[Event "World-ch17 Tournament"] [Site "The Hague/Moscow"] [Date "1948.03.11"] [Round "5"] [White "Keres, Paul"] [Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A13"] [Annotator "Sundararajan Kidambi"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "1948.03.02"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "25"] [EventCountry "URS"] [SourceTitle "MainBase"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] [SourceVersion "2"] [SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,116,16,-12,-6,-22,-40,-40,-11,-37,6,6,45,14,28,-38,3,-14,28,-13,14,5, 28,20,16,-13,-30,-16,-20,-30,15,10,-10,-6,8,4,-1,0,0,-3,11,-18,18,0,25,0,-12,7, -7,0,33,-12,-14,-34,15,-23,-18,-28,-37,-46,-42,-49,-29,-54,-44,-137,-137,-137, -119,-122,-121,-122,-137,-158,-158,-146,-92,-145,-84,-105,-103,-166,-166,-189, -189,-216,-159,-199,-186,-219,-219,-251,-251,-263,-183,-183,-183,-183,-177, -176,-170,-170,-170,-170,-170,-170,-405,-520,-574,-862,-672,-860,-988,-870, -982,-1013,-1054,-1166,-1166]} 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 d4 4. b4 (4. Nf3 Nc6 5. O-O Bc5 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nbd2 a5 8. Nb3 Be7 9. e3 dxe3 10. Bxe3 Ng4 11. Bc5 O-O 12. d4 a4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nc5 a3 15. bxa3 Rd8 16. Nb3 Nf6 17. Re1 Qxa3 18. Qe2 h6 19. h4 Bd7 20. Ne5 Be8 21. Qe3 Qb4 22. Reb1 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Ng4 24. Qe1 Qxe1+ 25. Rxe1 h5 26. Bxb7 Ra4 27. c5 c6 28. f3 Nh6 29. Re4 Ra7 30. Rb4 Rb8 31. a4 Raxb7 32. Rb6 Rxb6 33. cxb6 Rxb6 34. Nc5 Nf5 35. a5 Rb8 36. a6 Nxg3 37. Na4 c5 38. a7 Rd8 39. Nxc5 Ra8 {0-1 (39) Nepomniachtchi,I (2782)-Carlsen,M (2855) Dubai 2021} ) 4... c5 (4... a5 $5 5. b5 e5 6. d3 Bb4+ 7. Nd2 Nf6 8. Nh3 Nbd7 9. O-O O-O 10. a4 h6 $15 11. Nb3 Nc5 12. Nxc5 Bxc5 13. f4 e4 14. Nf2 e3 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Qd6 17. Qb3 Bg4 18. Bf3 h5 19. Bxg4 hxg4 20. f5 g5 21. f6 Qe5 22. Ba3 Bxa3 23. Qxa3 Rfe8 24. c5 Kh7 25. c6 b6 26. Rac1 Rad8 27. Qa1 Kg6 28. Qa3 Rd6 29. Qa1 Rh8 30. Qa2 Rdd8 {0-1 (30) Goldberg,G-Bronstein,D Leningrad 1947}) 5. b5 { Botvinnik does not approve of this move. But, it does have the advantage of taking away c6-square from Black's Knight and strengthens the pressure on the long diagonal for White.} ({Exchanging the b-pawn for Black's c-pawn looks like a good way to play for better central control. However, one cannot consider this to be a Benko totally, since White has the a-pawn!} 5. bxc5 $5 Bxc5 6. Ba3) 5... e5 (5... a6 $5 {Destablising the pawn structure on the Queenside before White completes development also came into consideration.}) 6. d3 Bd6 7. e4 (7. Nf3 f5) (7. Nd2 $5 {Botvinnik points out that Capablanca would have probably played Nd2 and would have waited for Black's f5 before playing his pawn to e4. In this way he would have ensured that White's Bishop diagonal would not be closed!} f5 (7... Nf6) 8. e4 $1 {Capablanca would have played this- Botvinnik.}) (7. e3 $1 {Keres}) 7... Qc7 8. Ne2 h5 $1 {This move is aimed at making f2-f4 more difficult for White. When the Knight is placed on e2, h7-h5 is a typical retort that one has to take into account. If White answers with h2-h3, then Black can play h5-h4 and more or less force White to play g3-g4 which would make a future f2-f4 break almost impossible. If white answers with h2-h4, then he weakens the g4-square permanently after an eventual f2-f4. So, this is a very subtle way to fight against White's main pawn break.} 9. h4 {?! - Botvinnik} (9. h3 h4 10. g4 {[%csl Rf4]}) ({Botvinnik } 9. f4 $1 f6 (9... Bg4 10. h3 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 exf4 12. e5 $1) (9... h4 $5 { seems interesting and it looks like White has not solved all his problems. -Kidambi}) 10. f5 $11) 9... Nh6 10. O-O $2 {[%csl Yb2,Yb5] Surprisingly this move goes without any comment by either Keres or Botvinnik. In my view White determines the position of the King too early. If Black has also castled on the kingside , then this ofcourse would be the most natural continuation. But when Black has not determined the position of his King, White doing so would mean that he is presenting himself as a target. Also pay attention to the fact that the Centre is fully closed and White has even locked up the Queenside to a great extent. This means that he cannot create a counterplay there. Things would be very different if White had pawns on c2 and b2!} Bg4 11. f3 {Both Keres and Botvinnik are apprehensive of this move.Instead they suggest} (11. Nd2 {[%CAl Yd2f3,Yf3h2] The more solid idea was to first bring his N to h2 from where he controls the soft g4-square.}) 11... Be6 12. f4 Bg4 {[%csl Yg4] [%CAl Yh6g4]} 13. f5 {White loses even more flexibility by pushing pawns. Black waits and has intact his pawn levers of a7-a6 and g7-g6. It is upto him to open the position when he wants.} (13. fxe5 Bxe5 14. Bf4 {was a relatively lesser evil and Keres likes it more. But it is understandable that even here White's position is hardly enviable.}) 13... Nd7 14. Nd2 g6 15. fxg6 fxg6 16. Nf3 Be7 $1 {The Bishop no longer has a role on d6, so Black redirects it to protect the vulnerable g5-square.} 17. Rf2 Qd6 {[%CAl Yh6f7,Yd6e6,Yg4h3,Yh8g8, Yg6g5] Black plays very patiently. He is in no reason to hurry castling long. As long as possible, it is good to be flexible!Black's King has a range of squares from g8 to c8. This is definitely some advantage.} 18. Bxh6 $6 { Keres plays for getting his knight to g5 concretely. However in the long term, he has problems on the dark squares and would miss his dark squared Bishop.} Rxh6 19. Qd2 Rh8 20. Ng5 Nf6 21. Re1 {White threatens to activate his Knight with Nf4!} Qb6 22. Nf3 ({Perhaps White should have tried his hand on the Queenside with} 22. a4 $5 a5 23. bxa6 (23. Nf3 Nd7 {In the long run, White's problem would be that Black would tuck his king safely on the Queenside and try to mobilise his forces against the Kingside.} (23... Qd6 24. Nf4 $1)) 23... Rxa6 {Nevertheless he would still be worse. Black still has the more flexible king.}) 22... Nd7 23. Ng5 Rf8 24. Rxf8+ (24. Ref1 O-O-O 25. Bf3 {is better- Keres}) 24... Bxf8 25. a4 (25. Kh2) 25... Bh6 26. a5 Qf6 27. Nc1 (27. Rf1 Qe7) 27... O-O-O {A typical idea which I made extensive use: Black castles only on the 27th move. Of course, this is only possible in closed positions.Delayed castling allows one to gain time for manoeuvres aimed at fighting for the initiative in the post-opening stage.- Botvinnik Delaying castling also keeps the idea of making the opponent's early commitment of his King position as an object of attack!- Kidambi} (27... Nf8 {[%csl Rg5][%CAl Yf8e6] was simpler-Keres}) 28. Nb3 Rf8 {Black has no reason to hurry, and for the , moment he completes the mobilisation of forces, and also takes certain prophylactic measures, in order to be fully prepared for possible actions by the opponent on the queenside.-Botvinnik} 29. Ra1 (29. Rf1 Qe7 30. Rxf8+ (30. b6 axb6 (30... a6) 31. axb6 Rxf1+ 32. Bxf1 Nxb6 33. Qa5 Nd7 34. Qa8+ Nb8 35. Qa7 Bf8 $17) 30... Nxf8 31. Qf2 Bxg5 32. hxg5 Nh7 $19) 29... Qe7 30. Qc1 Kb8 ( 30... Rf6 {[%CAl Ye7g5]}) 31. Ra2 Rf7 {[%CAl Yd7f8,Yf8e6]} 32. Qa3 Bxg5 33. hxg5 Bd1 $1 {The simplest-Botvinnik A very pretty move, quite easy to miss. Now Black wins a pawn and retains the better minor piece!-Kidambi} (33... Qxg5 34. Nxc5 Nxc5 (34... Qe3+ 35. Kh2 h4 36. Nxd7+ Bxd7 37. Qd6+ Kc8 38. gxh4) 35. Qxc5 Qc1+ 36. Kh2 {is not worth it for Black.}) 34. Qc1 $5 Bxb3 35. Rb2 Bd1 $1 36. Qxd1 Qxg5 37. Qe1 Nf8 (37... Nf6 38. Qf2 (38. Rf2 Qxg3)) 38. Kh2 Qf6 39. Bh3 Nh7 40. Qd1 Ng5 41. b6 h4 $1 42. Qg4 hxg3+ 43. Kxg3 (43. Qxg3 Rh7) 43... Rf8 44. bxa7+ Kxa7 45. a6 Nxh3 (45... Kxa6 46. Ra2+ Kb6 47. Rb2+ Ka7 (47... Ka5 $1) 48. Rxb7+ Kxb7 49. Qd7+ Kb8 50. Qb5+ $11) 46. Qxh3 Qf4+ 47. Kg2 Qf1+ 48. Kh2 Rf2+ 49. Rxf2 Qxf2+ 50. Kh1 Qe1+ 51. Kg2 Qe2+ 52. Kg1 Qe3+ 53. Qxe3 dxe3 54. axb7 Kxb7 55. Kg2 Kb6 $1 (55... g5 56. Kf3 Kb6 $19 {[%CAl Yb6a5,Ya5c3]}) 56. Kf3 Ka5 57. Kxe3 Kb4 58. Kd2 g5 0-1 [Event "Dortmund SuperGM 42nd"] [Site "Dortmund"] [Date "2014.07.12"] [Round "1"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A09"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Meier,G"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2014.07.12"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "GER"] [EventCategory "19"] [SourceTitle "CBM 162"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2014.09.17"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.09.17"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,82,19,-12,13,7,16,2,-7,19,17,-13,-1,-39,-39,-39,-7,-45,-45,-81,-34, -74,-76,-52,-66,-82,-42,-75,-62,-41,-60,-44,-36,-102,-48,-63,-61,-101,6,-74, -46,-67,-65,-84,-96,-102,-55,-65,-95,-114,-70,-84,-109,-103,-84,-76,-81,-93, -84,-85,-178,-192,-259,-256,-233,-271,-305,-303,-305,-485,-442,-460,-469,-488, -560,-560,-391,-499,-542,-542,-542,-542,-688,-1124,-1395] The following game is unbelievable. Vladimir Kramnik gets a strategically lost position after 10 moves, playing White. I will tell you my recipe for this unprecedented feat. Really. You start by losing 4 games against Vladimir. In the first two you self-destruct in one promising and one decent position, unable to handle either. In game 3, as Black, you get your king mated on d5 after roughly 20 moves. Now you have White again, and Vladimir seems to be showing some pity, going for a Catalan mainline where you could go into a number of safe drawish lines. Still, in the opening you blunder/sacrifice a pawn, are then generously allowed back into the game just to bravely jump into the abyss again. By now you have convinced Vladimir that you may be able to play chess, but definitely not against him. Also everything he tried to get you out of your comfort zone worked out marvellously in his favour. He went for structures that you had little to no experience with. You even don't need to prepare anymore, because now he is going to spring a surprise on you again... and he always finds something you have not analysed, so don't look at your opening files. The upside: Now he thinks he can get away with anything against you! In game 5 it is time to reap the fruits of all your previous work:} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O {Because everything I just told you really is the truth it should come as no surprise that I had never looked at this position!} (5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Nc7) 5... d4 {Grabbing space is natural. Earlier, Ivanchuk, Anand and Caruana had done the same against Vladimir, as I found out after the game.} (5... e5 {is just as sensible.}) 6. a3 {A puzzling move. I do not see how and where the inclusion of a3 and a5 could possibly favor White.} ( {I only expected} 6. e3 e5 (6... d3 7. Ne1 e5 8. Nc3 Bf5 9. e4 Be6 (9... Bg6 10. Qf3 Bh5 11. Qxd3) 10. Nd5) 7. exd4 exd4 8. d3 Be7 9. Bf4 O-O 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 {and intended} Ng4 $1 {- otherwise White may take on f6, establishing a grip on the light squares -} 12. Bf4 Bd6 {with equality.}) (6. d3 e5 7. Na3) 6... e5 (6... a6) (6... a5) 7. d3 ({After} 7. b4 cxb4 (7... e4 8. Ng5) 8. axb4 (8. a4) 8... e4 (8... Bxb4 9. Nxe5) 9. Ng5 Bxb4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bh3 12. Re1 (12. Bg2 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 O-O) 12... O-O 13. Ba3 a5 {would be an appealing follow-up to me} 14. Bxb4 axb4 15. Rxa8 Qxa8 {will give Black plenty of counterplay down the a-file.}) (7. Ng5) 7... a5 (7... Bd6 8. b4 {is something I did not want to handle.}) 8. e4 $2 {White goes for a terrible King's Indian. The queen's knight is devoid of prospects. So bad that a3-a4, followed by Na3 was probably necessary to begin damage control and get that knight out of the other pieces' way. This error of judgment from Kramnik is shocking, but his confidence against me had apparently reached heights where oxygen begins to lack...} (8. e3 Be7 9. exd4 exd4 10. Bf4 O-O 11. Ne5 {was still the way to go, but Black is already favoured by the inclusion of a3 and a5} Bd6 $1 12. Nxc6 bxc6 {White's b-pawn is hopelessly weak here} 13. Bxc6 Bg4 14. Bf3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Bxf4 16. Qxf4 Qb8 17. Nd2 Qxf4 18. gxf4 Nh5 {even leaves Black with the initiative.}) 8... Be7 (8... Bd6 9. Ne1 (9. Nh4 g6 10. Bh6 (10. f4 exf4 11. gxf4 Nxe4 12. Nxg6 hxg6) (10. Qe1))) 9. Ne1 {There is a fundamental problem with White's traditional f-pawn advance: Black's king has not yet castled!} (9. Nh4 g6) 9... h5 $1 {As the f-pawn is poised to advance, h5-h4 is going to expose the weakened squares.} 10. f4 {Played almost instantly, as any other move would signal the acknowledgment of an opening disaster.} (10. Bg5 Ng8 11. Bxe7 Ngxe7 {would leave a long positional torture ahead for White.}) (10. h4) 10... h4 {Files will open up against the white king and it is just a matter of time until Black castles queenside and gets all his pieces ready for the final assault on the irreparably weakened white kingside. Vladimir lacks space to do anything meaningful from here on.} 11. f5 hxg3 12. hxg3 g6 $1 13. Nd2 (13. fxg6 fxg6) 13... gxf5 ({A more precise way might have been} 13... Rg8 14. Qf3 ({ but after} 14. g4 gxf5 15. gxf5 {I felt that White would have some chances to survive in practice. There is no longer a weak g-pawn and Black would have to play more concretely to win} Ng4) 14... Bd7 {[%CAl Yd8c8]} (14... gxf5 15. exf5 e4 16. Nxe4 Ne5 17. Qf4) (14... Qc7)) 14. exf5 Rg8 15. Qf3 $2 ({White's only practical chance lay in} 15. Bxc6+ $1 bxc6 {[%csl Yc6]} 16. Kg2 {[%csl Yc8] creating some breathing space, but if Black acts with precision there is still no way to untangle} Rb8 (16... Qd6 17. Qf3) (16... Ng4 17. Ne4 Bh4 18. Qf3) 17. Qe2 Bd6 18. Rb1 (18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. Qxe4 Qf6 20. Rf3 Kd7 $1 21. g4 Qh4 22. Rg3 Rh8 23. Nf3 Qh1+ 24. Kf2 Qd1) 18... Rb7 $1 {leaves White out of moves as} 19. Ne4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 f6 {followed by Rbg7 is killing.}) (15. Ndf3 Rxg3 16. Kf2 Rg8 17. Ke2 Bxf5 18. Kd2 (18. Ng5 Qd7 19. Kd2 Rxg5)) 15... Bd7 {Now Black just needs to complete his development and White's position will fall apart under the pressure.} 16. Rf2 Qb6 ({To go exchange hunting with} 16... Ng4 17. Ne4 Nxf2 18. Qxf2 {would allow White to participate in the game again with a powerful knight on e4.}) 17. Re2 (17. Ne4 a4 {[%csl Yb3][%CAl Yc6a5,Yd7c6]}) 17... O-O-O 18. Ne4 Qb3 {[%CAl Yb3d3,Yb3d1] Not necessary, but underscoring Black's superiority on the whole board felt too good to pass up on.} 19. Nf2 a4 (19... e4 20. Nxe4 Ne5 (20... Nxe4 21. Rxe4)) 20. Bh6 (20. g4 e4 $1 21. dxe4 Qxf3 22. Bxf3 Ne5 {is equally hopeless.}) 20... Bf8 21. Bxf8 (21. Bc1 Bd6) 21... Rdxf8 22. g4 Rg7 23. Ne4 Nxe4 24. Qxe4 Rfg8 25. Bf3 f6 26. Rg2 {[%csl Yd8,Gf3,Yf7,Yg5]} Nd8 $1 {After a series of logical, straightforward moves, the regrouping of the knight is the finishing touch. Now I knew that the game was effectively over.} 27. Qe2 Bc6 28. Bxc6 bxc6 $1 (28... Nxc6) 29. Qe4 Kc7 30. Nf3 Nf7 31. Rf1 Nd6 32. Qe2 Rxg4 33. Rff2 (33. Nh4 Rxg2+ 34. Nxg2 Rg5) 33... Nxf5 34. Nd2 Rxg2+ 35. Rxg2 Rxg2+ 36. Kxg2 Qxb2 37. Kf3 Nd6 38. Qh2 Qxa3 39. Ke2 Qb2 40. Qh7+ Kb6 41. Qe7 Nb7 {I cannot imagine this game happening without our previous history. Without a doubt Vladimir will use all his powers to put things straight in our next confrontation. I will be looking forward to it!} 0-1