For the 2008 World Chess Championship match in Bonn, Germany, Viswanathan Anand has selected these players as his “Seconds.” I will review Vladimir Kramnik’s team in a later post.
Name: Peter Heine Nielsen
Date of birth: 05-24-1973
Country: Denmark
Current Rating: 2652
Description: A grandmanster with a very aggressive style who has won the Denmark Chess Championship on several occasions. Peter has also served as the Second for Magnus Carlsen.
Notable Game:
[Event “Corus Chess Tournament: B Group”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee NED”]
[Date “2005.01.29”]
[EventDate “2005.01.15”]
[Round “12”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Peter Heine Nielsen”]
[Black “Sergey Karjakin”]
[ECO “D43”]
[WhiteElo “2648”]
[BlackElo “2599”]
[PlyCount “201”]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4
7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. d5 cxd5 11. exd5 Nb6
12. dxe6 Qxd1+ 13. Rxd1 Bxe6 14. Nd4 a6 15. Bf3 O-O-O 16. O-O
Bc5 17. Nc6 Rxd1 18. Rxd1 Nbd7 19. Na5 Kd8 20. Nb7+ Kc8
21. Nxc5 Nxc5 22. Be5 Ncd7 23. Rxd7 Bxd7 24. Bxf6 Re8 25. h3
Re6 26. Nd5 a5 27. a3 b4 28. axb4 axb4 29. Bd4 c3 30. Nxb4
cxb2 31. Bxb2 Kd8 32. Nd3 Ke7 33. Nc5 Rb6 34. Ba3 Rb1+ 35. Kh2
Ra1 36. Bb4 Rb1 37. Ba3 Ra1 38. Bb4 Rb1 39. Nd3+ Ke8 40. Bd6
Rb6 41. Bc7 Rb5 42. Ne5 Ke7 43. Nc4 Be6 44. Bd6+ Kf6 45. Ne3
Rb2 46. Nd1 Rb3 47. Ne3 Rb2 48. Nd1 Rb3 49. Bh5 Kg7 50. Ne3
Rd3 51. Bc5 f6 52. Bd1 Rd2 53. Kg1 Ra2 54. Bd4 Rd2 55. Bc5 Ra2
56. Bc2 h5 57. Bd4 h4 58. Kf1 Kf7 59. Ke1 Kg7 60. Kd1 Kf7
61. Kc1 Kg7 62. Bb2 Kf7 63. Bd3 Ra4 64. f3 Ra8 65. Nc2 Rc8
66. Kb1 Bc4 67. Be4 Rd8 68. Kc1 Bd3 69. Bxd3 Rxd3 70. Nd4 Kg6
71. Kc2 Re3 72. Kd2 Re8 73. f4 gxf4 74. Nf3 Kh5 75. Ne1 Kg5
76. Bd4 Rd8 77. Ke2 Re8+ 78. Kf2 Re6 79. Nf3+ Kh5 80. Kg1 Ra6
81. Bf2 Ra1+ 82. Kh2 Ra2 83. Bxh4 Kg6 84. Be1 Kf5 85. Bc3 Ra3
86. Bd4 Rd3 87. Kg1 Ra3 88. Kf1 Ra2 89. Bc3 Ra3 90. Bd2 Ra2
91. Ke2 Ra3 92. Nd4+ Ke5 93. Nc2 Rb3 94. Ne1 Ke4 95. Nf3 Ra3
96. Bb4 Ra2+ 97. Nd2+ Kf5 98. Kf3 Ra4 99. Bc5 Ra1 100. Nb3 Kg5
101. Nxa1 1-0
Name: Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Date of birth: 12-05-1979
Country: Uzbekistan
Current Rating: 2679
Description: In 2004 he became FIDE World Champion by winning the knockout tournament in Tripoli. At this event, he defeated Veselin Topalov, Michael Adams, Vassily Ivanchuk, and Alexander Grischuk in match play. Kasimdzhanov was scheduled to play a match with Garry Kasparov in 2005 but Kasparov withdrew before playing the match.
Notable Game:
[Event “FIDE World Championship”]
[Site “San Luis ARG”]
[Date “2005.10.01”]
[EventDate “2005.09.28”]
[Round “4”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Rustam Kasimdzhanov”]
[Black “Viswanathan Anand”]
[ECO “B90”]
[WhiteElo “2670”]
[BlackElo “2788”]
[PlyCount “75”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4
7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. h3 Ne5 11. Nf5 Bxf5
12. exf5 Nbc6 13. Nd5 e6 14. fxe6 fxe6 15. Ne3 O-O 16. Be2 Qe7
17. O-O Rad8 18. Bh5 Kh8 19. Re1 d5 20. a4 Nc4 21. Nxc4 dxc4
22. Qg4 Qb4 23. Qxe6 Rd2 24. Rad1 Nd4 25. Qe4 Nf5 26. Be5 Rxf2
27. Bf3 Rd2 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qe5+ Rf6 30. a5 Nh4 31. Qc7+
Rf7 32. Qe5+ Rf6 33. Bh5 Ng6 34. Bxg6 Rxd1 35. Rxd1 Kxg6
36. Qe4+ Kg7 37. Rd7+ Kg8 38. Qh7+ 1-0
Name: Radoslav Wojtaszek
Date of birth: 01-17-1987
Country: Poland
Current Rating: 2599
Description: Radoslav’s accomplishments include winning the 2004 World Youth Chess Championships (U-18), the 2004 Cracovia Open with 7.5/9 and the Polish Open in 2005.
Notable Game:
[Event “WYCC 2004 – B18”]
[Site “Creta Maris Conference Hotel”]
[Date “2004.11.13”]
[Round “11.1”]
[White “Wojtaszek, Radoslaw”]
[Black “Sulashvili, Malkhaz”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D45”]
[WhiteElo “2536”]
[BlackElo “2326”]
[PlyCount “113”]
[EventDate “2004.11.04”]
1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Qc2 e6 5. b3 Bd6 6. Bb2 O-O 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. Nc3
a6 9. d4 Qe7 10. O-O e5 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Rfd1 Be6 14. Nd4 Ba3
15. Bxa3 Qxa3 16. Qc1 Qxc1 17. Raxc1 Rac8 18. Na4 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Rc8 20. Rxc8+
Bxc8 21. f3 h5 22. Kf2 Kf8 23. Ke1 Ke7 24. Kd2 g6 25. Bd1 Kd6 26. Bc2 Bd7 27.
Nc3 Nc6 28. Nce2 Ne8 29. Nxc6 bxc6 30. e4 dxe4 31. Bxe4 Nc7 32. Bd3 c5 33. Nc3
f5 34. f4 Be6 35. g3 Bf7 36. Na4 Nd5 37. Bc4 Be6 38. Nb2 Nc7 39. Bf1 Ke7 40.
Nc4 Bxc4 41. Bxc4 a5 42. Kc3 Ne8 43. Kb2 Nf6 44. Ka3 h4 45. gxh4 Nh5 46. Ka4
Nxf4 47. Kxa5 Kd6 48. Kb6 Nd5+ 49. Kb7 Ne3 50. Be2 c4 51. bxc4 Kc5 52. a4 Kb4
53. c5 Kxc5 54. a5 Nd5 55. a6 Nb6 56. a7 f4 57. h3 1-0
Name: Surya Shekhar Ganguly
Country: India
Current Rating: 2631
Description: Ganguly won the Indian National Championship four years straight from 2004 to 2007.
Notable Game:
[Event “FIDE World Cup”]
[Site “0:00:00-0:03:21”]
[Date “2005.11.28”]
[EventDate “2005.11.27”]
[Round “1”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Hikaru Nakamura”]
[Black “Surya Sekhar Ganguly”]
[ECO “C44”]
[WhiteElo “2710”]
[BlackElo “2432”]
[PlyCount “104”]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4
Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.O-O Bc5 10.f3 Ng5 11.f4 Ne4 12.Be3 Qb8
13.Qc1 Bxd4 14.Bxd4 c5 15.Bf2 Bb5 16.Rd1 Nxf2 17.Kxf2 Bc6
18.Nd2 Qb6 19.c4 d4 20.Qc2 O-O 21.f5 Rad8 22.Rf1 Ba8 23.Kg1 d3
24.Qc3 Rd4 25.Rf2 Re8 26.Re1 Qh6 27.Qa3 Qg5 28.g3 h5 29.Qxc5
h4 30.Qxd4 hxg3 31.Kf1 gxf2 32.Qxf2 Qg4 33.f6 gxf6 34.Re3 Qd1+
35.Qe1 Qxe1+ 36.Kxe1 fxe5 37.Rxd3 f5 38.Rd7 e4 39.Nb3 f4
40.Nd4 e3 41.Nf5 Kh8 42.Nh4 Kg8 43.Ng6 f3 44.Re7 Rxe7 45.Nxe7+
Kf7 46.Nf5 e2 47.Nd4 Kf6 48.Nb5 Ke5 49.Nxc7 Be4 50.Nb5 Bd3
51.b3 Ke4 52.Nc7 Bxc4 0-1