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Later Kibitzing> |
| Apr-10-14 | | DrGridlock: Keene’s language seeks to be definitive (sometimes haughty?), while his annotations are in actuality sloppy. This produces an rhetorical style, which one might label “Keenesian.” After 22 axb5 Keen writes, “Starting on the road to perdition. White must play 22 Ne4 Nxe4 23 fxe4 when 23 ... Bxe4 24 axb5 axb5 (24 ... Bd3 fails to 25 Bxf7+) 25 Bxg5 is in White's favour. In this line Black must play 22 Ne4 Bxe4 23 fxe4 Nxe4 with approximate equality.” Road to perdition? Perdition (noun) 1. a state of final spiritual ruin; loss of the soul; damnation.
2. the future state of the wicked. 3. hell ( def 1 ) . 4. utter destruction or ruin. So this sounds bad for White, right? Not only does he lose the game with axb5, but also his soul. At this point, Komodo finds (depth=24):
Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko
click for larger view1. ² (0.46): 22.Ne4 Nxe4 23.fxe4 Bxe4 24.Bxg5 bxa4 25.Bc4 Bd5 26.Bxd5 cxd5 27.Qf6 Qxf6 28.Bxf6 a3 29.bxa3 Re3 30.a4 Rxc3 31.Rf1 Rc6 32.Rf5 Ba3 33.Kg2 Bb2 34.Kf3 Bc3 35.Kg4 Re6 36.Kg5 Bd2+ 37.Kh5 Kf8 2. ² (0.37): 22.Qd1 g4 23.axb5 axb5 24.Nf1 Bb8 25.f4 Be4 26.Ne3 Bf3 27.Qf1 h5 28.Bd1 Be4 29.Qf2 h4 30.gxh4 Bf3 31.f5 Qh5 32.Bc2 Ne4 33.Bxe4 Bxe4 34.b3 f6 35.Bb2 3. ² (0.27): 22.axb5 Bd3 23.Qd1 Be2 24.Qe1 Bd3 25.Qf2 axb5 26.Ne4 Bxe4 27.fxe4 Nxe4 28.Qf3 g4 29.Qe3 Nf6 30.Qd2 Ne4 31.Qh6 Qf5 32.Be3 Bf8 33.Qf4 Qg6 34.Rf1 Nd6 35.Qf2 Bg7 36.Bc2 Ne4 37.Qf5 Qxf5 OK, so Ne4 is better, but at an evaluation difference of .46 versus .27, I’d hardly say that axb5 is White’s “utter destruction.” However, Keene doesn’t even find the right Ne4 line. Keene states, “Black must play 22 Ne4 Bxe4 23 fxe4 Nxe4 with approximate equality.” Must he? Turning again to Komodo: Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko
click for larger view1. ² (0.43): 22...Nxe4 23.fxe4 Bxe4 24.Bxg5 bxa4 25.Bc4 Bd5 26.Bxd5 cxd5 27.Qf6 a3 28.bxa3 Rc8 29.Rf1 Bxa3 30.Bd2 Qxf6 31.Rxf6 Bb2 32.Rxa6 Bxc3 33.Bxc3 Rxc3 34.Ra5 Rc2 35.Rxd5 Kg7 36.Rf5 Rd2 37.d5 Kg6 38.g4 2. ² (0.54): 22...Bxe4 23.fxe4 Nxe4 24.axb5 axb5 25.Ra7 Re7 26.Rxe7 Bxe7 27.Qd3 g4 28.Be3 Nd6 29.Bc2 Qxd3 30.Bxd3 f5 31.Bf4 Kg7 32.Kf2 Kf6 33.Ke2 Ke6 34.Bc2 Kd5 35.Kd3 Bf6 36.b3 c5 37.dxc5 Kxc5 Turns out that 22 … Nxe4 is better for black than 22 … Bxe4 (the move that Black “must” play). |
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| Apr-10-14 | | DrGridlock: Kramnik’s opening (computer) preparation just went awry in this game. Kramnik stated, “It was a brilliant game from Peter’s side, because over the board it was not easy to find all these moves in such a sharp position, but from my side it was stupidity. It was clearly a hole in my preparation, but it was a very strange hole. We analysed this whole line and then some hours before the game we found this idea with 18...Nf6 and 21...Qg6. We briefly checked 22.Ne4, okay White is slightly better, but Black can hold. Then somehow we got this idea of 22.ab5, but there was very little time to check it. We looked at 22.ab5, did some analysis, it seems that White is better. Fritz co-programmer Mathias Feist stated, “Leko found it over the board, so it seems. Kramnik relied on his preparation and didn't really work during the game. I think he may have seen the problem over the board, too, if he also would have worked. Of course there's another possibility: they analysed and saw it, but Kramnik forgot he had to play Qd1 instead of the line actually played. The nice idea with the queen sacrifice was glued to the brain together with a tag that the line is okay, the dreary ordinary stuff was overridden.” At move 23, Komodo finds:
Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko
click for larger view1. ² (0.27): 23.Qd1 Be2 24.Qe1 Bd3 25.Ne4 Nxe4 26.bxa6 Nf6 27.Qf2 Ra8 28.a7 h6 29.c4 Bc7 30.c5 Qf5 31.Ra3 Kg7 32.Be3 Qc8 33.Qd2 Qf5 34.Qd1 Qg6 35.Ba4 2. µ (-1.09): 23.Bc2 Bxc2 24.bxa6 Bd3 25.Qd1 Be2 26.Qe1 Bxf3 27.Qxe8+ Nxe8 28.Nxf3 Nc7 29.a7 g4 30.Nd2 Qd3 31.Nf1 Na8 32.Bg5 Qe2 33.Bd2 Qb5 34.Bc1 Qf5 35.Ne3 Qf3 3.  (-1.61): 23.Qf2 Re2 24.bxa6 Rxf2 25.Kxf2 Qh6 26.Nf1 Qh3 27.Bxg5 Bxf1 28.Rxf1 Qxh2+ 29.Ke3 Qxb2 30.a7 Qxc3+ 31.Kf2 Qb2+ 32.Kg1 Qxd4+ 33.Kg2 Qxa7 34.Bxf6 Bxg3 35.Kxg3 Qb8+ 36.Kf2 Qxb3 37.Re1 h5 38.Re5 Qb6+ After 22 axb5, White is OK (not headed down the “road to perdition.”) However, in this line after 22 … Bd3 he needs to play 23 Qd1 instead of 23 Qf2. Indeed, Qf2 was the road which damned his soul in this game. |
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| Apr-10-14 | | Rhialto: <So this sounds bad for White, right? Not only does he lose the game with axb5, but also his soul. At this point, Komodo finds (depth=24):
[...]
3. ² (0.27): 22.axb5 Bd3 23.Qd1 Be2 24.Qe1 Bd3 25.Qf2 axb5 26.Ne4 Bxe4 27.fxe4 Nxe4 28.Qf3 g4 29.Qe3 Nf6 30.Qd2 Ne4 31.Qh6 Qf5 32.Be3 Bf8 33.Qf4 Qg6 34.Rf1 Nd6 35.Qf2 Bg7 36.Bc2 Ne4 37.Qf5 Qxf5 OK, so Ne4 is better, but at an evaluation difference of .46 versus .27, I’d hardly say that axb5 is White’s “utter destruction.”> But .27 is obviously a completely wrong evaluation, because in this line 25...Re2 transposes to the game and Black is much better. A more important question is whether 23.Qd1 draws; in this line Komodo only transposes to the game by way of trying to avoid repetition for White. |
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| Apr-10-14 | | DrGridlock: <A more important question is whether 23.Qd1 draws; in this line Komodo only transposes to the game by way of trying to avoid repetition for White.> In Modern Chess Openings, Vol 1, John Watson writes after 23 Qf2? "Falling for an insidious trap. 23 Qd1 Be2! Qc2 Bd3 Qd1 draws." There is at least a draw by repition (and no worse) for White here. I do not yet know if White can play for anything more after 22 Qd1 Be2. Clearly, as you point out, it cannot be with the Qf2 line, since black's response Re2 transposes back to the game. |
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| Apr-10-14 | | DrGridlock: Komodo finds that after 23 Kd1, White can play on (rather than accept a draw by repetition of moves) with:
click for larger view1. = (0.08): 23.Qd1 Be2 24.Qe1 Bd3 25.Ne4 Nxe4 26.bxa6 Nf6 27.Qf2 h6 28.a7 Ra8 29.c4 Qf5 30.Be3 Qd7 31.Qd2 Qf5 32.Qd1 g4 33.c5 Bc7 34.f4 Be4 35.Bf2 Bf3 36.Bc2 Be4 37.Bxe4 Qxe4 38.Qe1 Qc2 |
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| Mar-29-15 | | Ulhumbrus: After the move 25...Qd3 Black's queen has occupied a magnificent looking square. Now consider the following question: What does one do with a magnificently placed queen ? The variations given by Keene after 25...Qd3 as well as the sequel suggest a few initial answers to the question. On 26 a7 the move 26...Qe3+ suggests one answer: the queen can be transferred to another magnificent square ( the square e3) On 27 Kg2 Bxf3 28 Bxf3 Qe2+ suggests another two answers. Firstly the queen can use the second magnificent square to invade the second rank. Secondly she can be assisted to make this invasion, as her way can be cleared by the bishop which sacrifies itself on f3. The final moves in this variation suggest another two answers: the queen can deliver mate, and she can be assisted to invade f2 and h2 by the knight advancing to g4. The sacrifice 28...Nxc3 offers another answer: the queen can support a sacrifice on an advanced square. We have thus far six suggestions as to what one can do with a magnificently placed queen. |
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| Nov-04-15 | | SpiritedReposte: Maybe the best Marshall Attack ever? |
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| Apr-22-16 | | joelsontang: It appears that Komodo and everyone missed 24 bxa6 Rxf2 25 a7! (Instead of the suggested Kxf2)
25...Re2 26 a8=Q+
And white has 2 extra pawns, and the c6 pawn is weak. Did I overlook something?! |
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| Nov-01-16 | | condition: <joelsontag> yes u missed 26...Qh5 with the threat of mate on h2, or if Kxf2, then Qh2 also mates .. |
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| Oct-19-17 | | Damenlaeuferbauer: In my opinion this is the best game of the decade 2000 - 2010! |
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Oct-21-17
 | | offramp: <Damenlaeuferbauer: In my opinion this is the best game of the decade 2000 - 2010!> Welcome to chessgames.com! I am sure you will enjoy it here, as I have. In fact this game has one of the best features of the site: LIVE kibitzing!
If you go back through the 35 pages, you'll see the game unfold AS IT HAPPENED! You will see that nowhere else. |
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| Aug-14-18 | | Albion 1959: This is the type of chess that Fischer would criticise as prearranged. Since the first 26 moves were part of Kramnik's preparation with his team and still he overlooked something! Fischer did not approve of this preparation in advance with teams and computers. This is in all probability why he turned to his brand of Fischer Random chess. You certainly could not prepare a game 26 moves deep in a Fischer Random Game. This would force the top players to think for themselves and this would be a real test of skill to see just good the tope players really are. This is what Fischer was driving at! |
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Nov-10-18
 | | MissScarlett: <Sloppy Seconds> is a better pun. |
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| Nov-10-18 | | zanzibar: <<Missy> <Sloppy Seconds> is a better pun.> No. |
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| Nov-21-18 | | Whitehat1963: Stockfish disagrees with the annotation after 23...Re2: 1) -2.91 (27 ply) 24.bxa6 Rxf2 25.Kxf2 Qh6 26.Nf1 Qh3 27.Bxg5 Bxf1 28.Rxf1 Qxh2+ 29.Ke3 Qxb2 30.a7 Qxc3+ 31.Kf2 Qb2+ 32.Kg1 Qxd4+ 33.Kg2 Qxa7 34.Bxf6 Bxg3 35.f4 Qb6 36.Bc4 Qc5 37.Kxg3 Qxc4 38.Re1 Kf8 39.Re5 h6 40.Kf3 Qc2 41.Re4 Qd1+ 42.Re2 Qd3+ 43.Re3 Qf5 44.Be7+ Kg7 45.Ba3 |
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| Jul-29-19 | | cormier: 
click for larger viewAnalysis by Houdini 4
26.Kf2 Bxf3 27.Nxf3 Ne4+ 28.Ke1 Nxc3 29.bxc3 Qxc3+ 30.Bd2 Qxa1+ 31.Bd1 g4 32.Ne5 Bxe5 33.dxe5 Qxa6 34.Bxg4 Qa1+ 35.Bd1 Qxe5+ 36.Be2 Qd4 37.Kd1 Qg1+ 38.Be1 Qxh2 39.g4 Kg7 40.Bc3+ f6 41.Kd2 Qf4+ 42.Kd3 c5 43.Bb2 c4+ 44.Kc2 Qe4+ 45.Kd2 Qd5+ 46.Kc2 Qe6 47.Kd2 Qb6 48.Bc3 Qf2 49.Bb2 Qf4+ 50.Kc2 Qe4+
- + (-5.88) Depth: 23 dpa done |
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| Jul-29-19 | | cormier: 
click for larger viewAnalysis by Houdini 4 d 13 dpa done
1. - + (-3.02): 25...Qd3 26.Kf2 Bxf3 27.Nxf3 Ng4+ 28.Ke1 Qxf3 29.Bc4 Qh1+ 30.Kd2 Qxh2+ 31.Be2 Qxg3 32.Kd1 Ne3+ 33.Kd2 Ng2 34.Kc2 Ne3+ 35.Kd3 Bf4 |
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| Jul-29-19 | | cormier: 
click for larger viewAnalysis by Houdini 4 d 22 dpa done
1. - + (-4.07): 25.bxa6 Qd3 26.Kf2 Bxf3 27.Nxf3 Ne4+ 28.Ke1 Nxc3 29.bxc3 Qxc3+ 30.Kf2 Qxa1 31.Bxg5 Qxa6 32.Bd1 c5 33.Be2 Qa2 34.dxc5 Bxc5+ 35.Kf1 Kg7 36.Bd2 Qe6 37.Bc3+ f6 38.Bd2 Be3 39.Bxe3 Qxe3 40.Nh4 Qe4 41.Nf3 f5 42.Kf2 Kf6 43.h3 f4 44.gxf4 Kf5 45.Kg3 2. - + (-5.18): 25.Bc4 Bxc4 26.Nxc4 g4 27.f4 Qd3 28.Nxd6 cxb5 29.Kf2 Qf3+ 30.Kg1 Qd1+ 31.Kg2 Qe2+ 32.Kg1 Qe1+ 33.Kg2 Qe6 34.Kg1 Qxd6 35.f5 Nd5 36.Bd2 Kg7 37.Re1 Qd7 38.Re5 Nb4 39.Re3 Nc6 40.f6+ Kxf6 41.Re4 Kg7 42.b4 f5 43.Re1 Qd5 44.Bf4 Qb3 45.Rc1 Qc4 46.Kf2 Kf6 47.Kg1 Ne7 3. - + (-5.90): 25.Nc4 Bxc4 26.Bxc4 axb5 27.Bb3 Kg7 28.Be3 Qf5 29.Rf1 h6 30.Rf2 Qb1+ 31.Kg2 Nd5 32.Bxd5 cxd5 33.Re2 b4 34.Bf2 Qd3 35.Re1 bxc3 36.bxc3 Qxc3 37.h4 gxh4 38.gxh4 Qc2 39.Rg1 Bc7 40.Kf1+ Kf6 41.Rg8 Qd3+ 42.Kg2 Qe2 43.Rg4 Qd2 44.h5 Bf4 45.Kg1 Bg5 46.Kf1 Ke6 47.Kg1 f5 48.Rg3 |
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| Jul-29-19 | | cormier: 
click for larger viewAnalysis by Houdini 4 d 22 dpa only
1. - + (-3.24): 24.bxa6 Rxf2 25.Kxf2 Qh6 26.Ke3 Bb5 27.c4 Nd5+ 28.cxd5 g4+ 29.f4 Qxh2 30.Bc4 Qxg3+ 31.Ke2 Bxc4+ 32.Nxc4 Qf3+ 33.Kd2 Bxf4+ 34.Kc2 Qe2+ 35.Nd2 g3 36.a7 g2 37.a8Q+ Kg7 38.Qa6 Qxa6 39.Rxa6 g1Q 40.dxc6 Qxd4 41.Ra3 Bxd2 42.Rg3+ Kf6 43.Bxd2 Qa4+ 44.Kc1 Qxc6+ 45.Bc3+ Kf5 46.Rg7 Qh1+ 47.Kc2 Qe4+ 48.Kd2 Qd5+ 49.Ke3 h5 50.Rh7 Qe4+ 51.Kf2 Qh4+ 52.Kf3 Qf4+ 53.Kg2 Ke4 54.Rg7 Qf3+ 55.Kh2 h4 56.Kg1 f5 57.Re7+ Kf4 58.Be5+ Kg4 2. - + (-4.65): 24.Qxe2 Bxe2 25.Bc4 Bxc4 26.Nxc4 g4 27.f4 Qd3 28.Nxd6 cxb5 29.Kf2 Nd5 30.f5 Qf3+ 31.Kg1 Qd1+ 32.Kf2 Qh1 33.Ke2 Nf6 34.Nc8 Qg2+ 35.Ke1 Qb7 36.Nd6 Qe7+ 37.Kf2 Qxd6 38.Kg1 Nd5 39.Bg5 Kg7 40.Re1 Qc6 41.Re4 h6 |
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| Jul-29-19 | | cormier:
click for larger viewAnalysis by Houdini 4 d 25 dpa
1. = (0.00): 23.Qd1 Be2 24.Qe1 Bd3 25.Ne4 Nxe4 26.bxa6 Nf6 27.Qf2 Ra8 28.a7 h6 29.c4 Bc7 30.c5 Qf5 31.Bd2 Nd5 32.Kg2 Qd7 33.Bxd5 Qxd5 34.Qe3 Bg6 35.h3 Bf5 36.Qe7 Qxd4 37.Bc3 Qd3 38.Qf6 Qe2+ 39.Kg1 Qe3+ 40.Kg2 Qe2+ 41.Kg1 2. - + (-1.91): 23.Bc2 Bxc2 24.bxa6 Bd3 25.Qd1 Be2 26.Qe1 Bxa6 27.Ne4 Nxe4 28.Rxa6 Nf6 29.Qd2 g4 30.fxg4 Nxg4 31.Qg5 Kf8 32.Qxg6 Re1+ 33.Kg2 hxg6 34.Bg5 Rb1 35.Rb6 f6 36.h3 fxg5 37.hxg4 Ke7 38.Rxc6 Rxb2+ 39.Kf3 Kd7 40.Rc4 Ra2 41.Ke4 Ra1 42.Kd5 Ra3 43.Ke4 Ra5 44.Kf3 Ra1 45.Ke4 Ra6 46.Kf3 Ra1 47.Ke4 |
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| Mar-02-21 | | Chesgambit: Qf2?? |
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Mar-02-21
 | | perfidious: So much noise over Keene's remark '....the road to perdition'. Stuff and nonsense. |
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Aug-17-21
 | | PawnSac: <perfidious>
really.. 'the road to perdition' was used as a colloquialism. It's like saying..
"and now white's game goes to hell in a handbasket" Nobody thinks the game will suffer eternal damnation. That's absurd. But some people just get bent out of shape over the wrong stuff. Worse is when they try to elevate themselves at the expense of others. |
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Feb-28-23
 | | plang: Leko had never played the Marshall with Black. 16 Qf1 had been rarely played prior to this game (16 Qf3 and 16 Qe2 were more frequently played) but is now the most popular choice. Leko was clearly surprised by this choice and spent 51 minutes to respond. 18..Bxe4 would have given White excellent compensation for the exchange and 18..Rae8 19 Rxe8..Rxe8 20 Ne4! would also have favored White. Leko's choice of 18..Nf6! did not have a good reputation either though it had never actually been tried. Kramnik:
"He (Leko) had 17 minutes left, I'd used up a total of 20 minutes. If I were to think for about 40 minutes after 21..Qg6, it would've given him the chance to calmly calculate everything and given him the confidence that my preparation had ended, and that I was already not so sure about the final assessment of the variation. I understood that if I wanted to win this game, then a move-no matter how indifferent- needed to be made quickly. I was faced with a choice - 22 axb5 with sharp play or 22 Ne4 with a draw. And I took the decision to play for a win, enlisting the support of the computer trusting the computer evaluations during preparation." This was an unusual example of an elite player gambling both there were no holes in his pre-game analysis and, if there were, that his opponent wouldn't have time to find them. In this instance he lost the gamble which almost resulted in the loss of his title. On the other hand, Leko deserves the highest praise for refuting White's preparation over the board. |
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| Mar-01-23 | | Olavi: Leko had shown every intention to play the Marshall - otherwise team Kramnik would not have used so much time preparing for it. |
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Kibitzing
Annotations by 
sac: 28...Nxc3