Anand vs Kramnik – the final act
11/5/2008 – In his last show on the World Championship match our Playchess
lecturer Dennis Monokroussos looks at the two halves: the first in which Anand
dominated in every respect; and the second, where Kramnik fought back. Dennis
explains games nine, ten and eleven, which concluded the event. Good and interesting games one and all. 9 p.m. ET on the server.
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Dennis Monokroussos writes:
The match is over, and Viswanathan Anand has retained his championship title, defeating Vladimir Kramnik 6.5-4.5. In the first half of the match, he dominated in every respect: his preparation was superior, he was able to reach positions where Kramnik was uncomfortable and his tactical prowess was superior. Even when Kramnik managed to reach playable positions out of the opening, something else would go wrong. After six games, Kramnik was almost fortunate to be down by only three points.
As the match wore on and neared its end, though, Kramnik started to turn the tables. Now it was his preparation that was better, and he started pressing in every game. It wasn't enough to save the match, but it did turn a rout into a genuine contest with a little drama.
So this week, in our final show on the match, we'll take a look at the last act. Game nine was a great chance for Kramnik, who was just about winning near the end. In game ten, Kramnik even managed to win with his best novelty in the match. And then there was game eleven – a very interesting contest, but one in which Anand reasserted himself and drew confidently, putting an end to the match. Good and interesting games one and all, and we'll examine them tonight, Wednesday night, at 9 p.m. ET. Log on to the Playchess.com server, go to the Broadcast room, and find Anand-Kramnik in the games list. Hope to see you there!
Dennis Monokroussos' Radio ChessBase lectures begin on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST, which translates to 02:00h GMT, 03:00 Paris/Berlin, 13:00h Sydney (on Thursday). Other time zones can be found at the bottom of this page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free trial client. |
You can find the exact times for different locations in the world at World Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here. And you can watch older lectures by Dennis Monokroussos offline in the Chess Media System room of Playchess:
Enter the above archive room and click on "Games" to see the lectures. The lectures, which can go for an hour or more, will cost you between one and two ducats. That is the equivalent of 10-20 Euro cents (14-28 US cents).
Monokroussos in Mexico: World Championship 2007 |
Dennis Monokroussos is 41, lives in South Bend, IN, where he teaches chess and occasionally works as an adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University-South Bend.
At one time he was one of the strongest juniors in the U.S. and has reached a peak rating of 2434 USCF, but several long breaks from tournament play have made him rusty. He is now resuming tournament chess in earnest, hoping to reach new heights.
Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for ten years now, giving lessons to adults and kids both in person and on the internet, worked for a number of years for New York’s Chess In The Schools program, where he was one of the coaches of the 1997-8 US K-8 championship team from the Bronx, and was very active in working with many of CITS’s most talented juniors.
When Dennis Monokroussos presents a game, there are usually two main areas of focus: the opening-to-middlegame transition and the key moments of the middlegame (or endgame, when applicable). With respect to the latter, he attempts to present some serious analysis culled from his best sources (both text and database), which he has checked with his own efforts and then double-checked with his chess software.
