on Sun May 15, 2011 11:21 am by picasso
1. Nf3 We already saw this as a first move in game 4 of Topalov - Kamsky, it did surprise the American player, will it have an effect on Grischuk as well? Maybe not so much this time, as Kramnik also opened with it game 2!
1... c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 The same line as in game 2. It is known to be very stable for both sides, however in recent years there are many improvements over it. Let's remember that after 5. d4 there is serious theoretical battle, the latest games went actually quite sharp. 5...cd 6.ed e4 7.Ne5 with a very unclear position...
5. Be2 And there we go! First improvement by Kramnik, can we expect another serious Cyborg home preparation? Previously 5.d4 was the move, Grischuk showed he is worthy in defending the line and Kramnik is looking for another way to score a point in the last game.
5... d5 6. d4 exd4 7. exd4 Be6 8. Be3 So we have almost same opening as in the first game of the match, only difference that Vladimir is choosig Be2 instead of d4. Now we have a position that normally appears after diferent move order: 1.e4 c5 2Nf3 e6 3. c4 Nc6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d4 d5 with a very similar position.
8... dxc4 9. O-O cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 GM Naiditsch: Vladimir is looking for a very small advantage this game...and not clear if he will get it at all. After the previous short draws, can we see another? Possible continuation now could be: 11...Nd4 12.Bd4 and Qa5 Candidates Matches are brought to you thanks to Chess Evolution and Chess Friends.
11... Qa5 GM Naiditsch: for the second time in a row Sasha is facing difficult decisions in the opening while Kramnik is just trying to remember his lines... in the first game Sasha manage to survive in a bad position, can he do that again?
12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Re1 GM Naiditsch: Sasha has a dangerous position to play with out an engine... white has many attacking ideas and black needs to play very exact, although objectivly black's position should be fine... Black should try to castle as soon as possible, but how to reach it?? Now at 13...Be7 white can play 14.Bf3 attacking b7 pawn and also threatening just to put any piece on d5. 13...Rd8 probably is not a bad move now... 14.Qc1 and maybe Be7, at Qh6 black has always Qg5.
13... Rd8 GM Naiditsch: so where to move the queen now, on c1 or c2?
14. Qc2 GM Naiditsch: to c1 was also interesting because of 14.Qc1 Be7 and 15.Re4 but now after 14...Be7 15.Qe4! is coming, pawns c4 and b7 are hanging and black's king is still in the middle, that gives white position big perespectives in this game. Sasha is now not happy at all, understanding that Kramnik is still in his lines and probably position is at least not worse for white... and by losing today the match would be over...
14... Be7 GM Naiditsch: strange that Vladimir is thinking now, which move surprizes him? Rd8 hard to imagine, Be7 as well...
15. Qe4 GM Naiditsch: maybe Sasha can play now f5!? and after 16.Qb7 Qb6 trying to escape into an endgame.
15... Qc5 GM Naiditsch: 15...Qc5 solid move by Sasha. Now after 16.Qb7 O-O 17.Ne4 Qb4 18.Qa7 f5!?
16. Qxb7 GM Naiditsch: 16...O-O 17.Ne4 Qb4 18.Nf8 Kh8 19.Qb4 Bb4 black are a pawn down, but I think position is very close to equal. Let's see if Sasha thinks the same way and is going to make a short castle... Black could also try now 16...Rd7 but I am not sure if this is the best plan, 17.Qb8 Rd8 18.Qg3 and white keeps the black kind in the center
16... O-O GM Naiditsch: yes, Sasha going for the pawn sacrifice, very human choice. Seems like Sasha found all best moves and the position is close to be equal... I think this is very important moment in the game. Can Vladimir find now something to keep the position hot or will he agree to be in the tie breaks tomorrow? Maybe after analysing all night Kramnik decided to have a small nap now? :) to be fresh back fot the rest of the game.
17. Ne4 Qb4 18. Qxa7 Rd7 GM Naiditsch: after 40 min of thinking Kramnik decides not to go for an endgame and tries his luck with the queen on the board. 18...Rd7 good move by Sasha not giving white any sudden chances. Also 18...f5 been a possibility. Now almost at any of whites moves black will play or Qb2 or f5. To me it seems that only black can be better in the future. Maybe Vladimir was a bit too ambitious not to get the game into about an equal endgame. 19.Qe3 Qb2 20.Nc5 could be a way for white to lead the game into a draw.
19. Qe3 Qxb2 Note: GM Danielsen has produced videos on all games from yesterday, review them in the Facebook chess fan page
20. Rac1 GM Naiditsch: 20.Rac1 a bit strange decision by Kramnik. Does he want to play for win here? Not really, so why not to force a draw by 20.Nc5?
20... Qd4 GM Naiditsch: 20...Qd4 solid play, also 20...Rc8 been possible. A nice draw line is now: 21.Qf4 f5 22.Rcd1 Qe4 23.Qg3 Kh8 24.Qc3 Kg8 25.Qg3 with a draw.
21. Qf3 GM Naiditsch: 21.Qf3 not a great move by Vladimir. Now after 21...f5 he needs to start to be carefull not to get a worse position. This game can suddenly turn in a big suffer for white, but for this Sasha needs now to play 21...f5. I can see only one reason of Sashas thinking, this is Kramniks draw offer, as the move is obvious.
21... Rc8 22. Ng3 GM Naiditsch: white should play now probably 22.Red1 to exchange one pair of rooks and afterwards try to attack the pawn c4 and eat it in best case. 22.Ng3 I think another not great move by Vladimir...now after 22...Qe5 he will face again some problems... Sasha needs to start to play faster, he has only 13 minutes left for 18 moves without increament.
22... Rdc7 GM Naiditsch: again a very strange choise of moves by Sasha, now after 23.Nf5 white are obviously at least equal.
23. Nh5 GM Naiditsch: Kramnik decided instead to play 23...Nh5 and bring the night to f4... not sure if this was the best 23.Nf5 was looking more natural.
23... Kh8 GM Naiditsch: after 24.Nf4 black will just play c3
24. Rcd1 GM Naiditsch:now Grischuk has to find 24...Qc5!! not be scare to loose the pawn f6
24... Qb2 GM Naiditsch: Sasha moves in the wrong direction, nothing big happens, but maybe he is tired. The position remains about equal. Many see Kramnik as a position player with great endgame technik, in my experiance Vladimir has fantastic precise calculation, so positions with advantage he is almost calculating until the end. Let's see if he can make use out of Sasha's inaccuracies during last move and turn the game into a winning/draw game.
25. Qg3 Bf8 26. Bg4 GM Naiditsch: 26.Bg4! game is getting suddently super sharp! 26...c3 seems to be the right reply now. 25...c3 27.Be6 fe 28.Nf6 Rg7 and next c2 can be really dangerous for white. What is Vladimir planning to do after 26...c3? Sasha's time is looking not good, only 7 minutes for 16 moves.
26... c3 GM Naiditsch: I think the looser of todays game will have many sleepless nights infront of him...
27. Bxe6 fxe6 28. Nxf6 GM Naiditsch: Sasha's position is looking better and better, but as we saw yesturday in the game between Kamsky-Gelfand, in time trouble everthing can happen!
28... Bg7 GM Naiditsch: I cannot believe Sasha did not play Rg7. And here come the first surprize, why not Rg7 instead of Bg7? with next c2 cmming and big advantage for black.
29. Nh5 Qb7 GM Naiditsch: the evaluation of the position on the board is still unclear, but white went almost through hell, if Sasha would have played only Rg7...
30. Qh4 GM Naiditsch: 30.Qh4 good move, Rd8 is hanging, 30...Qa8 is maybe one of the only defences
30... Rg8 Gm Naiditsch: Grischuk is blundering! 30... Rg8?? now after 31.Nf4 he can get into very big trouble!
31. Rd8 GM Naiditsch: 31.Rd8 not a bad move, but Nf4 been almost winning. Is white winning after 31...c2 32.Nf4?
31... Rc8 GM Naiditsch: now white has a pleasent choise for example: 32.Nf6 and going into a rook endgame which seems to be winning for white for me. 32.Nf6 Bf6 33.Qf6 Qg7 34.Rg8 Rg8 35.Qg7 Rg7 36.Rc1 Ra7 37.Rc2 and white king going to d3, white is winning!
32. Rxg8+ Rxg8 GM Naiditsch: strange, strange! Rook endgame is really looking winning why to do something else... He wants to finish the game before move 40 but why to do that?
33. Nxg7 Qxg7 34. Qe4 c2 35. Rc1 Rc8 36. Qxe6 Rd8 GM Naiditsch : Sasha and fight goes on! wow Sasha is back but 14 seconds for 3 moves!
37. Qb3 Rd2 GM Naiditsch: so what we learn from this game, no need to play on oponents time in a winning position :) maybe perpetual check now coming after 38.Qb8-e5?
38. Qb8+ Qg8 39. Qb2+ Qg7 40. Qb8+ Qg8 ½-½
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1... c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 The same line as in game 2. It is known to be very stable for both sides, however in recent years there are many improvements over it. Let's remember that after 5. d4 there is serious theoretical battle, the latest games went actually quite sharp. 5...cd 6.ed e4 7.Ne5 with a very unclear position...
5. Be2 And there we go! First improvement by Kramnik, can we expect another serious Cyborg home preparation? Previously 5.d4 was the move, Grischuk showed he is worthy in defending the line and Kramnik is looking for another way to score a point in the last game.
5... d5 6. d4 exd4 7. exd4 Be6 8. Be3 So we have almost same opening as in the first game of the match, only difference that Vladimir is choosig Be2 instead of d4. Now we have a position that normally appears after diferent move order: 1.e4 c5 2Nf3 e6 3. c4 Nc6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d4 d5 with a very similar position.
8... dxc4 9. O-O cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 GM Naiditsch: Vladimir is looking for a very small advantage this game...and not clear if he will get it at all. After the previous short draws, can we see another? Possible continuation now could be: 11...Nd4 12.Bd4 and Qa5 Candidates Matches are brought to you thanks to Chess Evolution and Chess Friends.
11... Qa5 GM Naiditsch: for the second time in a row Sasha is facing difficult decisions in the opening while Kramnik is just trying to remember his lines... in the first game Sasha manage to survive in a bad position, can he do that again?
12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Re1 GM Naiditsch: Sasha has a dangerous position to play with out an engine... white has many attacking ideas and black needs to play very exact, although objectivly black's position should be fine... Black should try to castle as soon as possible, but how to reach it?? Now at 13...Be7 white can play 14.Bf3 attacking b7 pawn and also threatening just to put any piece on d5. 13...Rd8 probably is not a bad move now... 14.Qc1 and maybe Be7, at Qh6 black has always Qg5.
13... Rd8 GM Naiditsch: so where to move the queen now, on c1 or c2?
14. Qc2 GM Naiditsch: to c1 was also interesting because of 14.Qc1 Be7 and 15.Re4 but now after 14...Be7 15.Qe4! is coming, pawns c4 and b7 are hanging and black's king is still in the middle, that gives white position big perespectives in this game. Sasha is now not happy at all, understanding that Kramnik is still in his lines and probably position is at least not worse for white... and by losing today the match would be over...
14... Be7 GM Naiditsch: strange that Vladimir is thinking now, which move surprizes him? Rd8 hard to imagine, Be7 as well...
15. Qe4 GM Naiditsch: maybe Sasha can play now f5!? and after 16.Qb7 Qb6 trying to escape into an endgame.
15... Qc5 GM Naiditsch: 15...Qc5 solid move by Sasha. Now after 16.Qb7 O-O 17.Ne4 Qb4 18.Qa7 f5!?
16. Qxb7 GM Naiditsch: 16...O-O 17.Ne4 Qb4 18.Nf8 Kh8 19.Qb4 Bb4 black are a pawn down, but I think position is very close to equal. Let's see if Sasha thinks the same way and is going to make a short castle... Black could also try now 16...Rd7 but I am not sure if this is the best plan, 17.Qb8 Rd8 18.Qg3 and white keeps the black kind in the center
16... O-O GM Naiditsch: yes, Sasha going for the pawn sacrifice, very human choice. Seems like Sasha found all best moves and the position is close to be equal... I think this is very important moment in the game. Can Vladimir find now something to keep the position hot or will he agree to be in the tie breaks tomorrow? Maybe after analysing all night Kramnik decided to have a small nap now? :) to be fresh back fot the rest of the game.
17. Ne4 Qb4 18. Qxa7 Rd7 GM Naiditsch: after 40 min of thinking Kramnik decides not to go for an endgame and tries his luck with the queen on the board. 18...Rd7 good move by Sasha not giving white any sudden chances. Also 18...f5 been a possibility. Now almost at any of whites moves black will play or Qb2 or f5. To me it seems that only black can be better in the future. Maybe Vladimir was a bit too ambitious not to get the game into about an equal endgame. 19.Qe3 Qb2 20.Nc5 could be a way for white to lead the game into a draw.
19. Qe3 Qxb2 Note: GM Danielsen has produced videos on all games from yesterday, review them in the Facebook chess fan page
20. Rac1 GM Naiditsch: 20.Rac1 a bit strange decision by Kramnik. Does he want to play for win here? Not really, so why not to force a draw by 20.Nc5?
20... Qd4 GM Naiditsch: 20...Qd4 solid play, also 20...Rc8 been possible. A nice draw line is now: 21.Qf4 f5 22.Rcd1 Qe4 23.Qg3 Kh8 24.Qc3 Kg8 25.Qg3 with a draw.
21. Qf3 GM Naiditsch: 21.Qf3 not a great move by Vladimir. Now after 21...f5 he needs to start to be carefull not to get a worse position. This game can suddenly turn in a big suffer for white, but for this Sasha needs now to play 21...f5. I can see only one reason of Sashas thinking, this is Kramniks draw offer, as the move is obvious.
21... Rc8 22. Ng3 GM Naiditsch: white should play now probably 22.Red1 to exchange one pair of rooks and afterwards try to attack the pawn c4 and eat it in best case. 22.Ng3 I think another not great move by Vladimir...now after 22...Qe5 he will face again some problems... Sasha needs to start to play faster, he has only 13 minutes left for 18 moves without increament.
22... Rdc7 GM Naiditsch: again a very strange choise of moves by Sasha, now after 23.Nf5 white are obviously at least equal.
23. Nh5 GM Naiditsch: Kramnik decided instead to play 23...Nh5 and bring the night to f4... not sure if this was the best 23.Nf5 was looking more natural.
23... Kh8 GM Naiditsch: after 24.Nf4 black will just play c3
24. Rcd1 GM Naiditsch:now Grischuk has to find 24...Qc5!! not be scare to loose the pawn f6
24... Qb2 GM Naiditsch: Sasha moves in the wrong direction, nothing big happens, but maybe he is tired. The position remains about equal. Many see Kramnik as a position player with great endgame technik, in my experiance Vladimir has fantastic precise calculation, so positions with advantage he is almost calculating until the end. Let's see if he can make use out of Sasha's inaccuracies during last move and turn the game into a winning/draw game.
25. Qg3 Bf8 26. Bg4 GM Naiditsch: 26.Bg4! game is getting suddently super sharp! 26...c3 seems to be the right reply now. 25...c3 27.Be6 fe 28.Nf6 Rg7 and next c2 can be really dangerous for white. What is Vladimir planning to do after 26...c3? Sasha's time is looking not good, only 7 minutes for 16 moves.
26... c3 GM Naiditsch: I think the looser of todays game will have many sleepless nights infront of him...
27. Bxe6 fxe6 28. Nxf6 GM Naiditsch: Sasha's position is looking better and better, but as we saw yesturday in the game between Kamsky-Gelfand, in time trouble everthing can happen!
28... Bg7 GM Naiditsch: I cannot believe Sasha did not play Rg7. And here come the first surprize, why not Rg7 instead of Bg7? with next c2 cmming and big advantage for black.
29. Nh5 Qb7 GM Naiditsch: the evaluation of the position on the board is still unclear, but white went almost through hell, if Sasha would have played only Rg7...
30. Qh4 GM Naiditsch: 30.Qh4 good move, Rd8 is hanging, 30...Qa8 is maybe one of the only defences
30... Rg8 Gm Naiditsch: Grischuk is blundering! 30... Rg8?? now after 31.Nf4 he can get into very big trouble!
31. Rd8 GM Naiditsch: 31.Rd8 not a bad move, but Nf4 been almost winning. Is white winning after 31...c2 32.Nf4?
31... Rc8 GM Naiditsch: now white has a pleasent choise for example: 32.Nf6 and going into a rook endgame which seems to be winning for white for me. 32.Nf6 Bf6 33.Qf6 Qg7 34.Rg8 Rg8 35.Qg7 Rg7 36.Rc1 Ra7 37.Rc2 and white king going to d3, white is winning!
32. Rxg8+ Rxg8 GM Naiditsch: strange, strange! Rook endgame is really looking winning why to do something else... He wants to finish the game before move 40 but why to do that?
33. Nxg7 Qxg7 34. Qe4 c2 35. Rc1 Rc8 36. Qxe6 Rd8 GM Naiditsch : Sasha and fight goes on! wow Sasha is back but 14 seconds for 3 moves!
37. Qb3 Rd2 GM Naiditsch: so what we learn from this game, no need to play on oponents time in a winning position :) maybe perpetual check now coming after 38.Qb8-e5?
38. Qb8+ Qg8 39. Qb2+ Qg7 40. Qb8+ Qg8 ½-½
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Last edited by picasso on Sun May 15, 2011 3:08 pm; edited 7 times in total (Reason for editing : update)