Kramnik-Aronian 36th move tactics (Annotations)

also available here
chessbase : Kramnik-Aronian.html

Round 9 Candidates Analysis (Express)

Karjakin-Kramnik 1-0 Kramnik crashed and burned his vessels
Caruana-Ding Liren 1/2 1/2 Caruana missed several wins

 Full Analysis here games round 9 FIDE candidates analyzed

Round 9 Games Annotated 

Aronian Kramnik 2018 Chess Analysis

Replay game here
http://aronian-kramnik_2018-annotated.html

after 8..Rg8

after ..f5

after ..Qe2

Monaco Melody Amber Chess 2011

Monaco (click the picture to expand!)

http://www.amberchess20.com/

March 11 - March 25 2011

Participants

Viswanathan Anand (India),

Magnus Carlsen (Norway),

Levon Aronian (Armenia),

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia),

Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria),

Alexander Grischuk (Russia),

Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine),

Sergey Karjakin (Russia),

Boris Gelfand (Israel),

Hikaru Nakamura (United States),

Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan)

Anish Giri (The Netherlands)

Sadly, the 20th and last edition of an incredible chess tournament I had the privilege to attend in person several times.

You can review several games from previous tournaments on this blog, for instance:

http://www.top10chess.com/2009/03/amber-round-2-aronian-leko-rapid.html

http://www.top10chess.com/2009/03/carlsen-kramnik-blindfold-brilliancy-10.html

What is the best move for Black ?

Black to play

Once again, going through the main motifs/candidate moves + a bit of calculation are necessary here ( no opening book or ending manual is needed; Chess engines will find the right move instantly)...

Top Grandmaster news

White to play for the initiative (23rd move)

Ivanchuk-Kramnik 2009 ,Tal Memorial Round 9

The 2009 Tal memorial just finished, with Kramnik taking first place. Congratulations to Vlad for a victory in a super strong tournament ! His style was energetic throughout the whole tournament.

1-Kramnik 6/9
2&3 Ivanchuk,Carlsen 5.5/9
4&5 Anand,Aronian 5/9

Anand was in contention for first place but lost his last game to Aronian pretty badly.

It looks like Ivanchuk had a very strong attack against Kramnik in the 9th round, but he missed the critical continuation somewhere between move 21 and 25.
Concrete analysis and full game on the following 2 links:

http://www.thechessmind.net/storage/chess-posts/talmemorial2009_rd9.htm
http://www.chessbase.com/news/2009/talmem/games/round09.htm


Post tournament, there is a lot of chatter about Carlsen being unofficially the best rated player in the world ( less than a point ahead of Topalov!). This is following lots of hype about Kasparov training Carlsen to become the next world champ.


My simple and subjective view on the top chess players currently is as follows:

1.Anand and 2.Kramnik are the two strongest players as of November 2009. I believe that if they were to play another match, Kramnik would try to play more dynamically, which is he what he did in his next tournaments. I noticed that Anand had not won a tournament since he is world champ, but played well enough to finish 2nd ( or here 4th). These two players are stronger than the field at this juncture.

Next come 3.Topalov,4.Carlsen and 5.Aronian. These 3 are achieving impressive results with regularity at the very top, but wouldn't at this stage challenge succesfully Anand or Kramnik in a match.
What about the 2010 Topalov-Anand match ? I believe Anand would be clear favorite if the location would be in a neutral country. Having it in Sofia,Bulgaria is definitely increasing Topalov's chances, as Anand may feel psychologically presssured to play in Topalov's home country with obvious and numerous benefits.

After these 5 players, there is another layer of still super strong grandmasters. The main difference would be their consistency (or lackthereof) or experience at the very top.
This would include Ivanchuk,Morozevich,Gashimov,Vachier-Lagrave and Nakamura among many others. Ivanchuk for instance may very well win the Tal Memorial or Wijk aan Zee, as he is a truly brilliant player. He may just not sustain this level throughout the year.
These players are sometimes less well-known, which is why tournaments like London 2009 are exciting as new players are given a chance to compete against the best.
Nakamura will compete in London 2009, and Vachier-Lagrave won Biel 2009 ahead of Morozevich and others.

Amber Chess 2009: Aronian wins in Nice !

Levon Aronian, Nice winner Amber Edition 2009

By drawing his two games against Topalov today, Levon Aronian won the combined 2009 Amber tournament. This is the second win in a row for the armenian grand master, as he won last year's combined Amber event as well.

Levon Aronian overall winner in Amber 2009 !

The tournament was incredibly strong this year, with the participation of Anand,Kramnik,Topalov,Carlsen,Morozevich,Karjakin and many other top GMs.

I think that Aronian's success lies in very strong middle-game skills both from a tactical and strategic standpoint, the ability to save or turn around compromised positions ( see rapid game against Carlsen for instance), finding counter-chances and making superb practical decisions especially in complex positions, and excellent nerves & self-control in time-trouble.

A great example today was his move 32..Re8! in the blindfold Topalov-Aronian.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1541024


Finally Aronian has developed a well-thought out opening repertoire with 1d4 as main weapon for White (with also 1.c4 and 1Nf3 as alternatives). As Black, he can play 1..e5 or 1..c6 against 1.e4, and favors the Slav against 1.d4.

Kramnik, Anand and Carlsen were also in the running for first place during the tournament.
This year's event produced numerous exciting battles, including the blindfold tournament, which showed that top grandmasters can play fast and accurately without a chessboard, which I find personally very impressive. Only a few blindfold games were decided by blunders, with the vast majority displaying quality chess !



Official Website and Final Standings :
http://www.amberchess2009.com/

Excellent coverage also at :

http://www.chessvibes.com/ (with on-site videos)

http://www.chessgames.com/

http://www.theweekinchess.com/

Toward the end, Europe-Echecs provided on-site coverage as well:
http://www.europe-echecs.com/

Carlsen-Kramnik Blindfold Brilliancy (10)

Another brilliant game at Amber, this time Vladimir Kramnik produced a blindfold masterpiece !

[Event "Amber Blind"]
[Site "Nice"]
[Date "2009.03.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Carlsen,M"]
[Black "Kramnik,V"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E32"]
[Opening "Nimzo-Indian"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Ne2 Ba5 8.O-O Bb6 9. d5? Nb4 10. Qd2 exd5 11. cxd5?! Ng4! 12. Bb1 Qh4 13. Qf4 f5! 14. exf5Bxf5 15. h3 Bxf2+ 16. Kh1 Bd7 17. Qg5 Bc5! 18. Rxf8+ Rxf8 19. Ng1 Rf1! 20.Bxh7+ Kh8 0-1

After 13..f5!


Comments :

5 e4 !? is a interesting attempt to deviate from main lines of 4 Qc2

7..Ba5!? Kramnik relocating the bishop to b6 to attack d4

7 Nf3 instead of 7 Nge2 has the advantage of controlling h4, which was a factor in the game

8 a3!? to prevent Nb4 and prepare b4, without castling was probably an improvement on the game 8 0-0.

9 d5? more cautious was 9 Be3 Ng4 10 h3 Ne3 11fe3 Qg5 12 Rf3



11 Nd5 was probably better than the game's 11 cd5.

12 Bb1 sounds passive but 12 h3? Ne5 13 Bb1 Bxh3! with idea Nf3+

14 ef5?, it was better to admit that Black's attack is dangerous and play 14 Qg3

15 Bf5 was not possible because of 15..Rf5! 16 Qg3 as 16 Qf5 is met by Qh2 #.

Instead of 20 Bh7+, 20 Nce2 Bg1 21 Ng1 Rg1+! 22 Kg1 Qe1 is Checkmate

20 Bh7+ was a cheap trick, as 20..Kh7?? is met by Qxh4+, but Kramnik correctly played Kh8 of course.

Full Game replayable here:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1541010

Anand-Kramnik Amber Tactics 2009 - Round 8

White to play and win

Anand-Kramnik , Amber Blindfold (8)

Anand won the blindfold game and drew the rapid , to win the mini-match 1.5-0.5

Amber 2008 game: Kramnik-Topalov

Kramnik-Topalov 2008, 1-0 Amber (Rapid)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Na68. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 Qe8 10. Re1 exd4 11. Nd5 d3 12. Bxd3 c6 13. Ne7 Kh814. Nxc8 Rxc8 15. Bf1 Nc5 16. Qxd6 Nxe4 17. Qa3 f5 18. h3 Ne5 19. Bf4 Nd720. Qxa7 Bxb2 21. Rab1 Bg7 22. Qxb7 Ndc5 23. Qb6 Rf7 24. Ng5 Rb7 25. Qxb7! Nxb726. Rxb7 Kg8? 27. c5! h6 28. Bc4 Kh8 29. Be5 hxg5 30. Bxg7 Kh7 31. Bf8 Kh832. Be7 Rb8 33. Rxe4 1-0


This is the remarkable 2008 rapid Amber game between Kramnik and Topalov. Note White's 25th move with a strong attack in this King's Indian with 7..Na6.

Annotations and game replay here and here :

http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/amber2008_rd5.htm

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1488135

Link to the 2008 tournament:
http://www.amberchess2008.com


These two players will be present in the 2009 edition starting next week...

Melody Amber Previous winners ( Overall)

Here's the list of winners (combined rapid+blindfold) and location of previous Amber Chess tournaments :

Nice, France
2008 Aronian

Monaco
2007 Kramnik
2006 Anand,Morozevich
2005 Anand
2004 Morozevich,Kramnik
2003 Anand
2002 Morozevich
2001 Kramnik,Topalov
2000 Shirov
1999 Kramnik
1998 Kramnik,Shirov
1997 Anand
1996 Kramnik
1995 Karpov
1994 Anand
1993 Ljubojevic
1992 Ivanchuk

Overall Kramnik won it 6 times and Anand 5 times ! Let's say that Morozevich, with 3 wins in the last 6 editions is more than a serious contender too.

Who will win the 2009 Amber edition ?
http://www.amberchess2009.com/

Critical positions from Anand-Kramnik match 2008

Anand-Kramnik (11), after 24..Be3 1/2 1/2

Kramnik-Anand(10) after 29 Qd6 1-0

Kramnik-Anand (8) after 32 e5

Anand-Kramnik (6) after 34..Nc4

Kramnik-Anand (5) after 35 Bf1




Kramnik-Anand (3) after 32..Bf5+

Why did Anand resign after 29 Qd6 ? ( Game 10)

Kramik-Anand (Game 10) after 29 Qd6!

Here are a few variations.

29.. Nxc3? 30 Re7 Curtain

29 ..Bf7 30 Qb4! The knight in a4 is stranded
If we try 30 ..Rab8 31 a6 Nb6 32 Bb6 with large advantage for White.
If we try 30..Qc6 31 Rd1 No rush, threatening 32 Rd7. If Black continues31..Rd8 32 Rd8 Rd8 33 Rb8 and a7 falls

29..Rd8 30 Qb4! Rab8 31 a6 with for instance 31..Rb7 32 ab7 +-.

Clearly it was a premature position to resign, but Anand saw no salvation being low on time and facing Kramnik in very inferior position. He preferred to resign a bit early and focus on the next game ( a draw will suffice to earn him the World Chess Champion title).
In other circumstances we would have expected Anand to continue a couple of moves, as it is never too late to blunder

Anand World Champion ??

Anand is playing today game 10, which he needs only a draw to win the 2008 WorldChampionship against Kramnik.
Anand's wins in round 3, 5 and 6 , without suffering any loss confirmed he is soon to be the uncontested classical world chess champion (succeeding Kasparov and Kramnik). So far his performance in the match is close to perfect play.

It is remarkable to observe how he managed to win twice with the Black pieces, (games 3 and 5), with the same variation where he left his king in the center and attacked along the g-column and the a8-h1 diagonal. Kramnik's idea in playing the variation was probably to survive the middle-game and "win the endgame" with his a- and b- pawns. But he probably underestimated the initiative Black enjoys in this variation. 10 d5 instead of 10 e5 was worth a look.
Game 6 was a different story: 9 h3 and 10 g4 was an aggressive play by Anand, which was further neutralized by Kramnik who managed to swap the queens. However, 19 ..c5?! was a premature and eager sacrifice in my opinion, 19..Rfe8 was called for. Black never got enough play for the pawn in that game. It was too early to counter-attack with Black.

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ALL ANAND-KRAMNIK WCC GAMES SO FAR CAN BE PLAYED HERE:

http://games.top10chess.com/anandwch08.htm

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Kramnik-Anand Tactics (Previous Games)

Kramnik and Anand will compete in a world championship on October 14th. Let's review four previous games between the two champions. These positions were shown in an earlier post in June.

We will have 2 tactical positions won by Anand, and 2 won by Kramnik. Let's the best of these two exceptional chess players battle for the world chess title!

1. Black to play and win !

1. Kramnik-Anand Amber Nice (rapid) 2008

-----------------------------

2.White to play and win

2.Kramnik-Anand Corus Wijk-Aan-Zee 2007

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3. White to play and win

3. Anand-Kramnik, M-Tel Sofia 2005

---------------------------------

4. White to play and win

4. Kramnik-Anand Sparkassen Dortmund 2001

Replay all positions with annoted solutions on this link:

http://games.top10chess.com/kramnikanand.htm

Anand-Kramnik : last 50 chess games / Openings / Prognosis

As Anand and Kramnik will face each other for the 2008 World Chess Championship in Bonn, with the first game starting on October 14th, I have collected their last 50 games played with each other.

The most recent games were played in Nice for the Amber 2008. The blind game was drawn, while Anand won convincingly the rapid game with the Black pieces ( Attack leading to Checkmate). The oldest game presented was played in 2001.

You can replay through the 50 games via this link:

http://games.top10chess.com/kramnikanandgames.htm



Obviously, their games are available for replay on http://www.chesslab.com/, http://www.chessgames.com/ or http://www.chesslive.de/, but I find it cumbersome to repeat the query.

The other advantage of the 50 games link above, is that you can play through the moves manually or automatically (choosing your speed between moves, and pausing if need). One other plus is that the JavaScript tool I am using allows for an engine to be displayed ( by clicking on the ? button, you can activate it and also move pieces on this extra analysis board). Simple but powerful tool, especially for combinations& tactics.

The other alternative is to play through the .pgn file on Fritz/ChessBase or Rybka/Chess Assistant but the JavaScript/HTML link is straightforward to use.

The games are not annotated but the JavaScript tool allows for comments/variations/evaluations ( it takes any annotated .PGN format game).

If anyone has any of these games annotated in .pgn format, I'll be happy to link or display these as well. ( thechesscorner "@" gmail . com )


Openings:

On the opening front, and if their history is any guide for their upcoming match, we would expect the following based on a cursory look at their previous games:

Anand with White would most certainly open with 1.e4. Kramnik has used 1..e5 and specifically the Berlin Defense ( 1e4 e5 2Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6) against Anand, even after the Kasparov-Kramnik 2000 world championship match.
Kramnik has also used the Petroff Defense ( 1e4 e5 2Nf3 Nf6), but lost quickly in 2005 against Anand with it. He also lost key games during the 2008 Dortmund tournament in the Petroff ( Most notably against Naidistch).

Kramnik has also tried the Sicilian Schveshnikov against Anand ( 1e4 c5 2Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cd4 4Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6Ndb5 d6) with some success. I would expect him to try it again during their match, and even something like 4..e5 as well. The only caveat would be that Anand can also vary with 3Bb5, entering the Rossolimo.

Kramnik with White has favored 1.d4 or 1.Nf3.
Anand has responded with various systems over time. Currently he favors the Slav/Semi-Slav settings with ..d5 and ..c6.
In Mexico 2007, Anand chose the following for their important encounter :
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6
The game ended with a hard-fought draw.

Anand has also played the West-Indian defense ( 1.d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3Nf3 b6)
Finally, on 1.Nf3, Anand usually chooses 1..d5, and the game can go into Slav, or even Catalan or Queen's Gambit territory.

While opening surprises may occur, Kramnik prefers positional play while Anand favors open positions with dynamic play. Both players had a fantastic 2007 year but are below their top form in 2008. Anand finished last in Bilbao while Kramnik did below par in Dortmund.

Kramnik has in the recent years played more matches (Leko 2004, Topalov 2006) but Anand has played both Kasparov (1995) and Karpov (1998), so his preparation will be world-class.

Bottom line: 50/50 odds !

Kramnik-Anand tactical positions

Kramnik and Anand will compete in a world championship later on in 2008. Let's review four previous games between the two champions.

We will have 2 tactical positions won by Anand, and 2 won by Kramnik. Let's the best of these two exceptional chess players battle for the world chess title!

1. Black to play and win !

1. Kramnik-Anand Amber Nice (rapid) 2008

-----------------------------

2.White to play and win

2.Kramnik-Anand Corus Wijk-Aan-Zee 2007

----------------------------------------

3. White to play and win

3. Anand-Kramnik, M-Tel Sofia 2005

---------------------------------

4. White to play and win

4. Kramnik-Anand Sparkassen Dortmund 2001

Replay all positions with annoted solutions on this link:

http://games.top10chess.com/kramnikanand.htm