Vlad doesn't fall for KID-ology
Round two report from London by John Saunders

The President of the British Chess Federation, Dominic Lawson (centre), introduces Anish Giri to
Boris Johnson a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as Mayor of London since 2008.
Results of round two
Anish Giri
|
1-0
|
Michael Adams |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
1-0
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
Viswanathan Anand
|
½-½
|
Fabiano Caruana |
So to round two, with Britain’s Mickey Adams at the top of the table as the only winner in the first round. No distractions today, just straight down to business, with the only blonde mop-tops in sight being the children deputed to make the elite players first moves.
Today the number of decisive results doubled, as Vladimir Kramnik played what at least one of the spectating GMs described as ‘the perfect game’ to defeat Hikaru Nakamura, and Anish Giri opened his Olympia account at the expense of the overnight leader. Birthday celebrant Vishy Anand had another fairly uneventful draw, this time with Fabiano Caruana. Round 2 Scores: Giri, Kramnik 4, Adams 3, Anand 2, Caruana, Nakamura 1.

Let’s get the draw out of the way first. It lasted around 2 hours and 17 moves before a repetition brought it to the gentlest of conclusions. Having nothing to say about it, I’ll leave you with a nice picture of the players and move on.
Kramnik-Nakamura was a much more red-blooded affair. The US number one never shirks a challenge and was prepared to punt a King’s Indian Defence. He won a zinger of a game with the KID at the Classic against another world champion, Vishy Anand, a year or two ago so it’s been good to him. It is an opening much beloved of amateurs and lower-echelon professionals but, apart from the adventurous Hikaru and a couple of others, the 2700+ boys tend to give it a wide berth. Pressed by commentator Daniel King after the game to give his general opinion of the opening, Big Vlad more or less owned up to his view of it as unsound. “I admit I am always happy to see a King's Indian” was his eminently tweetable sound bite. That said, Vlad was less contemptuous than another VK – Viktor Korchnoi – tends to be when asked about the KID. Incidentally, Garry Kasparov himself used to be a KID-ologist, but some bad experiences at the young Vlad’s hands in the mid-1990s saw him remove it from his repertoire.

Vlad also told us that the line he had chosen against it was something he had had “in his pocket” for some time. Commentator Chris Ward cheekily asked if he had any more such ideas tucked away in his pocket but received only the trademark Vlad smile (and an audience laugh) by way of reply. Petrosian is alleged to have said of the line played in the game, which is named after him, that it was the line he used to feed his family.
1.e4 | 1,185,008 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
1.d4 | 959,510 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
1.Nf3 | 286,503 | 56% | 2441 | --- |
1.c4 | 184,834 | 56% | 2442 | --- |
1.g3 | 19,892 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
1.b3 | 14,600 | 54% | 2428 | --- |
1.f4 | 5,954 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
1.Nc3 | 3,911 | 50% | 2384 | --- |
1.b4 | 1,791 | 48% | 2379 | --- |
1.a3 | 1,250 | 54% | 2406 | --- |
1.e3 | 1,081 | 49% | 2409 | --- |
1.d3 | 969 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
1.g4 | 670 | 46% | 2361 | --- |
1.h4 | 466 | 54% | 2382 | --- |
1.c3 | 439 | 51% | 2425 | --- |
1.h3 | 289 | 56% | 2420 | --- |
1.a4 | 118 | 60% | 2461 | --- |
1.f3 | 100 | 47% | 2427 | --- |
1.Nh3 | 93 | 66% | 2506 | --- |
1.Na3 | 47 | 62% | 2476 | --- |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 9.Bh4 Na6 10.Nd2 Qe8 11.0-0 9...Ng4 10.Bd2 f5 11.h3 Nf6 12.exf5 gxf5 13.Qc1!? f4 14.g3 e4 15.Nh4 e3 16.fxe3 fxg3 17.Ng6 Rf7 18.Qc2 Nfd7?! 18...Na6 19.0-0-0 b5!? 20.Nxb5 Nb4 21.Bxb4 axb4 19.0-0-0 Ne5 20.Rhf1! Rxf1 20...Nbd7 21.Rxf7 Kxf7 22.Nxe5+ Nxe5 23.Rg1 Qh4 24.Be1 Qxh3 25.Rxg3 Qf5 26.e4 21.Rxf1 Bxh3 22.Rg1 Qf6 23.Rxg3 Nxg6 23...Bf5 24.Qxf5! Qxf5 25.Ne7+ 23...Qf2!? 24.Rxh3 Qg1+ 25.Bd1 Qxg6 26.Qxg6 Nxg6 27.Nb5! Na6 28.Bxa5 24.Rxg6 Qf7 25.Rg3 Bf5 26.e4 Bg6 27.Bg4 Qf1+ 28.Nd1 Be5 29.Bh3 Qf6 30.Rg1 Kh7 31.Bf5! Bxf5 32.exf5 Nd7 33.Rg6 Qf7 34.Rxh6+ Kg8 35.Rg6+ Kf8 36.Nf2 b5 37.Ng4 bxc4 38.Qxc4 Qxf5 39.Rg8+! Ke7 39...Kxg8 40.Nh6+ 40.Bg5+ Bf6 41.Qe2+ 1–0
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Kramnik,V | 2769 | Nakamura,H | 2775 | 1–0 | 2014 | E92 | London Chess Classic | 2 |
Please, wait...
After his excellent first round, Mickey Adams’ game against Anish Giri came as a bit of a disappointment to the home fans. He may have been caught out by a new move in the Catalan which left him behind in development and with a rather cramped game. He was more or less obliged to give up a pawn to unravel, with some hope of reaching a possible drawn endgame but the resourceful young Dutchman outplayed him rather effectively. It was all a bit like Wimbledon before Andy Murray. I wasn’t in the auditorium so I don’t know if any of the fans shouted out “c’mon, Tim!” out of sheer force of habit. An excellently played game by Anish Giri: this win takes him three places up the live rating list to 7th, just ahead of Kramnik and Nakamura. He’s now within ten points of the next man ahead of him, Vishy Anand, so his performance in London will be critical to where he is on the January 2015 rating list.

Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 0-0 6.Ngf3 dxc4 7.Qc2 c5 7...b5 8.a4 c6 9.axb5 cxb5 10.Ng5! 8.dxc5 c3 9.bxc3 Bxc5 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Ne4! Nxe4 11...Be7 12.Bf4 Qa5 13.Bd6 12.Qxe4 Nd7 13.Bf4 Bd6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Qb4 Nf6 17.Nd4 a6 18.Nb3! a5 18...Rb8 19.Qc5 Qxc5 20.Nxc5 b6 21.Rab1 e5 22.Rd6 18...Nd5!? 19.Bxd5 exd5 20.Rxd5 Re8 19.Qc5 Qb8 20.Rab1 b6 21.Qd6 Nd5 22.Qxb8 Rxb8 23.Bxd5 exd5 24.Nxa5 24.Rxd5 Be6 25.Rd6 Rfc8 24...Bf5 25.Nc6 Bxb1 26.Nxb8 Bxa2 27.Nd7 Re8 28.Nxb6 Rxe2 29.c4 Kf8 30.Rxd5 Bb1 30...Ke7 31.Rd1 Rb2 32.Nd5+ Kd6!? 31.Rd8+ Ke7 32.Rd1 Bc2 32...Be4 33.Nc8+ Kf6 34.Rd6+ Kg5 35.Kf1 Re8 36.Rd5+ Kf6 37.Nd6 Ra8 38.Ke2 Ra1?! 38...Ba4 39.Ne8+ Kg6 39...Ke7 40.Nxg7 40.Rd6+ f6 41.Rd7 Kh6 42.Nxg7 Ra2 43.Ke3 Ra5 44.Re7 Rc5 45.Kd4 Re5 46.Rxe5 fxe5+ 47.Kc3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Giri,A | 2768 | Adams,M | 2745 | 1–0 | 2014 | E04 | London Chess Classic | 2 |
Please, wait...
Current standings (traditional and three points for a win)


The second game of the challenge match between Gawain Jones and Romain Edouard, so Gawain is one up after two games. At the end Romain rather surprisingly baled out for a draw in a position where he stood a good chance of winning. An unexpected half-point birthday present for Gawain, who shares a birthday with Vishy Anand.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Qe1 e5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Bc4 Be6 14.Kb1 14.Ne4 Qc7 15.Bc5 Rfd8 16.g4 14...Rb8 15.Ne4 f5!? 15...Qc7 16.Bc5 Rfd8 16.Ng5 Bc8 17.h4 h6 18.Ne4 Be6 18...fxe4 19.fxe4 Rf4!? 20.Bc1 20.Bxf4?! exf4 21.Bb3 Qf6 20...Qb6 21.Bb3 a5 19.Nc5 Bf7 20.Na6 Rb7 21.Bb3 Qf6 22.Nc5 Re7 23.c3 Rfe8 24.Qd2 Nxe3 25.Qxe3 Bxb3 26.axb3 Rf7 27.Rd2 Rd8 28.Rxd8+ Qxd8 29.h5!? gxh5 30.Rxh5 Qd6 31.Rh1 Qg6 32.Qe2 Re7 33.Re1 Qd6 34.b4 Qg6 35.Ka1 Kh7 36.g4 fxg4 37.fxg4 Rf7 38.Nd3 Rd7 39.Nc5 Rf7 40.Rh1 Kg8 41.Qc4 Kh7? 41...Qd6 42.g5! Rf4 43.Qe2 e4 43...Qxg5? 44.Ne6 44.gxh6 Bf8 44...Bxh6? 45.Ka2! 45.Qe3 Qg5 46.Qd4 Bxc5 47.bxc5 e3 48.Qd7+ Kh8 49.Qe8+ 49.Qxc6 e2 50.Re1 49...Kh7 50.Qd7+ Kh8 51.Qe8+ Kh7 52.Qd7+ ½–½
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Edouard,R | 2659 | Jones,G | 2661 | ½–½ | 2014 | B76 | London Chess Classic Challenge | 2 |
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Photos by Ray Morris-Hill, John Saunders