A successful experiment: The Anand vs Kramnik "No Castling" match in Dortmund

by Johannes Fischer
7/22/2021 – In Dortmund Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik tried a new variant of chess: they played a four-game match, in which castling was not allowed. After four interesting games Anand won the match 2.5-1.5, and both players, the organizers in Dortmund and the public agreed that the experiment was a success.

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Vishy Anand wins No Castling match against Vladimir Kramnik

Anand won the first game of the match and after a draw in the second game, he had good chances to decide the match in game three but allowed Kramnik to escape into a draw. In game four came Anand again had a good position after the opening but then had to defend precisely against Kramnik's creative attacking play.

Vishy Anand

Vladimir Kramnik

In the critical phase Anand found the only defensive moves and Kramnik finally had to settle for a perpetual and with this draw Anand narrowly won the match 2.5-1.5.

Both players agreed that the Anand absolutely deserved the victory in the match. The spectators were able to follow all the games live online and were thrilled to see the two living legends trying their hands at this innovative format.

Kramnik and Anand analyse game four

My Career Vol. 1

The first DVD with videos from Anand's chess career reflects the very beginning of that career and goes as far as 1999. It starts with his memories of how he first learned chess and shows his first great games (including those from the 1984 WCh for juniors). The high point of his early developmental phase was the winning of the 1987 WCh for juniors. After that, things continue in quick succession: the first victories over Kasparov, WCh candidate in both the FIDE and PCA cycles and the high point of the WCh match against Kasparov in 1995.
Running time: 3:48 hours

My Career Vol. 2

Vishy Anand is one of the greatest chess talents of all times. On this DVD he speaks about his career, his views on chess, and presents the most beautiful and interesting games of his career.

My Path to the Top

On this DVD Vladimir Kramnik retraces his career from talented schoolboy to World Champion in 2006. With humour and charm he describes his first successes, what it meant to be part of the Russian Gold Medal team at the Olympiad, and how he undertook the Herculean task of beating his former mentor and teacher Garry Kasparov.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 d5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.a3 Nc6 8.b4 Ba7 8...Bd6 9.Bb2 0-0 10.Qc2 Qe7 11.Rd1 Rd8 12.Be2 dxc4 13.Bxc4 b5 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Rac8 17.Qb1 f5 18.Bd3 a5 19.bxa5 Nxa5 0-1 (27) Anand,V (2773)-Kramnik,V (2793) London 2013 CBM 158 [Ramirez Alvarez,A] 9.Bb2
9...h5N D40: Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch with 5 e3. 9...0-0= remains equal. Predecessor: 9...0-0 10.Qc2 Bd7 11.Rd1 Rc8 12.g4 Nxg4 13.Rg1 Nge5 14.Be2 Nxf3+ 15.Bxf3 Ne5 16.Be2 dxc4 17.Ne4 c3 18.Bxc3 1-0 (50) Duda,J (2743)-So,W (2770) Chess.com INT 2020 10.Qc2 h4 11.Rd1 Kf8 White is better. 12.Rg1 Ne7 13.g4 hxg3! 14.hxg3 Bd7 15.g4 Qc7 16.g5 Ne8 17.Qd3 Bc6 next ...dxc4 is good for Black. 18.cxd5 exd5 19.Ne2 Bb5 20.Qb1 Ng6 21.Nc3 21.Rxd5 Bc6= 21...Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Rd8 22...Qc6 23.Rxd5 Rxd5 24.Nxd5 Qd7 25.Nc3       Rh3 25...Nh4 26.Ne5 Qe6 26.Qe4± Nd6
27.Qd5 Kg8?
27...Bb8± 28.Ne4!+- Rxf3 28...Qf5 29.Qxf5 29.Nxd6 Qh3 aiming for ...Bxe3! 30.Nc4 30.Nxb7? Bxe3 31.Qc4
31...Qd7!-+
30.Qxb7 Rxe3+ 31.fxe3 Qxe3+ 32.Kd1 Qd3+ 33.Ke1 Qe3+ 34.Kd1 Qd3+ 35.Ke1 Qe3+= 30...Qg2 31.Qd8+ Kh7 32.Qa8       White attacks with force. Nf4 32...Rf4 33.exf4 33.Qxa7? Rxc4 34.Qd4 Rxd4-+ 33...Nxf4 34.Qxa7 Qe4+ 35.Ne3 Qb1+ 36.Nd1 Qe4+ 37.Qe3 37.Ne3 Qb1+ 38.Nd1 Qe4+ 39.Qe3 Ng2+       Pin 40.Kd2 Nxe3± 37...Ng2+       Pin 38.Kd2 Nxe3 39.Nxe3 Qf3 33.Qxa7 Not 33.g6+ Qxg6 34.Rh1+ Nh3 33...Nd3+ 34.Ke2 Strongly threatening Qd4. Nxf2
35.Rg1‼       Qxg1 36.Qd4 Don't play 36.Kxf3 Nh3+- 36...Qxg5 37.Kxf3 Nh3 38.Nd6 Ng1+ 38...Qg6 39.Ke2 39.Nxb7 Qf5+ 40.Kg3 Qf2+ 41.Kxh3 Qf3+ 42.Kh4 f6± 39...Ng1+ 40.Kf2 Nh3+ 41.Ke2 Ng1+ 42.Kf2 Nh3+ 43.Ke1 Ng5 39.Kf2 Nh3+ 40.Ke1 Qg3+ 41.Kd1 f6 42.Qe4+ Kh8 White must now prevent ...Nf2+. 43.Qe8+ Kh7 44.Qh5+ Kg8 45.Qf7+ Kh8 46.Qh5+ Kg8 47.Qd5+ Kh8 48.Nxb7 Qxe3 49.Nc5 Nf2+ 50.Kc2 Qe2+ 51.Kb3 a5 52.bxa5 Qb5+ 53.Ka2 Qxa5
54.Bxf6!       Qe1 54...gxf6 55.Qh5+ 55.Bb2 Nd1 56.Qa8+ Kh7 57.Qe4+ Qxe4 58.Nxe4 Kg6 59.Bd4 White mates. Kf5 60.Nc5 g5 61.a4       g4 62.a5 g3 63.a6 g2 64.Kb3 Kf4 65.a7 Ne3 66.Ne6+ Weighted Error Value: White=0.23/Black=0.33
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2753Kramnik,V27531–02021D40NC World Masters 20211
Kramnik,V2753Anand,V2753½–½2021B44NC World Masters 20212
Anand,V2753Kramnik,V2753½–½2021A30NC World Masters 20213.1
Kramnik,V2753Anand,V2753½–½2021D32NC World Masters 20214.1

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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