Candidates Rd10: Kramnik's downfall

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.25"] [Round "10"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A80"] [WhiteElo "2787"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. d4 f5 {Svidler being on -1 makes it almost impossible for him to catch Anand. However, that doesn't mean he can't have a little bit of fun. The Dutch it is, for the second time in the tournament for Svidler.} 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 { An ultra solid approach, maybe even passive. Kramnik has an interesting idea in mind.} b6 {A logical response, but both e6 and g6 are much more common.} 4. d5 $5 {Already this is getting crazy. This move, well, it makes sense and at the same time it is very anti-positional. The pawn on d5 is an obvious weakness, White's hoping to be able to put enough defense on it so that it blocks out Black's light-squared bishop on b7, or at least to exchange the d5 pawn for a superior pawn structure in case of e6.} Bb7 5. Bc4 c6 {Anything that is not this move justifies White's play.} 6. Nc3 cxd5 7. Nxd5 e6 8. Nxf6+ Qxf6 9. O-O {It's hard to say who has benefitted more from the changes in the position. Black's pieces are active and his bishops are good but now he has a weakness on the d-file that is not so easily patched up (he does not want to play d5, blocking his bishop in again).} Bc5 10. Bd2 Nc6 (10... Qxb2 11. Nd4 Qa3 $8 (11... Bxd4 12. Rb1 $1 Qa3 13. Bb4 Qa4 14. Qxd4 $16) 12. Qh5+ g6 13. Qe2 {is something only suicidal people should be thinking about.}) 11. Bc3 Qe7 12. a3 a5 13. Qe2 O-O 14. Rad1 d5 {At last d5 was forced and e5 will remain weak. It's possible that Kramnik's opening experiment wasn't a failure, unlike his idea against Karjakin last round.} 15. Bb5 Na7 {Trying to force White into a decision.} 16. a4 $5 {The pawn on b5 will control a nice amount of squares, so it is an interesting trade. White hopes to maintain dark square control to fight againt the opponent's pair of bishops.} (16. Ba6 Bxa6 17. Qxa6 {is similar to the game.}) 16... Bd6 17. Ba6 {saying that a4 was more useful than Bd6. It's not so clear that is true, but there's nothing wrong with Kramnik changing his mind.} Nc6 18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. b3 Qa6 20. Qd2 Rac8 21. Ng5 Rce8 22. Bb2 h6 23. Nf3 {White retains a little bit of pressure. The bishop on b2 is strong and c4 is up in the air.} Bb4 24. c3 Be7 25. c4 $1 dxc4 26. Rc1 b5 27. axb5 Qxb5 28. Rxc4 {Excellent play by Kramnik. He is now slightly better without a doubt. The structure on the queenside has simplified while the one on the kingside clearly favors White. Black's position is simply unpleasant to play with.} Nb4 29. Ne5 Nd5 30. Qc2 Bd6 31. Nc6 Nb6 32. Rd4 $4 {A very strange blunder. Kramnik must have completely missed his opponent's reply.} (32. Nd4 Qe5 33. Nf3 Qb5 34. Rc3 $14 {was the only way to continue but was still a little more pleasant for White.}) 32... Bxh2+ 33. Kxh2 Qxf1 {Suddenly White is simply down the exchange.} 34. Qc3 (34. Nxa5 Nd5 $17 {gives White some hope to survive - he has a good bishop and he might be able to stick a knight on e5 permanently. However an exchange is still an exchange.}) 34... Rf6 35. Ne5 $2 { Desperation.} Qxf2 36. Rf4 Qe2 37. Qd4 Nd5 38. Rf3 {Now Black has muich more material and a looming attack. White's threats are nothing.} Rc8 39. Rg3 f4 { The finishing touch.} 0-1