WCC R06: Anand wins again, score now 4.5:1.5

by ChessBase
10/21/2008 – "This is a major tragedy in the making," said one of the official commentators, Dr. Helmut Pfleger, to the audience. After yesterday's loss with the white pieces Vladimir Kramnik was confronted again with a new idea by Anand. In spite of imaginative defence he found himself in an endgame where Anand could successfully press for victory. Illustrated report with Aronian's take.

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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 six: Anand wins in 35 moves

Levon Aronian: My take on game six

It's really hard to comment on such game. I was expecting Kramnik to go berserk, but today's game was sad to watch. Instead of trying to complicate matters at any cost Kramnik went for a solid Nimzo, where he in fact decided to pick Anand's favorite line. It did not seem very wise, and yes, we saw a good novelty played by Anand. In a slightly better position for Anand, Kramnik went for a forced line, where he sacrificed a pawn for initiative. Unfortunatelly for Kramnik he did not find the best moves, and the rest was a matter of technique.

Will Kramnik now be able to play his real chess when the pressure is gone? Spassky in his 72 match with Fischer played his best chess when he was losing with a more or less similar margin. Lets hope so.

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [E34]
WCh Bonn GER (6), 21.10.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Bd2 0-0 9.h3 b6 10.g4 Qa5 11.Rc1 Bb7 12.a3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Qd5 14.Qxd5 Nxd5 15.Bd2 Nf6 16.Rg1 Rac8 17.Bg2 Ne7 18.Bb4 c5 19.dxc5 Rfd8 20.Ne5 Bxg2 21.Rxg2 bxc5 22.Rxc5 Ne4 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Nd3 Nd5 25.Bd2 Rc2 26.Bc1 f5 27.Kd1 Rc8 28.f3 Nd6 29.Ke1 a5 30.e3 e5 31.gxf5 e4 32.fxe4 Nxe4 33.Bd2 a4 34.Nf2 Nd6 35.Rg4 Nc4 36.e4 Nf6 37.Rg3 Nxb2 38.e5 Nd5 39.f6 Kf7 40.Ne4 Nc4 41.fxg7 Kg8 42.Rd3 Ndb6 43.Bh6 Nxe5 44.Nf6+ Kf7 45.Rc3 Rxc3 46.g8Q+ Kxf6 47.Bg7+ 1-0. [Click to replay]

Score

 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
 
Anand
½
½
1
½
1
1
 
 
 
4.5
Kramnik
½
½
0
½
0
0
           
1.5

Thematic cartoons

We welcome José Diaz with great pleasure back to the chess scene. For many years his extraordinary works appeared in a number of chess magazines. Then for a while José, who hails from Spain and lives in Holland, took a break from cartooning. Now he is back and knows his Fawlty Towers!


Cartoons by José Diaz ©


Cartoons by José Diaz © – permission to reproduce must be obtained from the author


Picture gallery


Look who's making the ceremonial first move in game six: the twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov, watched by chief arbiter Panagiotis Nikolopoulos and chief organiser Josef Resch


"Tolya" Karpov has retained his wry sense of humour. We had a very entertaining breakfast with him and he left us with the words: "Gentlemen, I now have to prepare for the game. I am making the first move!"


The game is under way, with Kramnik about to play 4...d5


After 7.Qb3 Kramnik ponderes while Anand watches for his reaction


The Restless One: after most moves Kramnik gets up and leaves the stage...


Leaving Anand to brood all by himself


When it is the Challenger's turn the two are together at the board


Relaxed tension: with less than a minute on his clock Vladimir Kramnik makes last two moves


The first time control is reached, the players do their book-keeping...


...and both leave the stage for a short rest-room break


The players return, with Kramnik trying to find a way out of a very perilous position


Anand queens his g-pawn and the game is virtually over


After 46.g8Q+ Kramnik plays 46...Kxf6 and after 47.Bg7+ stretches out his hand in resignation


As always the Evonik/Gazprom girls line up for the press conference (a special
report on them will follow, we solemnly promise our readers)


In the front row: Anatoly Karpov and chief organiser Josef Resch share a joke


A subdued Vladimir Kramnik answers the questions of the journalists


Anand starts with a calm and dispassionate statement...


...but then becomes more animated as the questions come on


Anatoly Karpov has a concrete technical question for Anand (on the right: GM Artur Jussupow)


Anand enjoying the banter with his colleague, the twelfth World Champion


Pavel Matocha, a senior reporter and co-founder of the magazin "Weekly Euro". Pavel is the organizer of several important chess events and at the same time chairman of the Prague Chess Society, a civic association founded in 2004 aiming to aid developing chess life and chess culture in the Czech Republic.

All photos by Frederic Friedel in Bonn


Live broadcast

The games are being broadcast live by FoidosChess, which provides five parallel video streams to present the players and commentary by grandmasters in German, English, Spanish and Russian. The cost is €10 per game. The games are also being broadcast live on Playchess.com (without videos and commentary, but also without time delay).


If you are not a member you can download ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. Owners of Fritz 11 or Rybka 3 automatically get a full year's subscription to Playchess.

You can also use all these programs to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.

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