Mashallah, Good to see Indians doing well in the World Chess Championship, and doing ‘Naam Roshan’ of South Asia.
**Anand seizes lead in World Chess Championship
http://sify.com/sports/others/fullstory.php?id=14779790
**The calculations were daunting with the chess engines tilting in Anand’s favour and the commentating Grandmasters veering from declarations of a draw to a win for Anand at the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn on Friday, where the third game of the World Chess Championship was played.
It was a hub of activity and I was totally on tenterhooks following this high-voltage drama on the stage with Anand’s wife Aruna, who was equally tense.
However, in the end, Anand got his moves right and pocketed the point after 41 moves to take a 2-1 lead in the 12-game Match.
It was a brilliant performance by Anand and more than made up for his inability to convert the advantage he had in the second game into a victory.
Kramnik has the reputation of handling and striking with Whites and there was anticipation that there would be some new ideas today.
However, it was Anand’s daring and dashing idea, an entirely home-cooked concoction in Slav Defence that stole the thunder today.
Anand uncorked this novelty on the 17th move and the speed with which he belted out the first few moves, 18 to be precise, hinted that the Indian was on his own home turf.
Later, when I quizzed him about it, he grinned saying, “The speed must have been a dead give away as to the preparation.”
Kramnik is a positional player who has the ability to squeeze the tiniest advantage into a victory and Anand is a player who thrives on complications and unclear positions where tactics work best.
**Down Memory Lane: Vishy Anand’s memories of Chennai **](http://sify.com/sports/imagegallery/galleryDetail.php?hcategory=13733710&hgallery=14742045)
On Friday, Anand managed to drag Kramnik into a position which the Indian maestro relishes, but the big Russian also preferred to play dynamically rather than resort to passivity as he sacrificed a bishop on the 18th turn.
The ensuing exchanges had Anand returning back the sacrifice, which left Kramnik with two extra pawns.
At this juncture, though, the Chess Engines favoured Anand, while the GMs in the Hall following the game started predicting a draw. Both players at this point had a queen, rook and bishop each.
It was also the point when both players got into time pressure.
Anand at one point till the 19th move was almost an hour ahead on the clock but later both were on level pegging as the position began to turn complex.
At this stage, Anand decided to exploit the vulnerability of Kramnik’s King, which was virtually out in the open.
The position was razor sharp with umpteen possibilities and the nervous fidgeting by both players at the board was obvious and conveyed the tension. Kramnik tried to escape with his King onto the Queen side, but Anand attacked relentlessly.
Kramnik sacrificed his queen on the 35th turn in a bid to stop the onslaught leaving him only with the slight hope of queening his passed pawn on the queen side. However, Anand’s queen and bishop were in no mood to relent and Kramnik resigned on the 41st move.
A superb game by Anand, though he missed an early win on the 33rd turn, but then he had already found the winning line! With nine more games to go, things definitely promise to hot up.
Garry Kasparov’s take on this game
Great choice by Vishy!
[With 8..a6] he dragged Kramnik into this nightmarish position, instead of allowing him to play slowly.
It was good preparation and also good psychology to kick some sand in Kramnik’s face and show him he wasn’t afraid.
I didn’t see the whole thing, but when I came back from a meeting and saw the position after 22..Rg7, I thought Kramnik had had it.
At first glance, it looks like the game was well played by both players. Just looking at it, I’m not sure why Kramnik couldn’t play 33.Kb3.
Maybe, he can give up his queen and still draw with the a-pawn."
On-the-fly comments from Garry Kasparov, courtesy: Mig Greengard.
Kramnik (2772) - Anand (2783)
World Chess Championship Bonn GER (3), 17.10.2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0–0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Bd6 16.Rd1 Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.Nxd4 h5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Qd3 Rg7 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.gxf4 Rd8 25.Qe2 Kh6 26.Kf1 Rg8 27.a4 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3 29.Ra3 Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Kc2 Bg4 32.f3 Bf5+ 33.Bd3 Bh3 34.a5 Rg2 35.a6 Rxe2+ 36.Bxe2 Bf5+ 37.Kb3 Qe3+ 38.Ka2 Qxe2 39.a7 Qc4+ 40.Ka1 Qf1+ 41.Ka2 Bb1+ 0–1