World Chess Championship (Game 9)

[swami]

Possible moves for Kramnik:

- Be7
- f6
- f5

I think f5 is good, for several reasons:

closes the long range light square (b1-h7) controlled by white Queen.

Stops the Knight from landing itself on f6.

Weak square and weak pawn will be eliminated.

[Anil]

Time remaining:

VA 1:08 - VK 1:25

Anand seems to be in trouble for the first time in the opening, most probably due to novelty by Kramnik! Anand should tread carefully now and should keep the time (per move / remaining) in mind.

Time ain't a problem for him, he would make less blunders even under time pressure relative to Kramnik, from what we have seen so far.

I agree. After all, he's the best rapid chess player. But, still, why to give any chance to the opponent. Till now, Kramnik's weakness has been using a lot of time in his opening (may be due to novelties by Anand). But, this time it seems like the tables have turned.

[Anil]

If Anand gets his knight into action and lands it on f6, then that would be the best outpost for it. Lets see.

[Anil]

Possible moves for Kramnik:

- Be7
- f6
- f5

I think f5 is good, for several reasons:

closes the long range light square (b1-h7) controlled by white Queen.

Stops the Knight from landing itself on f6.

Weak square and weak pawn will be eliminated.

Bxc3 may also be playable.

[swami]

If Anand gets his knight into action and lands it on f6, then that would be the best outpost for it. Lets see.

Well, it wouldn't happen anytime soon, it might happen in later stage.

Bishop will find its way back to e7 to guard the weak squares adjacent to it.

[swami]

Possible moves for Kramnik:

- Be7
- f6
- f5

I think f5 is good, for several reasons:

closes the long range light square (b1-h7) controlled by white Queen.

Stops the Knight from landing itself on f6.

Weak square and weak pawn will be eliminated.

Bxc3 may also be playable.

Yes good idea, Knight is quite dangerous in closed position.

[AdminX]

Possible moves for Kramnik:

- Be7
- f6
- f5

I think f5 is good, for several reasons:

closes the long range light square (b1-h7) controlled by white Queen.

Stops the Knight from landing itself on f6.

Weak square and weak pawn will be eliminated.

c5 is also playable for black.

[Anil]

Kramnik must be in tremendous pressure... even though he has some good options here, but he has to be very very careful so as not to give any advantage to white. He might even be thinking that his position is inferior to white's due to his lack of king safety.

I wonder if they are wishing for their favourite chess engine now!

[BubbaTough]

Wow...mixing Bb4 with OO looks ... well .. nondrawish anyway.

-Sam

This is kind of position where anybody could guess that the probability that the game ends in draw is very rare. It's either win or lose situation unless a lot of minor pieces are exchanged up.

Key Indicators:

Pawn Structure - too aggressive on both the sides, they are not equal-one sided, fixed or aligned.

Black:

Good pawn structure on the queen side.
Black's King pawn cover too open, risky. short cut to get the Rooks into play.
Bishop on b7 - bad bishop. Must find ways to keep it active in later stage.

White:

Good center.
King safety - good.
Bishop on e2 bad, Rf1 not doing anything - he must bring them into play.

What an eloquent elaboration on my original statement . Of course, the qualifier "It's either win or lose situation unless a lot of minor pieces are exchanged up." is a pretty big quallifier. Even sharp positions often end up in a draw, either from clever escapes to endgame, or crazy variations that fizzle into repetitions. I am not up on these variations but I doubt black often takes his bishop away from guarding the black square complex on the kingside, and then castles there. I imagine some preperatory analysis (with computer aide) when considering playing the white side of this convinced him that black was more solid than he looked.

-Sam

[swami]

Possible moves for Kramnik:

- Be7
- f6
- f5

I think f5 is good, for several reasons:

closes the long range light square (b1-h7) controlled by white Queen.

Stops the Knight from landing itself on f6.

Weak square and weak pawn will be eliminated.

c5 is also playable for black.

Engines give = score for c5. (+0.00)

Now it's slight =+ (-0.40)