Black Players Impressive In Both Games

By Arvind Aaron

Two games are completed and so far white has failed to prove a point in the Evonik World Chess Championship being played at Bonn, Germany. The score stands 1-1 with ten games still to be played in the best of twelve 1.5 million Euro match.

Game two also ended in a 32-move draw with Anand as white accepting truce in a game of possibilities. Game two appeared to give some chances for white at the start and black towards the end. It was hard to put the finger on the exact moment which turned the tide.

It was a major opening surprise from Anand on the first turn. He opened with the queen pawn as white. When he beat Michael Adams opting for the queen pawn as white at Wijk aan Zee 1996 immediately after the losing the match to Kasparov in 1995, many thought Anand could play with either pawn with the same lethal effect.

Kramnik played the Nimzo-Indian defence with black. Anand chose to respond with 4.f3 a line in which Yuri Yakovich had penned an opening book. Kramnik's role in the 1995 Kasparov team as second was the find lines for white against the Nimzo-Indian defence of Anand before he left for the Bundesliga games. Kasparov acknowledged that Anand's Nimzo-Indian was solid enough and opted for the king pawn.

Anand lost the castling right and enjoyed an extra pawn advantage in this encounter but black's pieceplay was perfect to produce a draw. Anand had a couple of minutes at the end but accepted the draw offer that came from the big Russian. Thursday is a rest day and play resumes on Friday with Kramnik taking the white side for the second time.

Viswanathan Anand-Vladimir Kramnik
Game 2, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Samisch, E25
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 f5 9. Qc2 Nd7 10. e4 fxe4 11. fxe4 N5f6 12. c6 bxc6 13. Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2 Ba6 15. c4 Qc5 16. Bd3 Ng4 17. Bb4 Qe3+ 18. Qe2 O-O-O 19. Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21. Kg3 Ndf6 22. Bb1 h5 23. h3 h4+ 24. Nxh4 Ne5 25. Nf3 Nh5+ 26.Kf2 Nxf3 27. Kxf3 e5 28. Rc1 Nf4 29. Ra2 Nd3 30. Rc3 Nf4 31. Bc2 Ne6 32.Kg3 Rd4 1/2-1/2

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