Here is my analysis of this wild game played in the last round of the Memorial Tal tournament. Both player were suffering before the game, Shirov 3/8, Kramnik 3,5/8.
() vs.
()
-
-
[Event "5th Tal Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow/Russia"]
[Date "2010.11.14"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D52"]
[WhiteElo "2791"]
[BlackElo "2735"]
[Annotator "SR"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 {this is the
Cambridge Springs defense. The name derives from a 1904 tournament in
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania in which the defense was used several times.
Practitioners of the opening have included Efim Bogoljubov, Vasily Smyslov,
and Garry Kasparov.} 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Rc1 {a very rare move by Kramnik} ({
the main line goes} 8. Qd2 Bb4 9. Rc1 h6 10. Bh4 c5 11. a3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 b6 (
12... Qxa3) 13. Bd3 Ba6 14. O-O {with a small plus for white}) 8... h6 9. Bh4
Bb4 10. a3 $5 {
Kramnik sacrifices a pawn, the idea is well known though this position is new}
(10. Qd2 {would transpose in the main line but it was not Kramnik's idea})
10... Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qxa3 12. Qd2 b5 (12... c5 {
would be the main line with the rare 12...Qxa3}) 13. Bd3 O-O 14. O-O Bb7 15. c4
{creating a weakness in c6} (15. e4 {is another possibility} N5b6 16. Ra1 Qd6 {
with compensations for white but probably not more}) 15... bxc4 16. Bxc4 N5b6
17. Bd3 Rfc8 ({safer was} 17... Ba6 18. Bxa6 Qxa6 19. Rxc6 Rfc8 $11) 18. Bb1 (
18. Be4 Qf8 19. Rfd1 {and black can't move a lot}) 18... c5 {
Shirov exchanges his weak pawn} 19. dxc5 ({Kramnik wasn't sure of} 19. Be7 {
and showed this variation :} Nd5 20. Bd6 Rc6 21. dxc5 Nxc5 22. Rxc5 Rxc5 $13 (
22... Rxd6 $2 23. Ra5 Qb3 24. e4)) 19... Nxc5 20. Qd6 Qa4 (20... Rc6 {
would have forced the Queen to return in d1 or d2} 21. Qd1 (21. Qg3 Ne4 22.
Bxe4 Rxc1 23. Bxb7 Rxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Qd3+ 25. Ke1 Qc3+ 26. Kf1 {
with a draw, as shown by Kramnik})) 21. Nd4 (21. Rxc5 Bxf3 $15 {
would be good for black because the Bh4 is hanging.}) 21... Qd7 (21... Ne4) 22.
Qf4 g5 $6 {Shipov said you can't play like this if you are a human!} (22... f5
{was probably dangerous too!}) (22... Qd5 {is more human} 23. Qg4 h5 24. Qg3
Ne4 25. Bxe4 Qxe4 {and black is more than ok}) 23. Qf6 (23. Bxg5 {
wasn't good because of} Nd5 ({but not the tempting} 23... Qd5 $2 {
because of the nice} 24. Bh7+ $1 Kf8 25. Bxh6+ Ke8 26. Qg3 $18)) 23... gxh4 24.
Qxh6 f5 (24... Ne4 {was the other way to block the Bb1} 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. f3
e5 27. fxe4 exd4 28. e5 d3 29. Qg5+ Kf8 30. Qh6+ Ke7 31. Qf6+ Ke8 $11 {
with a draw}) 25. Rxc5 $1 {wow, a piece down Kramnik sacrifices an exchange!}
Rxc5 26. Nxe6 {this totally destroys the last shield of the black king} Rac8 (
26... Rd5 {keeps the material but} 27. e4 $40 {
will open the diagonal to the black king, with good chances for white.}) 27.
Qg6+ Kh8 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Bxf5 {now the black king can't count on any pawn
protection, which is always very dangerous} Rxf5 {Shirov knows very well he
has to give some material back to reduce white's attack} (29... Rc1 30. Qg5+
Kh8 31. Qxh4+ Kg8 32. Qg5+ Kh8 33. f3 {to open the path for the white king}
Rxf1+ 34. Kxf1 $44 {despite being a rook down, white is by no way worse}) 30.
Qxf5 Bd5 ({Better was} 30... Qe7 {to protect the h pawn! A draw is likely.})
31. Qg5+ Kf7 32. Nf4 Bc4 $2 (32... Bb3 {this strange move kept some chances
according to the computer. But in practice black's position remains very
difficult to play.}) 33. Ra1 Rg8 (33... Rc7 34. h3 $14) 34. Qh5+ Kf8 35. Qxh4 {
white has now enough material for the bishop and is still attacking} (35. Rd1)
35... Bf7 {it's really difficult to defend this position with a very weak king
and no possibility to counter attack} 36. h3 {
simply preventing all back rank mates} Rg7 (36... Nc4 37. Qh6+ Ke7 38. Qa6 Rb8
$14) 37. Qh8+ Rg8 38. Qf6 Nd5 39. Qd4 Qf5 40. Rxa7 {the last pawn} Nxf4 41.
exf4 {of course white is not ready to exchange queens, he wants to take other
benefits from the position of the black king} Qd5 42. Qb4+ Kg7 43. Qe7 Kh8 $2 (
43... Rc8 {activating the rook was a more stubborn defense}) 44. Qh4+ (44. Qf6+
Rg7 45. g4 Kg8 46. Rc7 Qd1+ 47. Kh2 Qe2 48. Qd4 Rh7 49. Kg3 {
pawns will advance more and more, white is probably winning}) 44... Qh5 (44...
Kg7 45. Qg5+ Qxg5 46. fxg5 Kg6 47. f4 Bc4 48. Rd7 Ra8 49. g4 {impressive pawns!
} (49. Rd6+ $2 Kf5 50. Rd4 Be2 51. Kf2 Re8 {
and it's unclear if white could win because} 52. g4+ Bxg4 53. hxg4+ Kxg4 {
is a draw}) 49... Ra3 50. Kh2 Be6 51. Rd6 Kf7 52. f5 Ba2 53. h4 Ra4 54. g6+ Ke7
55. Rb6 Rxg4 56. h5 Rh4+ 57. Kg3 Rxh5 58. f6+ Kd7 59. Kg4 Rh1 60. f7 Rg1+ 61.
Kh5 Rf1 62. Rb7+ Kc6 63. Ra7 Be6 64. Kh6 $18) 45. Qf6+ (45. Qxh5+ Bxh5 46. Kh2
Be2 47. Re7 (47. g4 $2 Bxg4 48. hxg4 Rxg4 {is draw}) 47... Bd1 48. f5 Rg5 49.
Re1 Bh5 50. Re5 Kh7 (50... Kg7 $2 {would trap his own rook :-)} 51. f4 Kf6 52.
fxg5+ Kxe5 53. g4 $18) 51. f3 Bf7 (51... Bxf3 52. gxf3 {
would be a funny ffh endgame, probably winning though}) 52. g4 {must win})
45... Rg7 46. f5 Kg8 (46... Qd1+ 47. Kh2 Qd5 48. g4 Qd2 49. Kg3 Qd3+ 50. Kh4
Qb3 51. Ra8+ Bg8 52. Qd4 $18) 47. Kh2 Qe2 48. Qd4 Qc4 $2 {
helping white even if it was winning anyway} (48... Qb5 49. f6 Rg5 50. Qf4 Qd5
51. g4 Qc5 52. Re7 Qd5 53. h4 Rg6 54. g5 $18) 49. Qxc4 Bxc4 50. Rxg7+ Kxg7 51.
g4 $18 {with 3 pawns it would be draw but 4 is too much for the bishop} Kf6 52.
Kg3 Ke5 53. h4 Bd5 (53... Kf6 54. Kf4 Bd3 55. g5+ Kg7 56. h5 $18) 54. h5 Bb3
55. h6 Bg8 56. Kh4 Kf6 57. f3 Bh7 58. Kh5 Bg8 59. g5+ {nice game by Kramnik}
1-0
