1989 Deep Thought. Vs G, Kasparov 2775 2-0 Human Wins
1995 Genius Vs G, Kasparov 2008 2.5-1.5 Human Wins
1995 Fritz Vs G, Kasparov 2795 1.5 0.5 Human Wins
1996 Deep Blue Vs G, Kasparov 2775 4 2 Human Wins
1996 FritzVs G, Kasparov 2770 1.5 0.5 Human Wins
1997 Deep Blue Vs G, Kasparov 2795 2.5 3.5 Computer Wins
1998 Rebel Vs Anand 2795 1.5 0.5 Human Wins
2002 Rebel Vs Loek 2714 2 2 Draw
2002 Fritz7 Vs Kramnik 2807 4 4 Draw2003 Hiarcs Vs Evgeny Bareev 2729 2 2 Draw
2003 Deep Junior7 Vs G, Kasparov 3 3 Draw
2003 X3D Vs G,Kasparov 2800 2.5 2.5 Draw
2005 Hydra - Adams (2005)
2006 Deep Fritz10 Vs Kramnik 2800 4 2 Computer Wins
2007 Rybka Vs Krempov 3150 2.5 2.5 Draw..... Krempov Best Rucky Player in the world.
2014 StockFish 2 Vs Krempov 3150 6 game match. Krempov Won Easly. WORLD RECORD.
2015 Stickfish 4 Vs Krempov 3270 3 game match. A DRAW. WORLD RECORD.
Krempov Human Vs Computer rating is 3270 at the moment.
BEST IN THE WORLD.
Recently he was asked who was the best chess player, Fischer, Kasparov, Carlson. He said Fischer was best in 1992. Carlson makes less blunders than kasparov. BUT I look down at theses chess players as beginners. I don't learn from people who make poor mathematical moves. Who blunder.
One of krempov's chess games. Scored 83% best move rate.
Krempov who values development and ignores traps, sacrifices, combinations, midgame complexities against a computer that dose not lunder or fall for such things played true to his name.
He took the developing advantage. Castled. Made the early queen trade then got double rooks on open file with a superia pawn endgame finish. The only player to play a chess game in a world chess champion match was Kramnik scoring a 85% best move rate. No one ells came close.
[Event "World Record Attempt"]
[Date "2014.01.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Krempov"]
[Black "StockFish-4"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "3250"]
[BlackElo "3270"]
[Opening "Spanish"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 c5
8. Ne2 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bd7 10. Bf4 O-O-O 11. Nbc3 Ne7 12. Rd2 Ng6 13. Bg3 Ne5
14. b3 Bd6 15. Rad1 Bg4 16. Kf1 c4 17. f3 Bh5 18. Bxe5 Bxe5 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8
20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Kf2 cxb3 22. cxb3 c6 23. Ke3 Bxh2 24. g3 g5 25. Kf2 b5
26. Nd4 Be8 27. Kg2 Bxg3 28. Kxg3 Bd7 29. f4 Ke8 30. b4 Kd8 31. fxg5 fxg5
32. e5 Bc8 33. Ne4 h6 34. Nxc6+ Kc7 1-0
[Event "IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"][Date "1997.05.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Deep Blue"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Opening "Reti: King's Indian attack, Keres variation"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Annotator "Gabriel Schwartzman"]
1. Nf3
{Garry decided to play this much more passive move compared
to 1.e4 or 1.d4, in an attempt to keep the game quiet, with as
few tactical strikes as possible. As everybody knows, the
computer's main strength lies in calculating concrete lines
very fast and very far, and not necessarily in the area of
positional play, so it is normal for Garry to try to steer the
game in this direction.}
1...d5
{ Black's response indicates no desire to copy white's actions.}
2. g3
{fianchetto}
2...Bg4
{Black's idea is to counteract the power of the white bishop,
by building a pawn fortress on the squares c6, d5, and e6. But
before doing that, he makes sure that the his bishop isn't
caught inside}
3. b3
{One of the most memorable games in Kasparov's career was the last
game of his 1987 world championship match against Anatoly
Karpov. Despite the fact the he needed a win to preserve his
title, he chose the rather passive double fianchetto}
3...Nd7
{The computer passes on an attractive opportunity to double
white's pawns on the 'f' file, by taking the knight on f3.
This only means that in Deep Blue's eyes, keeping the pair of
bishops is more important than ruining the opponent's pawn
structure. In this case, the machine's decision was correct.}
4. Bb2 e6 5. Bg2 Ngf6 6. O-O c6 7. d3 Bd6 8. Nbd2 O-O
9. h3 Bh5 10. e3
{Kasparov once again proves he doesn't want a violent
confrontation, by playing e3, instead of
e4}
10...h6 11. Qe1 Qa5? 12. a3 Bc7? 13. Nh4!
{Black's hesitation in the last moves allows white to grab the
initiative. Nh4 is also a way of proving that black's
overprotective h7-h6 a few moves back was no such a good idea.
Now white threatens to push g3-g4, and send the bishop to g6,
where the knight can't wait to capture it. The advantage of
trading under these conditions is that white gets the pair of
bishops and at the same time ruins black's pawn structure.}
13...g5!? 14. Nhf3 e5!
{If black doesn't want to lose this game quickly, he has to
close the position. The push of the 'g' pawn created a very
weak a1-h8 diagonal, which black has to cover in some way.
e6-e5 is not without problems, as we'll see in a second, but
Deep Blue has no other choice - the bishop on b2 is too
powerful and its line of fire comes a little too close to the
black king.}
15. e4 Rfe8
{One of the effects of black's last two moves is the complete weakening of the f5
square. }
16. Nh2! Qb6
{Deep Blue discovered that one of the steps in white's march to
f5 is the removal of the rook on f1. This means that the pawn
on f2 suddenly loses its most defenders, so the machine, like
a bloodhound, started the hunt. First by placing the queen on
b6, and then by adding the bishop to the diagonal. }
17. Qc1 a5 18. Re1 Bd6 19. Ndf1 dxe4 20. dxe4 Bc5 21. Ne3
Rad8 22. Nhf1
{Both sides have achieved their ideal positions. Black's pieces
are placed almost perfectly, but he still has the weak f5
square. White meanwhile is a little behind in development, but
the same f5 square compensates for it plentifully. The only
thing he does need to solve is the 'f2' problem. It is hard to
play Nf5 while the black bishop and queen are enjoying such an
impressive supremacy on the g1-a7 diagonal, but no one can
stop white from slowly preparing b3-b4, for instance, and
chasing the black bishop away, thus getting ready for the
heralded arrival of the knight to f5.}
22...g4?
{The fatal error.....Kasparov will say after the match that "pawns had to stay back to
defend the king". He smiled after this move.}
23. hxg4 Nxg4 24. f3 Nxe3 25. Nxe3 Be7! 26. Kh1!
{this will ensure that in the
concrete variations that can ensue in such a dynamic position,
there is no check that ruins everything}
26...Bg5 27. Re2 a4 28. b4 f5!?
{Deep Blue finds another way of throwing the
position in the air}
29. exf5 e4 30. f4!
{This move obviously sacrifices an exchange, but it does two
very significant things: it keeps the 'e' file tightly closed,
thus making the black extra rook sit as a spectator for a
while, and it gets rid of the black bishop. Add to this the
might of the white pawns on the kings side, and you realized
that white might have given up material, but also got a lot in
return.}
30...Bxe2
{One interesting
variation was 30...Bf4 31.gf4 Be2, but as Kasparov pointed out in
his short talk with the audience after the game, the opening
of the 'g' file is to white's advantage, because it allows a
quick transferal to the king side of the heavy artillery from
the queen side with 32.Qg1. }
31. fxg5 Ne5 32. g6 Bf3!
{Black finds a beautiful spot for the bishop}
33. Bc3 Qb5 34. Qf1!
{after Qb5, black threatens to come
in, which white can ill afford. So better trade queens and get
out of danger, hoping that the 'f' and 'g' pawns are enough to
win}
34...Qxf1+ 35. Rxf1 h5 36. Kg1!
{KasparovÕs decision not to take on e5
and f3 was correct, as his post game analysis proved. After
36.Bf3 ef3 37.Be5 Re5 38.Rf3 Kg7!, black gets a powerful
blockade of the pawns, which could make things difficult for
white. }
36...Kf8 37. Bh3! b5 38. Kf2 Kg7 39. g4! Kh6 40. Rg1 hxg4
41. Bxg4 Bxg4 42. Nxg4+ Nxg4+ 43. Rxg4 Rd5 44. f6 Rd1?!
45. g7 1-0
[Event "IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1997.05.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Deep Blue"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: closed, Smyslov defense"]
[ECO "C93"]
[Annotator "Gabriel Schwartzman"]
1. e4 e5
{It is not a
secret that KasparovÕs favorite move here is 1...c5, leading to
the Sicilian Defense. But, since this defense can lead to
rather sharp positions, which Black wants to avoid, he chooses
to play 1...e5 instead. This is a very solid move, which
usually leads to complex positions, and thus seems a perfect
choice for this match.}
2. Nf3 Nc6
{This time Kasparov goes for the straight forward way of defending
the 'e5' pawn, even though he actually won the game with the
Petroff last year. Deep Blue team didn't waste the past year -
they prepared very hard, and one of their priorities must have
been improving the lines played in the last match. So, better
avoid them completely...}
3. Bb5
{The choice of
openings is a little surprising. The Ruy Lopez is well known
for its closed positions and extreme complexity. }
3...a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7
{Open Variation}
6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 h6 10. d4 Re8
11. Nbd2
{This doesn't seem to be a great place for the white knight,
but it really doesn't matter, because the knight is en route
to much bigger things. Deep Blue intends to send it to f1, g3,
and then hopefully its final destination, f5. From there, it
can put pressure on the black king, and create some serious
discomfort in the black bunker.}
11...Bf8 12. Nf1 Bd7 13. Ng3 Na5 14. Bc2 c5 15. b3 Nc6
16. d5 Ne7 17. Be3 Ng6 18. Qd2 Nh7!?
{Kasparov finally gets off the well trodden path of chess theory
with this interesting move. It seems as if black has decided
to start an offensive on the king side, now that the center is
finally blocked. By playing Nh7, black opens the d8-h4
diagonal, with the declared intention of bringing his queen
into the action.}
19. a4!
{ This move at once
shows black that his rook will have to remain for a while on
a8, since now white has at any point the option of capturing
on b5 and opening the 'a' file.}
19...Nh4 20. Nxh4 Qxh4 21. Qe2!
{A beautiful and very subtle move by Deep Blue, showing an
amazing understanding of the position on the computer's
behalf. The queen comes to e2 for two diametrically opposed
purposes: first of all, it is a defensive move. Now that the
control of the 'f4' square is not so important, the queen
moves over to the d1-h5 diagonal, thus preempting any tactical
strikes that could have followed after the black knight's jump
to g5. At the same time, the queen on e2 is putting additional pressure
on the b5 pawn, and
threatening to continue adding to it with Bc2-d3.}
21...Qd8?!
{a very dubious decision to abandon any possible
initiative opportunities on the king side, and instead focus
on the defense on the queen side}
22. b4! Qc7 23. Rec1
{Now white threatens to blow up the entire queen side with the
c3-c4 push}
23...c4 24. Ra3
{Deep Blue's next plan is simple: double the rooks, and then
take the pawn on b5. }
24...Rec8 25. Rca1 Qd8 26. f4!!
{The idea of opening a second front is fantastic, because it is
white's pieces that have greater mobility, and thus can go
from one side to another much easier than black's. Black,
meanwhile, has to suddenly fight disadvantageous situations on
both sides of the chess board, and he hardly has the resources
to do so.}
26...Nf6 27. fxe5!?
{Deep Blue plays a very interesting move. Instead of making
sure that the black bishop on f8 never sees the daylight
again, he actually opens the a3-f8 diagonal for it. The
reason a passed pawn on the 'd' file. }
27...dxe5 28. Qf1?! Ne8
{The black knight is continuing its trip to the queen side,
where it very needed}
29. Qf2! Nd6 30. Bb6 Qe8 31. R3a2 Be7 32. Bc5!
{The machine immediately senses that black is trying to
activate his bishop, so he cuts off this idea by attacking the
knight on d6, and making sure black has to keep the bishop
there to defend it.}
32...Bf8 33. Nf5! Bxf5 34. exf5 f6 35. Bxd6!
{as long as the knight sits on d6, winning is
impossible}
35...Bxd6 36. axb5 axb5 37. Be4!
{This is much better than 37.Qb6. First of all, the bishop blocks
the 'e' pawn, thus making sure, for the n-th time this game,
that black will get absolutely no counter play. At the same
time, it improves the position of the bishop, and also creates
threats based on the movement of the 'd' pawn, in case black's
bishop is thinking about taking a trip. Finally, by opening
the 2nd rank, it ensures that the queen will get into the
black camp no matter what, whether through b6, or on the 'a'
file.}
37...Rxa2 38. Qxa2 Qd7 39. Qa7 Rc7 40. Qb6 Rb7 41. Ra8+
Kf7?
{41...Kh7 would have been a
better choice}
42. Qa6 Qc7 43. Qc6
{White is once again offering a queen trade, this time in even
better conditions. If black accepts it, he will suddenly find
himself fighting against a pawn on c6, and an even more active
white bishop. Because of the position of the black king, Qc6
also has a more concrete threat: Qe8 mate!}
43...Qb6+ 44. Kf1 Rb8 45. Ra6!
{The computer doesn't succumb to the temptation of Qd7 followed
by Ra7, because after 45.Qd7 Kg8 46. Ra7 Bf8 47.d6 Qe3, black
manages to prevent the checkmate by creating his own perpetual
check chance.
Instead, Deep Blue plays the powerful Ra6, which forces black
to trade queens, and thus practically end the game, since
after 45...Qc6 46.dc6 black has no way of stopping the 'c'
pawn and at the same time preventing white from capturing too
many pawns. Which is why the world champion resigned.
However, the world champion resigned
too early. In this position, he could have still achieved a
draw with 45...Qe3!!. }
1-0
[Event "IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1997.05.06"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Deep Blue"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Opening "Mieses opening"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Annotator "Daniel King"]
1. d3
{This move
is never seen at Grandmaster level, for the simple reason that
it hands over the advantage of the first move to Black.}
1...e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 4. a3
{This is a standard position from the Sicilian Defense, but
with colors reversed and a tempo down, and that is enough to
confuse Deep Blue. There are simply too many options to
consider in the opening, even with its enormous calculating
power.}
4...d6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. g3 O-O 7. Bg2
{Activating the bishop on the long diagonal, and building a
solid home for White's king.}
7...Be6 8. O-O Qd7
{I think most humans would be worried
about a knight arriving at g5 and would play 8...h6 first.}
9. Ng5
{The knight move complicates the position, so it's no wonder
that the world champion thought for over twenty minutes before
going down this path. Black must preserve the bishop with
either 9...Bg4 or...}
9...Bf5 10. e4 Bg4 11. f3 Bh5 12. Nh3
{Having sidelined the bishop Kasparov retreats his knight
preparing to storm his pawns down the board on the kingside.
His strategy here bears some similarity to the Kings Indian
Defense - with colors reversed - in which Kasparov is a great
expert.}
12...Nd4 13. Nf2 h6
{A cautious, but probably wise, decision giving the bishop an
escape square in case Kasparov does attempt a pawn storm.}
14. Be3 c5 15. b4 b6 16. Rb1 Kh8
{It's hard to say what this move is about. It might be that
Deep Blue envisages a time when the position will open up, in
which case the king is best placed tucked away in the corner.}
17. Rb2!
{After the game, Kasparov
demonstrated the following variation: 17.h4 a6 18.Bxd4 cxd4
19.Bh3 Qc7 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.cxd5 . The point of h4 was to keep
Black's bishop from moving to g5 from where it controls c1 and
can settle on e3. But now White is set to dominate the c-file
as the bishop on h3 controls c8. }
17...a6 18. bxc5 bxc5 19. Bh3 Qc7 20. Bg4 Bg6 21. f4
{White's strategy is directed against the bishop on g6: he
wants to bury it by playing the pawn to f5.}
21...exf4 22. gxf4!
{Kasparov has a powerful pawn center; he has a knight which
is itching to leap into d5 once Black's knight can be shifted
from f6; and Black's bishops have no scope at all. A human
with this position against Kasparov would feel completely
demoralized.}
22...Qa5
{Deep Blue abandons its fight for squares and
grabs a pawn instead.}
23. Bd2 Qxa3 24. Ra2 Qb3 25. f5 Qxd1 26. Bxd1 Bh7
27. Nh3 Rfb8 28. Nf4 Bd8 29. Nfd5 Nc6 30. Bf4 Ne5 31. Ba4
Nxd5 32. Nxd5 a5?
{a poor positional decision by Deep Blue}
33. Bb5 Ra7 34. Kg2 g5 35. Bxe5+ dxe5 36. f6!
{This is the crucial move. Black's position is cut in two.
There is little connection between kingside and queenside
which is potentially extremely dangerous for Black's king.
Although Kasparov is a pawn down his superbly placed knight
and bishop almost single-handedly dominate Black's pieces
(with a bit of help from the pawn on f6).}
36...Bg6 37. h4 gxh4 38. Kh3 Kg8 39. Kxh4 Kh7 40. Kg4 Bc7!
{Deep Blue is prepared
to give back a pawn to free his position }
41. Nxc7 Rxc7 42. Rxa5 Rd8 43. Rf3 Kh8 44. Kh4 Kg8
45. Ra3 Kh8 46. Ra6 Kh7
{This prevents the positional threat 47. Bc6 Rd6, and White
can't escape the pin as there is no rook check on a8.}
47. Ra3 Kh8 48. Ra6 1/2-1/2
[Event "IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1997.05.07"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Deep Blue"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Opening "Pirc: Pribyl variation"]
[ECO "B07"]
[Annotator "Daniel King"]
1. e4 c6
{The Caro-Kann Defense. Kasparov used to play this right at the
start of his career}
2. d4 d6
{This was the idea. Instead of a Caro proper, Kasparov is
continuing his anti-computer strategy, attempting to take it
out of its opening database. With this rare move, he might
have succeeded.}
3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bg4
{Now we have returned to something 'known', though rather
unusual, the Prybl opening}
5. h3 Bh5 6. Bd3 e6 7. Qe2 d5 8. Bg5 Be7 9. e5 Nfd7
10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. g4
{ this advance is probably rather strong }
11...Bg6 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. h4 Na6 14. O-O-O O-O-O
15. Rdg1
{Both kings have been brought to safety and all pieces
developed, so the middlegame begins.}
15...Nc7
{If he attempts it immediately, 15...c5, then 16
Nb5! is embarrassing, heading for d6. }
16. Kb1 f6
{It is a risky move as it compromises his pawn structure, but
it also gives him a chance to counter-attack.}
17. exf6 Qxf6 18. Rg3 Rde8 19. Re1 Rhf8 20. Nd1 e5!
{From a position where his pieces were cramped,
blocked behind their own pawns, this long-term pawn sacrifice
liberates his entire army.}
21. dxe5 Qf4 22. a3?
{No one could quite work out the point of this modest pawn
move. }
22...Ne6!
{Black's position has been transformed. Every single one of his
pieces is working}
23. Nc3 Ndc5 24. b4 Nd7 25. Qd3 Qf7 26. b5
{Kasparov expected b4 and b5. This is a brilliant positional
decision. }
26...Ndc5 27. Qe3 Qf4 28. bxc6 bxc6 29. Rd1 Kc7 30. Ka1
Qxe3
{'Here I just lost my nerve. I exchanged queens because my king
was exposed and I was running short of time. If I play
30...Rf7 instead then it will have difficulty playing another
move.' - Kasparov.}
31. fxe3 Rf7 32. Rh3 Ref8 33. Nd4 Rf2 34. Rb1 Rg2
{Kasparov will say that 34...Nxd4 35.exd4 Ne6 was his original
intention. Although Black is still a pawn down, it looks as
though he is about to clean up. The d4 pawn is attacked. c2 is
attacked, the two kingside pawns are vulnerable...but then
comes the shock: 36.Nxd5+ cxd5 37.Rc3+ with a vicious
counter-attack. For those of you interested: 37...Kd8 38.Rb8+
Kd7 39.Rb7+ when Black would do best to repeat moves as
39...Ke8 40.Rc8+ Nd8 41.e6 41...Rxc2 42.Rxd8+ Kxd8 43.e7+ Ke8
44.exf8Q+ Kxf8 45.Rd7 is a bit better for White. }
35. Nce2 Rxg4 36. Nxe6+ Nxe6 37. Nd4
{Exchanging knights is the only hope for a draw, even if it
means ditching a pawn. The exchanges open up the position
allowing White's rooks to grab a piece of the action. It's not
that simple though.}
37...Nxd4 38. exd4 Rxd4 39. Rg1 Rc4 40. Rxg6 Rxc2
41. Rxg7+ Kb6 42. Rb3+ Kc5 43. Rxa7
{White scoops as many pawns as possible - and his king just
survives.}
43...Rf1+ 44. Rb1 Rff2
{Threatening mate in one 45...Ra2, but Deep Blue has it under control.}
45. Rb4 Rc1+ 46. Rb1 Rcc2 47. Rb4 Rc1+ 48. Rb1 Rxb1+
49. Kxb1
{Even though White is a pawn up it is Black who has the winning
chances.}
49...Re2 50. Re7 Rh2?
{Black could have tried 50...d4 though if White
plays accurately, then the game should also end as a draw. For
instance, 51 e6 Kc4 52 h5 d3 53 h6 Re1+ 54 Kb2 d2 55 Rd7 d1(Q)
56 Rxd1 Rxd1 57 e7 winning for White, is the nicest variation.}
51. Rh7 Kc4 52. Rc7!
{Good move. This prevents Black from using his king very
actively as he will always have to watch the c-pawn.}
52...c5 53. e6 Rxh4 54. e7 Re4 55. a4 Kb3 56. Kc1 1/2-1/2
[Event "IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1997.05.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Deep Blue"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Opening "Reti: King's Indian attack, Keres variation"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Annotator "Daniel King"]
1. Nf3
{Kasparov continues his testy strategy, avoiding main lines and
waiting to see what Deep Blue offers before committing his
pawns.}
1...d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2
{In game one Kasparov played 3. b3}
3...Nd7 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Bxf3!? c6 6. d3 e6 7. e4 Ne5
{Gaining the bishop pair counts in Kasparov's favor, but in
doing so he has lost time. }
8. Bg2 dxe4 9. Bxe4 Nf6 10. Bg2 Bb4+!
{The check accomplishes nothing in
itself, what it does do is slightly disrupt the smooth flow of
White's development. 11 c3 is impossible because of
11...Nxd3+. If 11 Nc3, then Black exploits the pin with
11...Nd5 12 Bd2 Qa5, forcing an exchange of pieces that leaves
Black comfortably placed.}
11. Nd2 h5
{This move is based on the fact that Black's knights work best
on squares where they are protected and therefore are more
stable. Black's threat is to play ...h4, and if g4 then Black
can hope to occupy the f4 square by dropping the knight back
to g6.}
12. Qe2 Qc7 13. c3 Be7 14. d4 Ng6 15. h4 e5!?
{At first sight I thought that this was a very curious
decision, opening up the position when White has the two
bishops, but Deep Blue has seen a long way ahead yet again and
judged the consequences correctly. If Black doesn't break free
with the pawn, then White will set up a clamp with Nc4.}
16. Nf3 exd4 17. Nxd4 O-O-O 18. Bg5 Ng4!
{The knight is so powerful here, tying White to the defense of
the pawn on f2.}
19. O-O-O Rhe8 20. Qc2 Kb8 21. Kb1 Bxg5 22. hxg5 N6e5
23. Rhe1
{23.Rxh5 would have been asking for trouble, there are too
many loose points in White's position, the rook on h5, the
pawn on f2, the rook on d1: 23...c5 24.Nb5 Qb6 brings White's
position to breaking point }
23...c5!
{The knights are causing the world champion
problems. The one on g4 keeps a constant watch over f2, and
the other has ambitions to fly into d3 or c4. With knight
forks dancing in front of his eyes, and knowing that Deep Blue
was calculating them all perfectly, I'm not surprised Kasparov
was concerned. }
24. Nf3 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Nc4 26. Qa4 Rd8
{The only move, but a good one. If 27 Rxd8+ Qxd8 28 Qxc4 Qd1 -
splat.}
27. Re1 Nb6 28. Qc2 Qd6 29. c4!
{a crucial move as it cuts the knight on b6 out of the game for
several moves}
29...Qg6?!
{29...Nc8 would have been preferable}
30. Qxg6 fxg6 31. b3 Nxf2 32. Re6!
{The pawn on g6 is going and suddenly Black's forces appear
split and uncoordinated. }
32...Kc7 33. Rxg6 Rd7 34. Nh4
{The threat is Nf5 and Rxg7}
34...Nc8!
{If 35. Nf5 then, remarkably, it is Black who is
almost winning: 35...Ne7! 36 Nxe7 Rxe7 and White's rook is
trapped on g6. Black threatens ...Ng4 and ...Ne5. White can
try 37 Bd5 Ng4 38 Re6 Rxe6 39 Bxe6, but 39...Ne3 leaves him
struggling.}
35. Bd5 Nd6 36. Re6 Nb5!
{An extraordinary move. Black threatens ...Nc3+ and apart from
the game continuation, there is not a great deal to be done
about it. For instance 37 Kb2 can be met by 37...Nd3+ with
some really juicy forks on the cards.}
37. cxb5 Rxd5 38. Rg6 Rd7 39. Nf5!
{His bishop is gone, but Kasparov has survived that little
skirmish and seems to have the position under control again.}
39...Ne4 40. Nxg7 Rd1+ 41. Kc2 Rd2+ 42. Kc1 Rxa2
43. Nxh5 Nd2 44. Nf4 Nxb3+ 45. Kb1 Rd2 46. Re6
{Though I couldn't quite see how Deep Blue was going to hold
the game, from the way in which Kasparov had seemingly lost
interest, I had a feeling that something was up. He was
curiously pensive, leaning back in his chair and staring away
from the board somewhere into the middle distance. He didn't
look like a man about to make a new queen.}
46...c4 47. Re3 Kb6!
{The king joins the attack just in the nick of
time to force a draw by perpetual check.}
48. g6 Kxb5 49. g7 Kb4
{If 50 g8(Q), then Black forces a draw with 50...Rd1+ 51 Kc2
Rd2+ 52 Kb1 Rd1+, and so on.}
1/2-1/2
[Event "IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1997.05.11"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Deep Blue"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann: 4...Nd7"]
[ECO "B17"]
[Annotator "Daniel King"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5
{ This time we have a Caro-Kann proper}
3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7
{This line is actually the favorite of Anatoly Karpov. In fact the two have done battle
from this exact position - but with Kasparov on the white
side. }
5. Ng5
{if Black tries to kick the
knight immediately with 5...h6, then White
has 6 Ne6! fxe6 7
Qh5 mate.}
5...Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6
{6...h6 7 Ne6! is strong}
7. N1f3 h6?
{The fatal error....he should have played
7...Bd6, which leads to standard and frequently played
positions.}
8. Nxe6!
{Kasparov shook his head in disbelief. He had made a finger slip
allowing a known sacrifice which, of course, was all in Deep
Blue's database. }
8...Qe7
{If 8...fxe6 9 Bg6+, forcing 9...Ke7, would have been even
worse.}
9. O-O fxe6
{If Black captures with the queen, then Re1 is a killer}
10. Bg6+ Kd8
{Black is a piece up but his position is horrendous. }
11. Bf4 b5?!
{to control the c4 square, enabling a
knight to land on d5}
12. a4!
{White is able to open more files
in front of the king.}
12...Bb7 13. Re1 Nd5 14. Bg3 Kc8 15. axb5 cxb5 16. Qd3
{Deep Blue brings his queen into the
attack and even gains time by attacking a pawn}
16...Bc6 17. Bf5 exf5
{If Kasparov doesn't capture the bishop then the e6 pawn just
caves in.}
18. Rxe7 Bxe7 19. c4
{If 19...bxc4 20 Qxc4 White's queen breaks through to the king
and its all over. The game had taken just one hour.}
1-0
[Event "game-1"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "2795"]
[ECO "E61"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4
O-O 8. Ne2 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4 11. f3 Bd7 { An unusual variation.
More usual is 11 ... Na5. Rebel's following move was still in its book.
} 12. Rb1 Qc7 { Rebel's book expected 12 ... Na5. Now the chessprogram
had to think for the very first time. } 13. Nf4 { Also after a longer think
Rebel sticks to this logical move. White tries to take advantage of the
unusual c7-square for the Black queen by means of Nf4-d5. } 13... e6 14.
Be2 { A serious alternative would have been 14. d5. Rebel's move removes
the bishop to Nc6-a5 attacks. } 14... Ne7 { Preventing 15 d5, but the knight
is very passive at e7. More active was 14 ... Rad8 or Rfd8. } 15. Qb3 b6
{ Already the losing mistake! Much stronger was either 15 ... Rab8, or
Rebel's choice 15 ... b5!? } 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Qa3 { Very strong. c5 is
a big weakness. Note that the undefended knight on e7 prevents the answer
... c5-c4. } 17... Be5 { Played after prolonged thought. It is the only
way to defend c5. } 18. g3 Bd6 19. Rfd1 { Simply threatening 20 Rxd6. There
is not much Black can do about that. } 19... Rfb8 { Trying to get some
active counterplay. 19 ... Rac8 or Rfc8 would allow 20 Ba6, or even 20
Rb1-b2-d2 with huge pressure and winning material. } 20. Rxb8+ Rxb8 21.
Rxd6 { Of course. It appears that Black's threats are not dangerous. }
21... Qxd6 22. Bxc5 Qd2 23. Bxe7 Rb7 { Equal to resigning. But 23 ... Rb1+
or 23 ... e5 also was insufficient. } 24. Qa5 Be8 25. Bb4 Qe3+ 26. Kg2
{ Now the only move is 26 ... Qb6, leaving no hope of salvation. Anand
resigned. A spectecular start from Rebel's point of view. 1-0 } 1-0
[Event "game-2"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2795"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[ECO "D02"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 { Rather passive and probably chosen to get Rebel
out of its book as quickly as possible. } 3... g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O
6. b3 { Rebel out of book. } 6... c5 7. Bb2 Ne4 8. c3 { Again passively
played! } 8... Nc6 9. e3 Bg4 { I would prefer 9 ... b6, to get the bishop
to a6 or b7. } 10. h3 cxd4 { A little trick: If 11 hxg4, then 11 ... dxc3
and if the bishop moves, 12 ... c2 will follow. } 11. cxd4 Bf5 12. Nfd2
{ Anand continues to play passively. More logical was 12 Nh4 and then 13
Nd2 to get rid of the e4-knight. } 12... Nf6 { Preventing piece exchanges.
} 13. Nc3 { Now the black c6-knights enters the White position. It was
possible to play 13 a3 to prevent this. } 13... Nb4 14. Nf3 Nd3 { A so
called 'octopus'. It appears that it is very difficult to get rid of this
awsome knight. } 15. Ba3 Rc8 16. Ne2 Be4 17. Nh2 { This is too passive.
Rebel expected the stronger 17 Ng5. Also 17 Nc1 to remove Nd3 was better.
Perhaps Anand hoped to take advantage of the loose Black pieces. } 17...
Bh6 18. Qd2 Re8 { Even after a longer thought Rebel prefers this somewhat
srange move. More natural would be 18 ... Qd7, or 18 ... b5. } 19. Ng4
{ This is a clear mistake! After 19 f3! Rc2! 20 Qxc2 Bxe3+ 21 Rf2! the
game would end in perpetual check (try it out yourself!). Now Black is
better. } 19... Nxg4 20. hxg4 Qc7 { Taking the c-file. } 21. Rfd1 { This
was the last chance for Nc1. } 21... Qc2 22. Kf1 Qxd2 23. Rxd2 b5 { Keeping
the pressure and preparing a brilliant piece sacrifice. } 24. f3 Bxe3 25.
Rdd1 f5 { Fantastic! Vishy looked very surprised and nervous. Black opens
the f-file to attack the poor white king. } 26. fxe4 fxe4 27. Rxd3 { It
is understandable that Anand wants to get rid of the huge knight on d3,
but after the game we found out that 27 Nf4 was the only chance to fight.
Now it is all over. } 27... exd3 28. Nf4 Rc2 29. Bxd5+ e6 { And there is
no defence: 30 Bxe6+ Rxe6 31 Nxe6 Rf2+ 32 Ke1 d2+ 33 Kd1 Rf1+ followed
by 34 ... Rxa1 and 35 ... d1Q. So Anand resigned. 0-1 } 0-1
[Event "game-3"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "2795"]
[ECO "A41"]
1. d4 d6 { Surprise, I've never seen Vishy playing this before. } 2. e4
g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. f4 { IMO this agressive continuation is best for a chess
program. } 4... c6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be3 Nd7 { More usual is 6 ... Qb6. } 7.
h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 e6 9. O-O-O d5 { Rebel had 9 ... Ne7 in its book. } 10.
g4 { Rebel was debating between this and 10 f5!? After a longer think Rebel
would have preferred 10 f5!?, which is an interesting continuation. But
also 10 g4 is perfectly playable, of course. } 10... Ne7 11. h4 { Impressive,
these white pawns! } 11... b5 { Preparing a counterattack on the queen's
side. Rebel expected 11 ... h5. } 12. h5 b4 13. h6 { This isn't good. White
should open the king's side, not close it. The normal move was 13 Ne2,
with an interesting fight coming up. } 13... Bf8 14. Ne2 dxe4 15. Qxe4
Nd5 { A strong position for the black knight. The white attack has come
to a standstill. } 16. Bg2 Be7 17. Bd2 O-O 18. Qd3 { White should try a
plan involving f4-f5, but it is clear that the white pawn on h6 prevents
a huge attack. It might even be better if this pawn was off the board.
} 18... N7f6 19. g5 { Now Black is clearly better. Rebel abandons the f5-square
and has no counterplay at all. } 19... Ne8 20. Ng3 a5 21. Rde1 Nd6 { Simple
chess by Anand. The other knight goes to f5. White has no play and Black
can attack with a5-a4. } 22. Qe2 Re8 23. Rhf1 Bf8 24. Ne4 Nf5 25. Qd3 Qb6
26. c3 { The losing move. White opens up the b-file, black only needs to
say 'thank you'! Of course White's only chance was to keep the position
as closed as possible. My guess would be 26 Kb1 and hope for the best.
} 26... bxc3 27. Bxc3 Red8 28. Bh3 Be7 { Rebel prefers 28 ... Qb5, as 29
Qxb5 cxb5 would lose material. } 29. Bxf5 { To get rid of the pressure
on d4, but now the white squares are gone (especially e4). } 29... exf5
30. Nd2 Qc7 { Winning the pawn on f4. Black is winning. } 31. Rg1 Bd6 32.
Kb1 Bxf4 { 32 ... Nxf4 was possible as well. } 33. Nc4 a4 { A variation
by Rebel: 33 ... c5!? 34 dxc5 Qxc5 35 Qd4 Qxd4 36 Bxd4 and Black has the
advantage. } 34. Bd2 Re8 { Again 34 ... c5 looks a serious continuation.
} 35. Rxe8+ Rxe8 36. Qc2 Bxd2 37. Qxd2 Re4 { Rebel thinks this move is
a mistake, costing Black the largest part of his advantage. The computer
prefers 37 ... Qf4 instead. } 38. Rc1 { With the simple idea of 39 Ne5,
attacking the c6-pawn. } 38... Ne7 { After 10 minutes Rebel would have
played 38 ... Re6, only scoring +0.28 for Black. } 39. Qc3 { Contains the
strong threat 40 d5! } 39... Nd5 40. Qd2 Re6 41. Ne5 Qb6 { 41. ... f6!?
is interesting. } 42. Rc4 Qb5 { A strong move, activating the queen and
threatening 43 ... Rxe5. } 43. Rc5 Qf1+ 44. Qc1 Qxc1+ 45. Kxc1 f6 { Of
course. Black gets two connected passed pawns: g6 and f5. White gets his
pawn back, but I am sure Black still is better in this ending. } 46. gxf6
Nxf6 47. Ra5 { The a-pawn is more important than the c6-pawn. White tries
to get a passed a-pawn, trying to compensate for the g6 and f5 pawns. }
47... Kf8 { To activate the king. After 10 minutes on my Pentium MMX 200
MHz Rebel plays 47 ... Ne8 as Black. As tempi are very important in this
ending, 47 ... g5 merits consideration. } 48. Ra8+ { A strong check. The
black king is worse on e7, compared to the better square f8. } 48... Ke7
49. Rxa4 Rd6 { Again losing time, but it appears that the ending is not
so clear anymore. White has gained a lot of counterplay. Probably 47 ...
Kf8 is the cause of this. } 50. Rc4 g5 { Finally, although Rebel prefers
50 ... Ke6 to activate the king. } 51. a4 g4 52. a5 g3 { This looks like
a mistake, because it is now easy for White to stop the Black pawns by
putting a knight on f3. } 53. Rc3 { 53 a6 could be played. } 53... f4 54.
a6 g2 55. Nf3 Nd5 56. a7 Nc7 57. Rb3 { Now White is compeletely winning.
} 57... Rd8 58. Rb8 Kd7 59. Kd1 { The a7-pawn is keeping all Black's pieces
busy. In the meantime Rebel simply plans Kd1-e2-f2xg2 and Ng5, winning
pawn h7. It's all over! } 59... Na8 60. Ke2 Kc7 61. Rxd8 Kxd8 62. Kf2 {
Here Vishy resigned. 1-0 } 1-0
[Event "game-4"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2795"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[ECO "A12"]
1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Bg4 4. Bb2 Nd7 5. e3 Ngf6 6. h3 { End of Rebel's
book, that expected 6 Be2. } 6... Bxf3 7. Qxf3 e6 8. Nc3 dxc4 { Positionally
speaking not a good move. Logical is 8 ... Bd6. } 9. bxc4 Ne5 10. Qe2 Bb4
{ Striving for complications. On 11 d4 it's possible to play 11 ... Ne4.
} 11. f4 { A mistake, missing Black's reply. Probably 11 d4 is best anyway.
} 11... Bxc3 { Not a trivial move! But the point comes one move later.
} 12. Bxc3 Ne4 { Threatening 13 ... Ng3, 13 ... Qh4+ and 13 ... Nxc3. }
13. O-O-O Ng3 { This is wrong. Rebel needs a few minutes on the AMD K6
450 MHz to find the right move: 13 ... Nxc3! 14 dxc3 Nd7, followed by 15
... Qe7 and 16 ... Nc5 with advantage to Black. } 14. Qe1 Nxh1 15. Bxe5
Qa5 16. Be2 Qxa2 17. Qxh1 O-O 18. g4 { Not to attack, but to clear the
path for the manoeuvre Qh1-e4-c2. Anand rightly tries to exchange queens,
after which his bishops are very strong in the ending. } 18... a5 19. Qe4
a4 20. Qc2 Qxc2+ { This exchange gives Anand a won ending. The only chance
was 20 ... Qa3+, to avoid the exchange. } 21. Kxc2 Rfc8 22. Kb2 a3+ 23.
Ka2 f6 24. Bc3 Ra7 { Black is helpless against the bishops and the weaknesses
on a3 and b7. The rest of the game requires no comment. } 25. Rb1 Kf8 26.
h4 Ke8 27. g5 Ke7 28. Rg1 fxg5 29. hxg5 c5 30. Bxg7 Kf7 31. Bc3 Rc7 32.
Rh1 Ke8 33. Bg4 Re7 { Rebel resigns. 1-0 } 1-0
[Event "game-5 (15:00 all)"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "2795"]
[ECO "B18"]
1. e4 c6 { The Caro Kann didn't come as a surprise, since Anand played
this opening several times this year. } 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5
{ A small surprise, as Anand preferred 4 ... Nd7 earlier this year. } 5.
Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Be7
12. O-O-O O-O 13. Ne5 { With the idea of f4, Ne4 and g4 to start an attack
on the Black king. } 13... Nbd7 14. f4 c5 15. Bc3 { Criticised in the tournament
bulletin. A possible alternative would be 15 Ne4. } 15... Nd5 16. dxc5
Nxc5 17. Qf3 Rc8 { A bit strange. 17 ... Qc7 looks normal, after which
Black has a good position. Play might continue 18 Bd4 Rac8 19 Kb1. } 18.
Nf5 { Rebel takes the first opportunity to complicate the game. } 18...
exf5 { Anand used a lot of time for this more or less forced move. After
f.e. 18 ... Na4 White has 19 Nxh6+! gxh6 20 Qg4+. } 19. Rxd5 Qc7 20. Qh3
{ As this doesn't win a pawn, 20 Rhd1 was better. After some thought Rebel
also thinks Rhd1 is the best move. } 20... Ne4 { Very well played. Anand
temporarely gives up a piece, to obtain a dangerous attack. } 21. Rd7 Qc5
22. Nd3 Qc4 { The point. Black takes on a2 with the queen, threatening
mate through ... Qa1. White has to give up an exchange to deal with the
threats. } 23. Rxe7 Qxa2 24. Rxe4 fxe4 25. Nb4 { From a materialistic point
of view White is not in a bad shape. Still, his knight on b4 is rather
shaky and also the pawn on e4 can become strong. Anand has only one problem:
he has not much time left.... } 25... Qa1+ 26. Kd2 Rfd8+ 27. Ke2 Qa4 28.
Qf5 { Here Vishy used his remaining time, didn't find a solution and lost
on time! A pity this exciting game had to finish in such a way. After 28
... a5 29 b3 Qd7 30 Qxd7 Rxd7 31 Na2 the ending looks better for Black.
1-0 } 1-0
[Event "game-6 (15:00 all)"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2795"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[ECO "A07"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 { Anand avoids the main theoretical variations. } 2...
Bg4 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Nc6 { Out of book Rebel produces this slightly inferior
move. The knight shouldn't block the c-pawn. } 5. d3 { Anand doesn't try
to take advantage of Black's last move. 5 d4 was possible, after which
the knight on c6 looks a bit silly. } 5... e5 { Now we have a kind of Pirc-Ufimzev,
with reversed colours. } 6. h3 Be6 7. a3 { White prefers a kind of Modern
Defence setup, by means of a3 and b4. } 7... Be7 8. b4 a6 9. Bb2 Nd7 10.
Nbd2 O-O 11. e3 f5 { Active play, like Rebel always does. } 12. c4 { With
a little trick in mind: 13 Ng5! Bxg5 14 cxd5. } 12... dxc4 13. dxc4 Bf6
14. Qc2 e4 { This move is possible, because White is not able to retake
on d4 with a piece. Still, white's centre is getting stronger, but also
after 10 minutes of thought Rebel would have played e5-e4. } 15. Nd4 Nxd4
16. exd4 c6 17. Rfd1 Nb6 18. Bf1 Qc7 { A tense struggle lies ahead. Anand
has the initiative on the queen's side, but he must be aware of moves like
... e3, ... f4. In the meantime Black's pieces are well coordinated to
catch up with the White pawns in the centre. } 19. Nb3 Qf7 20. Na5 Rfd8
{ Always a difficult question: Which rook belongs on d8? 20 ... Rad8 seems
playable as well, to keep the other rook at f8 and try for ... f5-f4. }
21. a4 Rd7 { 21 ... Rac8 was better, to stop the advance b4-b5. } 22. b5
axb5 23. axb5 Rc7 24. c5 { Maybe too hasty. Rebel's choices 24 Qb3 or 24
bxc6 come into consideration. } 24... cxb5 25. Bxb5 Rcc8 26. Qe2 Nd5 27.
Nc4 { White has the better chances now, although the situation is still
pretty tense. } 27... Be7 28. Ne5 Qf6 { Moving the queen to h6 is not such
a good idea. 28 ... Qf8 seems better. } 29. Bc4 Qh6 30. h4 Kh8 { A mistake,
losing a pawn. The logical follow-up after moving the queen to h6 would
have been the sharp 30 ... g5!? I think this would have given Anand a tough
time. } 31. Bc1 { A very strong move. Now after 31 ... Qf6 32 Rxa8 Rxa8
33 Qb2 Black will lose the b7-pawn. } 31... Rxa1 32. Bxh6 Nc3 33. Rxa1
{ Vishy misses the easy 33 Bxg7+, winning a pawn and probably the game.
} 33... Nxe2+ 34. Bxe2 gxh6 35. Ra7 { Now White hasn't much anymore. Better
is 35 Rb1 or even 35 Rd1 (proposed by Rebel). } 35... Bf6 36. Rxb7 Bxe5
37. dxe5 Rxc5 38. Re7 Bd5 39. Rd7 Bg8 { Forces the draw. } 40. Re7 Bd5
41. Rd7 Bg8 42. Re7 Bd5 { Draw by repetition. Actually I claimed the draw
after White's last move 42 Re7, stating that the computer was going to
play 42 ... Bd5, leading to the move-repetition. Anand accepted. 1/2-1/2
} 1/2-1/2
[Event "game-7 (40/2:00 all 1:00)"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2795"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[ECO "D07"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 { I chose this opening because I wanted an unbalanced
game for Rebel, relying on the surprise value. Playing a Queen's Indian
or a Queen's gambit instead, was probably exactly Anand was hoping for.
He knows too much about this opening, so lets play unorthodox! } 3. e3
{ A small success: Anand avoids the main theoretical lines, starting with
3 cxd5, 3 Nc3 or 3 Nf3. } 3... e5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Nc3 { Rebel had 5 Qb3 and
5 dxe5 in its book. Now it had to think for the first time. } 5... exd4
6. Nxd5 Nf6 7. Qb3 Bxf3 8. gxf3 Rb8 { White has the two bishops and is
probably better here, but I liked the course of the game sofar. It's no
quiet position, in which the number 2 in the world can play positionally.
} 9. Bd2 Bd6 10. O-O-O O-O { I was very satisfied with the outcome of the
opening: Rebel has a solid position, with no weaknesses and a clear aim:
Attack the White king. } 11. Kb1 { The tournament bulletin condemns this
move, claiming it's a routine move. They propose 11 e4 instead. } 11...
Nxd5 12. cxd5 Ne5 { Nicely played by Rebel. Of course 13 exd4 wins a pawn,
but after 13 ... Ng6 Black controls f4 and the White pawns are very weak.
} 13. Be2 Re8 14. h4 { To push the pawn to h5, after which exd4 becomes
a threat (the Black knight cannot go to g6 anymore). } 14... c5 { Starting
the counterattack and defending the pawn on d4. } 15. f4 Nd7 16. Bf3 {
Supporting the advance e3-e4. White's plan is to get the pawns e4, f4 and
d5 rolling. Black attacks on the queen's side. } 16... b5 { There we go.
I began to like the Black position more and more. I guess Vishy wanted
to have a much more quiet game today! } 17. Qd3 Qf6 { A nice place for
the queen, also stopping the advance e3-e4 because of the pressure on f4.
} 18. Bc1 dxe3 19. fxe3 c4 20. Qc2 Nc5 21. h5 Nd3 { For the second time
this match Rebel gets an octopus on d3. See also game 2. } 22. Rxd3 { Rebel
didn't expect this exchange sac, but I was sure Anand would play this.
It almost came without thinking. In return White gets two bishops and a
pawn. For a moment Black's attack is gone and he has to concentrate on
the White pawnroller in the centre. } 22... cxd3 23. Qxd3 Rec8 { Well played.
Rebel finds a way to bring new life into the Black attack. } 24. Bd2 b4
{ Keeping the bishop away from c3. } 25. Be4 Qh6 { The only good move.
25 ... h6 was my first impression, but then 26 Bf5 rook moves 27 e4 comes
and the pawns go forward. White is better in that case. } 26. Bg2 { Criticised
by Anand after the match. He underestimated Black's 27th. On the other
hand it is difficult for White to find a proper plan. His pawns are still
not able to move. } 26... Rc7 27. Rf1 b3 { Here it is. Now Anand was visibly
getting nervous, as Black's attack suddenly is very strong. The natural
28 a3 would allow the black rook to come to c2, and also sacrifices like
Bxa3 are hanging in the air. } 28. e4 { There is no way back! Now we get
a very, very interesting game. } 28... bxa2+ 29. Ka1 { Of course any computer
would play 29 Kxa2 here, which is very bad. The White king uses the black
a2-pawn as a shelter. After Kxa2 the a-file would be wide open to the black
attack. } 29... Rcb7 30. Bc1 Bc5 { A crushing move. The idea is ... Rb3,
... Qb6 and ... Bd4 and White is going to get crushed on b2. Rebel's evaluation
now showed a big advantage to Black. } 31. e5 { Trying to shut the door
to b6 by means of d5-d6. } 31... Rb3 32. Qc2 Bd4 { If 32 ... Qb6, then
White has the defence 33 d6 Bd4 34 d7! } 33. d6 Bxb2+ { Too early! After
the game we found out that Rebel could have won with the brilliant 33 ...
Qe6! 34 Bc6 Rc3!! 35 bxc3 Qc4! On my Pentium 200 Mhz MMX Rebel 9 needs
around 11 minutes to find this move. } 34. Bxb2 Rxb2 35. Qxb2 Rxb2 36.
Kxb2 g5 { A very surprising move, but Rebel saw that after the normal 36
... Qxh5 White has 37 Rc1, with back rank problems. Analysis after the
game confirmed that there is no win for Black. } 37. Bf3 { Well played.
Anand finds the line that secures a draw. } 37... gxf4 38. Rd1 Qe6 39.
d7 { The point. Anand's passed d7-pawn is a monster, killing all Black's
hopes. } 39... Qxe5+ 40. Kxa2 Qa5+ { As I saw absolutely no way to make
progress (Anand looked convinced, too), I offered a draw. Anand accepted
and said after the last game the position is drawn. A very exciting game,
one to be very proud of. Rebel played great chess IMO. 1/2-1/2 } 1/2-1/2
[Event "game-8"]
[Site "8 game match"]
[Date "1998.07.23"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rebel10 (exp)"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "2795"]
[ECO "E12"]
1. d4 { A difficult choice. From a computer's point of view 1 e4 is the
most likely choice to be played, but I like surprises and I had something
in mind. } 1... Nf6 2. c4 e6 { Whoops, didn't count on that one. In the
specially prepared openingbook I counted on the Grunfeld, the Queen's Gambit
Accepted and the Slav. Also the Queen's Indian was prepared, but less thoroughly
than the other openings. } 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 { During the game I wished I
had chosen 4 g3 instead. But 4 a3 is not bad at all, leading to a lively
game. The move is still popular and 4 g3 leads to a much more quiet game.
} 4... Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Qc2 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Nd7 9. e4 c5 10.
Bf4 Qc8 { Out of book. Rebel only knows 10 ... Be7 and 10 ... cxd4. I must
confess that I thought that 10 ... Qc8 was a novelty, because I had never
seen it before. } 11. Bb5 { Heavily criticised, because the bookmove 11
d5 scored a clear 3-0 for White recently. But this is nonsense IMO: A great
player like Anand would NEVER play 10 ... Qc8 if this can be refuted by
11 d5. Anand confirmed after the game that Rebel's move 11 Bb5 is a good
one. } 11... a6 12. Bxd7+ Qxd7 13. Ne5 Qc8 { Rebel expected 13 ... Qd8
14 Rd1. } 14. Qd3 { An interesting move. First Rebel wanted to play 14
Nc4, but the reply 14 ... Qc6 is sufficient in that case. } 14... b5 {
Stops 15 Nc4, but overlooks White's next move. Maybe it was better to complete
development first. } 15. Qf3 { Very surprising! The main idea is 15 ...
Be7? 16 Bg5! It is very difficult to find a good move for Black here. }
15... Bd6 { A brilliant solution. Anand gives some material to reach an
unclear ending. Other moves have been analysed, but all seem insufficient.
All in all anand used about 20 minutes to come to this decision. Again
no quiet game! } 16. Nxf7 { Immediately indicating an evaluation of +2,
but this is far too optimistic! } 16... Bxf4 17. Nxh8 Qc7 18. Qh5+ { Less
good is 18 g3 Bh6! Black plans 19 ... 0-0-0 20 Nf7 Rf8. } 18... g6 19.
Nxg6 hxg6 20. Qxg6+ Qf7 21. Qxf7+ Kxf7 { So White has rook + 3 pawns for
2 bishops. But one pawn will fall (d4 is weak) and it is not easy to get
the pawns on the king's side going. According to Anand the ending is unclear.
Most chess programs, though, still think White is clearly better. } 22.
g3 { Rebel was debating between this move and 22 f3. After 22 g3 the move
22 ... Bxe4?? fails to 23 f3 Bxf3 24 Rf1 winning a piece. } 22... Bh6 23.
f3 cxd4 24. cxd4 Rc8 { Taking control of the c-file. Because of the weaknesses
on d4 and a3, Black is always able to win back one pawn. } 25. h4 { This
is a clear mistake. Anand indicated after the game that 25 Ke2 should be
played, with a very unclear endgame. } 25... Rc2 { This rook is seriously
hampering White's game. } 26. g4 Be3 27. h5 Kg7 { Stopping the pawns. Note
how useless the White king's side pawns are. } 28. Rd1 a5 { Planning b5-b4
creating a strong passed pawn. White has to activate the h1-rook quickly,
or else it is over. } 29. d5 exd5 30. Rh3 { Not a nice move, but it contains
a little trick. Rebel first wanted to play the normal 30 exd5, but then
30 ... b4, or first 30 ... Ba6 followed by 31 ... b4 would have been decisive.
} 30... b4 31. axb4 axb4 32. f4 { Here it is. White finally activates his
unfortunate rook. The tactical point is 32 ... d4?? 33 Rxe3 dxe3 34 Rd7+.
} 32... Bf2+ 33. Kf1 Bc5 { The cleanest way. } 34. Ke1 d4 { Creating a
second passed pawn. Because the White pawns cannot accomplish anything,
the game is over. } 35. e5 Rc3 { Securing the further advance of the pawns.
} 36. Rh2 b3 37. h6+ Kh7 { Here I resigned the game before Rebel could
play 38 Rb2. White's game is hopeless. 0-1 } 38. Rb2 0-1
[Event "Dortmund SuperGM"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2000.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Black "Comp Deep Junior"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[Annotator "JvR"]
[PlyCount "146"]
[EventDate "2000.??.??"]
{Deep Junior participated in a super tournament of classical chess.} 1. c4 e6
2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. b3 {
Bareev wants to play a closed position against the computer.} 5... Nbd7 6. Bb2
Bd6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3 Qe7 9. O-O $2 {
A strategic error hands the initiative to Black.} 9... e5 $1 10. Be2 (10. dxe5
$2 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 {leads to an attack.}) 10... e4 11. Nd2 a6 12. cxd5 $6 ({
A lesser evil is} 12. c5 Bc7 13. b4 Ne8 14. f4 exf3 15. Rxf3 Ndf6 16. h3) 12...
cxd5 13. b4 $2 {Maybe Bareev worried about an attack on the kingside. It does
not justify the sacrifice sufficiently.} 13... Bxb4 14. Qb3 Nb8 15. Na4 Qd6 16.
Rfd1 Nc6 17. Bc3 Bxc3 18. Qxc3 Bg4 19. Bxg4 Nxg4 20. Nf1 b5 21. Nc5 $1 Rfc8 22.
Rdc1 h5 $2 {Junior shows no understanding of prophylaxis during the middle
game. It allows a blockade of the queenside.} (22... b4 23. Qd2 a5 {
attacks on the queenside.}) 23. Rc2 Nf6 24. Rac1 Ne8 25. a4 b4 26. Qe1 h4 27.
h3 Qh6 28. Nb3 Rc7 29. Qe2 Raa7 30. Qg4 Kf8 31. Nfd2 Ne7 32. Rxc7 Rxc7 33. Nc5
Ra7 34. Ndb3 Kg8 35. Qe2 Nc7 36. a5 Nb5 37. Qd2 Nc6 38. Na4 Qe6 ({Sources give
} 38... Qf6 {but that would leave pawn d5 unprotected during the next moves.})
39. Rc5 Rc7 40. Qe2 g6 41. Qc2 Kg7 42. Qe2 Kh8 43. Qc2 Qd6 44. Qe2 f5 45. Qd1
Kh7 46. Qe2 Rf7 47. f4 exf3 48. Qxf3 Ne7 49. Qf4 Qxf4 50. exf4 Rf6 51. Nb6 Rd6
52. Kf2 Kh6 53. Nc8 Nxc8 54. Rxc8 Kg7 55. Ke3 Re6+ 56. Kd3 Re1 57. Rc1 Rxc1 58.
Nxc1 Kf6 {The king is needed for the defence of pawn d5.} 59. Na2 $1 {
Bareev starts a brilliant defence.} 59... b3 60. Nb4 Ke6 61. Nxa6 Kd6 62. Nb4
Nxd4 $1 63. Kc3 Ne2+ 64. Kxb3 Nxf4 65. a6 Kc7 66. Kc3 g5 67. Kd4 g4 68. Kc5 $1
({The trap} 68. Nxd5+ $4 Nxd5 69. Kxd5 f4 70. Ke4 f3 {is avoided.}) 68... d4 $1
69. Kxd4 Nxg2 70. Nd3 $1 gxh3 71. Nf2 h2 72. Ke5 f4 73. Ke4 Kb6 (73... Kb6 74.
Kf3 h3 75. Kg4 {The remaining pawns will disappear from the board.})
1/2-1/2
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {I suppose this opening was no surprise.
Kramnik wants the quiet life and Fritz has had trouble in this line before.} 4.
O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 h6 10. b3 Ke8
11. Bb2 {All typical Berlin Defence fare. White has all his pieces out and
Black does not a lot} 11... Be7 {
Designed to take Fritz out of book which it appeared to do} 12. Rad1 a5 {
Although this is the first novelty but again a normal move.} 13. a4 h5 {
Nigel Short asked Vlad about this - he did not want to answer in detail. It
just does not matter if you lose a tempo in this line hesaid} 14. Ne2 Be6 15.
c4 {Fritz wanted to prevent ...Bd5 but this reminded me of when Vishy feasted
on 'yoghurt' against Fritz in a Berlin Defence and captured all three pawns
with his light squared bishop.} 15... Rd8 16. h3 b6 17. Nfd4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 c5 (
18... Bd7 19. f4 (19. Rd3 c5 20. Nb5 Bxb5 21. Rxd8+ Kxd8 22. axb5 Kd7 23. f4 f5
{Looks quite OK for Black as well}) 19... Bc5 {
heading for opposite bishops and the Bd7 could come in handy later}) 19. Nxe6
fxe6 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Bc1 Kc8 22. Rd1 Rd8 {I am sure Kramnik has examined
this kind of ending in detail but it still requires accuracy. Vlad said he
felt it was a draw now} 23. Rxd8+ Kxd8 24. g4 {Another idea was to try and
play g4 and recapture with the king because then the white bishop can
manoeuvre to h4 and force an exchange into a won K+P ending.} (24. f4 {0} 24...
Ke8 25. Kf2 Kf7 26. Kf3 Bd8 27. g4 hxg4+ $5 (27... g6 28. Ke4 Be7 {The line I
ind troubling is 29.gxh5 and 30.f5, this needs more analysis but I have not
found a way through so far.} 29. f5 (29. gxh5 gxh5 30. f5 Bh4 31. f6 Be1 32.
Kf4 Bc3) 29... hxg4 30. hxg4 (30. f6 gxh3) (30. fxg6+ Kxg6 31. hxg4 Bh4 $11)
30... gxf5+ 31. gxf5 Bh4 {and I think this is holding.}) 28. Kxg4 Be7 29. Be3
Bd8 30. Bf2 c6 31. Bh4 Bc7 32. Kh5 {And it's winning.}) 24... g6 (24... hxg4
25. hxg4 g6 26. f4 Ke8 27. Kf2 Kf7 28. Kg3 Bd8 29. Kh3 Be7 30. Be3 Bd8 31. Bf2
Be7 (31... c6 $5 32. Bh4 Bc7 33. Bf6 $16) 32. Bh4 Bxh4 33. Kxh4 Kg7 34. Kg5 $18
) 25. h4 $2 {
This takes the pressure off but Fritz thought (wrongly) it was setting a trap}
25... hxg4 (25... Bxh4 {Also draws but why complicate ? - Kramnik} 26. g5 Kd7
27. Be3 Kc6 28. Kg2 Kd7 29. Kh3 Bxf2 30. Bxf2 Kc6 $11) 26. Bg5 Bxg5 27. hxg5
Ke8 28. Kg2 1/2-1/2
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 {Computers like to open files but this is an opening that
Vlad really has had great success with.} 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O
a6 7. dxc5 {As played with success against Kasparov.} 7... Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9.
Kf1 $1 {What a clever idea to get the computer out of book and it works. It
later turns out that the king is slightly vulnerable on f1 and h2 is
undefended but this was naturally quite impossible to foresee.} (9. Nbd2 {0}
9... Nbd7 10. Be2 b6 {Kramnik v Kasparov game 4 London 2000.}) 9... b5 {
I don't like this because there is no need for it now.} (9... Nbd7 {
is sounder and less weakening.}) 10. Be2 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 12. Nb3 {
A bit unusual.} (12. b3 {was standard, so standard Fritz short circuits. I
wonder if Kramnik had this position on the board in advance. After the game he
denied this.}) 12... Bf8 $4 {Fritz just thought Kramnik had to play 13.Nbd2
now when it would merrily play 13...Bc5 Of course 13...Be7 was more sensible}
13. a4 {With the Black rook on h8 a long way from the action its time to
attack the weak queenside pawns.} 13... b4 (13... bxa4 14. Rxa4 Nc5 15. Nxc5
Bxc5 16. Bd2 O-O 17. Rda1 Rfd8 18. Be1 {and the pawn on a6 is going.}) 14. Nfd2
{The standard move to head for the newly available c4 square.} 14... Bd5 15. f3
{To play e4 and kick the bishop.} 15... Bd6 16. g3 e5 $1 {Its vital to keep
the bishop shadowing the Nb3 and limit those white knights which are poised to
invade.} 17. e4 Be6 18. Nc4 Bc7 (18... Be7 19. Nba5 O-O 20. Nc6 Rfe8 21. Bd2 {
and the queenside pawns are very weak again.}) 19. Be3 a5 (19... O-O 20. Nc5
Nxc5 21. Bxc5 Rfb8 22. Bd6 Bxd6 23. Rxd6 $16) 20. Nc5 {
Now Fritz plays quite brilliantly to find a defence.} 20... Nxc5 21. Bxc5 Nd7 {
Only move.} 22. Nd6+ Kf8 $1 (22... Kd8 23. Rac1 (23. Nxf7+ Bxf7 24. Bb5 Be6 25.
Rxd7+ Bxd7 26. Rd1 Kc8 27. Rxd7 {
Is exactly how not to play against Fritz even if its quite strong !}) 23...
Nxc5 $16 24. Nxf7+ Ke7 25. Rxc5 Bb6 26. Rc6 $16) 23. Bf2 {
At this stage it was hard to imagine the computer surviving.} (23. Nb5+ {
At first sight Nigel Short thought this was winning. I couldn't see why not so
in the end we switched on Franz Morsch's Fritz to find out!!} 23... Nxc5 24.
Nxc7 Rc8 25. Rac1 {Looks absolutely crushing but...} 25... Bh3+ 26. Ke1 Rxc7
27. Rd8+ Ke7 28. Rxh8 Nd3+ {Survives.}) 23... Bxd6 24. Rxd6 Ke7 25. Rad1 Rhc8
26. Bb5 {
and now we were expecting 26...Rc7 and Fritz grovels till it dies but...} 26...
Nc5 $3 (26... Rc7 27. R1d2 Rac8 28. Ra6 $16 Nc5 29. Bxc5+ Rxc5 30. Rxa5) 27.
Bc6 {They think its all over..} 27... Bc4+ $1 {An amazing shot.} 28. Ke1 Nd3+
29. R1xd3 Bxd3 30. Bc5 Bc4 (30... Bc2 31. Kd2 b3 32. Rd5+ Kf6 33. Bxa8 Rxa8 34.
Rd6+ Kg5 35. h4+ Kh5 36. Bb6 {And a5 falls and White should win.}) 31. Rd4+ {
Kramnik forces a rook and pawn endgame.} 31... Kf6 32. Rxc4 Rxc6 33. Be7+ Kxe7
34. Rxc6 Kd7 35. Rc5 f6 36. Kd2 {After this forcing sequence its hard to see a
good plan for Fritz even though material is level. Nearly all strong human
players would try to give up a pawn to become active and set the opponent
practical problems but not Fritz, he wants to hang on to his pawns and so
Kramnik just expertly improves his position.} 36... Kd6 37. Rd5+ Kc6 38. Kd3 g6
(38... Ra7 39. Kc4 Ra8 40. h4 Ra7 41. h5 h6 42. f4 {
Opening a second front and straining the defence to the limit.} 42... exf4 43.
gxf4 Re7 44. e5 fxe5 45. fxe5 Kb6 46. Rd6+ Kc7 47. Kd5 {wins.}) 39. Kc4 g5 {
Fritz had now seen that f4 would hurt but this does not stop it. If anything
it might encourage the sequence f4 gxf4 gxf4 exf4 Rf5 but Kramnik just prefers
to let the machine suffer a bit more.} 40. h3 h6 41. h4 $1 gxh4 42. gxh4 Ra7
43. h5 {Now everything is perfect. Fritz can not afford the waiting move Ra7
because Rd8-h8 wins so Kramnik loses a move to set up Zugszwang.} 43... Ra8 44.
Rc5+ Kb6 45. Rb5+ Kc6 46. Rd5 $1 {Your move my friend.} 46... Kc7 (46... Ra7
47. Rd8 Rg7 (47... Rf7 48. Rc8+ Kb6 49. Kd5 Rd7+ 50. Ke6 Rd2 51. Kxf6 Rxb2 52.
Kxe5 b3 53. f4 $16) 48. Rf8 $16) 47. Kb5 b3 (47... Ra7 48. Rc5+ Kd7 49. Kb6 $16
) 48. Rd3 Ra7 49. Rxb3 Rb7+ 50. Kc4 Ra7 51. Rb5 Ra8 52. Kd5 Ra6 53. Rc5+ Kd7
54. b3 Rd6+ 55. Kc4 Rd4+ 56. Kc3 Rd1 57. Rd5+ {57...Rxd5 58.exd5 Kd6 59.b4
Kxd5 60.bxa5 f5 61.a6 Kc6 62.Kc4 Kb6 63.Kd5 wins 57...Rxd5 58.exd5 Kd6 59.b4
axb4 60.Kxb4 Kxd5 61.Kb5 f5 62.a5 e4 63.a6 queens with check} 1-0
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {Avoiding Kramnik's indestructible Berlin! Rumour
has it that, right before he left Bahrain, Nigel Short actually recommended
trying the Scotch to the Fritz team during their arbiter-supervised 'opening
adjustment' session, in an attempt to catch Kramnik off guard.} 3... exd4 4.
Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qd2 dxc6 7. Nc3 Ne7 {Oddly enough, Kramnik has adopted
Short's favoured reply to the Scotch, according to Mig Greengard.} 8. Qf4 Be6 {
allowing White to double Black's kingside pawns as well. Kramnik realizes that
the exchange of queens is worth this, considering that Fritz would require
quite a bit of strategic savoirfaire in order to exploit the resulting
irregular pawn structure.} 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. Na4 Bb4+ {
a zwischenzug that aims to deprive the wayward knight of any retreat squares.}
11. c3 Bd6 12. Be3 {avoids losing the knight to 13...b5 by creating an outpost
for it on c5, but Black competes with} 12... b6 13. f4 {White grabs some more
space on the kingside and anticipates Black's f5 pawn advance.} 13... O-O-O 14.
Kf2 {Preparing to advance his c-pawn in order to reactivate the knight and get
a nice hold on the white squares.} ({If} 14. c4 {then} 14... Bb4+) 14... c5 {
Black would like to bring his own knight into play with this.} 15. c4 Nc6 16.
Nc3 f5 {the long-awaited pawn thrust contests White's dominant central pawn
structure. Especially with players like Kramnik, the timing of such pawn
thrusts is crucial.} 17. e5 Bf8 {planning Bg7 and then f6, hitting White's
spearhead on e5. At this point, the Fritz team were quite pleased with their
program's opening play. White does have the more favourable position.} 18. b3 {
this exposes the long a1-h8 diagonal to Black's intended Bg7 and pawn f6.
Kramnik took over a half-hour, and some nicotine, to produce the following
masterstroke:} 18... Nb4 $1 19. a3 $2 {This further weakens White's queenside
structure. Later, Kramnik said that he was sure of the win after this move.}
19... Nc2 20. Rc1 Nxe3 21. Kxe3 Bg7 22. Nd5 c6 ({If} 22... Bxd5 {then} 23. cxd5
Rxd5 24. Bd3 {White regains his pawn and has a clear endgame advantage thanks
to his more active pieces and superior pawn structure.}) 23. Nf6 {to stop Black
's f6 push, but this also neutralises White's pawn structure advantage on the
kingside.} 23... Bxf6 24. exf6 Rhe8 {Black's superiority is becoming clear now.
} 25. Kf3 Rd2 26. h3 Bd7 27. g3 Re6 {snapping up the defenceless pawn on f6.}
28. Rb1 {passive, but it's hard to see anything else} (28. g4 $5 Rxf6 {
This does allow White just enough time to slightly activate his pieces.}) 28...
Rxf6 29. Be2 Re6 30. Rhe1 Kc7 31. Bf1 b5 32. Rec1 (32. cxb5 cxb5 {
and now White has to reckon with the threat of Bc6++.}) 32... Kb6 33. b4 cxb4
34. axb4 {Now Black has a legitimate Queenside majority, of which he takes
full advantage.} 34... Re4 35. Rd1 Rxd1 36. Rxd1 Be6 37. Bd3 Rd4 38. Be2 Rxd1
39. c5+ Kb7 40. Bxd1 a5 41. bxa5 Ka6 42. Ke3 Kxa5 43. Kd4 b4 44. g4 fxg4 45.
hxg4 b3 46. Kc3 Ka4 47. Kb2 f6 48. Bf3 Kb5 {Protects his own pawn on c6 and
secures the capture of the white one on c5. With two connected passed pawns,
all White can play for is heart failure.} 49. g5 f5 50. Kc3 Kxc5 51. Be2 {
was played over the board, but the Fritz team chose not to wait for Black's
response, demonstrating the only legal method of taking a move back.} 0-1
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D34"]
[WhiteElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 {Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's answer to the Queen's
Gambit. Once again today, Fritz chooses an opening line which allows for piece
activity.} 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 {The legendary Akiba Rubinstein found this most
effective move against the Tarrasch Defence in the early 20th century. The
fianchettoed bishop is to exploit the potentially-isolated d5-pawn.} 5... Nc6
6. Bg2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Bf4 Bg4 12. h3 Be6
13. Rc1 Re8 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. e4 {All theory. With this pawn break, White
contests Black's center pawns, aiming to open lines for his two bishops and
perhaps an exchange of queens.} 15... d4 16. e5 dxc3 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. bxc3
Qxd1 19. Rfxd1 {This has all been play with which Kramnik is apparently
familiar. Up to this point, he's used up very little time. White has a nice
advantage here. His rook is sole commander of the d-file, and his laser-beam
bishops penetrate the heart of Black's queenside. The only disadvantage (other
than those loose queenside pawns) is that this is exactly the kind of open
position in which Fritz has little trouble finding the best moves.} 19... Rad8
20. Be3 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Bxc3 22. Rd7 {Kramnik spent 31 minutes before
committing to this move. The c3-pawn would have been too much of a burden to
protect. In any case, with his rook on the seventh, White looks forward to
regaining his pawn.} 22... Rb8 {I saw Frans Morsch shake his head at this one.
Similar to Fritz's Rb1 yesterday, this move is too passive.} (22... Re7 $4 23.
Bxc6) 23. Bxc6 bxc6 24. Rxa7 Rb2 {'Rooks behind pawns!' By moving his own rook
to the second rank, Black aims to annoy the a-pawn and also keep the white
king at bay.} 25. Ra6 Bd2 $1 {Fritz gladly gives up a pawn to exchange bishops.
The machine here sees that the resulting position is a draw.} 26. Rxc6 {
White wins if he could trade rooks, thanks to his passed rook pawn. By
allowing the bishop exchange, however, Kramnik also allows the draw.} ({
The masters here were expecting} 26. Bd4 Rb4 27. Be5 Re4 28. f4 g5 29. Rxc6
gxf4 30. gxf4 Bxf4 31. Bxf4 Rxf4 32. Rxe6 $11) 26... Bxe3 27. fxe3 Kf7 {
At this point, with his king confined to the first rank, White hasn't the
slightest hope for a win. The extra rook pawn means little, as it is under
easy surveilance by Black's active rook. Of course, Kramnik has to play on for
another 14 moves, just in case...} 28. a4 Ra2 29. Rc4 Kf6 30. Kf1 g5 31. h4 h5
32. hxg5+ Kxg5 33. Ke1 e5 34. Kf1 {
The king can't stray too far from his lone pawns.} 34... Kf5 {
It's about that time, isn't it?} 35. Rh4 Kg6 36. Re4 Kf5 37. Rh4 Kg5 38. Kg1
Kg6 39. g4 hxg4 40. Rxg4+ Kf5 41. Rc4 {Now that clocks have gained an extra
hour each, Kramnik is satisfied that the machine isn't likely to err.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.13"]
[Round "5"]
[White "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D57"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 {Having faced accusations of
playing too many Kasparov openings, Deep Fritz adopts a Karpov favourite today.
} 5... h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 {The Lasker variation.} 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. cxd5
Nxc3 10. bxc3 exd5 11. Qb3 Rd8 ({probably better than} 11... c6 {
which restricts both of Black's minor pieces.}) 12. c4 dxc4 {Instead of this,
the GM team of commentators were examining what looks like a forced queen
exchange.} (12... Nc6 13. cxd5 Qb4+) 13. Bxc4 Nc6 14. Be2 {This avoids the
possibility of losing a tempo and the capture of White's good bishop after.}
14... b6 15. O-O Bb7 16. Rfc1 Rac8 {Preparing for an eventual ...c5 pawn break
to butt heads with White's rock-solid d-pawn.} 17. Qa4 Na5 18. Rc3 c5 19. Rac1
cxd4 20. Nxd4 Rxc3 21. Rxc3 Rc8 22. Rxc8+ Bxc8 {Entering this endgame, Black's
ace-in-the-hole is his queenside pawn majority. This could materialize into a
dreaded distant passed pawn, but only if Black trades off the pieces first!
Currently, White's knight is powerfully centralised while the poor Black winny
on a5 might as well be off the board.} 23. h3 g6 (23... Bd7 24. Qc2 Qd6 {
enabling 25...Nc6 and preventing 25. Qc7 25.Qe4 Nc6 26.Bd3 Nxd4?? 27.Qa8+!})
24. Bf3 Bd7 25. Qc2 Qc5 26. Qe4 Qc1+ 27. Kh2 Qc7+ {I suspect the purpose
behind the queen checks was to help reach the time control.} 28. g3 Nc4 {
the knight finally joins the battle.} 29. Be2 $1 Ne5 ({Excellent maneuvering
by Fritz! It rightly anticipates the advance of Black's queenside pawns,
beginning with} 29... b5 {to support the knight, but then} 30. a4 $1 a6 31.
Qa8+ {nails it.}) 30. Bb5 $1 ({At this point, most humans- including the
grandmasters here- would probably kick the knight with} 30. f4 {According to
Frans Morsch, this move was what the machine was considering as its best
option for a while, until it happened upon Bb5}) 30... Bxb5 31. Nxb5 Qc5 {
Black cannot hold on to his a-pawn.} 32. Nxa7 Qa5 33. Kg2 Qxa2 34. Nc8 {
In this position, Kramnik played the worst move of his world championship
career.} 34... Qc4 $4 35. Ne7+ 1-0
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.15"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 {Fritz decides on the Queen's Indian Defence.} 4.
g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3 {Forget the whole 'don't move
the same piece twice' advice here. The dance of bishops is considered theory.}
8... d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Rc8 13. a4 {
Black's next move prepares to hit the d4-pawn with ...c5.} 13... Bf6 ({
if immediately} 13... c5 {then} 14. cxd5 (14. a5 b5) 14... exd5 15. Bxd5 cxd4
16. Bxd4 Nb8 17. e4 Bxf1 18. Nxf1 Nc6) 14. e4 c5 15. exd5 (15. e5 $2 cxd4)
15... cxd4 {So far, so book.} 16. Bb4 Re8 17. Ne4 {Kramnik spent 42 minutes
before making this move. It leads to some spectacular play.} 17... exd5 18. Nd6
dxc4 {Deep Fritz was anticipating this and was willing to sacrifice the
exchange for a super-strong d-pawn, but Kramnik had other ideas...} 19. Nxf7 $5
{Spectacular! Before this move was played Deep Fritz was expecting 19. Bd5!
and if 19...Ne5 20. f4! with a clear advantage to White.} ({
Here's the actual Deep Fritz analysis:} 19. Bd5 Nc5 (19... Ne5 20. f4 Nd3 21.
Bxf7+ Kf8 (21... Kh8 22. Bxe8) 22. Qh5 Nxb4 23. Bxe8) 20. Bxf7+ Kf8 21. Bxe8
Qxd6 22. Bb5 Bxb5 23. axb5 $16 {
With White's actual move, we're presented with the most fascinating king hunt.}
) 19... Kxf7 20. Bd5+ Kg6 21. Qg4+ Bg5 22. Be4+ ({very interesting was} 22. f4
h5 $1 23. Bf7+ Kxf7 24. fxg5+ Kg8 25. Qxh5 {
threatening g6 and then Qh7 mate, but after} 25... Ne5 26. g6 Nxg6 27. Qxg6 Qd7
{seems to hold for Black.}) 22... Rxe4 {
Forced if Black wants to avoid a draw by repetition.} 23. Qxe4+ Kh6 (23... Kf7
24. Qd5+ Kg6 25. Qe4+ {
with the choice between perpetual check or the text move.}) 24. h4 Bf6 25. Bd2+
g5 26. hxg5+ {Here, the Deep one took a deep think before committing to} 26...
Bxg5 27. Qh4+ {At the time of playing 19.Nxf7, Kramnik had intended 27.Qe6+
here, but then saw 27...Nf6 28. Qh3+ Kg6! 29. f4 Bh6 30.f5+ Kf7 and dismissed
it for the text move (he was under time pressure). It turns out that the more
complicated 27.Qe6+ would have resulted in better winning chances for White.
Following is the actual analysis done by the commentary team, Deep Fritz, and
Kramnik himself, enjoy:} (27. Qe6+ Nf6 28. Qh3+ Kg6 $1 {Kramnik showed that
this move gives back the piece but wins for Black- see very bottom of this
analysis.} (28... Nh5 29. f4 Bh4 30. bxc4 (30. g4 Ng3 (30... Kg7 31. bxc4) 31.
f5+ Kg7 32. f6+ Bxf6 (32... Kh8 33. Qxh4 Ne2+ (33... Nxf1 34. Rxf1) 34. Kh2
cxb3 (34... c3 $2 35. Bf4 Qf8 (35... Nxf4 36. Rxf4) 36. f7 Nxf4 37. Rxf4) 35.
Qh6 Qc7+ (35... Qf8 36. f7) 36. Bf4 Qf7) 33. Qh6+ Kh8 34. Rxf6) 30... Nxg3 31.
Be1 Nxf1 32. Bxh4 Qg8+ 33. Bg5+ Kg7 34. Re1 $1 Rc7 (34... Ne3 35. Qd7+ Kh8 36.
Qxd4+ Qg7 37. Qxg7+ (37. Qxe3) 37... Kxg7 38. Rxe3 Rxc4 39. Re7+ Kg6 40. Rxa7
Rxa4 41. Bd8 $11) 35. Qh6+ Kh8 36. Kxf1 Qxc4+ 37. Kg1 Qf7 $11 {Hodgson}) 29. f4
Bh6 30. f5+ Kf7 $19 {Kramnik}) 27... Kg6 28. Qe4+ Kg7 {
Black saves the king and keeps the piece, but the game isn't over yet.} 29.
Bxg5 Qxg5 30. Rfe1 cxb3 31. Qxd4+ Nf6 32. a5 ({if} 32. Re7+ {then} 32... Kg6)
32... Qd5 $1 {With his passed b-pawn 2 squares away from promotion, it is
(finally) favourable for Fritz to trade queens.} 33. Qxd5 Nxd5 34. axb6 axb6
0-1
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.17"]
[Round "7"]
[White "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E19"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 {
Kramnik thinks he'll try the black side of the Queen's Indian today.} 4. g3 Bb7
5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 {Common theme in the Nimzo/Queen's Indian
complex; Black aims to give White doubled pawns on the c-file.} 8. Qc2 {
meets the threat and creates another.} 8... Nxc3 9. Qxc3 c5 {Such a central
pawn thrust, contesting the d4-pawn, is almost always crucial for Black in
Queen's pawn openings.} 10. Rd1 d6 11. b3 Bf6 {pinning} 12. Bb2 Qe7 13. Qc2 {
unpinning} 13... Nc6 14. e4 e5 15. d5 Nd4 16. Bxd4 cxd4 {Here, Fritz creator
Frans Morsch was worried. With this sort of closed position, the program
cannot capitalize on its phenomenal tactical abilities and Kramnik has the
opportunity to implement his superior strategic knowledge. The black pawn on
d4 is strong. Not only because it's passed (with all the locked pawns around
it, it's hard to imagine it advancing to queen), but also because it's solidly
placed in the heart of White's camp, and hinders the White pieces.} 17. Bh3 {
The king's bishop sees the light of day. Fritz played this instantly.According
to Alex Kure, the man in charge of the program's openings, Deep Fritz has
roughly 1.9 million opening positions in its database, from 88,000 master
games, plus a lot of analysis that's never been played before. All this
amounts to about 150 megabytes on the hard drive.} 17... g6 18. a4 {
White intends 19.a5 to open the file for his major pieces.} 18... a5 {
The backward b6-pawn is actually quite safe from harm, thanks to the locked
pawn structure.} 19. Rab1 Ba6 20. Re1 $2 {Useless.} ({
Much more to the point was} 20. b4 {opening things up on the queenside.}) 20...
Kh8 {Black takes his time to place all his pieces in preparation for a future
central pawn break with ...f5.} 21. Kg2 $4 {These time-wasting moves are a
great example of a computer's inability to handle such postions.} 21... Bg7 22.
Qd3 Rae8 23. Nd2 Bh6 24. f4 $1 {The computer beats him to it! This makes the
champ's pieces sweat for a bit, but leads to equality and, as Mig Greengard
would put it, a "high chicken factor" draw in four more moves.} 24... Qc7 25.
Rf1 Kg8 26. Rbe1 Qd8 27. Kg1 Bb7 28. Re2 Ba6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"]
[Site "Manama BAH"]
[Date "2002.10.19"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "DEEP FRITZ"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D68"]
[WhiteElo "2807"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2002.10.04"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 {Entering the Slav Defence, only to be
transposed into something else in a few moves.} 5. Bg5 Be7 {Black avoids the
nebulous strategic realms of the Slav, in which Kramnik happens to be a
leading expert. Instead the Fritzer transposes back into the Queen's Gambit
Declined.} 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O dxc4 {The immortal Jose Raul
Capablanca studied the position for a long time before finding this move in
the QGD Orthodox variation. The idea is, due to his cramped (but sound)
position, Black forces a series of exchanges that virtually neutralizes
White's spacial domination.} 9. Bxc4 Nd5 {
The dark-squared bishops must be exchanged.} 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Rc1 Nxc3 12.
Rxc3 {Recapturing with the rook saves a tempo.} ({The alternative recapture}
12. bxc3 {isolates the a-pawn, and the d4-pawn would still be vulnerable to
the counter-thrusts ...e5 and ...c5.}) 12... e5 {
With this, White must either exchange his pawn on d4 or isolate it.} 13. Bb3
exd4 14. exd4 Nf6 15. Re1 Qd6 16. h3 {prevents ..,Bg4, obviously.} 16... Bf5 {
The active rooks yield White some more activity, but his isolated d4-pawn
could prove to be a burden later on. In return for slightly less active pieces,
Black has no inherent weakness in his position. With a beautifully sound pawn
structure, it would be hard for Kramnik to find a way to win out of this final
game of the match.} 17. Rce3 Rae8 {The doubled rooks must not be allowed entry.
} 18. Re5 Bg6 19. a3 {Probably with no purpose other than to provoke the
computer into aggressively advancing, and thereby weakening, its queenside
pawns.} 19... Qd8 20. Rxe8 Nxe8 21. Qd2 1/2-1/2
[Event "Internet Match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hiarcs 8"]
[Black "Gulko, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A43"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[Annotator "JvR"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
{Each side starts with one hour and gets 10 seconds per move. Hiarcs plays in
its hyper-modern mode.} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6.
O-O c5 7. d5 Na6 8. Re1 Nc7 9. Bf4 b6 $6 ({Heroism shows} 9... b5 $1 10. Nxb5
Nxe4 11. Nxc7 Qxc7 {(Tal-Speelman, Reykjavik 1988).}) 10. Qd2 Re8 $6 {
Black plays another passive move.} 11. a4 Bb7 12. Bc4 a6 13. Ra3 {
A rook manoeuvre restricts the queenside.} 13... Rb8 14. Rb3 $1 Ba8 15. e5 $1
Nh5 16. Bh6 f5 $2 ({The central area is properly defended by} 16... Qd7 $1 17.
Bxg7 (17. e6 fxe6 18. dxe6 Qc6) 17... Nxg7) 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Ng5 $1 {
Hiarcs attacks on all fronts.} 18... h6 19. exd6 exd6 20. Rxe8 Qxe8 21. Ne6+
Nxe6 22. dxe6 Qd8 (22... Qe7 23. Bd5 Bxd5 24. Nxd5 Qxe6 25. Re3 {
is horrible for Black.}) 23. Bxa6 d5 24. a5 Qd6 25. Na4 Nf6 26. Rxb6 Rxb6 27.
Nxb6 Qxe6 28. Qe2 Qxe2 29. Bxe2 Bc6 30. Bf3 Bb7 31. c4 Ba6 32. Bxd5 Nxd5 33.
cxd5 Bb5 34. Na8 {The grandmaster was outclassed by the machine.}
1-0
[Event "Man-Machine World Championship"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2003.11.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "X3D Fritz"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2830"]
[ECO "D45"]
[Annotator "Karsten Müller, Mig"]
[PlyCount "73"]
{Matches of the best human players against computer programs are very common
nowadays as the question of human or computer superiority in chess is still
open and more than ever. Last year Kramnik drew 4:4 against Fritz in Bahrein
and Kasparov scored 3:3 against Deep Junior in New York at the beginning of
this year. Can one side change this now? In the first game Kasparov had
good chances, but could not use them in slight time trouble. But see for
yourself} 1. Nf3 {Does Kasparov play like this to
avoid the Tarrasch variation of the Queen's Gambit or is this the best move
order in his opinion to reach a Meran? Mig: 'Kasparov almost always opens with
1.e4 these days, at least against humans. But over the course of his 25 year
professional career he has played just about everything.} d5 2. c4 c6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 {Mig: 'Logical and normal development
into what is called the Slav Defense. This is a well-known system that is
particularly well-known to Garry Kasparov! The X3D Fritz team shows no fear
and heads right into Kasparov's strength. They wanted to show they didn't fear
his preparation. This choice is also relevant because in Kasparov's last
computer match, against Deep Junior in January '03, he crushed the machine in
this exact opening in the first game!'} 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 (6... b6 7. cxd5
exd5 8. Bd3 Be7 9. Bd2 O-O 10. g4 Nxg4 11. Rg1 Ndf6 {
0-1 Kasparov,G-DEEP JUNIOR/New York USA 2003/(36)}) 7. g4 {Mig: 'A very
aggressive move that offers a pawn in exchange for attacking chances. If Black
captures the pawn with ..Nxg5 White gets a lot of pressure on the open g-file.
Kasparov has played this position three times, twice with white and once with
black! He won all three games, including one against the computer program Deep
Junior earlier this year.'} Bb4 {Mig: 'A normal move still in the "book" of
both players. X3D Fritz has almost three million positions in its library of
opening moves and sequences. Kasparov is legendary for his opening preparation
and knowledge. He is a walking encyclopedia of opening theory and his
opponents have a healthy fear of his surprises in the openings. This move
also takes the game away from the game Kasparov won against Deep Junior in
this line. That's a sort of psychological advantage, being the first to spring
something unexpected. Between two humans it could also be sort of like a game
of chicken, with the first player to turn off from the previous game being the
chicken. No matter how well it plays chess, this aspect is lost on X3D Fritz.
It is not, however, lost on its creators and operators! '} (7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 (
8. g5 Nd5 9. Bxc4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 e5 $132) (8. e4 e5 $1 9. g5 {
Ftacnik,L. 0-1 Adams,M-Kasparov,G/Dortmund 1992/CBM 29/22)} (9. dxe5 Nxe5 10.
Nxe5 Bxe5 11. g5 Nh5 $15)) (8. g5 Nd5 9. Bxc4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 e5 $132) (8. Bxc4 {
Anand}) 8... b6 9. e4 e5 10. g5 Nh5 11. Be3 O-O 12. O-O-O Qc7 13. d5 b5 14.
dxc6 bxc4 15. Nb5 Qxc6 16. Nxd6 Bb7 17. Qc3 Rae8 18. Nxe8 Rxe8 19. Rhe1 Qb5 20.
Nd2 Rc8 21. Kb1 Nf8 22. Ka1 Ng6 23. Rc1 Ba6 24. b3 cxb3 25. Qxb3 Ra8 26. Qxb5
Bxb5 27. Rc7 {1-0 Kasparov,G-DEEP JUNIOR/New York USA 2003/ (27)}) (7... O-O 8.
g5 Nh5 9. Bd2 f5 10. gxf6 Nhxf6 11. Ng5 Qe8 12. O-O-O h6 13. h4 $40 {
Shirov,A-Thorhallson,T/Reykjavik/1992/}) 8. Bd2 Qe7 9. Rg1 (9. a3 $6 {
leads to the famous game Gelfand-Kramnik} Bxc3 10. Bxc3 b6 11. Bd3 Ba6 12. Qa4 dxc4 13. Qxa6 cxd3 14. Qxd3 O-O 15.
g5 Nd5 16. Bd2 f5 17. O-O-O c5 18. Kb1 b5 19. Qxb5 Rab8 20. Qa5 Rb3 21. Ka2
Rfb8 22. Rb1 e5 23. Rhc1 Qe6 24. Ka1 exd4 25. Rxc5 Nxc5 26. Qxc5 Nc3 27. Nxd4
Rxb2 28. Rxb2 Qa2+ {0-1 Gelfand,B-Kramnik,V/Berlin 1996/CBM 55 (28)}) 9... Bxc3
(9... b6 {is played more often}) 10. Bxc3 Ne4 (10...
b6 {was again an alternative, e.g.} 11. Bd3 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Bb7 13. g5 Nd5 $14 {0-1 Szeberenyi,A-Izsak,G/Budapest 1997/CBM 61 ext (63)
}) 11. O-O-O $5 $146 {Mig: 'A new move instead of the usual 11.Bd3.'} (11. Bd3
Nxc3 12. Qxc3 dxc4 (12... O-O 13. O-O-O dxc4 14. Bxc4 c5 (14... b5 15. Bd3 Bb7
16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Rfd8 18. Kb1 a6 19. Qc2 {
1-0 Malakhov,V-Potkin,V/Togliatti RUS 2003/The Week in Chess (39)}) 15. g5 cxd4
16. Qxd4 a6 17. Kb1 b5 18. Be2 {
0-1 Milanovic,D-Djerfi,K/Belgrade 2003/CBM 96 ext (33)}) 13. Bxc4 b6 14. O-O-O
O-O 15. Bd3 Bb7 16. Qc2 g6 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. dxe5 c5 19. Be4 c4 20. Rd6 Rac8 {
1/2-1/2 Kobalija,M-Ramesh,R/Biel 2001/CBM 83 ext (20)}) 11... Qf6 $5 {Mig.: 'Now that we are out of
X3D Fritz's opening library of recorded moves it
is thinking, calculating, for itself. And right away we see a very
"computer-like" move from the computer. It immediately plays to win a pawn by
attacking the unprotected knight on f3.'} 12. Be2 {
Mig: 'Kasparov protects his knight and offers the f2 pawn for capture.'} Nxf2
$6 {Did Kasparov hope for this greedy pawn grab to happen? He gets now a
murderous initiative based on his advantage in development, his mighty pair of
bishops and the unsafe black king. A human would be shaking in his shoes with
Black here. Mig: 'And X3D Fritz takes the pawn! This will give White a lot of
pressure against the black position in compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
It's ironic that we have the strongest chess computer of all time here and it
is playing in the materialistic mode of the first chess programs. In X3D
Fritz's opinion, it has enough defensive resources to rebuff Kasparov's
initiative. This battle of material vs initiative is what chess is all
about. Kasparov gives up a pawn for an attack, but if his attack doesn't
succeed then X3D Fritz will have good chances to win with the extra material.
Kasparov loves to have the initiative and such sacrifices are his stock and
trade.} (12... Nb6 $5) 13. Rdf1 {Mig: 'Attacking the black knight.'} Ne4 {Mig:
'Retreating the knight. One of
the drawbacks of X3D Fritz's pawn grab is that now the f-file is open for
White's pieces. Right now Kasparov is threatening a discovered attack on the
black queen. That means when he moves his knight, there will be a line of
attack opened for his rook.'} 14. Bb4 $1 {prevents the short castling and
emphasizes Black's weak dark squares. Mig: 'Kasparov moves his bishop away so
the knight can't capture it. He uses it to prevent the black king from
castling by attacking the f8 square.} (14. Ne5 {This is the discovered
attack. Note that now Black's queen is under fire from the rook on f1. When
the queen moves Kasparov would be able to capture the pawn on f7. But X3D
Fritz saw well in advance that its queen would be able to counterattack
effectively. It's hard to fool a computer looking at four million moves per
second.} Qh4 15. Nxf7 O-O $1 {Creating a double attack on the f7 knight.} 16.
Ne5 Rxf1+ 17. Rxf1 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qxh2 {
Black maintains its extra pawn and has a clear advantage.}) 14... c5 {
Mig: 'This move apparently came as a surprise to Kasparov, who now went into a
deep think after playing all of his previous moves at tremendous speed. X3D
Fritz gives back the pawn in order to block the white bishop's diagonal and
open lines toward the White king.'} (14... Ng5 15. Kb1 {
with powerful compensation.}) ({ Throwing} 14... a5 $6 15. Ba3 {in helps only
White, e.g.} c5 16. cxd5 exd5 17. dxc5 Qe7 18. c6 Ndc5 19. cxb7 Bxb7 20. Bb5+
Kd8 21. Nd4 $16) 15. cxd5 {Why did Kasparov think so long here? The alternative}
(15. dxc5 {leads after} Qe7 16. cxd5 exd5 17. Nd4
{to transposition to the game.})
15... exd5 (15... cxb4 $2 16. Qxe4 $16) 16. dxc5 Qe7 {Mig: 'Getting the queen
away from the discovered attack on the f-file and also attacking the c5 pawn.
Material is now equal, Kasparov has an edge in development and X3D Fritz has a
very well-placed knight on e4.'} ({Oliver Reeh suggested to solve the problems
of Black's king radically with} 16... O-O
$6 {in his live comments, but after} 17. c6 bxc6 18. Bxf8 Nxf8 19. Bd3 {
with nice prospects}) 17. Nd4 $1 {a mighty square for
White's knight, which is liked an octopus here. It can for instance jump to f5
to imcrease the pressure on the dark squares. Mig: 'A typically dynamic
Kasparov move. He will play his knight to the aggressive f5 square. He ignores
the threat to the c5 pawn since capturing it would cost Black a great deal of
time.} O-O $1 {The human looking
move, which was again suggested by Oliver Reeh was a surprise. Fritz evacuates
his king at the cost of an exchange. Mig: 'Getting the king to safety, but
allowing Kasparov to play a powerful sequence of moves here that will win a
rook for a bishop and pawns. A rather surprising decision from a program that
has already shown itself to be a bit of a materialist!}
(17... b6 $2 18. Nf5 $18) ({We (IM Heiko Machelett, Prof.Dr.Althofer and I)
thought the more "Fritz-like"} 17... Ndxc5 $2 18. Bb5+ Kf8 {
Mig: 'Now the black king is stuck in the middle of the board.'} 19. Rf4 b6 {
would follow. Black keeps his pawn and cements his knights. But his rook h8 is
out of game at the moment. This is a typical shuffle chess problem by the way.
So Heiko, who played an Advanced shuffle chess match against me in Jena last
year, suggested options like h7-h6 followed by Kf8-g8-h7 rsp. g7-g6 and Kg7.
But the whole line has a hole, which was seen by Fritz in time} 20. Bc6 $1 Bb7
$2 (20... Nd6 $1 21. Kb1 $16) 21. Nf5 $18 Qc7 22. Bxb7
Qxb7 23. Rxe4 dxe4 24. Bxc5+ bxc5 25. Qxc5+ Kg8 (25... Ke8 26. Rd1 Rc8 $6 27.
Nxg7#) 26. g5 h6 (26... Rc8 $2 27. Nh6+ gxh6 28. gxh6#) 27. Ne7+ Kf8 28. Nd5+
Ke8 29. Nc7+ $18) (17... Nexc5 $2 18. Nf5 Qf8 19. Rd1 g6 20. Rxd5 gxf5 21. Bb5
Nd3+ 22. Qxd3 Qxb4 23. Qxf5 $18) 18. Nf5 {Mig: 'Attacking the queen.'} Qe5 19.
c6 {Mig: 'Kasparov goes for it. This pawn push is a discovered attack. The
pawn attacks the knight and at the same time the diagonal for the b4 bishop is
opened up to attack the rook on f8. He is going to win a rook for his bishop,
a gain in material, but he usually likes to be the one giving up the material
for the attack. Now X3D Fritz will have the initiative and more active pieces.
'} bxc6 20. Bxf8 {Kasparov invests again a lot of time. Later he will be a bit
short of time. Mig: 'The logical continuation, although he could also have
checked the black king and infiltrated with his knight with 20.Ne7+} (20. Ne7+
$2 Kh8 21. Nxc6 {is strongly met by} Qg5 $1 22. Bxf8 Qxe3+ 23. Kb1 Nd2+
24. Ka1 Nxf1 25. Bxg7+ Kxg7 26. Rxf1 Bb7) 20... Kxf8
{a tempo played by Fritz. It must have had
enough time to calculate it in advance on Kasparov's time. Mig: 'Our
Grandmaster commentators were expecting X3D Fritz to recapture with the knight
instead of moving his king into the middle of the board. The machine prefers
to keep its pieces more active and isn't worried about its king at all. A
human would instictively worry about putting his king out into traffic. A
computer just looks at a few hundred million positions, sees no danger, and
plays what it thinks is best} (20...
Nxf8 21. Bd3 $16 {is very pleasant for White}
(21. Qxc6 $2 Rb8 {gives Black strong attack. Mig: 'With great attacking
chances for Black})) 21. Ng3 $1 {Mig: 'Kasparov
wants to trade material. He has a material advantage and every exchange will
bring him closer to realizing it.'} (21. Bd3 $2 Ndc5 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23. Nd4 Nd3+
24. Kb1 Rb8 {and Black has good counterplay.}) ({Now} 21. Qxc6 $2 Rb8
22. Qc2 Nb6 {and Black can fish in muddy waters}) 21...
Ndc5 22. Nxe4 Nxe4 23. Bd3 {Mig: 'Threatening yet more trades.'} Be6 {
Mig: 'Finally developing this bishop and preparing to lodge it on the d5
square after Kasparov captures on e4. The bishop also protects the f7 square
on the vulnerable f-file. Computers always defend tenaciously.'} 24. Bxe4 $5 {
Kasparov clarifies the situation by exchanges. Not only against the computer a
good strategy as White's dominance on the dark square is emphasized by this.
} (24. Rf4 $6 Nc3 25. Rg3 Nxa2+ 26. Kb1 d4 {is unneccessary tactical})
24... dxe4 {Mig: 'Kasparov's
mission to exchange pieces has been successful, but how to now convert his
slight material advantage into a win?'} 25. Rf4 (25. Kb1 $5) 25... Bd5 {
Mig: 'Protecting the attacked e4 pawn. Black has set up a solid defensive wall
and it's up to Kasparov to find a way through.'} (25... Bxa2 $5 26. Rxe4 Qb5
27. Rd4 c5 {came into consideration to give Black more attacking prospects})
26. Qc5+ {Mig: 'Activating the queen with check, forcing the black king back.
This move
also pins the bishop against the queen.'} (26. Qc3 {Many expected this move,
offering to exchange the queens and driving the black queen from her excellent
central post. X3D Fritz definitely wouldn't exchange queens because then
Kasparov's material advantage would be close to crushing. X3D Fritz needs the
powerful queen on the board to keep counterchances.} Qd6) 26... Kg8 {the key of
White's strategy in this position is the prevention of any counterplay by slow
prophylactical improvement of all his men using his dominance on the dark
squares. This is very strong especially against Fritz, who needs activity like
a fish the water} 27. Rgf1 {threatens Rxf7, which Fritz of
course will never overlook. Mig: 'Threatening the brutally blunt capture Rxf7,
taking advantage of the pin on the bishop. This move was criticized by several
of the assembled Grandmasters as "too subtle." Black's reaction develops a
piece and White's threat is easily parried. The more direct 27.Rd1 was more to
the point} (27. g5 $6 Qe6
28. a3 Qh3 {and und}) (27. Rg2 $6 Qg5 {
give Black counterplay}) ({The prophylactical} 27. h4 $5 Rb8 28. Rg2
{came strongly into
consideration. If g4-g5 is played later then the 3 white pawns make it very
difficult to mobilze Black's kingside majority and may even be used to lauch
an assault on the dark squares by h4-h5-h6 (White's queen threatens to land on
g7 and back rank mates loom large)}) (27. Rd1 {Mig: The suggestion of GMs
Lautier, Gulko, and Alburt at the match in New York.
} Rb8 28. Rd4) 27... Rb8 {Mig: 'Answering Kasparov's threat with an even
stronger one. X3D Fritz threatens a lethal capture on b2.'} (27... a5 $4 28.
Rxf7 Bxf7 $2 (28... a4 $4 29. Rf8+ Rxf8 30. Qxf8#) 29. Qxe5 $18) 28. R1f2 {
Mig: 'Protecting b2 and so reviving the threat to capture on f7.'} (28. Rxf7 $4
Qxb2+ 29. Kd1 Bxf7 $19) 28... Qc7 {Mig: 'Removing the pin on the bishop and so
threatening to capture the unprotected a2 pawn.'} 29. Rc2 {Mig: 'Kasparov
prefers to answer a threat with a counterthreat instead of playing defense.
Now if Black plays ..Rb5 Kasparov exploits the new pin on the c-pawn and
captures the rook with Qxb5.'} (29. Kb1 {Protecting the a2 pawn with the king.}
) 29... Qd7 (29... h6 {is tactically playable} 30. Qxd5
$2 {can be met } Qxf4) (29... Bxa2 {Grabbing the pawn immediately
was playable, but now White's rooks get a lot of play.}) (29... Rb5 $4 30. Qxb5
$1) 30. h4 $5 {Mig: 'Another aggressive surprise from Kasparov. Just when all
the action was on the queenside and in the center, he threatens to open a new
front by pushing his kingside pawns against the black king.'} (30. b3 $6 {
is aimed against the Bd5, but can be answered by} Rb5 31. Qd4 Qe7 {
when the lever a7-a5-a4 is in the air}) 30... Qd8 {
threatens to take on h4 and on a2} 31. g5 {Mig: 'This move made X3D Fritz
very happy, at least according to its evaluation function. It
now considers it safe to capture the hanging pawn on a2. Kasparov wants to
play h5 without allowing Black to block his pawns with ..h6. But this plan is
just to slow and now X3D Fritz grabs a pawn on a2.'} (31. h5 {This push instead
of g5 wouldn't have given X3D Fritz time to capture on a2 because of the
threat of h6.} Bxa2 $2 (31... h6) 32. h6) 31... Bxa2 {Mig: 'A surprise for
Kasparov. Perhaps that pawn had sat there immune for so long that Kasparov
started to believe it couldn't be captured! Not only does Black win a pawn but
suddenly White's king is feeling a draft.'} (31... Rb5 32. Qd4 $16) 32. Rxe4 $2
{played after thinking for about 15 minutes. Did Kasparov want to force a draw
now or did he miss Black's reply? Mig: 'Almost a draw offer since it is now
very hard for White to find any move to avoid the repetition that does indeed
end the game} (32. Rd2 $1 {would have emphasized Black's wound again:
the weak dark squares. Mig:
'This move was expected by most commentators. It pushes the black
queen off the d-file and claims it for White. Then Kasparov could continue his
kingside push'} Qe8 (32... Bd5 $6 33. Rxe4 a5 (33... Rb5 $2
34. Qxc6 $18) 34. Red4 f5 (34... Qe8 $2 35. e4 $18) 35. gxf6 Qxf6 36. Rf4 Qg6
37. Rdf2 $16) 33. h5 $1 a6 (33... Bd5 $6 34. h6 g6 (34... Qf8 35. Qxa7 $16) 35.
Qxa7 $16) 34. Rd6 (34. h6 $6 Bd5 35. Qd4 Qf8 $1) 34... Bd5 35. Qa7 Qf8 36. Qc7
Rc8 37. Qd7 $16) (32. Qxc6) 32... Qd3 $1 {forces the draw as White can't
escape the coming checks Mig: 'Bringing the queen to a dominating position and
creating threats around the white king} 33. Rd4 {Mig: 'Giving up another
pawn in order to remove the worst of the black threats.'} (33. Qxc6 Qf1+ 34.
Kd2 Rd8+ 35. Rd4 Qf2+ 36. Kd3 Qf1+ $11) 33... Qxe3+ {Mig: 'X3D Fritz alarmed
the commentators by spending eight minutes on this obvious and forced move.
Seirawan, Ashley, and Hoffman wondered if there was a malfunction! Nothing of
the sort. X3D Fritz had plenty of extra time, so it was in no hurry. It had
started to see the repetition draw that now comes and when a decisive result
comes into its analysis horizon the program gives itself more time.'} 34. Rcd2
{Mig: 'The other moves are suicidal. Kasparov has no choice but to accept the
perpetual check draw if X3D Fritz wants it.' Mig: 'The only move.'} (34. Rdd2
$4 Rxb2 $1 {Whoops, giving up the queen but getting checkmate in return! A
fine illustration of the dangers around White's king.} 35. Qxe3 (35. Rxb2 Qxc5+
) (35. Kxb2 Qb3+ 36. Ka1 Qb1#) 35... Rb1#) (34. Kd1 $4 Re8) 34...
Qe1+ {Mig: 'Black is in considerable danger as well. Not only does Kasparov
have a material advantage, but the black king is not safe.'} (34... Rf8 $6 35.
Qc3 $14) (34... Re8 {Black can keepbs a game going this way, but it was very
risky and without any advantage.} 35. Qc3) (34... Qe8 $2 35. Rd7) 35. Rd1 {
Mig: 'The only move. The open white king, hemmed in by the bishop on a2, is
too vulnerable.'} (35. Kc2 $4 Bb1+ 36. Kc3 Qc1+ 37. Rc2 Qxc2#) 35... Qe3+
(35... Qe8 $6 {helps only White, e.g.} 36. Rb4 Ra8 37. Rb7 $14) 36. R1d2
(36. Kc2 $4 Qb3+ 37. Kd2 Qxb2+) (36. R4d2 $4 Qxc5+) 36... Qg1+ {Mig: 'This was
the last fork in the road. X3D Fritz could have continued the game with ..Re8.
The machine decides that there is no way to play for a win and forces the
repetition draw.'} 37. Rd1 {The pressure on Kasparov has not become smaller
after this draw. Will he be able to withstand it and show his powerful
strength? Thursday we will already know more! Co-commentators IM Heiko
Machelett and Prof.Dr.Althofer. Mig: 'Now the draw is completely forced
because the black queen has no alternative to checking on e3 again and
creating a third repetition. Any other move loses immediately. White is
threatening to win instantly with Rd8+. So going to g1 for check instead of
back to e1 was just a show of computer humor, if you will! The result is the
same: draw. A rich and exciting battle with chances on both sides and
unexpected play from the beginning.}
1/2-1/2
[Event "Man-Machine World Championship"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2003.11.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "X3D Fritz"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C66"]
[BlackElo "2830"]
[Annotator "Schulz, André"]
[PlyCount "77"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {
Following Kramnik's strategy? Kasparov goes for the Berlin Defence} 4. d3 {
Surprise!} (4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {
leads to the Berlin}) 4... d6 5. c3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Re1 Re8 $146 (
8... Bd7 9. a4 a6 10. Bc4 Be6 11. a5 Bxc4 12. dxc4 Nh5 {
1/2-1/2 Ponomariov,R-Grischuk,A/Panormo 2001/CBM 84 ext (12)}) 9. d4 Bd7 10. d5
Ne7 11. Bxd7 Nxd7 {The structure reminds us of the King's Indian, an opening
in which computers have traditionally not fared too well.} 12. a4 h6 13. a5 {
A positionally justified advance of the a-pawn} a6 14. b4 f5 15. c4 Nf6 16. Bb2
{This move was criticised by many commentators} (16. Qb3 $5) 16... Qd7 17. Rb1
(17. Rc1 { and} -- 18. c5 {was expected}) 17... g5 {
Khalifman thought f5-f4 was better.} 18. exf5 {
Necessary, otherwise White will be overrun} Qxf5 19. Nf1 {
With the following manoeuvres Fritz takes control of the square e4.} Qh7 $5 (
19... Qg6) 20. N3d2 Nf5 (20... Ng6 21. Ng3 Nf4 22. Nde4 {
probably did not appeal to Kasparov}) 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. Rxe4 h5 23. Qd3 Rf8 24.
Rbe1 Rf7 25. R1e2 {This and the following moves were criticised. Fritz is not
playing actively enough.} g4 26. Qb3 Raf8 27. c5 (27. b5 {
was better according to Khalifman}) 27... Qg6 28. cxd6 cxd6 29. b5 axb5 30.
Qxb5 Bh6 {The black plan is now h5-h4-h3 (or g3) with attack. Most annotators
now thought that Black had the advantage.} 31. Qb6 {Threatens taking on e5,
because the queen on g6 is unprotected and so the pawn on d6 is pinned.} Kh7
32. Qb4 {This move prevents h5-h4, because otherwise g4 is hanging. With his
next move Kasparov renews the threat but overlooks the fact that the rook on
f8 is no longer protected. Kasparov was in time trouble.} Rg7 {Immediately
after playing the move Kasparov jumps to his feet and shakes his head.} 33.
Rxe5 {Fritz is not one to miss this shot. Vishy Anand on the Playchess server:
"Tricky beast."} dxe5 34. Qxf8 Nd4 35. Bxd4 exd4 36. Re8 {threatens mate on h8}
Rg8 37. Qe7+ ({Not} 37. Qxg8+ Qxg8 38. Rxg8 Kxg8 {
and the white advantage disappears}) 37... Rg7 (37... Bg7 38. Rxg8 Kxg8 39.
Qxb7 $18) (37... Kh8 38. Rxg8+ Kxg8 39. Qxb7 $18) 38. Qd8 {
once again threatens mate.} Rg8 39. Qd7+ (39. Qd7+ Rg7 40. Qc8 Rg8 41. Qxb7+
$18) 1-0
[Event "Man-Machine World Championship"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2003.11.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "X3D Fritz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2830"]
[Annotator "Müller, Karsten"]
[PlyCount "89"]
{Garry Kasparov has overcome his desasterous blunder in the second game. In a
fine anti-computer chess game he fought back, giving Fritz absolutely no
chance.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. e3 a6 $6 {This very
principled (but highly dubious) move is the novelty compared to the 2nd game.}
6. c5 $5
{Kasparov closes the position immediately and emphasises the weakness of b6
and the dark squares on the queenside.} Nbd7 7. b4 a5 $2 {A strategical
mistake. May be even the losing move in a higher sense as the position is now
closed and Fritz does not understand it at all.} 8. b5 $1 {
Black's pawn a5 is now very weak.} e5 9. Qa4 (9. dxe5 $2 Ne4 {
gets tactical and plays into Fritz' hands.}) 9... Qc7 (9... Ne4 10. bxc6 Nxc3
11. cxd7+ Bxd7 12. Qb3 exd4 13. exd4 Na4 14. Qxb7 Bxc5 15. dxc5 O-O 16. Be3 Qf6
17. Bd4 Qe6+ 18. Ne5 Nxc5 19. Qb2 Rab8 20. Qe2 Rfc8 21. Qe3 Rb4 22. Be2 f6 23.
Bg4 Qa6 24. Nxd7 {Loyer,A-Ricroque,J/FRA 2002/EXT 2003/1/2-1/2 (35)}) 10. Ba3
$1 {is aimed against sacrifices on c5 or b6. Furthermore the bishop can go to
b4 after Nxa5 to free the queen.} e4 $2 {
Fritz closes the centre. Not a good idea for a computer.} 11. Nd2 Be7 12. b6 $1
$146 {what a pawn chain. Ideal against Fritz!} (12. Be2 h5 13. b6 Qd8 14. h3
Nf8 15. O-O-O Ne6 16. Ndxe4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 h4 18. Nd2 O-O 19. Rhg1 Re8 20. Bd3
Bf8 21. Bb2 Ng5 22. Qc2 a4 23. a3 Qe7 24. Rde1 Ne4 25. Nf1 Qg5 26. f3 Nf6 {
Reshevsky,S-Keres,P/NLD/URS 1948/MainBase/0-1 (63)}) 12... Qd8 13. h3 {
A dream position! Completely closed and a safe prey on a5.} O-O 14. Nb3 Bd6 $6
{A little trick - the bishop can't be taken. But the trap is much too obvious
for Kasparov and only valueable time is lost.} (14... Nb8 {
with the idea Nf6-d7 followed by f5 was better.}) 15. Rb1 $5 {
protects prophylactically b6.} (15. cxd6 $4 Nxb6 {loses the queen.}) (15. Nxa5
$2 {is too early:} Nxb6 $1 16. cxb6 $2 Bxa3 17. Qxa3 Qxb6 $17) 15... Be7 $6 (
15... Bb8 {is consequent. But a similar constallion was Deep Blue's doom in
its first match against Kasparov.}) 16. Nxa5 $1 {take courage! This pawn has
to be taken at some moment. It is very surprising that Fritz does not give a
big disadvantage for itself. Every human playing Black would be shaking in his
shoes.} Nb8 {Probably to protect c6 and to blockade on a6.} 17. Bb4 {
Kasparov frees his pieces on the queenside with the following manovers.} Qd7 ({
After} 17... Ne8 $2 {Fritz calculated:} 18. Nxc6 Rxa4 19. Nxd8 Ra8 20. c6 Bxd8
21. c7 Bxc7 22. bxc7 Nxc7 23. Bxf8 $18) 18. Rb2 {Prophylaxis} Qe6 $6 {
Fritz plays like a fish without water} (18... Ne8 19. Qd1 f5 {is the right
plan now or later. But Fritz does not move its f-pawn until the end of the
game. Have the programmers not allowed to "weaken" the king position?}) (18...
Qf5 $2 {is refuted by} 19. Nxc6 $3) 19. Qd1 Nfd7 20. a3
{slowly, slowly! Secure everything! Allow no tactic! Very well done.
Fritz shall be alone
at sea.} Qh6 21. Nb3 Bh4 (21... f5 {is better again.}) 22. Qd2
{Qxe3+ is threatened.} Nf6 23. Kd1 {this castling by hand is very fine and
reminds me of the great Tigran Petrosian. Very nice!} Be6 24. Kc1 Rd8 {
Fritz has no plan and plays completely random moves. It is very hard to
believe that such a powerful program does not know nothing about this position.
..} 25. Rc2 Nbd7 26. Kb2 {the king is very secure here. This is a well known
concept: the king is better placed behind its own advanced pawn wall than
crushed by the enemy pawn front. True Fritz has not even begun advancing his
kingside pawns.} Nf8 27. a4 Ng6 {Black's moves make no real sense.} 28. a5 Ne7
29. a6 $1 {Very strong. Black will be completely dominated soon and his
queenside is in ruins.} bxa6 (29... Rd7 30. axb7 Rxb7 31. g3 Bg5 32. Bg2 {
and White wins analogously to the game.}) 30. Na5 {
What a knight! A real monster!} Rdb8 31. g3 Bg5 32. Bg2 (32. h4 $2 Ng4 {
gives Black counterplay, which he does not deserve.}) 32... Qg6 33. Ka1 $5 {
slowly, slowly! Secure everything. Do not allow any tactics.} Kh8 {Fritz is
completely at sea. In the meantime Kasparov prepares the decisive strike on the
queenside slowly and calmly but steadily.} 34. Na2 {heading for b4} Bd7 35. Bc3
Ne8 36. Nb4 $18 Kg8 37. Rb1 Bc8 38. Ra2 Bh6 39. Bf1 Qe6 40. Qd1 {the queen head
s for a4 to increase the pressure on a6 and c6. The time trouble is over and
so it is over in a higher sense.} Nf6 41. Qa4 Bb7 42. Nxb7 Rxb7 43. Nxa6 $5 ({
An adventure like} 43. Bxa6 Rbb8 44. Nxc6 {is of course not neccessary.}) 43...
Qd7 44. Qc2 Kh8 45. Rb3 ({A possible finish would have been} 45. Rb3 Kg8 46.
Rba3 g6 47. Nb4 Rxa3 48. Rxa3 Kg7 49. Ra8 Nc8 50. Qa2 Nxb6 51. cxb6 Rxb6 52.
Qa7 Rb7 53. Qc5 $18 {A superb performance by Kasparov. Fritz had absolutely no
chance. Let us wait and see, if he can repeat it in the last gamo on Tuesday.})
1-0
[Event "Man-Machine World Championship"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2003.11.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "X3D Fritz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2830"]
[PlyCount "89"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. e3 a6 {Diverging from game one, when
the more common 5...Nbd7 was played. This sideline of the Slav with 5...a6 was
criticized by Kasparov after the game. From the continuation here we can see
why. X3D Fritz is playing from its opening book right into a position it
doesn't understand at all! When Kasparov said this everyone looked over at
poor Alex Kure, the man responsible for selecting and "training" X3D Fritz's
openings. Kasparov has little practical experience with this sideline and in
both cases (once with white and once with black) the game continued with 6.b3.
When this move appeared on the screen I thought maybe the Fritz team were
trying to give Kasparov a little psychological jab. He played this move
himself a month ago against Huzman in a game that turned into the shortest
loss of his career after a horrific blunder. They wouldn't admit it, but you
know they knew about that game and that Kasparov would be forced to think
about while he was sitting there against X3D Fritz.} 6. c5 Nbd7 7. b4 a5 8. b5
e5 (8... Ne4 $2 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Nd2 f5 11. f3 Qh4+ $2 (11... exf3 12. Qxf3 $16
) 12. g3 Qh6 13. Qe2 {1-0 Euwe,M-Alekhine,A/NLD 1935/(41)}) (8... e5 $142) 9.
Qa4 $1 {Given an exclamation point by Gligoric and Wade in their book "The
World Chess Championship" (1972). This move was apparently not in X3D Fritz's
opening book so it was now on its own.} Qc7 10. Ba3 (10. Be2 e4 11. Nd2 g6 12.
Nb3 Bh6 13. Bd2 O-O 14. O-O-O b6 15. bxc6 Nb8 16. cxb6 Qxb6 17. Qb5 Qxc6 18.
Qxc6 Nxc6 19. Na4 {1-0 Pachman,L-Fichtl,J/Prague 1954/MCD (41)}) 10... e4 11.
Nd2 Be7 {All of these moves had been played before, although Kasparov said
afterwards that he was not conscious of that at the time at this point. The
game they are following was not a minor one, but a battle from the world
championship match-tournament in 1948 between American Samuel Reshevsky and
Soviet (Estonian) Paul Keres.} 12. b6 {Immediately sealing the queenside and
diverging from that game from 1948, although there are still many similarities.
A player as strong as Keres had no difficulty in seeing that Black needs
immediate pawn play on the kingside in order to compensate for White's
advantage on the kingside. He played a rapid ...h5 push and entered a very
sharp battle.} (12. Be2 h5 13. b6 Qd8 14. h3 Nf8 15. O-O-O Ne6 16. Ndxe4 Nxe4 (
16... dxe4 17. d5 Bxc5 (17... O-O 18. dxe6 Qe8) 18. dxc6 Bxa3+ 19. Kc2) 17.
Nxe4 h4 {0-1 Reshevsky,S-Keres,P/NLD/URS 1948/MainBase (63)} (17... dxe4 18. d5
)) 12... Qd8 13. h3 {An odd little prophylactic move that shows that Kasparov
is betting that X3D Fritz won't know what to do in this position without any
clear targets for its pieces. All the time Kasparov spent training with X3D
Fritz clearly paid off. 13.h3 doesn't develop anything but it takes away a
square from Black's knight, the g4 square.} O-O 14. Nb3 {Kasparov closes in on
the isolated a5 pawn. After he captures it the white pieces will be a little
tied up and during that time Black needs to counterattack vigorously on the
kingside. Instead from now on we watch Kasparov consolidate on the queenside
while X3D Fritz does absolutely nothing on the kingside. It has no clue that
its only hope is to play its kingside pawns forward to break through the white
pawn chain at its base.} Bd6 $6 {This got a good laugh from the Grandmaster
commentators and the audience. Only a computer! It puts its bishop right where
the white pawn can capture it. If Kasparov takes the bishop he loses his queen
after 15.cxd6?? Nxb6 and the white queen is trapped. Of course Kasparov
isn't going to blunder his queen away, so did this curious move have any other
value? Maybe so, if Black thinks its bishop is more useful on the b8-h2
diagonal, attacking the kingside.} (14... Ne8 15. Rb1 f5 {Here is the key move
that X3D Fritz never wanted to play. All of Black's hopes are pinned on
eventually breaking through with ..f5.} 16. g3 g5 {Necessary to enforce ...f4,
but X3D Fritz has been taught not to move the pawns in front of its king. Now
a double-edge battle is underway and White will have to watch out for Black's
breakthrough on the kingside. In the game, Kasparov never had to worry about
this at all since X3D Fritz never touched its f-pawn.}) 15. Rb1
{Kasparov ignores X3D Fritz's provocative play and continues
to develop his pieces. Black
isn't threatening anything.} (15. cxd6 $4 Nxb6) (15. Nxa5 Nxb6 16. cxb6 Bxa3
17. Qxa3 Qxb6) 15... Be7 $6 {Oh boy, now you know we're in the land of
computer chess. As one of America's top players, GM Gregory Kaidanov, put it
after the game, "this move showed that the computer doesn't feel any
embarrassment!" X3D Fritz puts its bishop right back where it was two moves
ago, basically making Kasparov a gift of two moves.} 16. Nxa5 Nb8 17. Bb4 {
Kasparov will slowly unravel his pieces on the queenside and prepare to push
his a2 pawn up the board where it will break through and give him a protected
passed b-pawn with an easily winning position. X3D Fritz can't see this coming
at all and does nothing but watch.} Qd7 18. Rb2 {This useless-looking move
confused most of the commentators, but to anyone with extensive anti-computer
chess experience it makes perfect sense. The rook protects the f2 pawn, a
potential weak spot, but why would you protect something that isn't being
attacked? The reason goes into how computers think. It's brute force
calculation can only go so deep, even with four super-fast processors. Black's
only possible source of counterplay in this position is to push its f-pawn and
open up an attack against area around the white king, f2 in particular. If X3D
Fritz's search, usually running 12-20 half-moves deep, ever reaches a position
in which it sees success in such an attack it will put such a plan in motion.
On the other hand, if it cannot reach a favorable position in its searches
it will never play the initial moves required. With the rook on b2 protecting
f2 already, the potential weakness of that critical square is somewhat hidden
from the computer's search. X3D Fritz can't just play it anyway like a human
would, knowing that everything else is useless. A machine has to receive a
positive evaluation from its search to play a move and always plays the move
that gives it the best evaluation. Since X3D Fritz sees no danger here for
itself it is content to play moves that do nothing, but don't cause any
negative effect either. It twiddles its virtual reality thumbs. Any human
would say, "I have to do SOMETHING."} Qe6 19. Qd1 {Getting the queen out from
behind the pin on the a5 knight. All of Kasparov's moves are based on
supporting the push of the extra a2 pawn, with the occasional need to protect
against an X3D Fritz threat.} Nfd7 {After this there was a brief hope that X3D
Fritz had found the need to play its f-pawn at long last.} 20. a3 Qh6 21. Nb3
Bh4 {A pathetic one-move threat that ends up wasting more time. This move pins
the f2 pawn against the king and so threatens ...Qxe3+ on the next move.} 22.
Qd2 {Protecting against that threat and preparing to evacuate the king to the
queenside.} Nf6 {Nope, no f-pawn push. Black is doomed.} 23. Kd1 Be6 24. Kc1 {
Kasparov has all the time in the world.} Rd8 {Useless.} 25. Rc2 Nbd7 26. Kb2
Nf8 {Ironically, X3D Fritz was reaching incredible search depths because there
are so few legal moves in this closed position. It was like casting a powerful
searchlight into a black hole. Even reaching 19 half-moves ahead it couldn't
find the essential plan.} 27. a4 {The a-pawn begins its march.} Ng6 28. a5 Ne7
{After all this silliness it's too late for X3D Fritz to do anything now even
if it realized it was in trouble. It's pieces are all on the other side of the
board while Kasparov crashes through with his pawn.} 29. a6 {Kasparov gives
back the pawn temporarily in order to gain a protected passed b-pawn and
squares for his pieces. He will now build up his forces for the final assault.}
bxa6 30. Na5 Rdb8 31. g3 {White gets ready to get his last piece into action
and further restrain the useless black pieces.} Bg5 32. Bg2 {Getting out of
the way of the rook while threatening to win a piece with h4, trapping the
bishop.} (32. h4 $6 Ng4 33. Bg2 Bf6) 32... Qg6 33. Ka1 Kh8 {Two useless-looking
king moves that aren't the same at all. Kasparov is getting out of the way of
his heavy pieces. X3D Fritz is simply wasting more time. At this point the X3D
Fritz team members started to shuffle their feet nervously. They knew from
looking at the evaluation that the program had no idea it was about to be
crushed.} 34. Na2 {Heading to the b4 square.} Bd7 35. Bc3 Ne8 36. Nb4 Kg8 37.
Rb1 Bc8 38. Ra2 Bh6 39. Bf1 {Kasparov has optimized his forces for the final
strike. During the last 20 moves X3D Fritz has accomplished absolutely nothing.
} Qe6 40. Qd1 {With this move Kasparov's last worry disappeared. He had
reached the time control on move 40, which meant he had an extra hour added to
his clock. They would get even more time at move 60, but nobody believed the
game would reach that point!} Nf6 {There is nothing to be done at this point,
although X3D Fritz was still giving White just a tiny plus.} 41. Qa4 Bb7 (41...
Kh8 {Waiting passively doesn't work either.} 42. Nbxc6 Bd7 {This pin backfires.
} 43. b7 $1 Ra7 (43... Nxc6 44. bxa8=Q Rxa8 45. Rb6 Nxa5 46. Rxe6 Bxa4 47. Rxa6
Rxa6 48. Bxa6 Nb3+ 49. Kb2) 44. Nxb8 Bxa4 45. Rxa4 {
White wins easily even without his queen thanks to the mighty pawns.}) 42. Nxb7
Rxb7 43. Nxa6 (43. Bxa6 Rbb8 44. b7 (44. Rb3 Qxh3) 44... Rxb7 45. Bxb7 Rxa4 46.
Rxa4 g6 47. Ra6) 43... Qd7 44. Qc2 {For the second time in this game the queen
steps out of a pin on the a-file. Now it's a simple matter of dominating the
a-file, trading pieces, and pushing the b-pawn. Totally crushing.} Kh8 {
X3D Fritz was still managing to find enough defensive resources in its search
to delay the inevitable. It's evaluation was only -1.50, or a pawn and a half
negative when in fact it is completely losing. The final cataclysm is beyond
its search horizon, just like the rest of the game.} 45. Rb3 {The rooks will
double on the a-file, penetrate to a7 or a8, force exchanges, and finally the
push of the b-pawn will be unstoppable.} (45. Rb3 Ne8 (45... Qc8 46. Rba3 g6
47. Nc7 Rxa3 48. Rxa3 Rb8 49. Qa2) (45... Qf5 46. Nc7 Rxa2+ 47. Qxa2 Nd7 48.
Qa7 (48. Be2)) 46. Rba3 Nc8 47. Nb4 Rab8 48. Ra8 Bg5 49. Rxb8 Rxb8 50. Ra6 Bd8
51. Qa4 Ne7 52. Ra8 Rxa8 53. Qxa8) 1-0
[Event "Man-Machine World Championship"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2003.11.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "X3D Fritz"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D27"]
[BlackElo "2830"]
[Annotator "Greengard, Mig"]
[PlyCount "54"]
1. d4 {Already a bit of a surprise from X3D Fritz. Computers almost always
play 1.e4 against humans because it leads to open positions with sharper, more
concrete play, at least speaking very broadly. Of course any chess opening can
lead to a sharp position, as we see here. The X3D Fritz team had a specific
opening line in mind when they went for 1.d4 in this critical game four.} d5 {
For a long time Kasparov played 1...Nf6 exclusively against 1.d4. That move
usually led to the aggressive Grunfeld or King's Indian Defenses. Lately,
however, he has been playing the more solid move here, staking out space in
the center right from the start. After the game Kasparov said that he wasn't
completely surprised by 1.d4 and had done some preparation with his seconds
for the match, Grandmasters Yuri Dokhoian and Mikhail Kobalia. (Dokhoian is
his long-time trainer.)} 2. c4 {The Queen's Gambit, offering a pawn to deflect
Black's central d-pawn from its solid post. This has been one of the most
common opening systems at every level of the game.} dxc4 {The Queen's Gambit
Accepted, as Black accepts the offer of the pawn. Unlike other gambits Black
only rarely attempts to hold on to his extra pawn in this variant. Doing so
subjects him to too much attacking pressure. Instead he develops his pieces.
Kasparov has played this before but the commentators weren't sure he would
enter such an open, double-edged opening against X3D Fritz.} 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3
Nf6 5. Bxc4 {Reestablishing material equality.} c5 {
Black counterattacks the white center immediately.} 6. O-O a6 {
Threatening to play 7...b5 and 8...c4 with a pawn advantage on the queenside.}
7. Bb3 (7. dxc5 {This is a common line, but of course the X3D Fritz team
wouldn't want to see the queens come off the board like this. They want as
much activity and piece power on the board as possible to press the computer's
advantage in tactics and calculation.} Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5) (7. a4 Nc6 8. Qe2
cxd4 9. Rd1 Be7 10. exd4) 7... cxd4 {Kasparov heads into a line he has played
before. You can see why the X3D Fritz team liked this line. All the pieces are
still on the board and there are open lines for attack and piece play. There
are no lines of blocked pawns to inhibit the computer's calculating ability.
The downside is unrelated to the objective characteristics of the position.
It's that Kasparov knows this position very well and is likely to have studied
it deeply. This turns out to have been exactly the case.} (7... b5 {
This move, quickly developing the bishop to b7, is the most popular here.} 8.
a4 b4 9. Nbd2 Bb7) 8. exd4 {Now White has what we call an isolated queen's
pawn, a very common structure. The pawn on d4 has no pawns alongside it to
defend it and it can be a target for Black's forces. In compensation White has
excellent open lines for developing his pieces and the pawn controls important
center squares. It is also possible to advance the pawn to start an attack.}
Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bf4 {This move made it clear to Kasparov that
the X3D Fritz team was headed into a line that was played in several very
high-profile games a few years ago. Kasparov played in two of them, one with
white in 1999 and one with Black in 2001! That 2001 game was against no lesser
an opponent than world #2 Vladimir Kramnik on the stage in Moscow. Kasparov
had won that game and no one had dared to play that line for White since then.
Kasparov now started to play slower, warily looking ahead for what X3D Fritz
had in mind. More precisely, what the X3D opening book team had in mind. The
machine was still playing out of its opening library, not thinking on its own
at all. There is a dead giveaway by the way the machine plays its moves
instantaneously when it is still in its database book. When that's going on
Kasparov knows that he is still following the programmers' preparation.} Na5 {
Attacking the bishop. Exchanges are usually to the defender's benefit,
especially in a cramped position.} (11... b5 12. d5 exd5 13. Nxd5 $16 Nxd5 14.
Qxd5 Bb7 15. Qh5 Bf6 16. Rad1 Qc8 17. Bd6 g6 18. Qh6 $18 {
1-0 Epishin,V-Jonkman,H/Amsterdam NED 2000/(30)}) 12. d5 {Wantonly giving up
the weak pawn in order to open lines and create complications. Kasparov
himself played 12.Bc2 against world #3 Anand in 1999.} (12. Bc2 b5 {'Illescas C
ordoba: Este resulta ser el mejor metodo para desarrollar el alfil de b7; el
peon en b5 tambien puede ser util en un futuro para hostigar al caballo blanco
de c3 mediante el avance b5-b4'} 13. d5 {1/2-1/2 Kasparov,G-Anand,V/Wijk aan
Zee 1999/CBM 69/[Huzman] (22) 'Illescas Cordoba: Un interesante sacrificio de
peon cuyas consecuencias no quedan claras tras esta partida aunque promete una
indudable compensacion a las blancas. Lo cierto es que a estas alturas del
encuentro yo habia comprendido que en esta variante, tras la jugada 7.Bb3, las
negras obtienen una comoda posicion si consiguen desarrollar a tiempo el
flanco de dama. Por ello habia preparado esta entrega; las blancas abren el
juego en un momento muy oportuno, con el alfil negro todavia en c8 y el
caballo algo descolocado en a5'} (13. Qd3 Bb7 14. Be5 g6 15. Qe3 Nc4 16. Qh6
Bxf3 17. gxf3 Nh5 18. Ne4 f5 $19 {
0-1 Akesson,R-Degerman,L/Ronneby 1998/EXT 99 (23)})) 12... Nxb3 13. Qxb3 {
After this Kasparov went into a very long think. He had faced this exact
position two years ago in Moscow against his arch-rival, world #2 Kramnik.
They were playing a match of blitz, games with just five minutes per player
instead of the two hours plus of classical chess. Kasparov's was wondering if
he should continue to follow the line from that game. He beat Kramnikspectacula
rly in that 2001 blitz game by sacrificing his queen and winning a wild
tactical melee. But surely trying that against X3D Fritz would be close to
suicide. It was just that sort of position the computer team dreamed of when
they told X3D Fritz to play this line if given the chance. So Kasparov sat
there for a while looking at the alternatives. He was mentally thumbing
through his years of memorized analysis and looking to see what dangerous
improvements the X3D Fritz team might have found.} exd5 {Kasparov avo ids the
wild queen sacrifice line and recaptures with the pawn. Grandmaster Yasser
Seirawan, one of the ESPN commentators, didn't like this line at all against a
computer because of the many open lines. The alternatives were worse, however,
at least according to Kasparov. This move has also been played before in top
level games and this is a factor in Kasparov's favor. He would definitely have
analyzed those games.} (13... Nxd5 {
A remarkable queen sacrifice originating with Alexei Shirov.} 14. Rad1 Nxf4 15.
Rxd8 Rxd8 16. Rd1 Nd5 17. Ne5 (17. Nxd5 exd5 18. h3 b5 19. Rxd5 Be6 20. Rxd8+
Rxd8 21. Qc2 {1/2-1/2 Gelfand,B-Shirov,A/New Delhi/2000/CBM 80 (21)'}) 17...
Bf6 18. Nc4 Rb8 $1 (18... Nxc3 19. Rxd8+ Bxd8 20. Nb6 $1) 19. Na5 $6 (19. Nxd5
exd5 20. Ne3 Be6 (20... d4 21. Nd5 Be5 22. Re1 Bd6 $11) 21. Nxd5 Bxb2 22. Qxb2
Rxd5 23. Rxd5 Bxd5 $11) (19. Nb6 Nxb6 20. Qxb6 Bd7 21. Ne4 Be7 $11 {/=/+})
19... Bd7 20. Ne4 (20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Rxd5 b6 22. Nc4 Be6 $17) 20... Be7 21. Nc4
Bb5 $17 22. Ne5 Be8 23. h3 b5 24. Qg3 Rbc8 25. Kh1 a5 26. h4 a4 27. Ng5 h6 28.
Ngf3 Nf6 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Qf4 Rd1+ 31. Kh2 Bd6 $19 32. g3 Bc6 $1 33. g4 Rd3 $1
34. Kg1 Bxf3 {0-1 Kramnik,V-Kasparov,G/Moscow 2001/CBM 87/[Huzman] (34)}) 14.
Rad1 {Played instantly, showing that X3D Fritz was still in its opening
library. Black is unable to hold on to the extra pawn.} Be6 15. Qxb7 {
Getting the pawn back, but now the queen is exposed on b7.} Bd6 {Kasparov offer
s exchanges to weaken White's attacking forces. Another move played here is
the much more complicated 15...Bc5. Anand played that move against Kramnik in
2001 and a few months later his Indian compatriot, Sasikiran, tried it against
Bacrot. The extreme complications arising from that move are exactly what any
human would want to avoid against a computer beast like X3D Fritz.} (15... Bc5
16. Be5 Qa5 (16... a5 17. Nd4 Nd7 18. Bg3 Re8 19. Ndb5 h5 20. Nxd5 h4 21. Bf4
Bg4 22. Nbc7 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Rb8 24. Qxb8 Nxb8 25. Re8+ Qxe8 26. Nxe8 Nc6 27.
Nef6+ gxf6 28. Nxf6+ Kf8 29. Nxg4 {
1-0 Bacrot,E-Sasikiran,K/Lausanne 2001/CBM 82 ext (42)}) 17. Nd4 Bxd4 18. Rxd4
Nd7 19. Bd6 Nc5 20. Qc7 Qxc7 21. Bxc7 Rfc8 22. Bg3 Ne4 23. Nxd5 Bxd5 24. Rxd5
Nxg3 25. hxg3 {1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V-Anand,V/Monte Carlo 2001/CBM 81 ext (76)}) 16.
Bg5 {
Keeping the bishop on the board and pinning the knight on f6 against the queen.
} Rb8 17. Qxa6 {Kasparov was relieved when the computer actually thought for a
while before playing this obvious move. That meant it was finally out of its
opening library and he wasn't out of his! Now he didn't have to worry about a
nasty prepared surprise. Kasparov had analyzed this position extensively in
the past and didn't think Black had anything to fear.} Rxb2 18. Bxf6 {
Making things easier for Kasparov. The world #1 had already seen through to
the completely equal endgame that is now coming. X3D Fritz could have kept
more material on the board instead of exchanging, but it doesn't know how to
do anything other than play the best move. If a move that simplifies is rated
as 0.01 points better than an incredibly complicated move it will play the
simplifying move even though it would have much better winning chances against
a human by playing the complicating move. One thing the X3D Fritz team might
not have been aware of is that the previous game to reach this position was
played by GM Andrei Kharlov, a Russian who has been part of Kasparov's
analysis team several times. This would significantly increase the chance that
Kasparov would know this line inside and out.} (18. Re2 Rxe2 19. Qxe2 Be7 20.
Qd3 Qa5 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Nxd5 Qxa2 23. Nxf6+ gxf6 24. h3 Qa5 25. Qd4 Kg7 26.
Qe3 Re8 27. Rc1 Rc8 28. Rxc8 {
1/2-1/2 Dorfman,J-Kharlov,A/France 2001/EXT 2002 (28)}) 18... Qxf6 {Kasparov wa
s now playing his moves quickly and with a peaceful look on his face. He knew
the danger was past. Black has absolutely no winning chances in these lines as
there is no way X3D Fritz is going to make a huge blunder. In simple, open
positions computers are all but invincible. The draw was now becoming apparent.
} 19. Qxd6 Qxc3 20. Nd4 {If White tries to save the a-pawn it can come out on
the worse end of the position. X3D Fritz is content to play a line in which it
eliminates Black's central passed pawn.} (20. a4 Ra2) 20... Rxa2 21. Nxe6 fxe6
22. Qxe6+ Kh8 {It's White to play, but Black's double attack on the f2 pawn
forces X3D Fritz to defend instead of grabbing the d5 pawn. It's completely
equal with no winning chances for either side.} 23. Rf1 (23. Qf7 Qc8 24. Qxd5
Raxf2 25. Rf1 Qc2 26. h3 h6) 23... Qc5 {Continued precise play from Kasparov.
The triple attack on f2 leads to further exchanges.} (23... Rd2 24. Qe1 Rd3 25.
Qxc3 Rxc3 26. Rxd5) 24. Qxd5 Rfxf2 {The point! Black isn't losing his queen
here because he is threatening checkmate in two moves. Of course X3D Fritz had
seen all this coming too. Still, it's a pretty way to end a rather technical
final game. Both sides have serious back-rank problems; their kings have no
way to escape a check on the rank. With all the heavy pieces on the board this
creates various tricks, but both Kasparov and X3D Fritz were up to the task.}
25. Rxf2 (25. Qxc5 $4 Rxg2+ 26. Kh1 Rxh2+ 27. Kg1 Rag2# {Checkmate!}) (25. Qd8+
Rf8+ {Blocking check with check, a rare and attractive tactical theme that
saves the day. Kasparov had foreseen all of this as early as a dozen moves ago.
} 26. Kh1 Raf2 (26... Rxd8 $4 27. Rxd8+ Qf8 28. Rdxf8#) 27. Rxf2 Qxf2 28. h3)
25... Qxf2+ 26. Kh1 h6 {Eliminating the back-rank weakness by giving the king
some air (usually called the German "luft"). 10 moves earlier online
commentator Mig Greengard has predicted the game would finish drawn in this
position. But X3D Fritz ruins that prediction by playing one more useless move
first.} 27. Qd8+ (27. Rc1 {Any human would have played this move just to see
if Black might blunder. It isn't immediately obvious how Black can deal with
the threat of Rc8+ with a winning attack. The black rook can't go to a8 and if
it blocks with ..Rc2 then Qd8+ Kh7 Qd3+ wins the rook with a fork. Three-time
US Champion Joel Benjamin was momentarily alarmed, thinking that perhaps
Kasparov had missed this trick in what looked like a safe position at last.}
Qc2 $1 {This is the way! Black offers the queen to block the check and White
cannot capture without being checkmated! A nice trick that Kasparov had to
have seen long ago or this line could have meant trouble. It turns out there
is another way to save Black, but it's not nearly so clear or pretty.} (27...
Ra6 $6 {Unnecessarily complicated.} 28. Rc8+ Kh7 29. Qe4+ Rg6 30. h4 Qf1+ 31.
Kh2 Qf6 32. h5 $2 Qd6+ 33. Kh1 Qd1+ 34. Kh2 Qxh5+) 28. Rxc2 $4 (28. Rf1 Kh7)
28... Ra1+ 29. Rc1 Rxc1+ 30. Qd1 Rxd1#) (27. Rb1 Rb2 28. Ra1 Rb8) 27... Kh7 {
White cannot make progress and has to worry about its own king and the attack
on g2.} 1/2-1/2
1. e2-e4 e7-e5
2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6
3. Nf3xe5 d7-d6
4. Ne5-f3 Nf6xe4
5. d2-d3 Ne4-f6
6. Bc1-g5 Bf8-e7
7. d3-d4 Nf6-d7
8. Bg5xe7 Qd8xe7
9. Bf1-e2 Qe7-e4
10. O-O O-O
11. Rf1-e1 Qe4-g6
12. c2-c3 Nd7-f6
13. Be2-d3 Qg6-h5
14. Nf3-d2 Qh5-h6
15. Nd2-e4 Nf6xe4
16. Bd3xe4 c7-c6
17. g2-g3 d6-d5
18. Be4-g2 Bc8-h3
19. Nb1-d2 Bh3xg2
20. Kg1xg2 g7-g5
21. Nd2-f3 Qh6-h5
22. Qd1-d2 h7-h6
23. Qd2-d3 Rf8-d8
24. Nf3-e5 g5-g4
25. Re1-f1 Kg8-g7
26. Qd3-d2 f7-f6
27. Ne5-d3 Qh5-h3
28. Kg2-g1 Qh3-h5
29. Nd3-f4 Qh5-f5
30. f2-f3 g4xf3
31. Rf1xf3 Kg7-g8
32. Qd2-f2 Nb8-d7
33. Ra1-e1 Rd8-e8
34. Rf3-e3 Re8xe3
35. Re1xe3 Qf5-b1
36. Kg1-g2 Ra8-d8
37. Qf2-f3 Qb1xa2
38. Nf4-e6 Rd8-c8
39. Qf3-g4 Kg8-f7
40. Qg4-g7 Kf7-e8
41. Ne6-c5 Nd7-e5
42. Re3xe5 f6xe5
43. Qg7-d7 Ke8-f8
44. Nc5-e6 Kf8-g8
45. Qd7-g7
