The Chess Mind

See for yourself here, at least if "Russianbear" has translated the original right on Mig's Chess Ninja message board. At the press conference at the end of the match, following game 11, Kramnik seemed to say that not only was his preparation inadequate, but that he'd need to change his chess as well. According to the present interview, however, Kramnik thinks his chess is fine; what he really needs is a permanent team a la Anand and Topalov (and of course before them, Kasparov).

That's undoubtedly a very good idea, but is that all that really needs to change? My initial inclination is to say "no", but the more I think about it, the less sure I am. Topalov, for example, made a huge jump after doing some very heavy work with Ponomariov and then taking Cheparinov on board as a semi-permanent second. Kasparov and Anand benefited from such relationships as well, so I'm not in a rush to discount the idea. We'll see!

HT: Brian Karen

Here it is, once again c/o Jaideepblue (who should use an email address I can successfully reply to when he writes me).

The match is over, and Viswanathan Anand has retained his championship title, defeating Vladimir Kramnik 6.5-4.5. In the first half of the match, he dominated in every respect: his preparation was superior, he was able to reach positions where Kramnik was uncomfortable and his tactical prowess was superior. Even when Kramnik managed to reach playable positions out of the opening, something else would go wrong. After six games, Kramnik was almost fortunate to be down by only three points.

As the match wore on and neared its end, though, Kramnik started to turn the tables. Now it was his preparation that was better, and he started pressing in every game. It wasn't enough to save the match, but it did turn a rout into a genuine contest with a little drama.

So this week, in our final show on the match, we'll take a look at the last act. Game 9 was a great chance for Kramnik, who was just about winning near the end. In game 10, Kramnik even managed to win with his best novelty in the match. And then there was game 11 - a very interesting contest, but one in which Anand reasserted himself and drew confidently, putting an end to the match. Good and interesting games one and all, and we'll examine them tonight, Wednesday night, at 9 p.m. ET. Log on to the Playchess.com server, go to the Broadcast room, and find Anand-Kramnik in the games list. Hope to see you there!

Another Anand interview can be found here (HT: Jaideepblue), while (HT: Brian Karen) a Jan Timman interview can be read here in its original Dutch or in some form of English on this translation page. Timman comes across as a pretty crotchety fellow in this interview, even citing as his own some ugly comments made by Mssrs. Kasparov and Topalov.

This interview with Surya Shekhar Ganguly isn't all that informative, but it isn't content-free either. It's a reasonable way for Anand fans and others to spend a minute of their time.

HT: "Titu"

They're out there in tons. This one from the Telegraph of India addresses the "killer instinct" issue, while this page on the ChessBase site includes two interviews while linking to many more (both print and video).

It's a puff piece, as it should be, but it's still a nice, quick read.

HT: Jaideepblue

So said Anand in a post-match interview with The Hindu. I hope that's another lesson Kramnik (and everyone else) learned: if one won't be a good sportsman out of respect for one's opponent or a golden rule ethic, he should at least avoid taunting out of self-interest. (I can certainly confirm this from the point of view of the tauntee: few things have motivated me more strongly than a trash-talking opponent: I train harder, I'm more concentrated, etc.) Learn from Kramnik, by not doing what he did.

HT: Brian Karen

Right here, for your viewing pleasure.

It's ready to read, at the top of this post.

It was a very long press conference, and it will take me a while to type in what I can. But it happened and I'm working on it - check back to the "live update" post in a few minutes.

2:30: Post-Press Conference Update:

This was a long press conference, and a very neat one - I hope those of you who didn't get to watch it on Foidos take the time to see it later on ChessVibes or elsewhere.

Anand's opening comment was fairly short, and he rattled off the lines faster than I could write them down. The gist of what he said, though, was this: he was surprised by the Najdorf, and played 6.Bg5 which he doesn't usually do. Kramnik's 9...Qc5 may have surprised him a little; he was (more) familiar with 9...Nc6, as played in a Radjabov-Grischuk game earlier this year in Sochi. Kramnik's 12...exf5 was a critical moment, and if Black can finish his development and get his bishops firing White can be in trouble. So he liked his 13.Qe3, and later felt that 16.Qf4 was correct as well. He noted that 17...Be6 instead of 17...f5 was the only other try, but gave a line at the end of which he said he was escaping. After 20.Kb1 he knew he was out of danger, as Black could not do much with his broken kingside pawns.

Kramnik too churned out variations in his statement, but added a more general comment or two. He half-jokingly said he had a hard day yesterday, trying to find a forced win with Black against both 1.d4 and 1.e4. He was happy when he got a Najdorf, because then he could at least get a game. The only disadvantage was that he had no clue about the theory (of the particular line they played). He found 9...Qc5 over the board, and didn't know if it was a novelty. [It's not.] It looked interesting to him and keeps the game sharp. He also acknowledge that 12...exf5 was a critical move, but without it he felt he'd simply be structurally worse. So he decided to "mess things up" with that capture. 13.Qe3 was a good reaction. He felt that his 13...Bg7 was a good move and that 13...Be6 was not. (Anand had mentioned 13...Be6 as OK at first, but Kramnik rattled off some line at the end of which White is the exchange up for inadequate compensation.) Later, Kramnik thought that 15...O-O was objectively better than 15...Rg8, but that his move was the only way to fight. Anand's 16.Qf4 was a good reply. Kramnik mentioned 19.Bd3, and noted that 19...Be6 20.Nxf5 Qb4 leads to a position where "everything's hanging" and that turns out well for Black, but after Anand's 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Black has no tricks and ...Nb4 doesn't work. The final position may be holdable for Black but it's better for White.

Q & A:

Q for Anand: Relieved or happy?
Anand: Happy, but more relieved than happy.

Q for A: What now, will you continue to be active?
A: Have no thoughts of retiring, will certainly keep playing. For now, my team and I will celebrate and relax.

Q for K: Disappointed or relieved?
K: Relieved? No. You're relieved when you win, disappointed when you lose. But life goes on. I made mistakes in preparation. I am eager to improve. I will make serious changes to my preparation for tournaments and even to my play. It was a harsh lesson, but I will work. For the moment, I will relax. I hope someday to fight for the world championship again. I'm happy to have played the match and to play with Anand. It was a very interesting chess experience. It's not over [in that] I will continue to make use of the lessons here.

Q for K: How will you continue - what's your place in the next cycle?
K: You're misunderstanding. If I have another chance, I'll take it; if not, not. For now, there's less pressure, so I can rest, relax, improve.

Q from Campomanes for A: 21 years ago, you won the World Junior, and you have had a bumper crop of titles in the intervening period. What do you see for your next 21 years?
A: Hard to see ahead - I couldn't have seen this from Baguio. But I'm still excited about chess, and such a result gives you wings.

Q for K: After 1.e4 you seemed unsure for 20-25 seconds. Were you, or was it a bit of a show?
K: (Smiling/laughing.) I was trying to get a bit of concentration, since I had just gotten to the board. I expected 1.d4, but had ideas for 1.e4 as well. I wasn't unsure, just getting concentrated.

Q from GM Rogers for K: Do you feel you were always playing a moving target with Anand switching openings?
K: Not really. We were both preparing. Anand's team's prep was maybe more clever and we couldn't keep up the first half of the match. But in the second half, I got more of what I wanted. Changing openings is just modern chess, everyone knows a lot, and I switched too. Maybe repeating the same line in game 5 was a mistake but we're human, we make mistakes.

Q for A: Is it different winning a match vs. a tournament [Mexico City]?
A: Tournaments, broader; matches, deeper. Kramnik has an almost lethal match style, so I'm very happy to have gotten a lot of work done. Didn't expect to win by two points, so I'm very proud of this result.

Q for both: 12 game match OK, or 16 better?
K: Depends very much on your position in the match. (Everyone laughs.) I'd prefer a bit more, maybe 14 games. But the format of a match is great, of very high value, and draws public interest. I hope it continues even if I'm not in it. 14 games is just right.
A: I've played a 20 game with Kasparov, a 12 game match here, and 6 game matches in the k.o.'s which is like a Candidates match. [Ironically, some of Anand's Candidates matches were longer than 6 games.] 12 games is fine; the difference between 12 and 14 is not enormous.

Q for K: How did you cope with your difficulties early in the match and come back to fight? And how did you come to the press conferences in a good mood even when you lost [Kramnik said "looked like a good mood"]?
K: I was in a fighting mood from the beginning, but everything went wrong the first 6 games. After that, I could fight. As for press conferences, we're professionals. We don't feel good, but it's not journalists' fault. And it's only a game - yes, an important game for the world title, money - but only a game. It's not a reason to be depressed. And people lose games, especially against such an opponent as Vishy. I have a motto: you're responsible for the quality of your work, not the results. Vishy is a great player and was better in this match. It's no reason to shout at journalists.

[And with that, the press conference came to an end, and so now does this post. Stay tuned later tonight for the game on a replayable board with fuller annotations, and for my ChessBase show at 9 p.m. ET in which I'll recap the match from game 6.]


1:20

I assume there's going to be a press conference, but they sure are taking their sweet time about it. Maybe they're engaging in another round of drug testing, brilliantly ensuring that the players aren't who they are today on account of anabolic steroids. (Maybe the geniuses who thought this up are the ones who should be tested, but it might be too late to rescue them.) Meanwhile, for posterity's sake, here's the final position of the match:



1:00

MATCH OVER!

Yup, that's it! After 21.Nc1, the game concluded 21...Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 and now I'm not sure what happened. I was away from the computer and 24...Bf4 was allegedly played, but as that simply throws away a bishop for nothing it's rather unlikely. (I believe the move was 24...Be3.) In any case, whatever happened on Black's 24th move, they agreed to a draw. It's over, and Anand has won the match by a 6.5-4.5 score.

Back after the press conference.

12:40

Latest moves: 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1.

I think I know why Kramnik refrained from ...Be6 on moves 16 and 17 now, but it looks like it was just a cheapo. Had Anand played the natural move 20.Bd3, then 20...Nb4 trapped the rook, though the position would remain unclear afterwards. After Anand's strong 20.Kb1, taking care of the back rank by allowing Nc1, Black doesn't seem to have very much. For example: 20...Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Qb4 22.Nd3 Qxf4 23.Nxf4 Nb4 24.Rxf5 Rxc2 25.Ne6+ Ke7 26.Nxg7 Rd2 27.Bxa6 bxa6 28.Re1+ White is slightly better and enjoys a position that's practically impossible to lose.

Kramnik has just played 20...Qe1+ and Anand replied 21.Nc1, and if the game continues down that line I think the game will end in a draw - unless Anand feels like playing for a win. I think the match is as good as over.



Times: Anand 40 minutes, Kramnik 41 minutes and counting.

12:30

Anand chose 16.Qf4, sidestepping the discovered check possibility, eyeing the d6, e4 and f6 pawns and keeping the Bg7 plugged up. Now exf5 is a serious positional threat, so Kramnik's choices were 16...Be6 followed by 17...fxe4 or else the immediate 16...fxe4, and he chose the latter. 16...Be6 seemed to gain a useful tempo for development, but for whatever reason he declined to use it. Anand played 17.Nxe4, and Kramnik again forsook 17...Be6, preferring 17...f5, unleashing the dark squared bishop's diagonal. The obvious 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 ensued, and now Anand has some choices and 19.Nxc8 and 19.Bd3 come to mind.

Times: Anand 46 minutes and counting, Kramnik 48 minutes.

12:05

After a long think, Kramnik chose the ambitious 13...Bg7. The point is that someday, after ...fxe4 and ...f5, that bishop can become a monster on the long diagonal, especially in conjunction with the queen on e5. Achieving that isn't going to be so easy, however, especially after White's reply, 14.Rd5. Kramnik could have prevented this with 13...Be6, when 14.Qb6 Bh6+ 15.Kb1 O-O 16.exf5 Bxf6 17.Bd3 gives White nice compensation for the pawn.

After 14.Rd5, Kramnik played the normal 14...Qe7, and Anand has replied with 15.Qg3, forking the units on g7 and d6. Black has a choice between three moves here, 15...Bh6+, 15...O-O and 15...Rg8, and there's something to be said for each of them. 15...Bh6+ is a materialistic approach, allowing Black to save his extra pawn and maybe grab another one on e4. 15...O-O takes care of king safety issues (relatively speaking), and 15...Rg8 tries to activate another piece, with tempo. White can meet that move with 15.Kb1 or play something like 15.Qh4 or 15.Qf4, trying to restrict Black's bishop; after each reply (to 15...Rg8) the position is in some sort of balance. And Kramnik has just played it: 15...Rg8.



It's a very complicated position, strategically and tactically, and it's not surprising that the players are burning serious time on the clock.

Times: Anand: 58 minutes and counting, Kramnik: 59 minutes.

11:30

Only one half move has been played, but it's an interesting one: 13.Qe3. This clears the d-file and the f1-a6 diagonal while giving the queen two beautiful diagonals (b6 is an especially wonderful square for the queen). Kramnik has been deep in thought since this was played, having used 24 minutes on it thus far. It's not over, but Anand fans should be pretty happy here.

Times: Anand 1:17, Kramnik 1:12 and counting.

11:00

Oh boy...

The next few moves were "normal". After Kramnik's 9...Qc5, Anand played 10.Qd3, preparing to castle long. Kramnik continued developing with 10...Nc6, Anand avoided the possible swap of knights and queens by playing 11.Nb3, Black played the thematic centralizing move 11...Qe5 and then White continued normally with 12.O-O-O. In the few previous games Black had played 12...Bd7, and there may be other normal moves as well (e.g. 12...b5).

But here Kramnik played 12...exf5. Sure, it wins a pawn, but it's strategically disgusting. His d- and f-pawns are isolated, the e-file is open and d5 beckons a white knight. Maybe this is an "I must play to win" kind of risk, but it looks pretty gruesome to me. Kramnik does have extensive experience with the Classical Sicilian, meeting the Rauzer (which is what this really is, strategically - ignore the Najdorf move order), so it's not as if he doesn't know any of this, and he must feel that this is an acceptable risk.

Times: Anand 1:24 and counting, Kramnik 1:36.

10:25

Yes, 1.e4 has been played! Kramnik chose 1...c5, and now after 2.Nf3 d6 Anand avoided the comparatively drawish 3.Bb5+ and went for an Open Sicilian with 3.d4. 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 ensued, and now Kramnik played an unusual move for him: 5...a6, the Najdorf Variation. Kramnik used to play the Sveshnikov regularly, and in the mid to late 1990s he was a consistent Classical player (5...Nc6).

With the Najdorf, I can't help but think of the end of the 1969 World Championship match between Boris Spassky and Tigran Petrosian. Through game 16 (of 24) the match had been all square, 8-8, and Petrosian had drawn one game after another with the Petroff, and with ease. For no obvious reason (a death wish of sorts?) he switched to open Sicilians in games 17 and 19, got butchered and lost the match. It didn't play to his strong points and played into Spassky's, and I think the same is true for Kramnik and Anand. But if you have to play for a win, then what can you do?

Returning to the game, Anand played 6.Bg5, formerly the main line and a move that leads to a huge number of forced draws, but after 6...e6 7.f4 Qc7 Kramnik had found his way to a line without many or even any forced draw variations. Here Anand avoided typical Najdorf-like approaches and chose 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5, giving the game the character of a Classical Rauzer. Kramnik played 9...Qc5, and that's where we are at the moment.

Kramnik has achieved a playable position where no forced draws are lurking, where he has trumps that could lead to a win someday, where Anand doesn't have some mega-prep lurking and in the sort of position he had some experience with. It's miles away from a win, but he has achieved everything he could reasonably hope for from a black opening. Not a bad start!



Times: Anand 1:45 and counting, Kramnik 1:51.

9:55:

Once again, this could be the last game of the match, and since Anand has the white pieces, it's extremely likely if not quite a mortal lock. A few commentators have noted that Kramnik has never beaten Anand with Black, and that's not an encouraging factor for the challenger. However, while I agree that Kramnik's chances remain pretty low, I think that particular argument is overrated for several reasons.

First, Kramnik has defeated Anand with Black, just not in a classical game. He has done so in rapid games. Second, he generally hasn't tried to win with Black in slower games. That doesn't mean he would have had he wanted to, but that fewer attempts will naturally result in fewer successes. Third, Anand had only defeated Kramnik once with Black in classical chess before the match (and that from a dodgy position), but that didn't stop him from winning twice here with the black pieces. And finally, Anand has more pressure on him here than in any of the previous games, and that can have an effect as well.

Nevertheless, I think Anand will keep control and look for ways to dry up the game as soon as possible. Maybe it's a cynical approach, but it's better to do that and be the champ! To that end, I think 1.e4 has a good chance of appearing, as there are more chances to control the opening and steer it in a drawish direction than with 1.d4. The game starts in a couple of minutes, so buckle up: it's time for a ride.

Here it is.

1:30 Post-Press Conference Update:

Kramnik: We played a Nimzo with 4.Nf3, a fashionable line. 18.Re1 was a novelty; nor crushing, but it offers Black a certain choice and it's not so easy. It looks like I [Kramnik] am losing tempi with all the bishop moves, but I managed to get Black's pawn on e5 and his pieces lose coordination. 22...Bg4 was not an accurate move. Maybe 22...f6 was better, and then he'd play 23.h3. After 22...Bg4 23.Qa6 was best; taking on c5 [23.Bxc5] was not clear. Anand's 23...f6 was virtually the decisive mistake; 23...Be6 24.Bf1 Qf3 gives White a nice edge but it's far from over. But in the game after 26.Rab1 it's just over, because Black can't blockade c4. One nice line is 26...Kh8 [instead of 26...c4] 27.a5 Nc4 28.Rb7 Qg8 29.Bh6! gxh6 30.Bxc4, winning [30...Bxc4 31.Qxf6+ and mate next move]. It was a pleasant surprise; I didn't do anything special and then the position was basically winning.

Anand: 18.Re1 is a tricky move, because it's unclear where Black should place his pieces. He mentioned 22...Nc4 as a possible alternative to his 22...Bg4, but suggested that White still had an edge after 23.Qa6 Nxe3 24.Rxe2. As for the game, he said he "just missed something" after 23...f6, and didn't see what to do after 24.a4.

Q & A Highlights:

Not much of interest here. Anand was asked what exactly it was that he missed after 23...f6, and for whatever reason avoided answering it.

Kramnik was asked by GM Ian Rogers how he assessed his chances in the match (and as a joke, if FIDE will rush in to stop the match); he answered that his chances improved. His approximate response: "I just have to play. I'm happy to play normal chess, not under pressure in the opening. I will try to play well, use whatever chances I have. It's better for me not to think what are my chances. They're still less than 50%."

Someone else asked Kramnik if he had noticed the similarities in the opening with the game Grischuk-Gelfand from Mexico City in 2007. He answered that there are lots of similar games [as noted above, it's a fashionable variation], but that there are a lot of nuances; it's a very delicate position, difficult to understand even for top chess players.

The game with annotations will be posted later today. Remember that tomorrow is a rest day for the match; game 11 is on Wednesday.

12:56

It's over! Not the match - yet - but the game, and Kramnik has won it. The remaining moves were 27...Na4 28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6 and Black resigned. White's control of the board is overwhelming and Black is probably losing a piece - Re7 is threatened, but there's also Qb4 followed by Ra1.

A decent game by Kramnik, but Anand helped with the serious inaccuracy 23...f6 and the outright mistake, maybe even blunder, 26...c4.

The match score is now 6-4, Anand, and I expect that in game 11 after the rest day he'll play to dry up the game and finish the match.

One more update later, after the press conference, and later today I'll post my analysis of the game. Stay tuned.

12:50

And again, as in the previous game, Kramnik slipped a little, but Anand returned the favor with interest. After Anand played 25...Be6, Kramnik replied 26.Rab1 almost immediately. The problem with using the a-rook instead of the e-rook is that after 26...Rcb8 27.a5 Black has the jump 27...Na4.

White would still maintain a serious edge, but it would have been reduced a bit from where it was. Unfortunately for Anand, he chose to move a completely different unit to c4 - 26...c4, and now 27.a5 gives White a winning position.

Times: Kramnik 56 minutes, Anand 19 minutes and counting.

12:30

Kramnik's advantage is growing. This is reminiscent of Kramnik's own match victory over Kasparov, where almost as soon as the match seemed over, once Kramnik went up 2, Kasparov got pressure in game after game (though without ever managing to win a game).

After 22...Bg4, Kramnik played 23.Qa6, as expected, and now Anand might have come up with a stinker: 23...f6. The move has a certain logic to it. Black wants to put the knight on c4, but 23...Be6 24.Bf1 leaves him unable to do so. By playing 23...f6, Black wants to play ...Qf7 there, to win the c4 square, but there's a problem. After 24.a4! Qf7 25.Bf1 Black can't overwhelm White with 25...Be6 because after 26.Reb1 Nc4?? fails to 27.Rb7 and 26...Bc4?? to 27.Bxc4 Nxc4 28.Rb7 or 27...Qxc4 28.Rxb6, winning a piece in every case. Black can try to prepare this with 26...Rcb8, but 27.a5 Bc4 28.Bxc4 Nxc4 (again, not 28...Qxc4?? because 29.axb6 wins a piece) 29.Rxb8+ Rxb8 30.Bxc5 with a clear extra pawn.

At the end of the day, then, White has won the battle for c4, and Black's pieces will be in disarray for a while. White is clearly better, and the situation on the clock favors Kramnik as well: 1:01 for Kramnik, :32 and counting for Anand.

12:00

Sorry, but only one more half-move to report, and it's 22...Bg4. This does inaugurate ...Nc4 as a sort of threat in such a way that he won't lose his light-squared bishop in return (e.g. ...Nc4 Qa6 Nxe3 Qxe2), but now White can stop it with 23.Qa6 or 23.Qb5.

You might wonder about the immediate 23.Bxc5, but then Black has 23...Nc4 followed by ...Nd2 and ...Nf3, when White will have some kingside worries on the light squares. So I'd expect 23.Qa6 or 23.Qb5.

Times: Kramnik 1:12 and counting, Anand :50.

11:32:

"Long line, wrong line" indeed: I guessed wrong from the very first move! After 11 minutes, Kramnik chose 22.Be3. Times: Kramnik 1:28, Anand 1:03.

11:30

"Black shouldn't play 21...e5 now". Needless to say, he did, apparently believing that the strength of his c-pawn suffices against White's assets in the position after 22.Bxe5 Nc4 23.Qa6 Qxe5 24.Rxe2 Qxc3 25.Ree1 Ne5 26.Rec1 Qb2 27.Rab1 Qd2 28.Rd1 Qc3, but it looks like White has a serious edge after 29.Qd6 (29.Qe2 is only equal: c4 30.f4 Nd3 31.Qe3 Qc2 32.Qd2 Qa4 33.e5 Rab8=) 29...h6 30.Rbc1 Nf3+ 31.Kh1 Qa3 32.Qd3 Qxd3 33.Rxd3.

"Long line, wrong line" holds true for the above, I'm sure, but it seems representative. It looks like Kramnik is going to have his chances in this game, too.

11:15

18.Re1 got Anand thinking, but he seems to have done just fine against it. One idea of Kramnik's novelty was to impede typical maneuver 18...Be2, as now 19.h3, threatening g4, will make Black's bishop beat a hasty retreat. So after 15 minutes, Anand chose 18...c5, and after 19.Qa5 Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2! appears at least close to equality, if not already there. He has achieved the thematic move and threatens ...Nc4, and it's not clear what White really has.

21.h3 is useless here: 21...Nc4 22.Qa6 Nxe3 23.Rxe2 Nxg2 24.Kxg2 Rd8 with equality. Kramnik played 21.Bf4 after his first think of the game (12 minutes), and it looks like the best move in the position. The bishop avoids exchange via ...Nc4, keeps rooks off of b8, and aims to embed itself on d6, supported by e5 (though only when ...Nc4 isn't in the offing).

Black shouldn't play 21...e5 now. It doesn't lose a pawn, but White has a nice edge after 22.Bxe5 Nc4 23.Qa6 Qxe5 24.Rxe2 Qxc3 25.Ree1. A more likely choice is 21...Bd3, which echoes 21.Bf4 in keeping the opponent's rooks off of the b-file.

Current times: Kramnik 1:39, Anand 1:10 and counting.

10:30

Here we go with what could well be the last game of this world championship match, as any result but a Kramnik win gives Anand victory in the match. This doesn't mean that Kramnik needs to play crazy chess, and there's no real likelihood that he will in any case, but he does need to keep the tension in the game until he achieves something concrete.

The game has begun with a little surprise: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 and now Anand played his first non-Queen's Gambit family opening in the match with 3...Bb4, a Nimzo-Indian. It's not a big surprise, though, as Anand has played the Nimzo pretty regularly for a long time.

Now Kramnik offered a small surprise in turn with 4.Nf3, the "Flexible Variation", so called because depending on Black's replies are met by significantly different rejoinders. The pictures of the players we get to see on Foidos are a little small, but it seemed to me that Anand had a little smile on his face after seeing this move. I interpreted it as an acknowledgement that Kramnik had finally taken the upper hand in the pre-emptive preparation battle, getting in his surprise first, but that's just a guess. (Maybe it will get confirmation in the press conference.)

After a moment, the game continued apace: 4...c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5, all of which has happened on many occasions and on the highest levels.



The two known moves here are 18.Bf4 and 18.Be3, and just to pick a tiny bit from the cream of the crop, there are the games Grischuk-Gelfand, Mexico City 2007; Bacrot-Carlsen, Biel 2008; and even Kasparov-Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2000.

But that's history: Kramnik uncorked a novelty, 18.Re1, and now Anand has started to think (13 minutes on the move and counting). We'll discuss the move later; for now, let's get this posted.

It was a close one, but Anand eked out a draw. With his 6-3 lead he is one draw (or win) away from retaining the world championship title. Today's game was a big hurdle, and you can see just how close it was by checking out the game, with my notes, here.

The note: they're starting an hour later than usual today.

The ad: I'd like to make an e-book of the match for sale through here. I'm thinking of the following price structure: $10 for the games alone in .pgn and .cbv format (with expanded notes from what I've already shown in the replayable boards, with separate text files introducing the games), $15 for a series of comparatively short ChessVideos.tv-style videos, and $20 for a combined package. If you're genuinely interested, not only in the idea in the abstract but willing to buy at those approximate prices, drop me a note here. If there's enough real interest, it'll happen; if not, not.

Going into this game, Kramnik's chances to save the match were already very slim, and with the draw today slim has left the building. Anand leads 5.5-2.5, and needs just one point in his next four games to keep the title. He failed to cash in, but Kramnik did have some chances today, as you can see here.

1:30 Post-Press Conference:

Kramnik: This was the first time I had a slight advantage, so it was quite pleasant. Anand's 10...Bxb5 was an interesting novelty (or at least a novelty to him). 11.Nb3 was the principled move but he didn't like it. He got nothing special in the game, and it was equal after 12...Nc6. 14...Rd8 would have been equal, but after 14...Rg8 White was better, and after 19.Re1 Black's position was dangerous. White has at his disposal the e5 and f5 breaks, for example, but Anand found a few accurate defensive moves - 19...a6, 20...Kf8 and 21...Rg6. His 22.g3 was slow and not in the spirit of the position, but he couldn't find a way to attack. Black's Qd4 + Rd3 construction was shaky, but it also interfered with White's coordination, and then all Black needed was to get the other rook into play and then he's OK. That said, he thought that 26...Qc5 was better than 26...Rd8, as the former would not allow Qh5. In the final sequence, he wanted to bring his pawn or king to h6, but never found a way to make it work - he's never in time - so he took the perpetual.

Anand: After 14...Rg8 15.f4 he knew he had done something wrong, and then had to choose between various setups where he's worse. He thought bringing the king to the queenside would be too slow, and felt that 19...a6 was forced. 20.Nd5 was very interesting and dangerous, but because only major pieces would be left maybe he can survive. White was better the whole game. Anand was happy when he found 21...Rg6, noting that if 22.f5 exf5 23.exf5 Rg4 Black would be in fine shape. He discussed various attempts to exploit the Qd4/Rd3 construction, including in positions where White's rook is on e1. So (my particular move reference, not his) 21.Na2 Qd8 22.Nc1 Rd7 and White hasn't made progress, because to achieve anything positive he'll need the knight back on c3. So Black's position was worse but defensible, and the last accurate move was 32...f5, after which it's a draw.

Q & A:

A couple of people asked Kramnik about playing on at the end with Kh3 with the idea of Rg2. Kramnik replied that it was an option but that he'd probably lose. (The second time, understandably growing tired of suffering fools, said approximately "my situation in the match is not so good but not to lose like an idiot". Having vented, he let the questioner save face, adding that he understood the question and had of course considered the ideas.) Specifically, he tossed off the following lines: 39.Kh3 Rd3 and tehn Black's king runs out, shedding the h-pawn but gaining big counterplay. Or Black can defend with ...Qc5-e7. Also, if instead 39.h4 Rd3 40.Rf2 Qc5 and ...Qe7, or 40...Kf8-e7 with counterplay for the pawn. Or at the end, in response to the suggested 40.Kh3 Rd3 41.Qg5+ Kg8 42.Rg2 Qc5 43.Kh4 Qe7 44.Kg5, Kramnik noted 43...Ne7 instead "and maybe White will get mated". (Around here came the "lose like an idiot" remark.)

A substantive question for Anand was to explain why he chose the Rd3 + Qd4 plan. His reply was illuminating: I felt the position was worse but manageable. I need activity because the structural threat of f5 is so strong, and at some point you have to pick some plan and stick with it.

And so he did, and it worked out: Anand leads 5.5-2.5. Tomorrow is a rest day, and then he'll have White on Saturday in what could be the final game of this match.

More analysis later in a separate post.

12:40

Kramnik is trying, but it looks like there's not going to be anything more than a perpetual check here. Yes, there it is: draw agreed. The final moves were 32...f5 33.Qf6+ Kg8 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Re2 Qc4 37.Qg5+ Kh8 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Qg5+ Kh8 Draw.

The problem for White is that tries like running the h-pawn up the board, moving the king up to h6 or trying to utilize the g-file don't quite work, generally because of Black's counterplay along the d-file. More on this later, but here's one quick variation: 36.h4 Qe3 37.h5 Rd2 38.Rxd2 Qxd2+ 39.Kh3? Qc1 40.Kh4 h6 41.Qxh6 and White would be very happy now, were it not for 41...Nxe5! and Black wins.

Back after the press conference.

12:15

Kramnik finally got a little chance, and immediately let it slip. After 22.g3, Anand played 22...Kg7 (the ugly 22...f5 was possible, but it's not a move humans want to make, especially without a really good reason), and after 23.Rd1 Rxd1 24.Nxd1 he chose the very slow 24...Kh8. The motivation is a good one, to re-centralize the rook with ...Rg8-d8, but now White could have achieved a genuine advantage with either 25.Qc2 Rg8 26.Rd2 Qb6 27.Qc3 Kg7 28.Ne3 or 25.Rf3 Rg8 26.Rd3 Qc4 27.b3 Qc5 28.Qb2.

Unfortunately for Kramnik fans, he chose a couple of routine moves, 25.Nc3 Rg8 26.Kg2, and the position was equal. Anand continued his plan with 26...Rd8 (26...Na5!?), and now Kramnik finally made an active move with 27.Qh5 (27.f5 might have given an edge). Now we've seen some repetitions, but fear not: this is almost surely to gain time on the clock:

27...Kg7 28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Qh5 Kg7 30.Qg4+ Kh8 31.Qh4 Kg7 and now 32.e5 has been played.



At a glance, this doesn't seem to give White more than a draw, but we'll see. More later. Times: Kramnik 19 minutes, Anand 20 and counting.

11:45

Kramnik played 21.Ref1, as suggested below, and yet after Anand's fine reply 21...Rg6 Kramnik still can't successfully blow open the f-file. Kramnik can play 22.f5, but after 22...exf5 23.Rxf5 is verboten, as after 23...Rd2 24.Qf3 Ne5 25.Qh3 Ng4 or 24.Qh5 Rdxg2 White's position collapses. White can play 23.exf5, but it promises nothing special after 23...Rg4. Besides, what are White's rooks doing on the f-file in that case?

Kramnik has therefore chosen another waiting, building move: 22.g3. It's committal in its own way, though, opening the a8-h1 diagonal and further exposing the second rank, so Kramnik definitely isn't getting something for nothing here.

Times: Kramnik 31 minutes, Anand 39 minutes and counting. Stay tuned!

11:30

Anand replied with 20...Kf8, and now it's important to note that the immediate 21.f5 isn't so good. Or rather, after 21.f5 Ne5, 22.fxe6 isn't good: 22...Ng4 followed by 23...Rd2 forces White to give up the queen for insufficient compensation, e.g. 23.Rf4 Rd2 24.Rxg4 Rxe2 25.Rxg8+ Kxg8 26.exf7+ Kxf7 27.Rxe2 b5 with a clear advantage for Black. White could play 22.h3 instead, but after 22...exf5 23.Rxf5 (perhaps not best) Rd2 24.Rd1 (forced) 24...Rxe2 25.Rxd4 Rxb2 26.Rd8+ Kg7 27.Rxg8+ Kxg8 Black is slightly better. So Kramnik should wait before making the break - 21.Ref1 looks like a smart move here.

Current times: Kramnik 40 minutes and counting, Anand 49.

11:20

Very interesting: after 17 minutes, Kramnik has uncorked 20.Kh1, keeping his powder dry. This breaks the pin on the Rf2 and prepares Ref1 followed by f5 - the original strategic plan behind f4. Happily, this keeps the tension in the position, which Kramnik must do if he wants to have serious winning chances in this game.

11:15

Kramnik chose 19.Re1 instead of 19.Nb5 and the endgame mooted in the last post, and now the position is much sharper. Anand replied 19...a6, which keeps White's knight off of b5 and, believe it or not, gives his king a flight square.



Kramnik is deep in thought now, and at least part of what he's considering is the leap 20.Nd5. Black grabs the knight, 20...exd5, and after 21.exd5+ Kd7 22.dxc6+ Kxc6 White's best might be 23.g3, and now Black can play 23...Kb6 with the idea of ...Ka7 if necessary. White may be a little better here, but Black's well-centralized forces offer good compensation for White's superior structure.

Times: Kramnik 52 minutes and counting, Anand 54 minutes.

10:45

A very slight surprise has just happened. After 15.f4, mentioned last time, the subsequent series of moves were all predicted long ago: 15...Rd8 16.Qe1 Qb6+ 17.Rf2 and now instead of 17...Kf8, squirreling the king away to h8 as soon as possible, Anand played 17...Rd3. The problem with this aggressive-looking move is that White can play 18.Qe2 (just played), and what now? It's hard to see what the point to ...Rd3 was if Black doesn't play 18...Qd4 now, so let's consider that.

Here's a long, forcing (but not forced variation) to contemplate as we wait to see what happens: 19.Nb5 Qe3 20.Qxe3 Rxe3 21.Nd6+ Ke7 22.Nxb7 Rxe4 23.Rc1 Rb8 24.Nc5 Rd4 25.Nxe6 fxe6 26.Rxc6 Rd1+ 27.Rf1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Rxb2 29.Rc7+ Kd6 30.Rxa7 with an extra pawn at least partially compensated by Black's active king.

Times: Kramnik 1:09, Anand 1:04(!)

10:00

The game has proceeded along quiet lines: 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Nxc3 Rg8 15.f4. White's aim is positional: he'd like to play f4-f5, leaving Black with some questions about how he'd like to keep his kingside together. Black's king is stuck in the center too. That probably won't be a king safety issue, but it does interrupt the coordination of his other pieces, especially the rooks.

Does this mean that White is better here? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer seems to be no, he's not. Black's slight lead in development seems sufficient to keep the balance (but not more) after something like ...Rd8 and ...Qb6+, possibly followed by ...Kd7-c8, taking care of his only remaining weakness. It does seem that White's position is easier to play, so practically speaking Kramnik has reached one of his best positions in this match. (Admittedly, this isn't saying much.)

The times are getting closer: Kramnik 1:14; Anand 1:32 and counting.

9:30

Anand has offered some new opening surprises. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Anand eschewed his usual Semi-Slav with 4...e6, and chose instead the Vienna Variation with 4...dxc4. Kramnik continued to move at a normal rate: 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4, and now a second surprise: 8...Qa5 rather than the usual 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5. Now White has the option of 9.Bd2, keeping the queenside structure intact, but tried instead to return the game to normal 8...Bxc3+ channels with 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxf6.

Now 10...Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 gxf6 (not 11...Qxc3+ 12.Kf1 gxf6 because of 13.Rc1, as Rc8+ is threatened when the queen moves away and 13...Qxd4 14.Qxd4 Bxb5+ 15.Kg1 Nd7 16.h4 favors White) 12.Qb3 returns to a main line Vienna, and 10...gxf6 11.O-O Bxc3 12.Bxd7+ Nxd7 13.bxc3 is a less common but still normal Vienna position. But here Anand produced a third surprise with 10...Bxb5, a move which, as far as I can tell, was played only once before in a non-elite correspondence game. That game, Magallanes (2209) - Hitzegrad (2303), ICCF email 2006, continued 11.Nb3 Qb6 12.Bxg7 Rg8 13.Bd4 Qc6 14.Qf3 Nd7 15.Rc1 Qd6 16.a3 Bxc3+ 17.Bxc3 Ne5 18.Bxe5 Qxe5 19.Rc3 Rd8 20.g3 b6 21.Qe3 Ke7 22.Nd2 Rd7 1/2-1/2.

Perhaps calculating some of this and seeing that White doesn't achieve much, Kramnik opted for 11.Ndxb5, and after 11...gxf6 12.O-O Nc6 we've reached the current position. (Given below.) White has 1:37 and counting; Anand 1:56.

Here it is.

12:30, Post-Press Conference Update:

I missed maybe a sentence or two at the beginning, but got just about everything else.

Anand opined that the position after 23.Bd6 was slightly better for him for the obvious reason that his bishop was better than Black's knight. He agreed with Kramnik (from their mini-post mortem at the board) that Black should have played ...fxe5 more quickly than he did, but noted that 31...a5 came just at the right time. Whenever White plays Kd3, Black has ...Nc5+, so to try to win White must play e4, Ke3-d4, but then Black has ...Ke8 and he is again in time to hold.

Kramnik's summary added a few interesting points. He recalled that he played the same line against Topalov in a rapid game in Elista, but played differently at some point. He felt that after Anand's 18.Nxb4 Qxb4 19.b3 Rac8 that 20.Bd2 would have been better, or at least a better winning try, keeping some tension and aiming for play on the kingside. After 20.Ba3 he felt the position was completely fine and he got too relaxed. He should have played ...fxe5 earlier (I'm assuming he meant on move 24), and after (25.)dxe5 b6 when he's up two tempi compared to the game. He thought during the game that all was well, that he would just play ...g5, put the king on g6, and then see what was happening, but he then started to realize that it wasn't so easy. Maybe he could draw with passive play, but that would be dangerous; it would be better to get active. He felt that 30.Kd2 (rather than 30.Rc1) might have been better. It would still probably be a draw, but it would be more difficult. (He gave a line that started 30...a6 31.b5 axb5 32.axb5 Rc8, but unfortunately I didn't catch the rest of it.) After Anand's 30.Rc1 he believed it was a forced draw, even if it required some "only moves" from Black.

Of the questions, a couple shed further light on the game. One asked about the draw offer on move 21, why Kramnik offered and why Anand refused. Taking the answers out of order, Kramnik offered because he thought that the position was objectively drawn and that if Anand had wanted to play for a win, he'd have chosen 20.Bd2. Anand reported that he was a little surprised by the offer. He didn't think he had much, but that Black would still have to make some accurate moves.

GM Illescas asked the players' opinions about the possible knight ending that could result if White had managed to win the pawn when it was on c4 with a trade of rooks. Both shot off some long variations, and I was only able to write down some of them. Here then is the gist: Anand believed Black would be lost, and gave a line like 1.Ba3 Kg6 2.Bc1 Nc5 3.Be3 and noted that White would be able to achieve a winning zugzwang. He added that this approach wouldn't work if Black's king were on e8. On the other hand, in a position where Black plays 1...c3 2.Kd3 a6 3.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 4.Kxc3 b5 he wasn't sure how to win that one. At some point he'll have to play Bc5 and Kc3, but then ...Nb8-c6 should hold. And he wasn't even sure he could get that. Kramnik hastened to add that there was no need for this, but summarized nicely by saying that if the pawn gets to ...b5, it's a draw; if the pawns are on b6 and a5, it's lost. He added some illustrative lines/ideas, but I wasn't able to record them.

That concludes this post; full annotations later.

12:00:

Draw. The game continued 33.Rc2 Kf7 34.Kd3 Nc5+ 35.Bxc5 Rxc5 36.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 1/2-1/2. (Those unfamiliar with DGT boards might think White played the preposterous 37.Ke4??????????? here, but that's just the usual incompetence by the referee in using the idiotically designed DGT system. (To indicate a draw, White's king is put on e4 and Black's on e5, but if it isn't done just right Ke4 gets interpreted as a move. This has happened literally hundreds if not thousands of times, and despite this arbiters still haven't learned how to do it right and DGT still can't be bothered to create a different system. Something really complicated, for example, like a switch on the side of the board.) What actually happened was that after Kramnik took the rook, Anand looked up as he finished writing down the move, gave the "Draw?" look, and that was that.)

Back to chess. White might have been able to keep a little life in the position with 34.e4, with the idea of Ke3-d4, but that might lead to a probably drawn rook ending instead after 34...Rc4 35.Kd3 Rxa4 36.Rxc3 Nc5+ 37.Bxc5 bxc5 38.Rxc5 Rb4. Still, it's a try.

Anand leads the match 5-2. Game 8 is tomorrow, my fuller annotations are tonight, and the press conference is coming up now. Unfortunately, Foidos is having some problems, so I might be out of luck. (In that case, we'll all have to watch it later on, on Chess Vibes.) Back with the final update soon.

11:45:

Alright, forget what I just wrote. After Kramnik's excellent 31...a5 and Anand's 32.b5 (maybe he didn't have to play that?), the position immediately became a draw. Kramnik played 32...c3, and only now it's dawning on Anand that Black has a perfect fortress: 33.Kd3 Nc5+ 34.Bxc5 Rxc5 35.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 36.Kxc3 and that's it, thanks for playing, time to shake hands. White can bring his king to the kingside and play h4, but Black ignores that as well, meeting h5 with more napping and hxg5 with g6. Kramnik lives to see the weekend.

11:30

Yep, things are getting grim here for Kramnik. To catch you up to speed, what we've seen since 28.b4 is 28...Rc4 29.Rxc4 dxc4 30.Rc1 Rc8 31.g4. Black's c-pawn is more a weakness than a strength and three of his pieces are passive. One possible continuation is 31...a6 32.b5 axb5 33.axb5 c3 and now 34.Rc2!, preparing Kd3, endangers the life of the c-pawn. (Note: not 34.Kd3 right away on account of 34...Nc5+ 35.Kxc3?? Nb3+.) So it's not clear what Kramnik has in mind, but it's looking increasingly like 5.5-1.5. Wow.

11:00

Kramnik has started burning up time on the clock, and that's usually a dangerous sign for him. At this point he can afford it, but it might be a slight worry. After 18 minutes, Kramnik played 25...Kg6, which both activates the king and gets it off the f-file. Anand played 26.Ke2 almost immediately, and after another 9 minutes Kramnik played the very committal 26...fxe5. Opening a second file makes the position more lively than it would otherwise be, and after 27.dxe5 he made another somewhat surprising move, 27...b6. Normally Black wants to keep his pawns on light squares, where they're safe from the bishop's prying eyes - imagine all the rooks are off and White plays b5, for instance. Then Black will always have serious worries about his a-pawn.

The move does have a point, of course: Black would like to play ...Nc5, so 28.b4 (as yet unplayed) is fairly obvious. One question then is whether Black can get away with 28...Rc4, and that's highly unclear: White trades and plays Kd2-c3, when the c-pawn is weak. Trying to defend it with ...a6 and then ...b5 is easily met by b5, so we'll have to see what Kramnik has in mind. To paraphrase an old SNL bit, he's Kramnik and we're not, but it looks like he's getting himself into a bit of trouble, and again it's all self-inflicted. Weird.

Time to post: White has just played 28.b4, as predicted, and has 1:07 left. Kramnik has 45 minutes (and counting).

10:30

The game has continued along largely predicted lines: after 19.b3, we've seen 19...Rac8 20.Ba3 Qc3 21.Rac1 Qxe3 22.fxe3 f6 23.Bd6 g5 24.h3 Kf7 25.Kf2.



Some comments:

(1) Anand waited for a while before playing 22.fxe3. Since 22.Rxc8 is just bad (22...Qxf2+ and 23...Rxc8 gives Black a pawn and the crucial c-file), the thought is that Kramnik offered a draw. Objectively, it's not a bad offer, but Anand rightly rejected it. He can play on without any real risk, and given the pain Kramnik has suffered the past few days, he should strive to heap on some more while he can.

(2) 22...f6 isn't bad, but it does involve forsaking another important plan, one that looks like it would even more easily achieve a draw: 22...Nb8 23.Bd6 Rc6 24.Rxc6 Nxc6 25.Rc1 Rc8 26.Rc5 a6 followed by 27...Na7 and a rook swap (maybe prefaced by ...b5) with an essentially dead draw.

(3) Kramnik's 22...f6 doesn't look any less stable. Black's shell looks completely solid, and with only the open c-file for the rooks, it's very hard to see any real possibilities for White. Barring a meltdown by one of the players, the position should crawl to a draw sooner or later.

9:45

Back to the diagram. It's altogether worth noting that Kramnik has had this position at least twice before, and in the highest of high-profile games: it happened against Topalov in their 2006 world championship match. The first time was in the infamous and amazing game 2, when Topalov played 15.Ng5, which is the most aggressive approach and that tries to exploit Black's not playing 14...Be7. That game continued 15...Re8 16.f4 Bxd3N 17.Qxd3 f5 18.Be3 Nf8 19.Kh1 and now Kramnik played 19...Rc8 and got into serious trouble, though he won after many adventures. According to Bareev in From London to Elista, Kramnik's second Rublevsky (and everyone else since, with great results) played the right response later that year: 19...Be7 20.Nf3 Rc8 21.h3 Qc7 22.Rfc1 Qd7 23.Rg1 Qc7 24.Rgc1 Qd7 25.Qb3 and draw agreed, Jakovenko-Rublevsky, Moscow 2006.

So Anand chose 15.Ne1 instead, and this too follows an earlier Topalov-Kramnik game. In their first rapid playoff game, Kramnik chose 15...Rc8 and equalized after 16.f4 Bxe1 17.Rxe1 Bg6. Bareev notes that 16.Bxh7+! would have given Black trouble with a capital T, so he notes 15...Bg6 instead, and that's what Kramnik chose in our game. This closes the diagonal and swaps off the problem bishop.

Anand swapped the bishops - 16.Bxg6 hxg6 - and then reactivated the knight with 17.Nd3. In the only other game to see 15...Bg6, Black retreated his remaining bishop to e7, but Kramnik preferred to activate the queen with 17...Qb6. White swapped: 18.Nxb4 Qxb4 and then played 19.b3, preparing Ba3-d6, aiming to give the bishop its best prospects.

Generally speaking, Black is in good shape. His king is safe, he has swapped off his worst pieces, has just about finished his development and achieved the right minor piece imbalance. There is one remaining problem for Black, though, and it's that his knight is on a poor track. It has nothing to do on d7, and there's nothing for it on b6 either. Ideally, he'll try to maneuver it to c6, but that will take a little time. First he'll want to make sure he gets his fair share of the c-file, so something like 19...Rac8 20.Ba3 Qc3 21.Rac1 Qxe3 22.fxe3 Nb8 is possible, with a fairly equal position.

9:15

Anand opens the second half of the match (though it could turn out to be a very short "half") with White, and continued his "left handed" chess. Kramnik deviated from his previous black games with a Slav, and the following moves were all played a tempo:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.O-O Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 O-O 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 (1:55) Re8 (1:54), and now Anand slowed down, as 14...Re8 is comparatively rare (14...Be7 is the usual move). Here's the position:



More discussion of the position next time.