Round 8 - A Step Closer!!

Firstly........let me CONGRATULATE Nithya, Shabs, Vamsi and Nupur .......Nice Going guys!!


Now for game 8
Wow....today we finally saw Kramnik wake up from his slumber and play a nice attacking game but Anad showed great resource when in times of difficulty and played some very accurate moves to keep Kramnik's advantage down to a minimum. However it must be said that Kramnik made a few poor decisions at crucial points in not going for more attacking but slightly risky variations which allowed Anand to come back and hence from a promising position, all Kramnik was able to muster was a draw....

The game started with a Queens pawn opening, and this time Anand went for Nf6, and hence avoided the Semi-Slav which had brought him great success in games 3 and 5. Perhaps he thought that Kramnik would be better prepared after the rest day.... again Kramnik could have allowed the Nimzo-Indian but that gives black some dynamic counterchances and hence he wanted to avoid those sharp lines. So he offered the Queens-Indian with 3. Nf3 but Anand chose to transpose to the Queens Gambit Accepted and the game entered the famous but sharp Vienna Variation....

1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qa5 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxf6 Bxb5

















Position after 10. Bxf6


Tenth move played above is a "novelty" in chess terms...it means a move introduced in Master play for the first time. Once again Anand managed to surprise Kramnik with his home preparation, which has been a remarkable hallmark of this World Championship Match!!

But this time Kramnik was clever in his strategy and negated Anand's home preparation by avoiding the most logical reply for which Anand surely had a plan in advance, thus sidestepping the dangers..the most logical move here seems 11. Nb3 driving back the Queen, this gaining a tempo because 11......Bxc3 is disastrous for black as white can play 12. Bxc3 gaining a minor piece.
Instead, he thinks for 25 mins for his next move, and correctly decides to negate Anand's preparation by going for 11. Ndxb5........

11.Nxb5 gxf6 12.O-O Nc6 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Nxc3 and here Anand makes an inaccuracy which enables Kramnik to grab control on the kingside and limit Anand's knight to a passive position.
He plays ...
14. .....Rg8 which allows Kramnik to play 15. f4 preventing the Black knight to cross over to the kingside with Ne5.

















Position after 15. f4


15.f4 Rd8 16.Qe1 Qb6+ 17.Rf2 Rd3 [ if 17. Kh1, Qxb2 is winning] 18.Qe2 Qd4 .....

Now Anand is going into dangerous territory and his moves 17 ....Rd3 and 18......Qd4 may be called weak moves. Here Kramnik missed the chance to capitalise with 19. Nd5 or 19. Nb5......
suppose he plays 19. Nb5 here, then Anand is forced to go back with his queen and Kramnik gains both space and time, thus exposing Anand's play on moves 18 and 19 as inferior....the point is if Anand replies Qe3 then Kramnik plays 20. Qxe3 Rxe3 21. Rad1 ! and the Black rook is trapped and he must lose the exchange!!


Another interesting try was 19. Nd5 and the threat of 20 Nxf6 winning a pawn forces Anand to capture the knight with 19....... exd5 where White plays 20. exd5+! Kd7 21. dxc6+ Kxc6 which is good for white as the black is now completely exposed and with his Queen and rooks better placed and Anand's pieces lacking co-ordination, Kramnik is certainly better. If Black plays 20. exd5+ Kf8 to protect his king, then the advantage after 21. dxc6 bxc6 is HUGE as the black pawn structure is ruined!!

















Position after 18.... Qd4


19. Re1?! a6 20. Kh1?

Wow..... i think this is where Kramnik's chances of winning and coming back in the match evaporated.....

If you check this move with the computers, they wont say it was a bad move as it releases the king from two pins....ie the pin from the Rook on g8 as well as the Queen on d4....BUT
I believe the only way to play for a win now was to play the second option discussed above...20. Nd5 with the forced variation coming up. By playing Re1 he had allowed Anand to cover his first weakness by playing a6 so as to prevent Nb5 but the second weakness still remained....Kramnik in the situation of 3-0 down in the match just had to go for the more attacking approach with Nd5....but he opted for a more sedate and safe approach and gave an opportunity to Anand to cover his last major weakness....... which Anand grabbed with both hands!!!

20.Kh1 Kf8 21.Ref1 Rg6 22.g3 Kg7 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Nxd1 Kh8 25.Nc3 Rg8 26.Kg2 Rd8


















Position after 26..... Rd8


With 26......Rd8, Anand having fully recovered from his earlier weak play attains full equality and the game is heading for a draw. Kramnik tries hard to force a win but Anand's position is very solid and he is able to hold the fortress without any major problems. A series of move repetitions follow to gain time for both players to reach the time control and Kramnik, realising that the advantage had vanished and the chance was gone accepted the inevitable........

27.Qh5 Kg7 28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Qh5 Kg7 30.Qg4+ Kh8 31.Qh4 Kg7 32.e5 ........Using his final throw of the dice....... even if Anand accepts the pawn with fxe5 his position still remains solid and accurate defense must lead to a draw but then its gives Kramnik the chance to create mischief and to use the semi-open f-file and the game would unnecessarily drag on......So Anand goes for the more solid 32......f5 and his final shot being denied, the draw is hastened.

f5 33.Qf6+ Kg8 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Re2 Qc4 37.Qg5+ Kh8 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Qg5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2


















Final Position

One question though that may arise is that why didnt Kramnik play Rf2 and Kh3 in the final position with the idea of marching the king to h6 and delivering the mate on g7....
The answer is simple.....Anand would just play Qc5 and Qf8 covering that threat and all that remains is for Kramnik to commit suicide by going for some crazy speculative moves and end up losing again!!


So with this draw Anand moves closer to the World Chess Title needing only one point from a possible 4. Saturday being a rest day, game 9 is on Sunday and lets hope Anand can wrap up the title in style with a victory with the white pieces....

Thank you all and thats it for this game....see you next time!!!