Alexander Morozevich vs Vladimir Kramnik (2008)

Alexander Morozevich vs Vladimir Kramnik
Tal Memorial 2008 · Semi-Slav Defense: Stoltz Variation. Shabalov Attack (D45) · 1-0

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Aug-22-08		dTal: <offtherook> I think its highly unlikely Kramnik will be a pushover. I still think he's trying a few lines before the match, and he won't get caught out like this. I think its not that surprising he got pulverised by Moro in a line like this, its not his type of position while its meat and drink to Moro. Kramnik often mishandles very sharp positions and misses crucial moves here and there on occasion.

Aug-22-08		vanytchouck: <notyetagm: (...)Yes, and the irony is that Kasparov began his career as a 1 d2-d4 player.> Where did you get that?

Aug-22-08		acirce: <<Kasparov must watch Kramnik lose games like this and say to himself, <1.d4 - why didn't I think of that?>> He did try it in the last game of the match, it just didn't work Kasparov vs Kramnik, 2000.> Also, it's not like Kramnik has never lost to 1.e4...

Aug-22-08		nikolajewitsch: <Also, it's not like Kramnik has never lost to 1.e4...> Not in a WC match though. This could be a coincidence given the relatively small sample of games (40 games, Kramnik playing black 21 times and 7 of those opening with 1.e4), but still...

Aug-22-08		notyetagm: <vanytchouck: <notyetagm: (...)Yes, and the irony is that Kasparov began his career as a 1 d2-d4 player.> Where did you get that?> Look at his career. Kasparov made the switch from 1 d2-d4 to 1 e2-e4 in the late 80s, early 90s period.

Aug-22-08		nikolajewitsch: Kasparov never completely ceased to play 1.d4 though and he did play 1.e4 earlier too - it wasn't really a switch from 0 to 1, rather a shift in accent.

Aug-22-08		vanytchouck: <notyetagm: <vanytchouck: <notyetagm: (...)Yes, and the irony is that Kasparov began his career as a 1 d2-d4 player.> Where did you get that?> Look at his career. Kasparov made the switch from 1 d2-d4 to 1 e2-e4 in the late 80s, early 90s period.> According to the books "Fighting chess-My games and career" and "The test of time", Kasparov was mostly a "1.e4" player who was used to often play "1.d4". And i don't see a period when one can say that he's a 1.xx player rather than a 1.yy player. Except the very, very young years where only 1.e4 can be found.

Aug-22-08		Microdot: In my opinion this game will be the best game of this tournament!!

Aug-22-08		visayanbraindoctor: Kasparov started as an e4 player when he was very young in the USSR. Around the time he started playing in international tournaments in the mid to late 1970s, he shifted to d4. In the 1990s, he started primarily playing e4 again, but admixing it with d4. Kramnik surprisingly also started as a pure e4 player in the USSR when he was very young. Like Kasparov, around the time he started getting international exposure in 1991 - 1992, he shifted to d4 (and for a while, he became famous for primarily opening with Nf3, which has made him some kind of an icon among Nf3 players.) He started shifting back to e4 after his WC match with Kasparov, and had become primarily an e4 player during the 2004 WC match with Leko. I guess his terrible results with e4 (for him) during the Leko match and 2005 caused him to shift back to d4 by 2006. Morozevich has always been an e4 player, but has recently been admixing e4 with d4.

Aug-25-08		Xeroxx: 7...Nxg4 doesnt score very well for black.

Aug-27-08		apexin: Moros use of rooks reminds me of one of Tal masterpieces - againts botvinnik in Wc match if i remeber correctly.

Aug-30-08		jovack: im not sure if GM's even remember how the endgame looks so many premature resigns... just play it out

Aug-30-08		VaselineTopLove: I hope Anand plays 1.d4 against Kramnik too and widens his opening repertoire otherwise all we'll see is boring draws from Kramnik's Petroff.

Aug-31-08		chancho: Morozevich-Kramnik: Semi-Slav, Meran 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4!? White, true to his style, chooses one of the sharpest lines available, sometimes called the Spike Attack. Kramnik accepts the challenge in the most direct fashion, although there are many other options available to Black. 7...Nxg4 8.Rg1 Nxh2 9.Nxh2 Bxh2 10.Rxg7 Nf8!? 11.Rg2 Bd6 12.e4 Ng6 13.Bg5 Be7 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.0-0-0 dxe4 16.Nxe4 f5! Black avoids c4-c5 and N/e4-d6 at the cost of loosening his pawn structure. His 17th is based on the same idea. 17.Nd2 c5 18.dxc5 Bd7!? Hastening to run his King to the Q-side, though 18...Qxc5 looks quite possible as well. Now White makes a bold decision, advancing his King's own pawn cover in an attempt to hold the c5-pawn. 19.b4!? 0-0-0 Consistent with Black's last, although 19...a5!? must have been a candidate here as well, given the changing situation on the board. Then White should play 20.Qb2! (threatening Rxg6 and guarding the a1-square) and 21.a3, with a sharp fight ahead. 20.Rg3 e5 21.Rd3! Much better than the immediate 21.Ra3, which is adequately met by the simple 21...Kb8. The text looks to capitalize on the d6-square as an outpost, and to increase pressure along the d-file. Now Kramnik makes a serious mistake. 21...Be6? 22.Ra3! Only now, as Black's bishop has left a key defensive diagonal. Instead of 21...Be6, Black might have tried 21...e4 22.Rd6 Ne5, with ...Nf7!? in the air. Or simply 21...Kb8, awaiting developments. 22...a6 23.c6! bxc6 24.c5 Black's position is very difficult now, and Kramnik fails to find a solution to his troubles. 24...Qg5 25.Rxa6 Kd7 26.Bc4 A practical move, although the flashy 26.Rxc6! was also possible as 26...Kxc6 27.Qa4+ Kb7 (27...Kd5 gets mated quickly after 28.Bc4+) 28.Qa6+ Kb8 29.Qb6+! Ka8 30.Qxe6 looks quite hopeless for Black. Black would be forced to decline the rook offer. 26...Bxc4 27.Qxc4 Ne7 28.Kc2! Unpinning the knight. 28...Ke8 29.Nf3 Qf6 30.Rd6! White gets to use this outpost after all! 30...Rxd6 31.cxd6 Black Resigns. 31...Qxd6 Ra8+ costs a rook, and moving the knight drops the c6-pawn and the position. Deen Hergott columnist Ottawa Citizen

Nov-04-08		notyetagm: A tremendous attacking game by Morozevich, that he himself annotates in the latest New In Chess Magazine, 2008/7.

Nov-04-08		notyetagm: 21 ? click for larger view 21 g3-d3! 22 d3-d6 <outpost> click for larger view Morozevich's excellent 21 g3-d3! threatens to exploit the <ROOK OUTPOST ON THE OPEN FILE>, the <OUTPOST> on the weak d6-square created by the <ADVANCED> White c5-pawn.

Nov-04-08		notyetagm: 30 d1-d6! click for larger view Like I always say, the player who better uses his rooks wins the game 9 times out of 10.

Nov-04-08		notyetagm: This game is annotated by GM Mikhail Golubev in <Chess Today 2844>.

Nov-04-08		notyetagm: <chancho: ... White, true to his style, chooses one of the sharpest lines available, sometimes called the <<<Spike Attack>>>.> 1 d4 d5 specialist GM Ruslan Scherbakov at www.chesspublishing.com calls this line the <Latvian Gambit>.

Nov-07-08		notyetagm: What a tremendous game by Morozevich.

Dec-29-08		fromoort: Very prescient comment, dexterious!

Dec-30-08		shintaro go: <1 d4 d5 specialist GM Ruslan Scherbakov at www.chesspublishing.com calls this line the <Latvian Gambit>.> Maybe because Shirov discovered this with Alexander Shabalov but it is more prominently known as the Shabalov Gambit or Shabalov-Shirov.

Jan-17-09		WhiteRook48: I wonder what Kramnik was thinking after this game...

Apr-26-09		notyetagm: A tremendous game by Morozevich.

May-05-09		dumbgai: I play the Nxg4 and Nxh2 variation myself, and usually end up getting completely crushed. But if Kramnik played it, it can't be entirely bad...

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