Kramnik v Leko 2004, first four games

This is a historic moment.  For the first time in 32 years, there's a world championship match taking place without either Karpov or Kasparov sitting at the table.  The last time we saw that was Fischer-Spassky 1972.

The first four games of the match between Kramnik and Leko have been played. The score stands at Kramnik 1 win, Leko 0 wins, and 3 draws.

The official website of the match is www.worldchesschampionship.com. Also, Chessbase and the London Chess Centre have some interesting stories about the match and analysis of some of the games. For my part, I'm just going to post the games here with minimum commentary.

Game 1 – 9/25/2004
Leko (2741) - Kramnik (2770)
Petroff Defense [C42]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 [8. Re1 - ECO] Nb4 [8. ... Nf6 - Pachman] 9.Be2 0-0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.h3 Be4 [16. ... Bf6, Kramnik-Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2003] 17.Be3 Na5 [TN; 17. ... Rcd8, Leko-Bologan, Dortmund 2002] 18.c4 [Alternatives were 18. Qa4, 18. Nd2 and 18. Ne5. - Timman] Nxc4 19.Bxc4 Qxc4 20.Nd2 Qd5 21.Nxe4 Qxe4 22.Bg5 Qxe1+ 23.Qxe1 Bxg5 24.Qa5 Bf6 25.Qxa7 c5 26.Qxb7 Bxd4 27.Ra2 c4 28.Re2 Red8 29.a4 [A superficial move after which White will have to work hard to keep the balance; 29. Rd2 would have aimed for a draw. - Timman] c3 30.Qe4 Bb6! 31.Qc2 g6 32.Qb3 Rd6! 33.Rc2 Ba5 34.g4 Rd2 35.Kg2 Rcd8 [Black's best practical chance. - Timman] 36.Rxc3 Bxc3 37.Qxc3 R2d5 38.Qc6 Ra5 39.Kg3 Rda8 40.h4 R5a6 41.Qc1 Ra5 42.Qh6 Rxa4 43.h5 R4a5 44.Qf4? [Probably the decisive mistake; 44. hxg6 was necessary. - Coleman & Pein] g5 45.Qf6 h6! 46.f3 R5a6 47.Qc3 Ra4 48.Qc6 R8a6 49.Qe8+ Kg7 50.Qb5 R4a5 51.Qb4 Rd5 52.Qb3 Rad6 53.Qc4 Rd3 54.Kf2 Ra3 55.Qc5 Ra2+ 56.Kg3 Rf6 57.Qb4 Raa6 58.Kg2 Rf4 59.Qb2+ Raf6 60.Qe5 Rxf3 61.Qa1 Rf1 62.Qc3 R1f2+ 63.Kg3 R2f3+ 64.Qxf3 Rxf3+ 65.Kxf3 Kf6 0-1

Game 2 – 9/26/2004
Kramnik (2770) - Leko (2741)
Ruy Lopez, Closed Defense [C88]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 [avoiding the Marshall] Bb7 9.d3 Re8 [9. ... d6 - ECO] 10.Nc3 Bb4 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.a3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Na5 14.Ba2 c5 15.f4 exf4 16.e5 Nd5 17.Bxd5 Qxg5 18.Bxb7 1/2-1/2
Game 3 – 9/28/2004
Leko (2741) – Kramnik (2770)
Petroff Defense [C42]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.c4 [Game 1 went 16. h3.] Qe4 17.Be3 Qc2 [TN - New In Chess] 18.d5 Na5 19.Nd4 Qxd1 20.Rexd1 Bd7 21.Bd2 Bf6 22.Bxa5 Bxd4 23.Rxd4 Rxe2 1/2-1/2
Game 4 – 9/30/2004
Kramnik (2770) - Leko (2741)
Ruy Lopez, Closed Defense [C88]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 [Reverting to the main line after trying 9. ... Re8 in game 2.] 10.a3 [10. c3 - ECO] Nd7 11.Nc3 Nd4 12.Ba2 [TN] Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 Bg5 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.Nd5 c6 16.Ne3 g6 17.Rad1 Rad8 18.c3 c5 19.Bd5 Bc8 20.b4 Nb6 21.c4 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Be6 23.bxc5 dxc5 24.Rb1 Rb8 25.cxb5 Bxd5 26.exd5 axb5 27.d6 b4 28.a4 Rfd8 29.Qd5 Qf6 30.Qxc5 Qxd6 31.Qxd6 Rxd6 32.Rxe5 b3 33.Rb5 Ra8 34.R1xb3 Rxa4 35.Rb6 Rd7 36.Rf6 Ra1+ 37.Kh2 Rd1 38.Rf3 h5 39.h4 Rd2 40.g3 Kg7 41.Kg2 Rd1 42.Re3 Kh7 43.Kf3 Rd2 ½-½.
The next game is tomorrow 10/2/2004 at 3:00 pm Brissago time (9:00 am Eastern Time).

[edited with additional analysis]