PDA

View Full Version : Another White bites the dust! Anand goes up 2 games



Hal Bond
10-20-2008, 01:54 PM
Just got back from the hall. Anand hs done it again, repeating the variation from game 3. The first 16 moves were more or less blitzed off, so I'm not quite sure where the departure came, but Kramnik put his B on f4 and avoided playing g3. Anand still succeed in trading the dark B's with f5,f4 and then Be7, trading on h4. Curiously, the tainted pawn on d4 was once again a tactical theme. This time Nxd4 was considered an outright blunder for Kramnik because Anand's knight tour de force from d7-f6-g4-e3. The tactics are great for an intermediate class of chess students.

The day started with a visit from a German TV station (MRD?) who interviewed Werner and were then granted permission to follow us through our pregame routine on stage and backstage. They aired about an hour ago and they promised Werner a DVD of their proposed 2.5 minute clip. As game time approached I was chatting with GM Ian Rogers' wife Cathy when Anand suddenly arrived and I had to rush off mid sentence.

Anand retreated three times today to his private area. On the first occasion I could see from my monitor that he was struggling to open a container. He came out of his room. I met him in the hallway and he asked for some help to open his flask of hot chocolate. The lid was far too snug but I could not fail him! When presented the open flask he looked at me and said "ah, stronger". So I am stronger than Anand. Hmmm.

I give Kramnik a lot of credit. Almost all of the questions at the post game press conference were directed at him, and he was great. They asked about the repeat variation and he was ready for it. He granted that anand made some very nice preparation but " My team has also done some work. It's a sharp game and one mistake can decide the game... Nd4 was a blunder of course, I didn't see ...Ne3" This move does happen at the end of the combination, about 5 moves later mind you.

According to the prematch bulletin, Kramnik had won 6 times with white prior to the match, while Anand had won 4 games- 2 whites and 2 blacks. Now their career score is 6-6 and Anand has won 4 times with Black! Israel Gelfer was suggesting that this is the first time in the history of the World Championship that black has scored the first 2 wins.

We shared a ride to the hall today with Illescas, who is doing the Spanish commentary. I suggested that Kramnik's team would not have had much of a rest day yesterday. He almost disagreed. "Anand's team too, they will have to work hard to find new surprises." I wonder if he will change his mind. I sure wouldn't want to be Leko or Rublevsky right now. Kramnik was asked point blank if the match has become desparate. He smiled "Well it could be better...(applause) Being minus 2 is a difficult situation, but there are still a few games to go and we will see what happens"

That's all for now. Cheers!

Peter Stockhausen
10-20-2008, 04:41 PM
Hi Hal,

Thanks for your great reporting. The chessbase.de site featured a picture of you three Arbiters. You do look great, but I see what you mean by the consequences of your culinary experiences!! A trip to a taylor maybe:) Or maybe a bit of variation, like an Indian Restaurant or a Russian one, maybe:)

The chessbase.de site also has a great report about the WYCC. While it is in German, the pictures give an indication of the show that the Vietnamese are putting on. Seems absolutely incredible.

Cheers
Peter
PS My cold is improving, but I booked off for tomorrow morning:), got to watch that game!!

Hal Bond
10-22-2008, 08:40 AM
Thanks Peter!

Glad you are enjoying the coverage. It's great to get some feedback.