Kasparov-Kramnik 2000 - mgschess.co.za

1 1 kasparov -Kramnik2000by Karsten M llerRussell Enterprises, , CT USA2 All rights reserved underPan American and International Copyright by:Russell Enterprises, Box 5460 Milford, CT 06460 2000by Karsten M llerCopyright 2000 -2006 Russell Enterprised, of ContentsForewordGame OneGame TwoGame ThreeGame FourGame FiveGame SixGame SevenGame EightGame NineGame TenGame ElevenGame TwelveGame ThirteenGame FourteenGame Fifteen458111621232930333640444850554In the fall of 2000 , World Chess Champion Garry kasparov met challengerVladimir Kramnik in London in a sixteen game match in defense of his had dominated the game since winning the title in 1985 from AnatolyKarpov. Before the match, kasparov was favored to retain his title. Indeed, noone could have predicted that not only would he lose his title, but that he woulddo so without winning even a single is pleased to present all fifteen games of this historic matchannotated by German grandmaster Karsten M ller.

2 Would liketo extend its thanks to Karsten M ller and Frederic Friedel of hope you enjoy Kramnik- kasparov , match for the world championship,London RussellSeptember 2001 Foreword5 kasparov ,Garry (2849) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2770)BGN World Championship London (1), [C67]The 2000 world championship match, Kasparov-Kramnik , eagerly awaited byso many, has been completed. It was the first time since 1995 that Kasparovdefended his title over the board. The drawing of lots gave him the white piecesin game one, and this has proved to be a bit of a disadvantage in a somewhat colorless probing draw, both players will settle down into thematch, and Kramnik has an extra game with white most significantly in thelast game of the match.

3 However, let us turn to the game e5 Nc6!?A bit of a surprise, since normally the Petroff with is Kramnik s mainweapon against !? kasparov is not to be outdone and plays the Ruy Lopez instead of the Scotch. Itis apparent that both players have worked out some unusual openings strategiesfor this Berlin Defense is not encountered as often as the main variation with ,but it doesn t have a bad reputation. Initially both players follow well-knownpaths to the Nxe4 Nd6 dxc6 Nf5 + Kxd8 Game OnecuuuuuuuuC{rDbiwgw4}{0p0wDp0p}{wDpDwD wD}{DwDw)nDw}{wDwDwDwD}{DwDwDNDw}{P)PDw) P)}{$NGwDRIw}vllllllllVThis is an interesting and often discussed position. White has a vital extra pawn6on the kingside, and Black cannot castle. In return, Black has the bishop-pairand no easily exploitable weaknesses.

4 Opinions about the evaluation of theposition are inconclusive. We will see if the discussion is taken up again in thecourse of this Bd7 h6 Kc8 is Garry s novelty. Kramnik now responds in a way that makes it difficultfor White to achieve g4, because it can be attacked with h7-h5. b6 Bb4 Re8 g6 Ng7 Ne6 Bd7 Bd6 f5 Rxe2 Kxc7 +Kc8 Be6 1 0, Shirov,A-Krasenkow,M Polanica Zdroj has 1:13 remaining vs. 1:48 for Kramnik, which tells us who stayedin the main line of his preparation longest. The position is a bit better for White,but the black bishops are not easy to Ng6 h5 has only 39 minutes left, which indicates that he has had problemsfinding a plan that would bring serious danger to his opponent.

5 !? 16Ng5 was also possible, and takes advantage of the fact that has weak-ened the !?Closing up the position is advantageous for White. Black s bishop-pair is betterin open wants to open the a-file for his rook with an eventual nails down the queenside in typical fashion. Black can no longermobilize his pawn majority because of the doubled pawn (after ..c6 and ..b5,White simply stays put), while at the same time kasparov is able to get a passedpawn on the kingside in the long run. kasparov has 37 minutes left and strollsacross the stage looking confident, while Kramnik, who has much more timeon his clock, seems quite uncomfortable in his !?7 Kramnik 49:00. ! Nxf4 Bf5 Bd8 (Fritz). Be6 after Rh5 Kb7 Ne7 Black can stop {rDwDwgw4}{Dk0wDp0w}{w0wDbDnD}{0w0w)wDw} {PDPDwDw0}{DPDNHwDP}{wGwDw)PD}{DwDRDRIw} !

6 ?This unusual development of the rook is directed against Re8 Kc8 Ne7 Nf5 Black has achieved a solid blockade; neither side can make any progress8 Kramnik,Vladimir (2770) - kasparov ,Garry (2849)BGN World Championship London (2), [D85]After the first colorless draw, the two players really got down to !?Kramnik wants to go for it. He has prepared a plan against kasparov s Gr nfeld! g6 d5 kasparov accepts the Nxd5 Nxc3 Bg7 c5 Qa5 a6 and Levin give this natural move a ?! in Chess Informant. Kramnikapparently sees it differently. ! b5 with counterplay, as in Timman,J-Ivanchuk,V Linares 1992 (Informant 54/42). Nc6cuuuuuuuuC{rDwDkDw4}{DRDw0pgp}{pDnDwD pD}{1w0wDwDw}{wDw)PDwD}{Dw)wGPDw}{PDw!w) w)}{DwDwIBDR}vllllllllVGame TwoIvanchuk and Levin give this variation in Informant without an !

7 ? (Skripchenko) ( !?) Nxb7 + ; Qxd2+ Nxd4 +/=. cxd4 ( !?) Bxd49 After Nxd4 , the pair of bishops gives White asmall but permanent advantage. The weak a-pawn in particular may cause Blacksome Rfc8+/=. Nd4 kasparov gives up a pawn in order to get one of the white bishops off theboard, going into an endgame with opposite-colored Bxd4 Ra7 ( !?) Bxa7 !?Kramnik wants to contest the dark squares and start a kingside attack in thelong run. allows maintains his strategy not to leave the dark squares to kasparov squeen and Qxg3+ Rb8 +/=, + ! Qh4 g5 goes into an endgame with rooks, opposite-colored bishops, and anextra pawn. !? (Skripchenko). gxf4 !

8 Fxe6 Kg7 ( !? Feist) Re7 (with the idea Ra7) ( Ba7 +) ! Be5 endgame is very unpleasant for kasparov because the rooks are still on theboard. And, in time trouble, all problems are the a-pawn to advance farther. But activating the rook also weakensthe h-pawn Rd2+ h5 Kf6 +!? was an alternative (Fritz 6). +cuuuuuuuuC{wDwDwDwD}{DwDwDwDw}{w$wDwiwD }{)wDwgwDp}{wDwDB0wD}{DwDwDPDK}{rDwDwDw) }{DwDwDwDw} time trouble kasparov gives the game away to a two-mover. With could have defended quite tenaciously, but White wins nevertheless asKramnik had found this plan as well, and published it in my Endgame Corner column#3 at : Bd4 + Kf8 Ra5 normally it is not such a good winning idea to trade rooks in this kindof endgame, but here it works because of the weak black h-pawn and White sfar advanced a-pawn: Kg7 ( + ) !

9 Fixing the weak h-pawn on a dark square is very important! ( Kd6 Kc7 Kb6 Kxa6 Kc7 Bd4 Bg7 Kd8 Bh6 Bh6 Bf8 Bb4 Bc3 + ) Be3 Bg1 Bf2 Kg7 ( Bg1 + ) Kf6 Be3 + . 1-0 The pawn endgame after Rxa5 + Kd7 Kd6 + Kxd5 is of course ,Garry (2849) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2770)BGN World Championship London (3), [C67]There were two crucial questions before this game: would Kramnik once againchoose the Berlin Defense, and had kasparov and his team succeeded in find-ing a way to create more pressure for White in this opening. The answer to bothquestions was yes. See for e5 Nc6 Nf6!?Kramnik shows no fear and stays with the Berlin Defense. It served him well inthe first Nxe4 Nd6 dxc6 Nf5 + Bd7 h6 Kc8 !

10 ?Deviating from game one. In the following, kasparov puts full emphasis on thequick development of his pieces and the pawn advance e5-e6. In the first gamehe hadn t forced the tempo and played for the mobilization of a kingside major-ity with f2-f4-f5. But Kramnik had succeeded in setting up a firm blockade onthe squares e6-f5: b6 Ne7 Ng6 h5 a5 h4 Be6 Kb7 Rh5 Re8 Ne7 Nf5 , kasparov ,G-Kramnik,V London 2000 (25). s novelty compared to b6 Bb4 Re8 Ng7 Ne6 Bxe6 Bd7 Bd6 Rxe2 Kxc7 + Kc8 Be6 1 0,Shirov,A-Krasenkow,M Polanica Zdroj c5 Bc6 ThreecuuuuuuuuC{rDkDwgw4}{0w0wDp0w}{w0bD wDw0}{Dw0w)nDw}{wDPDwHwD}{DPDwDNDw}{PGwD w)P)}{DwDRDRIw}vllllllllV12 kasparov played all his moves very quickly, probably because this is all prepa-ration.