variation has been mentioned. Barry Spiro has written Romanishin Variation ( 4 g3 ) of the Nimzo-Indian Defense (1981), which might have some bearing on this game with a slightly different move order.

22.Be3

Kramnik spent over ten minutes on that move. He does not appear to have an appreciable advantage, but there are imbalances in the position: bishop pair vs. bishop and knight, and one of the players might lose his isolated pawn. 22.Bxe5 might have led to 22...Nc4 23.Qa6 Qxe5 24.Rxe2 Qxc3 when Hiarcs 12 starts to like Kramnik's position, but my eye says that c-pawn could become a problem.

Susan Polgar is optimistic, at least from the point of view of Kramnik's partisans:

I just glanced at the evaluation of Fritz. It gives the position as equal. I disagree. I think White is slightly better and Anand has an uncomfortable position with White's Bishop pair pointing at his Rooks and his pieces are not very coordinated. In addition, it is not so simple for Black to come up with a sound strategic plan here.

22...Bg4 23.Qa6

Dennis Monokrousses called the move, as did Susan Polgar. It stands to reason that Anand was not surprised.

23...f6 24.a4

Hope Springs Forth

9:18am PDT; 5:18pm in Bonn

Hiarcs 12 now gives an evaluation of +0.60!

24...Qf7

The intent of 23...f6. Anand's queen need to be in the fight. Nc4 is again a possibility.

25.Bf1 and Hiarcs 12's evaluation goes up.



25...Be6

My engine preferred 25...Kh8. Now it likes 26.Reb1 +1.10.

26.Rab1

How does a player know which rook to move? I've often selected the wrong one. Did Kramnik?

9:39am PDT; 5:39pm in Bonn

Playchess clocks showKramnik just under an hour, and Anand just over twenty minutes. Anand must move every ninety seconds to get to the endgame--Kramnik's strength. Although, as Yasser Seiriwan pointed out when I brought this point up on Friday, Anand has been outplaying Kramnik in the endgame so far in Bonn.

26...c4 Anand used something close to four minutes.

27.a5 Na4 was played while I was discussing it in a comment (where I incorrectly wrote 27.a4).

28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6

Anand is in trouble!! Go Kramnik, Go!!

Almost Three Hours into the Game

9:53am PDT; 5:53pm in Bonn

Hiarcs 12 has +1.75.

1-0

Anand leads 6-4, and they will play on Wednesday. Unfortunately I will not be able to follow that game live.

Anand-Kramnik: Game 9

In Europe, the clocks changed back to Standard Time on the normal date this weekend, while the United States switched to a later change a few years ago. Because I forgot, this difference robbed me of a needed hour of sleep, and may have frustrated some of my readers, who, like me, were wondering why the game had not yet begun.

7:00am PDT; 3:00pm in Bonn

The game should start now.

Anand, V-Kramnik, V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6

It has begun.

7:03am PDT

I am following the game on the Playchess server on my Gateway notebook computer--an old and slow P-III, while performing the seemingly endless labor of restoring files after a system restore on my HP Pavilion desktop. It is made much easier due to first backing up everything possible on an external hard drive, but still the process is maddening, and will cost me in productivity for a week or more.

3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Rd1

7:16am PDT; 3:16pm in Bonn

11...Bb4

Nine games in ChessBase online database. The highest level game of these nine is:

Van Wely,L (2643) - Dao Thien Hai (2555) [D43]
Istanbul ol (Men) Istanbul (3), 28.10.2000
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb4 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.Rd1 Nbd7 12.Ne5 Rg8 13.0–0 Qe7 14.a4 a6 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.d5 Nf6 17.d6 Qd7 18.f4 Bxc3 19.bxc3 c5 20.fxg5 Bxe4 21.Qd2 Nd5 22.Bh5 Bg6 23.Bf3 Bd3 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.Rde1+ Kd8 26.Re7 1–0

12.Ne5

Now 7:25am PDT

12...Qe7

Kramnik delivers the novelty!



13.O-O Nxe5 14.Bxe5 O-O 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.f4 Qg7

8:29am PDT

17.e5

They tell me chess players are patient, but that's because they haven't been in the room with me when my computer is set up with the defaults instead of the way I want them. Add Kramnik's abysmal performance in this match to my computer problems and I'm "fit to be tied," as they say.

Kramnik appears to be twenty minutes ahead on the clock.

8:50am PDT; 4:50pm in Bonn

As a consequence of computer problems on my main box, I'm not running Hiarcs 12 today. The problems that led to my desktop problems began with one of those notorious Microsoft script errors, and were compounded by human errors--mine.

Kramnik has been thinking awhile. Fritz 9 (running on a 1.2 GhZ P-III) likes Black's position, but many of those commenting on Playchess are far less optimistic.

9:00am PDT

17...c5 just played

18.Nxb5 cxd4 19.Qxc4 a5

Good News!

Hiarcs 12 now running on my box! That's good news, but even more so is that it likes Kramnik's position, giving -0.62.



20.Kh1

Anand played this move while I was away from the board. The clocks on Playchess show Anand under thirty minutes for the next twenty moves, and Kramnik just over fifty remaining. Kramnik uncorked the novelty, is quite a bit ahead on time, and has a better position. Is this a dream? Has my perspective become distorted beyond all relationship to reality due to computer woes? Certainly my struggles with software should not skew my perspective towards a rosy view of life, but that's how I'm seeing this game at the moment.

9:49am PDT; 5:49pm in Bonn

Hiarcs 12 now showing -1.04; Fritz 9 has -0.70

20...Rac8 21.Qxd4 gxf4 22.Bf3 Ba6 23.a4

It appears that Anand has improved his position. The position seems unclear with each move changing the evaluation of engines towards even, then back towards an advantage for Black. Anand's moves seem to be coming fast. The Playchess game clocks have both players under twenty-seven minutes.

23...Rc5 24.Qxf4 Rxe5 25.b3

10:17am PDT; 6:17pm in Bonn



25...Bxb5 26.axb5 Rxb5 27.Be4 Bc3 28.Bc2 Be5 29.Qf2 Bb8 30.Qf3 Rc5 31.Bd3

10:30am PDT; 6:30pm in Bonn



31...Rc3

Hiarcs 12 has -0.97

32.g3 Kh8

Hiarcs 12 has -1.20

10:35am PDT

Hiarcs 12 has -0.96

10:36am PDT

33.Qb7 f5

Hiarcs 12 has -0.65

10:40am PDT

34...Qe5



35.Qb7

Did Anand miss something?

35...Qc7 36.Qxc7 Bxc7 37.Bc4

Did Kramnik miss something?

10:50am PDT

37...Re8 38.Rd7 a4

White can probably hold with 39.Ra1 but he has to find it.
Susan Polgar

39.Rxc7 axb3 40.Rf2 Rb8

Both players gain an hour on their clocks, having made the time control.

11:01am PDT; 7:01pm in Bonn



Playchess pundits are declaring the game a dead draw, but Susan Polgar thinks Black has winning chances.

But, in her update to include Anand's move 41, she states that White holds the position.

41...h5

11:34am PDT

42.Kg2 h4 43.Rc6 hxg3

Hiarcs 12 has =0.00

44.hxg3 Rg8 45.Rxe6 Rxc4 ½–½

Viswanathan Anand leads 6-3. One more draw secures the World Chess Championship title to the current champion. The man reputed to be the best tournament player, but less strong in matches, has so far dominated this match against Vladimir Kramnik.

In Bonn, it is 8:00pm; in the American west, it is high noon.

World Chess Championship Comebacks

In the World Chess Championship taking place in Bonn, Germany right now, Viswanathan Anand is one win or two draws from match victory. If Kramnik manages four consecutive wins in all the remaining scheduled standard time games, on the other hand, he will regain the champion’s title. If Kramnik wins three and draws one, the players will play rapid games as tiebreaks. Kramnik’s chances look bleak. It even appears unlikely at this point that there will be a twelfth game.

In the past, there have been several astounding comebacks in World Chess Championship matches.

Steinitz – Zukertort 1886

In the first “official” WCC match, Wilhelm Steinitz won the first game. Then Johannes Zukertort won four in a row. After five games, Steinitz was down by three. Steinitz won the next two games, followed by a draw. In game nine, Steinitz tied the match. By game twelve of the match the first official World Chess Champion had a two game lead. Steinitz won 12½ - 7½.

Through several subsequent matches, Steinitz was not down by more than one game until his 1896 match with Emanuel Lasker. Lasker won the first four games, and was ahead 9-2 (four draws) before Steinitz won game twelve. Lasker won the match 12½ - 4½.

Euwe – Alekhine 1935

Alexander Alekhine failed to defend his world title against Max Euwe. But in this thirty game match, Euwe came back from a brief three game deficit to tie the match. Then Euwe pulled ahead. Alekhine won the first game; Euwe won game two. Then Alekhine won two, followed by two draws, and another Alekhine win. After seven games, Euwe was down 5-2. However, as the players had agreed to play a long match, Euwe had plenty of time to recover. The next three games were decisive—Euwe won, then Alekhine, then Euwe.

After twenty-four games, the score was 12-12 with ten draws and seven wins each. Euwe won games twenty-five and twenty-six, and then Alekhine won one. The event finished with three draws, although Euwe had a superior position in the final game. Euwe won 15½ - 14½ .



White just played Rf1-g1 and the players agreed to a draw.

In the rematch two years later, Euwe had a one game lead after five games and a three game deficit after ten. Alekhine regained his title 15½ - 9½ . He then held the title until his death in 1946. There were no WCC matches during the Second World War.

Fischer – Spassky 1972

In Reykjavik, Bobby Fischer lost the first game, and then forfeited game two due to his unresolved complaints about noise and lighting. From this two loss deficit, Fischer stormed back, winning games three, five, six, eight, and ten. Spassky could not recover from his three game deficit. Fischer won 12½ - 8½.

Among the demands Fischer put forth as conditions for World Chess Championships was his insistence that a match should continue until one player had won six games. FIDE could not accede to this demand, which is a nightmare for organizers.

Kasparov – Karpov 1984

After winning the title by default, Anatoli Karpov won more tournaments than any previous world champion. He also twice successfully defended his title against Victor Korchnoi, 1978 and 1981. In 1984 a match was arranged with the young new challenger, Garry Kasparov, and with the conditions Fischer had sought. Draws would not count in the result. To gain or retain the WCC title, a player had to win six games.

The first decisive game was the third of the match. Karpov won that game, then won six, seven, and nine. The next seventeen games were drawn, but then Karpov achieved his fifth win. Kasparov began a comeback with a win in game thirty-two. A string of fourteen more draws was capped by two successive Kasparov wins. With Karpov leading 5-3 and forty draws, the match was suspended. It had been running from September 1984 to February 1985.

A new match began in September 1985. In this resumption, the old system of best of twenty-four games was in place. Kasparov won the first game, lost games four and five, and then won game eleven. He won this match 13 – 11.

Perhaps this pair of matches should be regarded as the greatest comeback in World Chess Championship history. After seventy-two games, each player had eight wins and fifty-six draws.

In 1986, Kasparov was never behind in the match against Karpov. However, in 1987, each player won four games, Karpov winning first in game two. Kasparov retained the title due to the 12-12 tie. In 1990 Kasparov won the fifth WCC match between these two men 12½ - 11½.

Kasparov surrendered his WCC title to Vladimir Kramnik in a match scheduled for sixteen games in 2000. Kramnik won games two and ten; the rest were draws. After fifteen games, he achieved the 8½ needed for victory. Kramnik won 8½ to 6½.

Leko – Kramnik 2004

In Kramnik’s first title defense, the players agreed to play best of fourteen games with the reigning champion getting draw odds. Kramnik won the first game, but Peter Leko won games five and eight. Going into game fourteen, Kramnik needed a win with Black to tie the match and retain the title. He succeeded.

Topalov – Kramnik 2006

In Kramnik’s next title defense, he was considered the challenger by FIDE. This match was to unify the title that had split in 1993 when Kasparov organized a WCC title defense outside the auspices of FIDE. Kramnik won the first two games, then the psychological war began. Restrictions on use of the loo led to Kramnik forfeiting game five. Topalov won games eight and nine. Depending on one’s interpretation of Kramnik’s appeal, he was either one game down or even with Topalov when game ten began. Kramnik won this game. After two more draws, the twelve game match concluded without result. Lack of clarity regarding the identity of challenger and champion precluded any possibility of the champion having draw odds, so the players began a four game rapid match. Kramnik won two and lost one. Depending on how the split is viewed, Kramnik either retained the title or became the World Chess Champion by a score of 8½ - 7 ½. The open dispute regarding game five was rendered moot.

Three times, new World Chess Champions have been crowned after having been down three games in a match—Steinitz, Euwe, and Kasparov. In none of these has the future champion been down three games with four remaining.

Kramnik-Anand: Game 8

FoidosChess Friday

As last Friday, I bought a ticket to watch today's game via FoidosChess. The game should begin in fifteen minutes, so I'm watching Tea Lancheva interview Stephan Andreae, one of the tournament organizers. He is director of the venue, the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn. He describes himself as "a very bad chess player," but he sees the art in chess and is proud to host the event in an art museum.

Kramnik,V-Anand,V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6

My clock says they started a minute early!

3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qa5 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxf6 Bxb5!



Yasser Seiriwan calls this move "off the beaten track." It appears to be the novelty. I found twenty-eight games with 10.Bxf6 in the ChessBase database, but none with Anand's move.

11.Ndxb5 gxf6

6:19am PDT in Spokane; 3:19pm in Bonn

12.O-O Nc6



FoidosChess allows the viewer to look at either player full screen, or the board, or many of several other camera angles.

13.a3

6:35am PDT

13...Bxc3

Thirt-four minutes consumed by Kramnik; five by Vishy.

14.Nxc3

Anand is thinking

6:46am PDT

Another FoidosChess viewer has provoked Grandmaster Seiriwan to consider 14...O-O in his analysis.

6:49am PDT

14...Rg8 again!

But, here Anand has no light-squared bishop helping the rook bear down on Kramnik's monarch.

15.f4

We are one hour into the game.



7:11am PDT

I just took a moment to check the US Chess Federation's Member Services page to see whether the Spokane Chess Club's Fall Championship had been rated yet, as it concluded last night. It has. I was the third seed and finished in a six-way tie for third. However, I drew the second seed. My rating went up to a new personal high--over 1750 for the first time.

15...Rd1 16.Qe1

Kramnik played his move instantly.

7:13am PDT; 4:13pm in Bonn

Both clocks show 1:13 remaining. Viswanathan Anand is thinking.

16...Qb6 17.Rf2

Kramnik is three minutes ahead on the clocks.

17...Rd3

Had to take a short drive. What did I miss?

18.Qe2 Qd4 19.Re1 a6

Hiracs 12 believes that White is slowly improving his position, which is good news for Kramnik fans.

On October 1, this blog had fifty hits. Since this game began today, I've had fifty hits per hour. It's still small time, but tremendous growth!



20.Kh1

Grandmaster Yasser Seiriwan presents excellent commentary, and engages in conversation with his listeners, who type their comments. When he started discussing the endgame that might result in this game, I sent him a comment that he read on the air:

An ending against Kramnik is almost never equal. The man is a god of the endgame.

Yasser pointed out that Anand outplayed Kramnik in the endgame yesterday. He also added that he thinks Anatoli Karpov is a one of the greatest endgame players in all types of endgames. In rook endgames, Seiriwan likes Vasily Smyslov and Victor Korchnoi.

8:22am PDT; 5:22pm in Bonn

20...Kf8

Hiarcs 12 likes 21.Na2 with the idea of Na2-c1 trapping the rook. It then gives 21...Qb6 22.f5

21.Ref1 Rg6 22.g3

8:44am PDT

Game clocks show
Kramnik 00:31 Anand 00:38

22...Kg7 23.Rd1!? Rxd1 24.Nxd1



24...Kh8

The game has been going for three hours.

25.Nc3 Rg8 26.Kg2 Rd8 27.Qh5

Kramnik 00:23 Anand 00:25

27...Kg7 28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Qh5 Kg7

A repetition to get closer to the time control?

30.Qg4+ Kh8 31.Qh4 Kg7 32.e5 f5



33.Qf6+ Kg8 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.Qf6+ Kg8

Kramnik came up with a brilliant combination to add an hour to his clock.

36.Re2 Qc4 37.Qg5+ Rh8 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Qg5+ Kh8 ½–½

Yasser Seiriwan is still looking at variations. The players are sitting at the board talking about the game.

9:38am PDT; 6:38pm in Bonn

9:41am PDT

The players just signed their scoresheets and left the board. Yasser is getting requests to ask in the press conference.

Anand leads 5½-2½

10:03am PDT

The press conference is over. Kramnik was happy to have the advantage for a change, but Anand found the position defensible.

Anand-Kramnik: Game 7

Kramnik has a huge deficit to overcome in very few games.

Twenty-five minutes into the game and the players appear to be following one game from four years ago.

Banusz,T (2389) - Erdos,V (2454) [D19]
Budapest FS10 GM Budapest (6), 02.10.2004
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0–0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 0–0 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Re8 15.Ne1 Bg6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Nd3 Be7 18.Bd2 Rc8 19.Rfc1 Nb8 20.Rxc8 Qxc8 21.Rc1 Qd7 22.b3 b6 23.Bb4 Bxb4 24.Nxb4 a5 25.Na2 Rc8 26.Rc3 Nc6 ½–½

Anand, V-Kramnik, V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.O-O Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 O-O 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Re8 15.Ne1 Bg6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Nd3 Qxb6

Kramnik played the novelty!



18.Nxb4 Qxb4 19.b3

I apologize to readers that visited my blog looking for something that was not yet there. I got a late start this morning because I failed to reset the alarm for 5:30am. Even so I was logged into Playchess and following the game by 6:10am, but there were things to do getting ready to begin this "live blogging" enterprise.

I'm tired after my binge last night. I spent three hours playing 3 0 blitz, and losing far more than I ought. I think I dropped my internet blitz rating by 150.

19...Rac8

Time to take stock in this game.

Anand has a bishop against Kramnik's knight. Both players have weaknesses in their pawn structure. Kramnik has the doubled g-pawns, while Anand has two backwards pawns. For the moment Kramnik controls the open file, but Anand appears able to contest it.

These sort of endgames that appear to offer so little are Kramnik's stock in trade, but Anand is no slouch. It may be too early to predict a draw, but there's not a lot for Kramnik to play for here in the opinion of this patzer (remember that I'm a USCF B class player--better than 85% of the world's chess players, and weaker than most that are following this match closely).

Anand needs four draws to win the match. He has little reason to turn down opportunities to try for a win in positions that warrant such efforts, but also little reason to try to complicate a routine position (is any position in chess ever routine?).

6:54am PDT; 3:54pm in Bonn update

20.Ba3 was just played

My Hiarcs 12 sees the position as very nearly even.

7:02am PDT

20...Qc3 21.Rac1 Qxe3

Someone asks, "What is Vishy thinking about? Isn't 22.fxe3 forced?"

Well, there is Rxc8, but it probably drops a pawn. 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.fxe3 Rc3 forking the backwards b- and e-pawns.

7:09am PDT

Susan Polgar's blog has 22.fxe3 already played while I'm awaiting moves from the Playchess robot, who might have taken a nap.

7:14am PDT

22.fxe3 f6 23.Bd6

Perhaps we're in for a game today!




7:19am PDT

I restored my Firefox session after a crash that appears to have been caused by new advertising enhanced features at Photobucket, my image hosting service. Sometimes it seems that free stuff costs more than it's worth.

23...g5 24.h3 Kf7 25.Kf2

7:41am PDT; 4:41pm in Bonn

Kramnik appears to be in a deep think. Will he try for a win in a position that offers minimal prospects of advantage?

7:44am PDT

25...Kg6 26.Ke2



Hiracs 12 wants to move the king back to f7.

8:11am PDT update

26...fxe5 27.dxe6 b6 28.b4 Rc4

Kramnik will be able to double his rooks.

8:17am PDT

... or not

29.Rxc4 dxc4

Kramnik has a supported passed pawn.

Actually, it's not supported yet, but it can be. It also will be blockaded by the White king.

8:19am PDT

Hiracs 12 thinks that White is slowly improving his position. Kramnik, get out while you can.

30.Rc1 Rc8 31.g4



White has a more active king.

On the queenside, Kramnik is a pawn ahead, but a piece down.

8:33am PDT

31...a5!

8:38am PDT

Anand played 32.b5, and Kramnik instantly replied with 32...c3

I imagine that Kramnik has found the draw in a game that was starting to turn against him.

When Engines are Wrong

Hiarcs 12 gives +1.52 +- for the line 33.Kd3 Nc5+ 34.Bxc5 Rxc5 35.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 36.Kxc3 Kf7. However, the engine is too optimistic. Both kings are almost completely locked out of the other side, and the Black king is better positioned for the only available point of penetration along the h- and g-files. After some exchanges there, the kings keep each other at bay. There is no other way through. The engine cannot assess the pawn structure well enough, it seems.

8:54am PDT; 5:54pm in Bonn

33.Rc2 Kf7 34.Kd3

Something Awry with the Robot

The Playchess server give the conclusion of the game as 34...Nc5+ 35.Bxc5 Rxc5 36.Rxc3 Rxc3 37.Ke4 ½–½

9:02am PDT

Playchess has corrected the game score: draw after Black's move 36.

34...Nc5+ 35.Bxc5 Rxc5 36.Rxc3 Rxc3 ½–½

Anand leads 5-2.

1.d4!! Anand's Novelty

How should White begin?



Viswanathan Anand usually favors 1.e4. The king's pawn opening claims the center, opens lines for a bishop and the queen, and leads to many aggressive lines. It does more to improve the mobility of White's army than any other move.

Vladimir Kramnik favors 1.d4 or 1.Nf3, although he has played 1.e4 plenty. The queen's pawn opening claims the center, opens lines for a bishop, and the pawn is supported by the queen. Yet, it is generally considered less aggressive than 1.e4 and is favored by players seeking a positional struggle.

Opening with the king's knight or the queen's bishop's pawn (1.c4) often transposes into lines that begin with 1.d4, but these moves also have their own character.

White has twenty possible first moves, but these four--e4, d4, Nf3, c4--account for the overwhelming number of grandmaster games. Lesser players also play these four most of the time with 1.e4 and 1.d4 as the leading choices.

“Best by test”

Bobby Fischer declared in My 60 Memorable Games (1969) that 1.e4 was “best by test.”

New in Chess Yearbooks declared 1.d4 “best by test” in “How to Read NIC Statistics.” This article presents a simple bar graph comparing four interrelated bits of data from the NIC database.

White scores 54.8% in the database as a whole
White scores 56.1% with 1.d4
White scores 54.1% with 1.e4
White scores 52.3% against the Sicilian Defense

The Sicilian Defense is a principle culprit in reducing the scoring percentage of 1.e4.

Early in his career, Kramnik was a devotee of the Sicilian Defense. Anand has produced many stunning victories in the Sicilian Defence from both sides. He plays it well, and he plays against it with authority.

Kramnik has been answering 1.e4 with 1...e5 for the past several years. Against Garry Kasparov, he adopted the Berlin System of the Spanish Opening, a system advocated by Emanuel Lasker more than a century ago, and Kasparov was unable to win with White. Since then, Kramnik's Russian Defense (aka the Petroff) has been almost invincible.

All of the games in the World Chess Championship 2008 in Bonn so far have been queen's pawn openings. A Semi-Slav Defense to the Queen's Gambit might have been a reasonable prediction for games when Kramnik has White, but the two Nimzo-Indians and the Queen's Gambit Declined, Classical variation when Anand had White have been a surprise.

Viswanathan Anand has favored 1.e4, but not as dogmatically as Fischer. Anand’s 1.d4 appears in more than one hundred games prior to his present match against Vladimir Kramnik. Although most of these were rapid or blitz games, he played a queen’s pawn opening against Michael Adams in the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee last January. In 2005 he played it against Adams twice—in Wijk aan Zee and in Linares. Alexander Morozevich has faced 1.d4 from Anand three times at standard time controls.

Prior to his World Chess Championship match with Boris Spassky, Fischer had played 1.e4 in all but three tournament and match games. It must have been difficult to cope with Fischer’s choice of 1.c4 in the sixth game even though Spassky was an authority on the resulting opening.

Fischer,R (2785) - Spassky,B (2660) [D59]
World Championship 28th Reykjavik (6), 23.07.1972
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 0–0 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 b6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Rc1 Be6 12.Qa4 c5 13.Qa3 Rc8 14.Bb5 a6 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.0–0 Ra7 17.Be2 Nd7 18.Nd4 Qf8 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.e4 d4 21.f4 Qe7 22.e5 Rb8 23.Bc4 Kh8 24.Qh3 Nf8 25.b3 a5 26.f5 exf5 27.Rxf5 Nh7 28.Rcf1 Qd8 29.Qg3 Re7 30.h4 Rbb7 31.e6 Rbc7 32.Qe5 Qe8 33.a4 Qd8 34.R1f2 Qe8 35.R2f3 Qd8 36.Bd3 Qe8 37.Qe4 Nf6 38.Rxf6 gxf6 39.Rxf6 Kg8 40.Bc4 Kh8 41.Qf4 1–0

Fischer went on to play 1.c4 again in the eighth, twelfth, and fourteenth games of the match. His wins in games six and eight gave him the lead he would carry to the conclusion, even adding to it by two games.

Anand’s choice of 1.d4 with White so far in the World Chess Championship match in Bonn is less novel than Fischer’s adoption of 1.c4 in 1972, but it appears just as effective.

Anand-Kramnik: Game 6

World Championship matches are grueling affairs. The players and their seconds are in a contest that tests endurance as much as chess skill. Dedicated fans can also find the battle exhausting. I'm getting a late start this morning because I set my alarm for 6:00am--the time the game was scheduled to begin. Of course, it is late afternoon in Bonn because they are nine hours ahead of the west coast of the United States.

By the time I had my computer up and running, and my coffee poured, observers on Playchess were already discussing the novelty in game six: Anand's 9.h3.

Anand, V-Kramnik, V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Bd2 O-O 9.h3



I found seven other games that reached the position after 8...O-O. All of them continued 9.e3. Two seem worthy of mention: a blindfold game in which Anand had Black, and the most recent high level game.

Ivanchuk,V (2735) - Anand,V (2725) [E34]
Amber-blind 5th Monte Carlo (3), 04.1996
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Bd2 0–0 9.e3 Rd8 10.Be2 e5 11.Nxe5 Be6 12.g4 Qxe5 13.dxe5 Bxb3 14.exf6 Be6 15.f4 gxf6 16.0–0–0 Kg7 17.Rhg1 Na5 18.b3 Nxb3+ 19.axb3 Bxb3 20.Nb5 Bxd1 21.Rxd1 Bxd2+ 22.Rxd2 Rxd2 23.Kxd2 c6 24.Nd4 a5 25.Kc3 a4 26.Kb2 c5 27.Nf5+ Kf8 28.Ka3 b6 29.Bc4 Ra5 30.Nd6 Ra8 31.h4 h6 32.h5 Ra5 33.e4 Ra8 34.Bd5 Ra7 35.Nf5 b5 36.Nxh6 c4 37.Nf5 b4+ 38.Kxb4 a3 39.Bxc4 a2 40.Bxa2 Rxa2 41.g5 Rf2 42.h6 Kg8 43.Ne7+ Kh7 44.Nd5 fxg5 45.fxg5 Kg6 46.Kc5 Kxg5 47.h7 Rh2 48.Kd6 Rxh7 49.e5 Kf5 50.Ne7+ Ke4 51.Ng8 Rg7 52.Nf6+ Kf5 53.Nd7 Rh7 54.Nf8 Rg7 55.Nd7 Rg1 56.Ke7 Kg6 57.Nf8+ Kg7 58.Nd7 Re1 59.Kd6 Kg6 60.Nf8+ Kf5 61.Ke7 Ra1 62.Kxf7 Ra7+ 63.Ke8 Kxe5 64.Nd7+ Kd6 65.Nf8 Rg7 66.Kd8 Re7 67.Ng6 Re1 68.Nf8 Re2 69.Ng6 Re6 70.Nf8 Re2 71.Ng6 Re1 72.Nf8 Re3 73.Ng6 Ke6 74.Nf8+ Kf7 75.Nd7 Rc3 76.Nb6 ½–½

Kobalia,M (2644) - Sadvakasov,D (2605) [E34]
RUS-chT Sochi (2), 19.04.2005
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Bd2 0–0 9.e3 a6 10.Be2 Bd6 11.Nh4 Qg5 12.g3 Ne8 13.f4 Qd8 14.Nf3 Be7 15.0–0–0 b5 16.Ne4 Bb7 17.Qc2 f5 18.Nc3 Qc8 19.Rhg1 Nf6 20.Kb1 Nb4 21.Qc1 Ne4 22.Ne5 c5 23.Ka1 cxd4 24.exd4 Rd8 25.Be1 Qc7 26.g4 Rac8 27.Nd3 Rxd4 28.Nxb4 Rxb4 29.gxf5 exf5 30.a3 Ra4 31.Qc2 Kh8 32.Qb3 Qc5 33.Rxg7 Rxa3+ 34.Qxa3 Kxg7 35.Qxc5 Nxc5 36.b4 Ne6 37.Bd3 Bxb4 38.Nxb5 Bxe1 39.Rxe1 Nxf4 40.Bxf5 axb5 41.Re7+ Kf6 42.Bxc8 Kxe7 43.Bxb7 Ne6 44.Kb2 b4 45.Kc2 Kf6 46.Bc8 Nc5 47.h4 Ke5 48.Bg4 Kf4 49.Bd1 Ke3 50.h5 h6 51.Bg4 Ke4 52.Bd1 Kd5 53.Bf3+ Kc4 54.Be2+ Kd4 55.Bb5 Ne6 56.Kb3 Kc5 57.Be8 Nd4+ 58.Kb2 Kd6 59.Bg6 Ke7 60.Ka2 Kd6 61.Kb2 Kc5 62.Be8 Nf5 63.Kb3 Nd6 64.Bd7 Nc4 65.Be8 Nd2+ 66.Kc2 Ne4 67.Kb3 Nd6 68.Bd7 ½–½

6:47am PDT update

If the sort of game that comes out of this position is a long hard-fought draw, it bodes well for Kramnik. He needs wins even with Black if he can manage it. But Kramnik's specialty is extracting wins from positions that seem to offer nothing. Throw some minor pieces down and scatter some pawns on the board and sit down against Kramnik, it's his game.

9...b6 10.g4 Qa5 11.Rc1

On the other hand, Anand's 9.h3 and 10.g4 might portend another tactical melee, and so far he's been crushing Kramnik in such games.

11...Bb7

7:12am PDT update

I took a few moments to discuss engines, databases, and "the cynical age of chess" in the forums at ChessWorld. When I came back to the game, several moves had been played.

12.a3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Qd5 14.Qxd5 Nxd5 15.Bd2

Anand has the bishop pair, but we may be in for an endgame. I have not lost faith in Kramnik. The odds are against him, but he can come back.

15...Nf6



16.Rg1 Rac8 17.Bg2 Ne7

They have been playing a little more than an hour and a half.

7:58am PDT; 4:58pm in Bonn

On the Playchess server, Nigel Short offered a pithy comment:

It is all very clever. You leave your king in the centre, in preparation for the endgame, and connect your rooks via the third rank. 21st century chess!

18.Bb4 c5 19.dxc5

After two hours of play, each player has used approximately an hour.

Missing FoidosChess

I bought a ticket to watch game three through Foidos, but not the whole match. Had I bought one for today, however, I might have caught an interesting interview with one of the true gentlemen of the game, and one of the best players that ever pushed pawns--Anatoly Karpov. Dennis Monokrousses has a summary of some of the highlights of this interview at his The Chess Mind blog.

It appears that Kramnik has been studying this position for twenty minutes or so.



8:17am PDT update

A flurry of moves

19...Rfd8 20.Ne5 Bxg2 21.Rxg2

So much for Anand's pair of holy men. The clerics that play on white squares are gone. Now, it is bishop against knight with rooks still on the board. Two principles of endgame play seem significant.

1. Bishops work better with rooks, and are generally slightly better than knights when there are pawns on both wings.
2. Kramnik is the best endgame player alive.

8:35am PDT

21...bxc5 22.Rxc5

8:45am PDT; 5:45pm in Bonn (time for some to think about dinner, while I fix my breakfast)

22...Ne4 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Nd3 Nd5



Rolling Pawns has a nice chess blog and is following the game both here and at Crestbook, where Sergei Shipov is offering commentary.

25.Bd2

It appears that Kramnik lacks compensation for the pawn, but that doesn't mean he will lose this game. Earlier today, a discussion at Playchess reminded those of us that have forgotten that colors switch at the midpoint: Kramnik has Black today, and again in the next game. At least he hasn't lost with the Black pieces . . . yet.

25...Rc2 26.Bc1

That bishop on c1 anchors a nice pawn chain.

After Three Hours of Play

Kramnik's clock shows that he has about one-third of the time the players have left to get to move forty.

9:15am PDT

A lot of action while I was frying some eggs. I should have eaten hours ago, but I have this chess addiction.

26...f5 27.Kd1 Rc8 28.f3 Nd6 29.Ke1 a5 30.e3 e5



31.gxf5 e4 32.fxe4 Nxe4

9:28am PDT

The Playchess game clocks show Anand with twenty minutes and Kramnik with sixteen after

33.Bd2 a4 34.Nf2 Nd6

9:33am PDT

35.Rg4 Nc4 36.e4 Nf6 37.Rg3 Nxb2

9:45am PDT; 6:45pm in Bonn

38.e5 Nd5 39.f6

Kramnik is in trouble

39...Kf7 looked to me like the best of some bad choices

40.Ne4 Nc4

Now that they've made the time control, a resignation is probably in order for Kramnik.

They've been playing almost four hours.

Kicking the Dead

As if it matters, Hiarcs 12 favors the obvious 41.Rxg7+ and White is more than +5.00

Anand, however, just played

41.fxg7

Hiarcs 12 now says +2.32 with 41...Rg8.

41...Kg8

If my chess engine can be believed, both players have made inaccurate moves. On the other hand, humans tire; computers less so.

10:10am PDT; 7:10pm in Bonn

Rumors on Playchess circulate that Kramnik has resigned.



The rumors prove false, as more moves were blitzed off moments ago.

42.Rd3 Ndb6 43.Bh6 Nxe5 44.Nf6+ Kf7 45.Rc3 Rxc3 46.g8Q+ Kxf6 47.Bg7+ 1-0

And now Kramnik gives up.

It is 10:22am PDT; 7:22pm in Bonn

Thank you Vishy for another terrific novelty. Vlad, my heart is with you and I remain hopeful even though reasons for optimism seem to be vanishing.

A Playchess robot claims a new server record for number of viewers.

Kramnik-Anand: Game 5

The game has started.

Kramnik,V-Anand,V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Rg8

A change from game 3. Anand plays this move earlier.



16.Bf4 Bd6

One would expect that Kramnik put some time into exploring this position during the "rest day," but it appears he has gone into his first think. Nogal on the playchess server suggests that Kramnik is bluffing with the clock.

17.Bg3

It is 6:20am PDT; 3:20pm in Bonn

17...f5

6:24am PDT

Was Kramnik prepared for this line? Does he have a surprise in store? Will Anand win the match because his preparation was deeper, more extensive, of by a stroke of luck covered the lines that they played?

The game clocks at playchess (not official) show that Anand has used just over seven minutes, while Kramnik, who is thinking, is closing in on thirty minutes.

6:37am PDT; 3:37pm in Bonn

Some observers think that 18.Ne5 should be played.

6:43am PDT

Hiarcs 12 likes 18.Rfd1

Susan Polgar says that Kramnik must spend a lot of time thinking here because the game has reached a critical position, and White is clearly worse in some lines.

6:52am PDT; 3:52pm in Bonn

Kramnik has used forty-five minutes

7:06am PDT

Hiarcs 12 now likes 18.Rfc1, but then it reverted back to favoring Rfd1 while I was typing this. Some observers at playchess are reporting that Rybka likes 18.a4.

7:08am PDT

18.Rfc1 was played a moment ago



18...f4 19.Bh4 Be7

Anand has used almost twenty minutes

20.a4

7:28am PDT

Susan Polgar said that Kramnik had to exchange on e7, and while I was asking about this move in the comments of her blog, Kramnik played it, and Polgar added it as one of several possibilities.

If I had one of those humongous televisions instead of a standard computer monitor, I could have all these windows visible at once. There are limits to multitasking even when the OS supports it.

7:40am PDT

HiarcsX on playchess reported that Hiarcs has 0.03. I communicated to this user that my version of Hiarcs has 0.28.

As it happens, HiarcsX is the company that develops Hiarcs, and there are 170 versions since 12. I have the latest commercially available version for PCs, but 12.1 is available for Mac.

20...Bxh4 21.Nxh4 Ke7

7:52am PDT; 4:52pm in Bonn

Anand has used almost forty minutes; Kramnik has forty-five minutes remaining to get to move 40.

HiarcsX reported that 20...Qd6 was safer for Anand, then a few moments later reported that 21...Ke7! rendered the evaluation almost even.

My version of Hiarcs 12, running on a 32 bit P-IV with lots of other programs running likes 22.b4 0.68

After Two Hours

Kramnik is thinking about his twenty-second move and has used twice as much time as Anand.

8:04am PDT

Another email comes in from Barack Obama asking for money.

8:05am PDT

22.Ra3 just played

22...Rac8

8:19am PDT

23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Ra1

8:22am PDT

24...Qc5 25.Qg4

Still a long ways to move 40. Kramnik is under half and hour remaining; Anand has just about an hour.

8:33am PDT; 5:33pm in Bonn

25...Qe5 26.Nf3

8:38am PDT

Kramnik is playing for an endgame. Anand might be in trouble.



The fantasy begins: Kramnik evens the score playing the same opening that gave him his first loss in this match. It appeared to the clock watchers that Anand was well prepared for this line, but the board trumps the clock until they reach zero.

26...Qf6

8:42am PDT

27.Re1 Rc5 28.b4 Rc3



29.Nxd4

Did Kramnik blunder again? He should have played 29.Nd2

29...Qxd4

After Three Hours

Unless Kramnik sees somthing the engines miss, he's in trouble.

He doesn't.

30.Rd1 Nf6 31.Rxd4 Nxg4 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.Rxb7 Rc1+ 34.Bf1 Ne3 35.fxe3 fxe3 0-1

Kramnik is down 3 1/2- 1 1/2

9:03am PDT; 6:03pm in Bonn

World Chess Championship Carnival

The World Chess Championship in Bonn, Germany provides a necessary distraction from the rapid decline of global finance. At least that's part of the angle taken in the entertaining report at Todd and Vishal's blog. Vishal raises the specter that Anand's claim to the title based on winning a tournament is suspect until and unless he defeats Kramik in this match.

If you are following my own commentary, you already know that I've made efforts to redirect you to The Chess Mind by Dennis Monokrousses. Monokrousses is an International Master and graduate student in philosophy well known to many aspiring chess players for his excellent Radio Chess Base lectures. On his blog he is offering the sort of commentary that makes his lectures of such great value to the improving class player. He apears to following the games through FoidosChess and other sources and posting periodic updates--live blogging as it were.

The Usual Suspects

Among the links currently found on my blogroll, Alberto Dominguez is posting nice clean game scores as they become available. Mig Greengard's Daily Dirt Chess Ninja blog offers his popular game analysis and commentary with rich insights into some of the psychological aspects of competition. Susan Polgar offered insightful live commentary of game four, as well as plenty of coverage of other games and other chess news. Close to my heart is her emphasis on youth chess.

Chess Vibes has a nice layout for finding the latest news that interests you most. Watching the games live is possible at the official site of the World Chess Championship 2008, as well as ChessPro (Russian) and ChessDom. I'm following the games myself mostly on the playchess server, but also through my favorite correspondence/turn-based playing site: ChessWorld.

Random Blogs

Two blogs called Chess Musings are following the match. Chris Torres has a Wordpress blog worth a look, and Jason uses his blog to direct chess enthusiasts to a site where all the games are presented in replayable Java script. Ed Hong has some match updates and other chess news. Crestbook is a Russian blog that appears of interest (sorry that I cannot read Russian--the emergence of Chess Informant eliminated the need that drove Bobby Fischer to learn that language). I'm certain the match is blogged in many other languages as well, but this Russian site came up in a Google search in English, so that much is worthy of mention.

MSM

The so-called Mainstream Media has even offered comfort in our afflication. The Huffington Post has a story about game 4. Yahoo! News picked up the same story, but attributed to the Associated Press. According to NewsCred, Robert Huntington--the author of the AP story--writes for the San Francisco Chronicle.

I will happily add more chess blogs to this carnival if readers will submit their favorites.

Anand-Kramnik: Game 4

Anand leads 2-1 and has White this afternoon in the World Chess Championship in Bonn, Germany.

Anand is the current champion, but not everyone accepts his title because it was earned in a tournament, rather than a match. For most of the run of World Chess Champions since Wilhelm Steinitz the title was earned through successfully defeating the reigning champion over a series of games.

There were two notable exceptions:

Alexander Alekhine died in 1946. He had regained the title in 1937 from Max Euwe by a considerable margin, after losing a close match to Euwe in 1935. World War II disrupted peaceful international sporting events, so there were no World Chess Championships during the war years. In 1948, a new champion was selected through a select tournament.

Robert "Bobby" Fischer and FIDE, the World Chess Federation, failed to come to terms for Fischer's title defense against Anatoly Karpov. Fischer forfeited the title, and Karpov became World Chess Champion by default. Make no mistake about it, however, Karpov's road to become the legitimate challenger was long and grueling, but he prevailed.

When Kramnik earned the title of World Chess Champion by defeating Garry Kasparov in 2000, there were some that felt his his title was tainted. He had lost a match to Alexie Shirov; Shirov may have been the legitimate challenger. No one seemed able to organize a Shirov-Kasparov match, however, and the Kramnik-Kasparov match was held.

Kramnik defended his title twice. His second title defense was officially called a reunification match because it brought the FIDE World Champion title and the so-called "classical" title--separate since 1993--back into unity. As part of the series of agreements between Kramnik and FIDE, Kramnik agreed to play in a World Championship tournament in Mexico City in 2007. Anand won the event.

Anand, V-Kramnik, V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

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 Nxd5 11.Be5 Bf5

This move appears to be the novelty, while there were fifty-three games in the ChessBase online database with the position after 11.Be5.



12.Be2 Bf6


Update 6:48pm Pacific Daylight Time (3:48am, Sunday morning in Bonn)

I could not watch more than the first few minutes live today due to other commitments. I left my house at 7:00am to spend the day running a youth chess tournament with seventy-one players in three sections. It was an efficient, well-run event (I'm told), and all the awards were distributed and clean-up underway by 3:30pm. The youth played five rounds at game/30, but most finished as rapidily as they might a blitz game.

Now that I can look through today's World Championship game, I find that the novelty was a bit different than I thought this morning.

After 6.e3, Anand-Kramnik has reached a common position.



I have the third edition of Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, volume D, which does not contain the latest theory. The fourth edition has been out awhile. In the third edition, 6...c5 is given as the normal move, although one line contains 6...Nbd7. It appears, however, that 6...Nbd7 as played today has grown in popularity since 1998 when the third edition was published. An opening book I created from high level games over the past half decade contains 193 games with 6...c5 and 180 with 6...Nbd7.

From that point to 10...Nxc5, I find more than eighty games in ChessBase online, and more than fifty in my database of recent master level games. Anand and Kramnik seem to be following recent theory that has not yet become popular among lesser players.

In my selective database, I'll call it "Master Trends III" because that's how it's labeled in my computer, the next move shows:

11.Be5 39 games white score 63%
11.Be2 15 games white score 53%
11.Rc1 2 games both draws

One game of note that continued 11.Be2 was

Flumbort,A (2499) - Goloshchapov,A (2563) [D37]
Bundesliga 2007-8 Baden Baden GER (4), 15.12.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be2 Bf6 12.Be5 Bf5 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nd4 Be4 15.Rc1 Ne6 16.f3 Bg6 17.0-0 Rac8 18.Qd2 Nxd4 19.Qxd4 Qxd4 20.exd4 Bc2 21.Kf2 Rc7 ½-½

Although Anand-Kramnik deviated from this game on move 11, after their continuation they reached the same position after White's fourteenth move.

13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nd4



14...Ne6 now appears to be the novelty

Instead of following Flumbort-Goloshchapov, which continued 14...Be4, Kramnik offered his bishop for a knight.

The game concluded

15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.0-0 Rfd8 17.Bg4 Qe5 18.Qb3 Nc5 19.Qb5 b6 20.Rfd1 Rd6 21.Rd4 a6 22.Qb4 h5 23.Bh3 Rad8 24.g3 g5 25.Rad1 g4 26.Bg2 Ne6 27.R4d3 d4 28.exd4 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 ½-½

Perhaps there's something of theoretical interest in today's game even though it appears upon first glance to have been a routine draw.

Kramnik-Anand: Game 3

The Foidos Experience

Both were in real danger.
Miguel Illescas during the game

Bought my ticket and I'm watching the game and the players in real time through Foidos. Yasser Seirawan tells me what I'm seeing and offers additional entertainment. Throughout the game this morning (afternoon), I'll post periodic updates to this blog.

Kramnik,V-Anand,V
World Chess Championship, Bonn 2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7



and Kramnik starts to think. Eight games in the database.

While Kramnik thinks, I spend a few minutes updating the game score. I also take a moment to send a note to Yasser Seirawan:

Greetings from Washington State. How's your throat? Do you have a ready supply of tea?

He read the comment on the air, and thanked me for the reminder. Having listened to his commentary through many events I remember how his voice gets as the event wears on. I also have some experience talking for several hours at a time during presentations day after day. It's tough on the vocal chords--cough drops and tea are essential work tools.

15.Bxb5 Bd5

Seirawan thought White could take the pawn, but is a little surprised at Anand's move.

6:26am PDT; 3:26pm at the venue.
My morning coffee is getting cold, and Yasser's cough tells me that he needs his afternoon tea.

6:32am PDT
Kramnik is looking down, but not at the board. Probably he's examining the "true" board (as Plato would call it)--the one in his mind. Now he's looking away. Now back at the board. Foidos Chess lets me focus on either player, or look at both together at the table. If a viewer wants to spend hours watching only one player's face and mannerisms, that is now possible.

It's clear that Anand was prepared for this line. The clocks show four minutes used by Anand, and almost half an hour by Kramnik.

Yasser had an interesting conversation with Miguel Illescas, who is an expert in the Slav Defense.

6:39am PDT
Miguel has left the studio, and now Yasser goes through their conversation on the demo board.

6:44am PDT
Two games in database:

Doeppner,T - Voigt,M (2305) [D49]
Oberliga Nord N 9293 Germany, 10.1992
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 Bb7 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Qe2 gxf6 15.Bxb5 Bd6 16.Nxd4 Rg8 17.Nf3 Ke7 18.Bxd7 Rxg2+ 19.Kxg2 Rg8+ 20.Kh3 Ba6 21.Qd1 Bxf1+ 22.Qxf1 Qb4 23.Ng5 fxg5 24.Qb5 Qe4 25.Bc6 g4+ 26.Kh4 Qd4 27.Be3 Qh8 28.Bg5+ Kf8 29.Rd1 h6 30.Bd8 Rg5 31.Qd3 Rh5+ 32.Kxh5 Qe5+ 33.Kxh6 Bc5 34.Qe4 Qxh2+ 35.Kg5 Qxf2 36.Rd3 g3 37.Bf6 Bb6 38.Qb4+ Kg8 39.Qf4 Qc5+ 40.Kh4 Qxc6 41.Qg5+ 1-0

D'Israel,D (2259) - Gerbelli Neto,E (2234) [D49]
Paulisto-ch 5th Etapa Americana (6), 04.08.2000
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 Qb6 13.0-0 Bb7 14.Qe2 gxf6 15.Bxb5 Bd6 16.Rd1 Rg8 17.g3 Bc5 18.b4 Bxb4 19.Nxd4 Bd5 20.Rb1 Qc5 21.Be3 Rxa2 22.Qd3 Ra3 23.Qxh7 Rf8 24.Nxe6 1-0

15.Rd1 was played moments age. Visible in both Foidos, and at playchess where I'm following the game on my second computer.

Still following one game.

6:47am PDT
15...Rg8



6:54am PDT
Miguel comes back into the studio, and I'm repairing errors I created in my html for this blog. Miguel has aggressive ideas. "Incredibly dangerous," Miguel says. He likes Anand's position.

6:59am PDT
17.g3

Kramnik gets up from the board.

7:00am PDT
17...Rg4

The novelty. Anand has used nine minutes.

7:06am PDT
I've been able to keep Grandmaster Seirawan connected to the ChessBase database through the comments feature. He was able to identify the novelty because I sent a text with the information. As on playchess, where I've followed live games with Grandmaster Seirawan in the past, Foidos Chess brings the viewers into the process.

7:08am PDT
Yasser takes a fifteen minute break. Well deserved, and needed.

7:13am PDT Screenshot


7:25am PDT
Yasser Seirawan is back. Kramnik is looking to get in time trouble.

18.Bf4

Anand starts to think.

7:29am PDT
18...Bxf4

Anand was prepared even for this position. Moves are coming fast. Miguel is in the studio with Yasser.

19.Nxd4



7:41am PDT
Anand is thinking. Miguel thinks that Kramnik's only hope is that Anand does not remember his analysis.

Hiarcs 12 thinks the game is even.

7:46am PDT
Anand is thinking. Interesting conversation between Yasser and Miguel--good for Yasser's throat that Miguel helps with the analysis.

Emails are rolling in for the Scholastic Chess Tournament that will cause me to miss tomorrow's game.

7:55am PDT
Miguel is telling us how much he learned working with Kramnik. He says that of course he had an appreciation of the power of a bishop pair relative to a bishop and knight, but Kramnik facilitated deeper understanding of this element of strategy and piece play.

7:56am PDT
The commentators take a break

Anand is still thinking. Kramnik has been away from the chess board.

8:01am PDT
I take a moment to check in on The Chess Mind, the blog of Dennis Monokrousses, where he offers some of the analysis from Miguel Illescas and Yasser Seirawan.

8:23am PDT
Several moves were played while I was on the phone working on the website for the 2009 Washington State Elementary Chess Championship for which I'm the organizer.

19...h5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Qd3



Yasser is responding to comments regarding the analysis board, which he thought would be resizable. I have very few criticisms of Foidos, but that's something I would like.

8:34am PDT
Cuppablanca at Tryfon Gavriel's Chess World website thinks that Kramnik's 18.Bf4 was outside Anand's preparation.

Miguel and Yasser are analyzing deeply, and I might be able to follow them better if I weren't doing so many other things at once.

8:39am PDT
22...Rg7 was played.

Clocks show 37 minutes remaining for Kramnik, who is thinking. 43 minutes remain for Anand who spend a lot of time for past couple of moves.

8:47am PDT
Moves played while I was preparing my breakfast.

23.Rxg7 Kxg7

Hiarcs 12 likes 24.gxf4 with an slight advantage for White

8:49am PDT
24.gxf4

8:55am PDT
Kramnik come back to the board while Anand is thinking. He takes a drink from his water glass, which appears empty. He looks back over his shoulder, nods to someone, presumably to get more water, and looks back to the board.

Anand moves.

24...Rd8 25.Qe2 Kh6 came in quick succession.

9:00am PST
Miguel and Yasser think Kramnik moved in haste when he played 25.Qe2. Yasser is talking about basketball and the tendency of competitors in all sport to work very hard when in trouble, solve the problems, then relax and err.

9:04am PDT
26.Kh1

White 00:23; Black 00:32

26...Rg8

Anand's clock shows 0:28

27.a4

Kramnik's clock shows 00:17:00



9:19am PDT
Yasser is looking at a potential repetition in the position. Playchess pundits recommend a draw.

9:23am PDT
27...Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3

Kramnik 00:16:00 Anand 00:17:00

29.Ra3

9:45am PDT
Another phone call, this time concerning tomorrow's Black Knights' Joust scholastic tournament.

Lots of moves.

29...Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Kc2 Bg4 32.f3 Bf5+



Hiarcs 12 likes Anand's position. The players have about seven minutes each for the next eight moves.

9:51am PDT
The clocks that showed seven minutes show something quite different now--technical difficulties with the web clocks.

33.Bd3 Bh3

Did Kramnik blunder?

34.a5 Rg2 35.a6 Rxe2+ 36.Bxe2 Bf5+ 37.Kb3 Qe3+ 38.Ka2 Qxe2+ 39.a7 Qc4+ 40.Ka1 Qf1+ 41.Ka2 Bb1+ 0-1

Anand wins an exciting game. The World Champion is in the lead.

I had an excellent game watching experience through Foidos with commentary in English by Yasser Seirawan and Miguel Illescas.

10:02am PDT
The game is over, but the coverage goes on. I'm watching Tea Lanchava interview Seirawan and Illescas sometime earlier during the game.

10:22am PDT
Lancheva's report is cycling through commentary that I've already seen. Time to head for the gym, then get back to work organizing the State tournament next April, and preparing SwissSys for tomorrow's qualifying event.

Kramnik and Anand both deserve our thanks for a hard fought and entertaining game.

World Chess Championship Match History

The current Kramnik-Anand World Chess Championship match in Bonn is the forty-third match so designated (maybe—see 1910). From 1886 to 1993, new champions were crowned only after defeating the current champion in a match. There were two exceptions: Botvinnik won the WCC title after winning a five player quintuple round-robin (Alekhine had died), and Karpov won the WCC title in 1975 by default when Fischer and FIDE could not agree to terms.

The WCC title was split and in dispute 1993-2006.

I created this chart partly to answer a question of the frequency of a draw in game one as the players orient themselves to weeks or months of intense competition. There have been fifteen draws in the first game. Black has won twelve, and White sixteen. Although predicting a draw in the first game seems almost commonsense, it is far from the norm.

The winner of twenty-one matches has won the first game; seventeen match winners have started with a loss.

*indicates historical note below

Year	Contestants (winner in bold) First player had White in game 1		Game 1 Result	Final Score
1886*	Zukertort	Steinitz	0-1	7.5-12.5
1889	Chigorin	Steinitz	1-0	6.5-10.5
1890	Steinitz	Gunsberg	½-½	10.5-8.5
1892	Chigorin	Steinitz	1-0	10.5-12.5
1894	Lasker	Steinitz	1-0	10-7
1896	Steinitz	Lasker	0-1	4.5-12.5
1907	Marshall	Lasker	0-1	3.5-11.5
1908	Lasker	Tarrasch	1-0	10.5-5.5
1909	Lasker	Janowsky	½-½	8.0-2.0
1910*	Schlechter	Lasker	½-½	5.0-5.0
1910	Lasker	Janowsky	1-0	9.5-1.5
1921*	Capablanca	Lasker	½-½	9.0-5.0
1927	Alekhine	Capablanca	1-0	18.5-15.5
1929	Alekhine	Bogoljubov	1-0	15.5-9.5
1934	Bogoljubov	Alekhine	½-½	10.5-15.5
1935	Alekhine	Euwe	1-0	15.5-14.5
1937	Euwe	Alekhine	1-0	9.5-15.5
1951	Botvinnik	Bronstein	½-½	12.0-12.0
1954	Smyslov	Botvinnik	0-1	12.0-12.0
1957	Botvinnik	Smyslov	0-1	9.5-12.5
1958	Smyslov	Botvinnik	0-1	10.5-12.5
1960	Tal	Botvinnik	1-0	12.5-8.5
1961	Botvinnik	Tal	1-0	13.0-8.0
1963	Petrosian	Botvinnik	0-1	12.5-9.5
1966	Spassky	Petrosian	½-½	11.5-12.5
1969	Spassky	Petrosian	0-1	12.5-10.5
1972	Spassky	Fischer	1-0	8.5-12.5
1978	Korchnoi	Karpov	½-½	15.5-16.5
1981	Korchnoi	Karpov	0-1	7.5-10.5
1984*	Karpov	Kasparov	½-½	25.0-23.0
1985	Kasparov	Karpov	1-0	13.0-11.0
1986	Karpov	Kasparov	½-½	11.5-12.5
1987	Karpov	Kasparov	½-½	12.0-12.0
1990	Karpov	Kasparov	½-½	11.5-12.5
1993*	Kasparov	Short	1-0	12.5-7.5
1993*	Timman	Karpov	0-1	8.5-12.5
1995	Anand	Kasparov	½-½	7.5-10.5
1996	Karpov	Kamsky	1-0	10.5-7.5
1998*	Karpov	Anand	1-0	5.0-3.0
2000	Kasparov	Kramnik	½-½	6.5-8.5
2004	Leko	Kramnik	0-1	7.0-7.0
2006*	Topalov	Kramnik	0-1	7.5-8.5
2008	Kramnik	Anand	½-½

Notes:

1886 After winning game one, Steinitz lost four straight in the first official World Chess Championship match. He lost only one more in the match. In 1889, only one game was drawn.

1910 There is doubt whether this match was a World Championship contest, and concerning the conditions needed for Schlechter to win. See Chess Notes 4144.

1921 Lasker achieved no wins in his loss of the title to Capablanca.

1984 Karpov was leading when the match was suspended. Kasparov had won the last two games.

1993 Kasparov and Short created the Professional Chessplayers Association and held their match outside of FIDE, which stripped Kasparov of his title and held the Timman-Karpov match. The World Championship title was split until the Kramnik-Topalov reunification match.

1998 Karpov-Anand was a six game match at standard time controls; then two rapid play-off games broke the 3.0-3.0 tie.

2006 Topalov-Kramnik played twelve standard time control games (Kramnik forfeited one); then four rapid games broke the 6.0-6.0 tie.

World Champions were selected through tournaments or knock-out matches in 1948, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2007. These differ in fundamental character from a two player match preceded by months of specific preparation for a known opponent.

Corrections

Corrections are welcome. In putting together this data I drew mostly upon three sources: Aleksandar Matanović, Chess is Chess CD (2000); Chess Base, Big Database 2003, updated with The Week in Chess 1-727, and Mark Weeks, The World Chess Championship website. None of these are proper research materials for serious research questions. Every bit of information needs verification.