World Chess Championship Match 2008

Match Anand - Kramnik.

The match for the 2008 World Chess Championship - between world champion Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, was held in Bonn from October 14 to 29 .

Content

Background

This match was the second world championship match after combining two lines of world chess champions - FIDE champions and “classic chess champions”. In the first unifying match , Vladimir Kramnik defeated Veselin Topalov and became the absolute world champion. Then, in September 2007, the next FIDE World Championship was held , in which Viswanathan Anand won. Thus, the 2008 match was a match in which Kramnik, as taking the 2nd place in the 2007 championship, could return the chess crown he had lost. As part of the chess community, the match was seen as a competition in which a “real” world champion was determined (the vast majority of professional chess players believe that, despite all the innovations in the world champion’s title introduced by FIDE, only the one who defeated the previous champion can be considered a true champion match).

Organization

The match was held in Bonn from October 14 to 29 . The prize pool amounted to 1.5 million euros .

Rules

The rules of the match exactly repeated the rules of the previous world championship match between Kramnik and Topalov: four series of games, each next series is played only if the previous one ended in a draw. Victory in the next episode brings victory in the match.

The main series is a maximum of 12 games with classic time control.
Tie-break - 4 games in fast chess.
Two games with blitz control.
The decisive elimination game. Rules:
- A draw is held. The player who wins the draw gets the right to choose a color.
- One blitz game is played, in which white pieces get 6 minutes, black pieces - 5 minutes, without any additional time.
- In the event of a tie in a game, the player playing black is declared the winner.

Seconds

Ananda Seconds : P.-H. Nielsen , R. Kasymdzhanov , R. Voitashek, S. Ganguli .

Kramnik's seconds : S. Rublevsky , L. Fressine , P. Leko .

Time Control

Time control : 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20 moves and 15 minutes until the end of the game with the addition of 30 seconds per move, starting from the 61st.

Forecasts

Virtually no one undertook to predict the outcome of the match, but still a significant part of the commentators preferred Kramnik. His main advantage was called the significantly greater experience of matches for the world championship - this match was for Kramnik the fourth in a row.

Anand is better known as a strong tournament player, in a single match for the chess crown, with Garry Kasparov in 1995, he lost. In addition, Ananda is considered less psychologically stable. On the other hand, Anand is considered the best player in the world in quick chess, so when reducing the main series in a draw in a tie-break, his chances were estimated much higher.

Match progress

1st Party

In the first game, Kramnik played white. This game caused some bewilderment of commentators - the rivals played the Slavic defense, there were no debut novelties, and by the 18th move there was almost a draw with a slight advantage for White, which did not appear to be a chance to be realized. The logical result of the game is a draw.

It was noted that a similar start to the match is completely uncharacteristic for Kramnik - he always sought to start an intense fight in the first games, and often he managed to get one or two points at the start, putting the opponent in the position of catching up. Nothing of the kind happened here. Commentators offered various explanations. In particular, they said that Kramnik might be trying to wage a psychological struggle - he deliberately “slows down” in the first games, so that Anand, who was determined at the beginning of the match to restrain the ex-champion’s traditional onslaught, “stalled” and lost his temper.

2nd party

In the second installment, Nimtsovich’s defense was played. On the 21st move, Kramnik, playing black, instead of the move leading to a forced draw, made an ambiguous move, after which some advantage of White was indicated. Over the next ten moves, the position remained tense (although Kramnik said at a press conference that he did not see anything particularly dangerous for himself). Anand never found a way to win, but his rivals spent a lot of time thinking. The game ended in a draw.

After this batch, experts started talking about the fact that Kramnik’s expected advantage is not visible - Anand looks a little better.

3rd party

Kramnik - Anand

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
eight									eight
7									7
6									6
five									five
four									four
3									3
2									2
one									one
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Position after the 27th move of White

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Kf3 Kf6 4. Kc3 e6 5. e3 Kbd7 6. Bd3 dc 7. C: c4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. e5 cd 11. K: b5 ab 12. ef gf 13.OO Фb6 14. Фe2 Сb7 15.С: b5 Сd6 16. Rd1 Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 18. Bf4 C: f4 19.K: d4 h5 20.K: e6 fe 21. L: d7 Kf8 22. Qd3 Rg7 23.L: g7 Kr: g7 24.gf Rd8 25. Qe2 Kh6 26. Kf1 Rg8 27. a4 (see diagram)

27 ... Cg2 + 28. Cre1 Cg3 29. Ra3 Cg1 + 30. Cd2 Cd4 + 31. Cc2 Cg4 32. f3 Cf5 + 33. Cd3 Cg3 34. a5 Cg2 35. a6 L: e2 + 36. C: e2 Cf5 + 37. Cb3 Cef3 + C3. Ф: e2 39. a7 Фc4 + 40. Крa1 Фf1 + 41. Крa2 Сb1 + , 0: 1

The third installment turned out to be extremely interesting. Kramnik, playing white, in the Slavic defense, faced with the opponent’s debut novelty, was not in the best position, moreover, he spent an hour more time than Anand. The continuation he found allowed him to turn the tide of the game, White went on the attack. An objective analysis of the position gave a draw, but on the 25th move Kramnik was mistaken and Black went on the offensive again. The chances of a draw remained, according to Kramnik himself, up to move 33, but while in time trouble, he made several more inaccurate moves, and Anand made excellent use of his opponent’s mistakes. Black won. Anand led the bill.

This loss made even the most optimistic Kramnik fans think. On the one hand, the obvious consideration was reassuring: “Kramnik’s experience was worse in matches, but he won!” On the other hand, the fact of losing by white as a result of a series of time-trouble mistakes could not but alarm.

4th Party

The fourth game ended in a draw. Anand played calmly, carefully and reliably, Kramnik tried to seize the initiative, but he did not succeed. At a press conference, Kramnik said he had to rethink some of the presets for this match, and that “there’s still no time to panic. Anand was restrained and in no hurry to triumph, although, as commentators noted, he became noticeably calmer than during the first games of the match.

5th Party

In the fifth installment there was a repetition of what was in the third. Again Kramnik played with white, the Slavic defense was played again, and again Kramnik spent much more time at the initial stage than Anand. The desire to play for a win gave the opposite result: in time trouble, Kramnik made a mistake twice, on moves 27 and 29, and the second mistake was a rather blatant yawn . Anand used the opponent’s mistakes and after 35 moves White resigned.

After this game, given the observed form of the players, Kramnik had almost no chance of winning. Although Kramnik said at the press conference that the situation was “not yet hopeless,” few people believed that he would be able to win back two points in these conditions for the remaining seven games. Commentators talked about the fact that even if Kramnik equalizes, in a tie-break he has the worst chances, because Anand is a recognized coryphaeus in quick chess. However, the hope for some intrigue in the match at this time still persisted.

6th Party

The final outcome of the match was decided in the sixth installment. Nimtsovich’s defense was played in it. The party developed quite smoothly, but already in the endgame Kramnik, trying to seize the initiative, made two mistakes - first, rather, out of carelessness, then - as a result of time pressure . As a result, Anand won.

After that, only one question remained in the match: can Kramnik win at least one game?

7th Party

The seventh game, according to commentators, demonstrated the readiness of Anand, despite his overwhelming advantage in the match, to play for a win. In a fairly equal position that prevailed by the beginning of the 20 moves, he did not go to the final equation, but continued the active game. The analysis showed that White really is a little better, although there is no obvious win for them. Kramnik defended precisely and found a technically sophisticated, but guaranteed way to a draw.

8th Party

In the eighth game, the players again played the queen's gambit and reached a draw. Kramnik tried to attack, but could not create any serious problems for Anand. After move 39, the rivals agreed to a draw.

9th Party

In the ninth game, Kramnik finally showed the game that had been expected of him from the start of the match. Playing with black, he chose a difficult version of the opening, which clearly went beyond Ananda's preliminary preparation - the Indian thought for a long time at the board. In the variation he chose, White was in serious danger, Kramnik played boldly and aggressively. Perhaps he could win, but in a sharp position did not find the only true continuation, as a result the game ended in a draw.

Now Kramnik could only be saved by a miracle - to balance the score in the main series, he had to win the next three games.

Party 10

In this game Ananda was a draw to win the match. Nimtsovich’s defense was played, before the 20th move the opponents reproduced the version known in theory, after which Kramnik’s move led to an unexpectedly difficult position. Opponents seemed to have swapped places - now Anand did not find how to respond and spent much more time thinking. After the 29th move of White, Black clearly saw the prospect of losing his piece. After thinking for a few minutes, Anand called Kramnik and congratulated him on his victory.

Thus, the “prestige goal” was scored. No one has already spoken about more in this match. To get a chance of victory, the Russian needed to win the next two games, which was almost unbelievable.

11th Party

Anand began the 11th game with e2-e4, Kramnik chose the Sicilian defense. By the 12th move, there was a position in which Kramnik, theoretically, could have a chance of winning with black - quite complicated and without forced draws. However, the battle did not work out - Kramnik first took one white pawn, making a defect in his position as a result, then another. By move 18, there was no real chance of victory for Black in the position. After 24 moves, the players agreed to a draw.

Anand received the last missing half point, the total score in the match was 6.5: 4.5 in his favor.

Summary

Thus, after 11 games, Viswanathan Anand achieved a victory with a score of 6½: 4½ and retained the title of world champion.

At the final press conference, the rivals thanked the organizers of the match. During the second half of the match, commentators wondered if Kramnik would leave chess after losing. Kramnik said that, despite the loss, he is not going to leave chess and will certainly return to the board, but now he is going, first of all, to relax and analyze his past mistakes.

Match Table

No.	Members	Rating	one	2	3	four	five	6	7	eight	9	ten	eleven	+	-	=	Glasses
one	Viswanathan Anand	2783	½	½	one	½	one	one	½	½	½	0	½	3	one	7	6½
2	Kramnik, Vladimir	2772	½	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	one	½	one	3	7	4½
ECO			D14	E25	D49	D37	D49	E34	D19	D39	D43	E20	B96
Gaming days			14.10	15.10	10/17	10/18	20.10	10.21	10/23	10/24	10/26	10/27	10/29

Interesting Facts

At the start of the match, its participants were by no means the most rated chess players in the world. They occupied only the 5th and 6th place in the rating list.