The Hindu : Sport : Anand’s opening a surprise

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Anand’s opening a surprise

Rakesh Rao

First game ends in a draw after 32 moves

BONN: A well-hidden bag of tricks is only to be expected in the players’ arsenal in any World Chess Championship Match. But Viswanathan Anand pulled out one such trick from his opening repertoire that not only surprised Vladimir Kramnik but also the entire fraternity of chess lovers in the second game of the title-clash on Wednesday.

Playing white, Anand chose to open with the queen-pawn and a surprised Kramnik responded with Nimzo Indian Defence.

In 58 previous meetings against Kramnik when Anand played with white pieces in all time-formats, only three times he has opened with the queen-pawn.

The first time was in 1996 when the game ended in a draw in 29 moves. The second time, in a rapid game in Monaco, Anand won in 45 moves. And the last time was in an Advanced Chess game in Leon in June 2002 and the game had ended in a 20-move draw.

So it was after more than six years that Anand decided to spring an opening surprise on Kramnik.

The Russian clearly looked puzzled by the position Anand assumed out of the opening. Anand collected a queenside pawn and returned a few moves later. Soon both players were left with three isolated pawns.

In this open position, Kramnik’s pieces were looking for better squares when the game was 16 moves old. Anand looked poised to neutralise Kramnik’s space advantage in a game that promises an interesting finish.

On Tuesday, the first game was drawn in 32 moves following a series of exchanges. The players were left with opposite colour bishops and an equal number of pawns when they signed peace.

The opening did not offer any great surprise since the two have played on similar lines, if not precisely the same variation, on a few occasions in their past 127 meetings in all time-formats of the game.

Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik looked equally pleased following an equal battle and acknowledged the fact that neither player committed any mistake.

“If it is a draw, it is not our fault,” said Kramnik as he looked back at the rather sedate opener. “I had a slight advantage and was trying for a break but did not know how to keep the tension going.

“At least, I was not able to find a way,” said Kramnik, who was made to open the media conference for having played white.

Fair result

As Kramnik later put it, “In a match of this nature, 50 per cent of the games will end as draws.

“Draw is a fair result in chess. If the players don’t commit a mistake, you get a draw, like today.”

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