World Championship Game 11

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [B96]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.0-0-0 exf5 13.Qe3 Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3 draw

Anand keeps title 6.5-4.5, last game not needed.

World Championship Game 10

Kramnik scores first win, score now 6-4 to Anand

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [E21]
27.10.20081.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.0-0 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5 18.Re1 c5 19.Qa5 Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2 21.Bf4 e5 22.Be3 Bg4 23.Qa6 f6 24.a4 Qf7 25.Bf1 Be6 26.Rab1 c4 27.a5 Na4 28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6 1-0

World Championship Game 9

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D43]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Rd1 Bb4 12.Ne5 Qe7 13.0-0 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 0-0 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.f4 Qg7 17.e5 c5 18.Nxb5 cxd4 19.Qxc4 a5 20.Kh1 Rac8 21.Qxd4 gxf4 22.Bf3 Ba6 23.a4 Rc5 24.Qxf4 Rxe5 25.b3 Bxb5 26.axb5 Rxb5 27.Be4 Bc3 28.Bc2 Be5 29.Qf2 Bb8 30.Qf3 Rc5 31.Bd3 Rc3 32.g3 Kh8 33.Qb7 f5 34.Qb6 Qe5 35.Qb7 Qc7 36.Qxc7 Bxc7 37.Bc4 Re8 38.Rd7 a4 39.Rxc7 axb3 40.Rf2 Rb8 41.Rb2 h5 42.Kg2 h4 43.Rc6 hxg3 44.hxg3 Rg8 45.Rxe6 Rxc4 draw

Kramnik must now win all remaining three games just to go into tiebreaks.

World Championship Game 8

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D37]
[Annotations by IM Malcolm Pein]

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 (Astonishing, this is a novelty and so early in a sharp line. Kramnik outprepared again.) 11.Ndxb5 (11.Nb3 Qb6 12.Bxg7 Rg8 13.Bd4 Bxc3+ 14.Bxc3 Rxg2) gxf6 12.0-0 Nc6 (12...Bxc3 13.Nxc3 Rg8 14.Qb3 Qg5 15.g3+/-) 13.a3 (13.Nd6+ Ke7! 14.Nxb7 Qc7 15.Qb3 Rab8) Bxc3 14.Nxc3 Rg8 15.f4 (An aggressive move, White takes away the e5 square from Black's knight and considers f4-f5.) Rd8 16.Qe1 (Heading for h4 to attack and just shadowing the enemy king. Black is weakened but active.) Qb6+ 17.Rf2 (17.Kh1 Qxb2 18.Rb1?? Qxg2#) Rd3 (A risky thrust into the enemy position that threatens Rf3.) 18.Qe2 Qd4 19.Re1 a6!? (Preventing Nb5 but asking for Nd5, no demanding it! But 19...a6 20.Nd5 exd5 21.exd5+ is really not much for White.) 20.Kh1 Kf8 21.Ref1 Rg6 (A great move covering f6. Kramnik was building up for f5 but this neutralises it. Black is very well centralised apart from this rook which Kramnik tries to cut out of the game.) 22.g3 (Trying to prepare f5 and emphasising the isolation of the rook on g6. 22.f5 exf5 23.Rxf5 Rd2 24.Qf3 Ne5-+) Kg7 23.Rd1 (Hoping to leave Black with a poorly placed rook but the loss of time allows Anand to solve all his problems. However 23.f5 exf5 24.exf5 Rg4 25.Rf4 Rxf4 26.Rxf4 Qe3=) Rxd1+ 24.Nxd1 Kh8 25.Nc3 Rg8 (Simple stuff, Anand uses Kramnik's loss of time to reorganise and castle by hand. This looks very level now.) 26.Kg2 Rd8= 27.Qh5 Kg7 28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Qh5 Kg7 30.Qg4+ Kh8 31.Qh4 Kg7 32.e5 f5 (Anand avoids complications where possible. There was no point going into 32...fxe5 33.Qg5+ Kh8 34.Qf6+ Kg8 35.fxe5 Rd7 36.Rf4 Qxe5 37.Ne4) 33.Qf6+ Kg8 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Re2 (g4 is impractical so White can achieve nothing here, another success for Anand.) 36...Qc4 37.Qg5+ Kh8 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Qg5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

Anand is one point away from the finish line.

World Championship Game 7

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D19]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 0-0 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Re8 15.Ne1 Bg6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Nd3 Qb6 18.Nxb4 Qxb4 19.b3 Rac8 20.Ba3 Qc3 21.Rac1 Qxe3 22.fxe3 f6 23.Bd6 g5 24.h3 Kf7 25.Kf2 Kg6 26.Ke2 fxe5 27.dxe5 b6 28.b4 Rc4 29.Rxc4 dxc4 30.Rc1 Rc8 31.g4 a5 32.b5 c3 33.Rc2 Kf7 34.Kd3 Nc5+ 35.Bxc5 Rxc5 36.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 37.Kxc3 Draw

Annotations at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4972

Anand leads 5-2 and needs only 1.5 points out of the next five games to win the match.

Eight Greatest Players Of All Time

According to ChessMetrics historical rankings over 1-15 year periods...


Player            1 yr 2 yr 3 yr 4 yr 5 yr 10 yr 15 yr
Garry Kasparov     2    1    1    1    1     1     1
Emanuel Lasker     5    3    4    2    2     2     3
José Capablanca    4    5    3    3    3     4     4
Bobby Fischer      1    2    2    4    5     5     7
Mikhail Botvinnik  3    4    5    5    4     6     6
Anatoly Karpov     7    7    7    7    6     3     2
Alexander Alekhine 6    6    6    6    7     8     5
Viswanathan Anand  8    8    8    8    8     7     8

(It's only fitting that something historic like this be the subject of my 500th post in this blog.)

World Championship Game 6

Anand wins again, 3-0

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [E34]
21.10.20081.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Bd2 0-0 9.h3 b6 10.g4 Qa5 11.Rc1 Bb7 12.a3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Qd5 14.Qxd5 Nxd5 15.Bd2 Nf6 16.Rg1 Rac8 17.Bg2 Ne7 18.Bb4 c5 19.dxc5 Rfd8 20.Ne5 Bxg2 21.Rxg2 bxc5 22.Rxc5 Ne4 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Nd3 Nd5 25.Bd2 Rc2 26.Bc1 f5 27.Kd1 Rc8 28.f3 Nd6 29.Ke1 a5 30.e3 e5 31.gxf5 e4 32.fxe4 Nxe4 33.Bd2 a4 34.Nf2 Nd6 35.Rg4 Nc4 36.e4 Nf6 37.Rg3 Nxb2 38.e5 Nd5 39.f6 Kf7 40.Ne4 Nc4 41.fxg7 Kg8 42.Rd3 Ndb6 43.Bh6 Nxe5 44.Nf6+ Kf7 45.Rc3 Rxc3 46.g8Q+ Kxf6 47.Bg7+ 1-0

Commentary at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4973

World Championship Game 5

Anand up 2-0.

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D49]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Rg8 16.Bf4 Bd6 17.Bg3 f5 18.Rfc1 f4 19.Bh4 Be7 20.a4 Bxh4 21.Nxh4 Ke7 22.Ra3 Rac8 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Ra1 Qc5 25.Qg4 Qe5 26.Nf3 Qf6 27.Re1 Rc5 28.b4 Rc3 29.Nxd4 Qxd4 30.Rd1 Nf6 31.Rxd4 Nxg4 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.Rxb7 Rc1+ 34.Bf1 Ne3 35.fxe3 fxe3 0-1

Commentary at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4969

World Championship Game 4

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D37]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bf5 12.Be2 Bf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nd4 Ne6 15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.0-0 Rfd8 17.Bg4 Qe5 18.Qb3 Nc5 19.Qb5 b6 20.Rfd1 Rd6 21.Rd4 a6 22.Qb4 h5 23.Bh3 Rad8 24.g3 g5 25.Rad1 g4 26.Bg2 Ne6 27.R4d3 d4 28.exd4 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 ½-½

World Championship Game 3

First Blood - Anand wins with Black

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D49]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Bd6 16.Rd1 Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.Nxd4 h5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Qd3 Rg7 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.gxf4 Rd8 25.Qe2 Kh6 26.Kf1 Rg8 27.a4 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3 29.Ra3 Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Kc2 Bg4 32.f3 Bf5+ 33.Bd3 Bh3 34.a5 Rg2 35.a6 Rxe2+ 36.Bxe2 Bf5+ 37.Kb3 Qe3+ 38.Ka2 Qxe2 39.a7 Qc4+ 40.Ka1 Qf1+ 41.Ka2 Bb1+ 0-1

World Championship Game 2

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [E25]
[Comments by IM Malcolm Pein]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 f5 9.Qc2 Nd7 (A cunning choice to avoid a prepared idea. Kramnik avoids the main lines with 9...0-0 10.e4 or 9...f4 10.e4 fxe3 11.Bd3.) 10.e4 fxe4 11.fxe4 N5f6 12.c6 (As in game one Anand avoids pawn weaknesses. The c3 pawn might be targeted if Black could organize Nd7xc5 and Qd8-c7.) bxc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2 (14.Be2 was possible. Had Vishy managed to place his bishops on c4 and e3 he may have had an edge. Now it seems roughly level.) Ba6 (Kramnik wants to exchange one bishop because White's bishop pair can be strong.) 15.c4 Qc5 16.Bd3 Ng4 17.Bb4 Qe3+ 18.Qe2 0-0-0 19.Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21.Kg3 Ndf6 (Opening up the rook on d8 to attack the bishop on d3. An active choice but is also risky and entails a pawn sacrifice.) 22.Bb1 h5 23.h3 h4+ 24.Nxh4 Ne5 25.Nf3 Nh5+ 26.Kf2 Nxf3 27.Kxf3 e5! (Kramnik has compensation for the sacrificed pawn based on the poor bishop on b1, open files for his rooks and the agility of his knight in a closed position.) 28.Rc1 Nf4 29.Ra2 31.Bc2 Ne6 32.Kg3 Rd4 1/2-1/2

World Championship Game 1

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D14]

[Comments by IM Malcolm Pein]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Qb3 Bb4 9.Bb5 0-0 10.Bxc6 (10.0-0 Bxc3 11.Bxc6 Bxb2 12.Bxb7 Bxa1 13.Rxa1 Rc8 14.Bxc8 Qxc8 15.Qa3 Qb7 16.Rc1 Rc8 17.Rxc8+ Qxc8 18.Ne5 Nd7 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.Qa6 and in Malakhov-Ivanchuk White calmly exploited his better placed queen by playing Bf4-b8xa7 and he won. This shows the pleasant edge White can achieve sometimes in this line and Black has to struggle to equalize completely.) 10...Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Rc8 (Here and on the next move Anand avoids bxc6 when the pawn would be very weak. White can easily exert control over c5 and then lay siege to the pawn. 11...bxc6 12.Qxc6 Qa5+ 13.Qc3 Qxc3+ 14.bxc3 Ne4; 11...bxc6 12.0-0 Qb6 13.Rfc1 and c5 is weak.) 12.Ne5 Ng4 (12...bxc6 Leaves Black with a permanently weak pawn on an open file.) 13.Nxg4 Bxg4 14.Qb4 (14.Qa3 Rxc6 15.Qxa7 Rc2 16.0-0 Be2 17.Rfc1 Rxb2) Rxc6! (Avoiding the structural weakness referred to above even at the cost of a pawn. If there is one man who can make your life miserable if you have a bad pawn structure it is Kramnik.) 15.Qxb7 Qc8 16.Qxc8 (16.Qb3 Qa6 and Rfc8-c2 is coming.) Rfxc8 (Black has compensation for the pawn. He controls the c file completely and has active rooks.) 17.0-0 a5 18.f3 Bf5 19.Rfe1 Bg6 20.b3 (20.Kf2 Rc2+ 21.Re2 Rxe2+ 22.Kxe2 Rc2+) f6 21.e4 dxe4 22.fxe4 Rd8 23.Rad1 Rc2 (White cannot stay a pawn ahead and d5 is well met by e5. The next few moves just force simplification and a draw, a minor victory for Anand who made light of the attempted squeeze.) 24.e5 (24.a4 e5 25.dxe5 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 fxe5 27.Bxe5 Bxe4; 24.d5 e5; 24.Rc3 e5) fxe5 (24...Rxa2 25.exf6 gxf6 26.Rxe6 Bc2=) 25.Bxe5 Rxa2 26.Ra1 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Rd5 28.Rc1 Rd7 (28...Rb5 29.Rc7 Rxb3 30.Rxg7+ Kf8 is also harmless.) 29.Rc5 Ra7 30.Rc7 Rxc7 31.Bxc7 Bc2 32.Bxa5 Bxb3 1/2-1/2

Official website is http://www.uep-worldchess.com/

FIDE Rating List

1	Topalov, Veselin	BUL	2791
2	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2787
3	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2786
4	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2786
5	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	2783
6	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2772
7	Aronian, Levon	ARM	2757
8	Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	2751
9	Leko, Peter	HUN	2747
10	Jakovenko, Dmitry	RUS	2737
11	Wang, Yue	CHN	2736