On the occasion of Vladimir Kramnik’s retirement from competitive chess, I present a retrospective review of past articles on Kramnik featured on this blog. Enjoy…
Tromso Chess Olympiad Round 5: Kramnik vs Topalov
August 7, 2014: Thus far, the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway has lived up to all the hype surrounding the event. Almost all of the top chess players in the world are competing for personal glory and, more importantly, national pride. Even with hundreds of exciting games played in each round, all eyes were focused squarely onto the Russia-Bulgaria match which featured a game between the rivals, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov…
Kasparov Vs. Kramnik – Queen Sacrifice move 12
May 18, 2014: Definitely a most worthy game!
Kramnik vs. Svidler: 2009 Tal Memorial
November 10, 2009: Below is Kramnik’s win over Svidler in a Gruenfeld Defense: Exchange Variation. A lot could be stated about the opening theory as Kramnik tried a new move successfully with 12. h4. However, I do not believe Kramnik’s courageous new move is to blame for Svidler’s failure. Instead, Svidler seemed to have forgotten that “Knight’s on the rim are dim” and attempted to spar with a world champion contender minus a Knight. I say minus a Knight due to the fact that Svidler moved his Knight to a6 on move 11 and then left it there to rot…
Anand-Kramnik: Game 6 from the 2008 World Championship of Chess
October 22, 2008: The championship chess board in Bonn has become a form of torture for Vladimir Kramnik. After loosing game 6, Kramnik has just six games left and is down three full points. A loosing streak against a world champion is very hard to fix. In Kramnik’s case, achieving a win against Anand must seem like a desperate dream of freedom for a convict walking the “green mile.”
Anand-Kramnik: Game 5 from the 2008 World Championship of Chess
October 21, 2008: Kramnik must be feeling miserable. Anand has beaten him with the black pieces once again. Now down two full points with 7 games to go, Kramnik must take considerable risks if he is to have any chance at becoming world champion again. Taking these risks could easily backfire and have the effect of causing this match to become a total blow-out…
Anand-Kramnik: Game 4 from the 2008 World Championship of Chess
October 19, 2008: It was back to the “drawing” board in game 4 from Bonn, Germany. Defending champion Viswanathan Anand played the white side in the solid Queen’s Gambit Declined. Kramnik ended up with the ubiquitous isolated queen’s pawn and allowed Anand no opportunities for victory…
Anand-Kramnik: Game 3 from the 2008 World Chess Championship
October 18, 2008: In game 3 from the 2008 World Chess Championships, Viswanathan Anand put on a tactical display using his fiery attacking style to beat Vladimir Kramnik into submission…
Anand-Kramnik: Game 2 from the 2008 World Chess Championship
October 17, 2008: The second game from the 2008 World Chess Championship ended in a draw. In an attempt to show off some of his preparation for playing white against the Slav(1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6), Anand decided to use 1.d4 instead of his favorite 1.e4. Kramnik avoided the technical Slav lines in game 1 and chose to use the Nimzo-Indian Defence(1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4) in game 2. Perhaps Kramnik is concerned about Anand’s knowledge in the Slav. This game becomes very complicated very quickly after Anand plays the surprising 4.f3 which is a favorite of Russian grandmaster Yuri Yakovich…
Anand-Kramnik Game 1 from the 2008 World Chess Championship
October 15, 2008: Kramnik faced off against Anand in Game 1 of the World Chess Championship Match on October 14, 2008. The “Battle of Bonn” began with little surprise as Anand chose to play one of his main weapons referred to as the Slav Defense to the Queen’s Gambit Declined. The game concluded after move 32 when a draw was agreed to…
Team Kramnik
October 15, 2008: For the 2008 World Chess Championship match in Bonn, Germany, Vladimir Kramnik has selected these players as his “Seconds.” I hope my readers will visit again tomorrow to view my coverage for game 1 of the 2008 World Chess Championship Match between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik…
My Friends are Better Than Yours… Anand and Kramnik Get Seconds
October 13, 2008: The upcoming 12 game World Championship match between Anand and Kramnik is creating internet rumors faster than Alexandra Kosteniuk makes blitz moves in China. Most of these rumors seem to be speculation on opening choices and who is going to be the “Second” for Anand and Kramnik. A “Second” refers to a chess players choice of another strong chess player to help him/her prepare for a particular opponent. Generally this early preparation focuses on finding new ideas and weaknesses in an opponent’s opening repertoire. The role of the Second was arguably much more important in the time before large chess databases and strong computer engines. With the onset of the computer dominated age of chess, we are also seeing match play that has a much shorter structure and therefor less games to try prepared innovations. The upcoming match between Anand and Kramnik is only scheduled for 12 rounds. I am confident that both Anand and Kramnik are capable of coming up with six very good ideas as to what to try with each color. For the upcoming Anand vs. Kramnik match, a Second’s primary role will likely be acting as the flashy Rybka yielding intimidator in a world champion contender’s entourage. Basically a “my friend is stronger than your friend” ornament meant to impress upon the chess world that the player that attracts friends/disciples with higher ratings must be the next chess messiah…
Unfair Criticism of Kramnik
October 8, 2008: Tonight I attempt to defend Vladimir Kramnik from those who cast stones at the former World Chess Champion. I believe the upcoming 2008 World Chess Championship will be an exciting event played between two outstanding chess players who are wonderful ambassadors for the game of chess. Below are my opinions about the three most common critical myths that haunt Kramnik…
Kramnik vs. Anand 2008 (preview game revisited)
October 7, 2008: Seven Days until the Anand vs. Kramnik 2008 World Championship Match. I am revisiting a game they played in 2007 at the request of several fans of my blog…
Kramnik vs. Anand
October 4, 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…
Can Kramnik Win With The Black Pieces? Will It Matter?
September 30, 2008: Between 1989 and 2008 Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik played 51 head-to-head games under classical conditions. The results below show that Kramnik has yet to win a game as black when up against Anand. This is a remarkable statistic based on the number of match-ups these two chess players have had. Vladimir Kramnik’s win with white and draw with black strategy can hurt his tournament results but is exceptionally difficult to crack in match play. Unless he should find himself in danger of loosing the match, I would be very surprised if Kramnik changes his goal for the black pieces…
Vladimir Kramnik in Germany
September 27, 2008: The upcoming World Championship Chess Match against Viswanathan Anand is not Vladimir Kramnik’s first chess match in Germany. In July of 2000 Kramnik played another high profile match in Deutschland. This time his opponent was the highly touted computer program Deep Junior. Because his opponent was a computer, Kramnik used anti-computer strategy that would not work against someone like Anand. This does not take anything away from Kramnik’s achievement in the game below. His play was nothing short of brilliant…
Kramnik vs. Anand 2008 preview: A 1996 game played by Kramnik
September 26, 2008: In 1996 Vladimir Kramnik played an exceptionally brilliant game as black verses a very strong opponent named Vassily Ivanchuk. Kramnik used fantastic opening preparation as well as brilliant tactical play to pressure Ivanchuk to error and finally resign. On move 6. Bg5 Ivanchuk initiates a Richter-Rauzer attack which provides the much needed tactical fuel for Kramnik’s fire. Kramnik move 14…Ng4 was a brand new idea that caught his opponent off guard. The move sacrifices the exchange but gives Kramnik long term pressure on the dark squares as well as some initiative to attack with. On 17. g3 Ivanchuk makes a small error which allows black to gain even more initiative. Ivanchuk should have played 17. Qf3. Kramnik’s 19…f5 was paticulary powerful and kept his attack going. On move 27 Kramnik makes a huge error with only five minutes left on his clock. I believe Kramnik should have tried 27…Qe7. To everone’s shock, Ivanchuk played 28. Nd3 which allowed Kramnik to win easily…
Anand vs. Kramnik: Backround Information
September 24, 2008: Anand vs. Kramnik should provide the most entertaining chess we have seen in quite some time. Below is a comparison of the achievements of these two chess titans…
Countdown until Anand vs. Kramnik
September 22, 2008: In 22 days Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik will face off in Bonn, Germany for the title of World Chess Champion. According to my database these two elite chess players have faced each other in 127 official games. On these occasions, Anand beat Kramnik 19 to 15, with 93 draws. Below is Vladimir Kramnik vs. Viswanathan Anand from the so called fide World Championships in Mexico City. Kramnik missed 35 Qh6! after 35…Qd6 36 Qxg5 f6 37 Qg8 Rd8 38 Qh7 Rd7 39 Qh4. After running computer analysis on that line I feel Kramnik would have had much better winning chances…