WCC R04: Draw in 29 moves

World Chess Championship in Bonn

The World Chess Championship is taking place from October 14 – November 02, 2008 in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn. The match consists of twelve games, played under classical time controls: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. The prize fund is 1.5 million Euro (approximately 2.35 million US Dollars) including taxes and FIDE license fees, and is split equally between the players.

The games are being broadcast live by FoidosChess, with video and commentary for €10 per game; and on Playchess.com. Details are given at the end of this report. Games start at 15:00h CEST (=17:00h Moscow, 9 a.m. New York).

Game four: draw in 29 moves

Vladimir Kramnik solved all opening problems posed by Anand in this Queen's Gambit Declined, and then, with his position basically safe, undertook some tentative attacking attempts. But Anand's position was also secure and so the players agreed that there was nothing left in the position to play for. The draw came after 29 moves.

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D37]
WCh Bonn GER (4), 18.10.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bf5 12.Be2 Bf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nd4 Ne6 15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.0-0 Rfd8 17.Bg4 Qe5 18.Qb3 Nc5 19.Qb5 b6 20.Rfd1 Rd6 21.Rd4 a6 22.Qb4 h5 23.Bh3 Rad8 24.g3 g5 25.Rad1 g4 26.Bg2 Ne6 27.R4d3 d4 28.exd4 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 ½-½. [Click to replay]

Score

Pein on Bonn

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D37]
WCh Bonn GER (4), 18.10.2008

1.d4 Nf6. Forgive me but today I was watching this game on 3G from Anfield, the home of Liverpool Football Club and seeing Liverpool come back from 1-2 down to beat Wigan 3-2 was distracting and joyful in equal measure. If Kramnik was planning to come back from 1-2 down today then 7.a3 sent a message that a wild fight was not on the agenda. I found it hard to know what to take from this game. Was Anand just being too cautious? Or did Kramnik just demonstrate how to hold a slightly inferior position without breaking sweat? 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3. 3.Nc3 Bb4 was Game 2 but Vishy also shows he is happy to play against the Queen's Indian 3...b6. 3...d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4. Anand prefers Bf4 to the more common Bg5 – this can lead to sharp positions where White castles queenside. 5...0-0 6.e3 Nbd7. 6...c5 7.dxc5 Nc6 8.Qc2 Bxc5 9.a3 Qa5 10.0-0-0 is the sharp stuff. 7.a3 c5. The standard response in the centre now White can force Black to accept an isolated queen's pawn.

8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5. Anand wants a position where he can play with a tiny edge and try to exert psychological pressure. Kramnik avoids this skilfully 11.Be5. White emphasises his control of the square in front of the isolated pawn. This is essential, the pawn must be blocked before it can be attacked. 11...Bf5. 11...Bf6 is standard but again, Kramnik may be motivated by a desire to avoid any preparation 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qd4 Qxd4 14.Nxd4 Bd7 and Black continued with Ne6 and equalised quickly in Kasparov v Kramnik Blitz 2001 draw in 24. 12.Be2 Bf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6

14.Nd4. 14.Qd4 Qxd4 (14...Qc6 15.Rc1? Nd3+) 15.Nxd4 Bd7 would be a tempo up on the line above but Black could play Qc6 when he menaces Nb3. 14...Ne6. Black fights for the d4 square. 15.Nxf5. 15.Nxe6 fxe6 is good for Black. 15...Qxf5 16.0-0 Rfd8. Black is more active and this compensates for the weak d5 pawn. If he plays d5-d4 he will be fine. 17.Bg4 Qe5 18.Qb3 Nc5 19.Qb5 b6 20.Rfd1 Rd6. Solidly played, not 20...d4 21.b4!

21.Rd4 a6 22.Qb4 h5. If the side with the isolani can advance it he is usually fine. This is not a rash attacking move, it's positionally motivated. Once the white bishop has been driven away from the h3-c8 diagonal Black can play Ne6 controlling the d4 square and then d5-d4 solves his problems as we will see. 23.Bh3 Rad8 24.g3 g5! Kramnik plays to evict the bishop as mentioned above. 24...Ne6 25.Bxe6 fxe6 And Black's slighly loose position may give Anand faint hopes. Kramnik had a think hereabouts and concluded he can expand safely. 25.Rad1 g4 26.Bg2 Ne6 27.R4d3 d4. Thematic, every Black piece is focused on d4

28.exd4 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4

29...Rxd4 30.Rxd4 Nxd4 and Black's centralised queen and knight ensure he cannot come to any harm. For example 31.Qxb6 Qe1+ 32.Bf1 Nf3+ 33.Kg2 Qe4 forces perpetual. Draw agreed. [Click to replay]

Malcolm Pein runs ChessBaseUSA, the London Chess Center and is Executive Editor of CHESS Magazine. Occasionally he sneaks off to watch a game of football.

Picture gallery

Vladimir Kramnik emerges from his shuttle limousine, accompanied by manager Carsten Hensel (right)

Vishy Anand arrives, with 1.d4 on his mind

And indeed that is what he plays in game four, in his second white game of the match

Vladimir Kramnik reacts to Anand's new opening

Game four in the World Championship 2008 is under way

The theatre of the State Art Gallery is packed

In fact the organisers have added two rows of chairs in the front to accommodate more guests

In the press room

Kema Goryaeva, Communication Director of UEP, who used to run the FIDE office in Elista

IM Martin Bräutigam (translates to "bridegroom") who reports for German broadsheets

Elmira is a charming, intelligent young lady with whom it is impossible to carry out a proctracted conversation, because every twenty minutes she has to interrupt whatever she is doing to do a live radio broadcast by cellphone. Incidentally she is if Azeri extraction, but was born and lives in Moscow. She also moonlights as a reporter for the Europe Echecs videos (see below).

The Hindu is India's National Newspaper, and Rakesh has covered international events like the Summer Olympic Games, World Cup Cricket, golf, badminton and table tennis championships in a journalistic career spanning over two decades. He covered the Bhilwara International GM chess tournament in 1987, where Anand made his second Grandmaster norm. Since then he has been given major chess assignments, including Anand's quarter-final match against Anatoly Karpov in Brussels in 1991, the 2000 World Championship in New Delhi, the Chess Olympiads in 2004 (Calvia) and 2006 (Turin).

Shrikant is 35 year old and the Deputy Sports Editor of his newspaper. He has covered chess for over ten years, and also writes on field hockey, basketball and volleyball.

Manisha Mohite, a freelance Chess Correspondent for MiD-Day and Sify.com

Manisha is a former chess player and was Karnatka State Chess Champion in 1992-93. She qualified for the National Women Chess Championships and played a few Open International Chess events, including a second place in the Cairnhill International Open Women's chess championship at Singapore in 1990.

German chess journalists André Schulz and Dagobert Kohlmeyer, whom you may remember from the previous picture. André is the editor of www.chessbase.de, our German newspage. "Dago" writes for German wire services.

The press conference after game four, with GM Klaus Bischoff and the Evonik/Gazprom girls

The press conference is also packed. In the front row you may recognise GM Helmut Pfleger, GM Bachar Kouatly (editor of Europe Echecs) and Florencio Campomanes, Honorary President of FIDE

Video report of round four and the press conference by Europe Echecs

All photos by Frederic Friedel in Bonn

Live broadcast

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