Kramnik vs. Anand

Just ten days until the Anand vs. Kramnik World Chess Championship match of 2008!

Tonight I present another preview game for the upcoming World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. The game I chose is a recent example of the two contenders going head to head in a major event.  My analysis is above the game that was played at the Corus tournament in 2007.  Enjoy!

10…Ra7 Anand starts to mix it up early. 10… Be4 is a lot more natural and common in the Catalan.

16. a3 Kramnik’s invention. This move serves to limit Anand’s bishop on the queen-side.

22…Nc4 Perhaps Anand should have tried 22… Bc4 23. Nxc4 Nxc4 and Anand has a knight to harass Kramnik with.

25…c6 Anand’s pawn had been under attack at c7. However, moving forward allows Kramnik to control the d8 square with his Bishop.

26. Rd1 is real trouble for Anand due to the fact that Kramnik’s Bishop forces Anand to place a rook on d7 rather than d8.

28. Rd1 Now Kramnik controls the d file.

30. f4 Is a very interesting move by Kramnik. 30. Qd4 forms a nice battery on the d file and is what most strong players would play. However, Kramnik must feel he wants his queen leading the charge on the d file.

30… Re6 Anand attempts to punish Kramnik’s last move by forcing his rook to retreat. Even with the retreat, Kramnik will still control the open file.  

32. Qd4 Kramnik reveals his intentions of having the queen lead down the d file.

36. e5 Kramnik unleashes his bishop on g2. Another way of activating the bishop would have been moving it to h3.

43. a4 Kramnik delivers a knock-out blow to Anand with his a pawn.  

[Event “Corus A”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee NED”]
[Date “2007.??.??”]
[White “Kramnik,V”]
[Black “Anand,V”]
[Round “6”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “2766”]
[BlackElo “2779”]
[ECO “E06”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3
O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2
Bb7 10. Bd2 Ra7 11. Rc1 Be4 12. Qb3 Nc6 13. e3
Qa8 14. Qd1 Nb8 15. Ba5 Rc8 16. a3 Bd6 17. Nbd2
Bd5 18. Qf1 Nbd7 19. b4 e5 20. dxe5 Bxe5 21. Nxe5
Nxe5 22. f3 Nc4 23. Nxc4 Bxc4 24. Qf2 Re8 25. e4
c6 26. Rd1 Rd7 27. Rxd7 Nxd7 28. Rd1 Qb7 29. Rd6
f6 30. f4 Re6 31. Rd2 Re7 32. Qd4 Nf8 33. Qd8
Rd7 34. Rxd7 Qxd7 35. Qxd7 Nxd7 36. e5 fxe5 37. Bxc6
Nf6 38. Bb7 exf4 39. gxf4 Nd5 40. Kf2 Nxf4 41. Ke3
g5 42. Bxa6 Kf7 43. a4 Ke7 44. Bxb5 Bxb5 45. axb5
Kd7 46. Ke4 Ne2 47. Bb6 g4 48. Bf2 Nc3+ 49. Kf5
Nxb5 50. Kxg4 Ke6 51. Kg5 Kf7 52. Kf5 Ke7 53. Bc5+
 1-0