The 2700 Club Is Becoming Crowded!

The October 2008 FIDE Rating List now has 32 players with ratings above 2700. Here they are in order of ranking:

Topalov wins 2005 World Chess Championships. source: 2005 WCC Press

Rank Name Country Rating

1Topalov, VeselinBUL 2791
2Morozevich, AlexanderRUS 2787
3Ivanchuk, VassilyUKR 2786
4Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2786
5Anand, Viswanathan IND 2783
6Kramnik, VladimirRUS 2772
7Aronian, Levon ARM 2757
8Radjabov, TeimourAZE 2751
9Leko, Peter HUN 2747
10Jakovenko, DmitryRUS 2737
11Wang, YueCHN 2736
12 Adams, Michael ENG 2734
13Movsesian, SergeiSVK 2732
14Mamedyarov, ShakhriyarAZE 2731
15Karjakin, SergeyUKR 2730
16Kamsky, Gata USA 2729
17Svidler, PeterRUS 2727
18Shirov, Alexei ESP 2726
19Eljanov, PavelUKR 2720
20Gelfand, BorisISR 2719
21Dominguez Perez, Leinier CUB 2719
22Ponomariov, RuslanUKR 2719
23Grischuk, AlexanderRUS 2719
24Vachier-Lagrave, MaximeFRA 2716
25Alekseev, EvgenyRUS 2715
26Bu, XiangzhiCHN 2714
27Polgar, Judit HUN 2711
28Ni, HuaCHN 2710
29Bacrot, EtienneFRA 2705
30Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2704
31Gashimov, VugarAZE 2703
32Rublevsky, SergeiRUS 2702

Can Kramnik Win With The Black Pieces? Will It Matter?

Vladimir Kramnik playing for a win.

   Between 1989 and 2008 Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik played 51 head-to-head games under classical conditions. The results below show that Kramnik has yet to win a game as black when up against Anand. This is a remarkable statistic based on the number of match-ups these two chess players have had. Vladimir Kramnik’s win with white and draw with black strategy can hurt his tournament results but is exceptionally difficult to crack in match play. Unless he should find himself in danger of loosing the match, I would be very surprised if Kramnik changes his goal for the black pieces.

	Anand	Draws	Kramnik
Anand (White) – Kramnik (Black)	2	19	0
Kramnik (White) – Anand (Black)	2	22	6
Total	4	41	6

15 Days Until The World Chess Championships

Tonight we look at another brilliancy from the current World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand. This game was played before Anand was World Champion and after his opponent Anatoly Karpov had lost his title to Garry Kasparov. Once again we see Anand’s desire to be adventurous in the opening by playing the off-beat line 4. e4 rather than e3. The latter would have lead to traditional Queen’s Gambit Accepted lines. On move 17. Be2 Anand starts a redeployment of his bishop which eventually joins an attack on Karpov’s king with the move 20. Bd3 and then 21. Bxh7! Anatoly Karpov’s fatal inaccuracy occurred when he played 23… Bxe5.  23…f6 would still have left Karpov with plenty of issues but is an improvement. On move 36 Karpov lost on time. 

[Event “?”]
[Site “Las Palmas,ESP”]
[Date “1996.??.??”]
[White “Anand,Viswanathan”]
[Black “Karpov,Anatoly”]
[Round “7”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A06”]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e4 b5 5. a4
c6 6. axb5 cxb5 7. b3 Bb7 8. bxc4 Bxe4 9. cxb5
Nf6 10. Be2 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nc3 Bb7 13. Ne5
a6 14. Bf3 Nd5 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Rb1 Qb6 17. Be2
axb5 18. Rxb5 Qc7 19. Bf4 Bd6 20. Bd3 Ba6 21. Bxh7+
Kxh7 22. Qh5+ Kg8 23. Rb3 Bxe5 24. Rh3 f6 25. dxe5
Qe7 26. Qh7+ Kf7 27. Rg3 Ke8 28. Rxg7 Qe6 29. exf6
Nc6 30. Ra1 Kd8 31. h4 Bb7 32. Rc1 Ba6 33. Ra1
Bb7 34. Rd1 Ba6 35. Qb1 Rxf6 36. Bg5 1-0

Kramnik vs. Anand 2008 preview: A 1996 game played by Kramnik

Just 18 days until Anand plays Kramnik for the title of World Chess Champion in Bonn, Germany. Below I continue with my preview for this historic match by examining a timeless game played by Kramnik in 1996.

Enjoy!

 

In 1996 Vladimir Kramnik played an exceptionally brilliant game as black verses a very strong opponent named Vassily Ivanchuk. Kramnik used fantastic opening preparation as well as brilliant tactical play to pressure Ivanchuk to error and finally resign. On move 6. Bg5 Ivanchuk initiates a Richter-Rauzer attack which provides the much needed tactical fuel for Kramnik’s fire. Kramnik move 14…Ng4 was a brand new idea that caught his opponent off guard. The move sacrifices the exchange but gives Kramnik long term pressure on the dark squares as well as some initiative to attack with. On 17. g3 Ivanchuk makes a small error which allows black to gain even more initiative. Ivanchuk should have played 17. Qf3. Kramnik’s 19…f5 was paticulary powerful and kept his attack going. On move 27 Kramnik makes a huge error with only five minutes left on his clock. I believe Kramnik should have tried 27…Qe7. To everone’s shock, Ivanchuk played 28. Nd3 which allowed Kramnik to win easily.

 

[Event “It (cat.19)”]
[Site “Dos Hermanas (Spain)”]
[Date “1996.??.??”]
[White “Ivanchuk Vassily (UKR)”]
[Black “Kramnik Vladimir (RUS)”]
[Round “8”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3
d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Be3
Be7 10. f4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. Qe3 Qc7 13. e5
dxe5 14. Bxe5 Ng4 15. Qf3 Nxe5 16. Qxa8 Nd7 17. g3
Nb6 18. Qf3 Bb7 19. Ne4 f5 20. Qh5+ Kf8 21. Nf2
Bf6 22. Bd3 Na4 23. Rhe1 Bxb2+ 24. Kb1 Bd5 25. Bxb5
Bxa2+ 26. Kxa2 axb5 27. Kb1 Qa5 28. Nd3 Ba3 29. Ka2
Nc3+ 30. Kb3 Nd5 31. Ka2 Bb4+ 32. Kb1 Bc3  0-1

Anand vs. Kramnik: Backround Information

Anand vs. Kramnik should provide the most entertaining chess we have seen in quite some time. Below is a comparison of the achievements of these two chess titans.

 

Vladimir Kramnik’s achievements
(source: www.vladimirkramnik.com

 
* 1990 Russian Championship, Kuibyshev (classical) I
* 1991 World Championship (U18), Guarapuav (classical) I
* 1992 Chalkidiki (classical) 7.5/11 I
* 1993 Belgrade (classical) 6/9 II
* 1993 Interzonal Tournament, Biel (classical) 8.5/13 II
* 1994 Overall result PCA Intel Grand Prix’94 I
* 1995 Dortmund (classical) 7/9 I
* 1995 Horgen (classical) 7/10 I-II
* 1995 Belgrade (classical) 8/11 I-II
* 1996 Monaco 16/22 I
* 1996 Dos Hermanas (classical) 6/9 I-II
* 1996 Dortmund (classical) 7/9 I-II
* 1997 Dos Hermanas (classical) 6/9 I-II
* 1997 Dortmund (classical) 6.5/9 I
* 1997 Tilburg (classical) 8/11 I-III
* 1998 Wijk aan Zee (classical) 8.5/13 I-II
* 1998 Dortmund (classical) 6/9 I-III
* 1998 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 15/22 I
* 1999 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 14.5/22 I
* 2000 Linares (classical) 6/10 I-II
* 2000 Dortmund (classical) 6/9 I-II
* 2000 Classical World Chess Championship: Match Kramnik vs. Kasparov 8.5:6.5
* 2001 Match Kramnik vs. Leko (rapidplay) 7.0:5.0
* 2001 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 15/22 I-II
* 2001 Match Kramnik vs. Anand (rapidplay) 5.0:5.0
* 2001 Dortmund (classical 6th win!) 6.5/10 I-II
* 2002 Advanced Chess Match (computer usage allowed) Kramnik vs. Anand (Leon) 3.5:2.5
* 2002 Man vs. Machine (Bahrain) 4.0:4.0
* 2003 Linares (classical) 7.0/12 I-II
* 2003 Dortmund (classical) 5.5/10 II-III
* 2003 Cap d’Agde (France)
* 2003 Rapid World Chess Championships 8.5/13 II
* 2004 Handicap Simul (classical)
* 2004 Kramnik vs. National Team of Germany 2.5:1.5
* 2004 Linares (classical) 7.0/12 I
* 2004 Monaco (Overall result) 14.5/22 I-II
* 2006 Gold medal at Turin Olympiad with overall best performance (2847) 7/10
* 2006 Dortmund (classical) 4.5/7 I
* 2006 FIDE World Chess Championship: Match Kramnik vs. Topalov 6.0:6.0 (2.5:1.5 tiebreaks)

 

World championship matches and qualifiers

* PCA Quarterfinals, June 1994, New York, Kramnik-Gata Kamsky (1.5-4.5).
* FIDE Quarterfinals, January 1994 Wijk aan Zee, Kramnik-Leonid Yudasin (4.5-2.5).
* FIDE Semifinals, August 1994 Sanghi Nagar, Kramnik-Boris Gelfand (3.5-4.5).
* WCC Candidates, 1998, Carzola, Kramnik-Alexei Shirov (3.5-5.5).
* FIDE Knockout, July 1999, Las Vegas, Kramnik-Tiviakov (1.5-0.5); Kramnik-Victor Korchnoi (1.5-0.5); Kramnik-Veselin Topalov (3-1, including rapid playoff); Kramnik-Michael Adams (Quarterfinal) (2-4, including rapid playoff).
* Classical World Chess Championship 2000, London, Kramnik-Garry Kasparov (8.5-6.5)
* Classical World Chess Championship 2004, Brissago, Kramnik-Péter Lékó (7-7), Kramnik retains.
* FIDE World Chess Championship 2006, Elista, Kramnik-Topalov (6-6, 2.5-1.5 rapid playoff), Kramnik unifies the title

Viswanathan Anand’s achievements

(source: http://www.niit.com/vishy/career.htm)
1991

Won Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament (Category 18) ahead of Kasparov and Karpov in the strongest tournament ever held until this time.
1992
Won the Alekhine Memorial (Category 18) in Moscow. Won the tournament ahead of Karpov. Attained a 2700 rating, only the 8th person ever to do so in the World 

Joint champion in Goodricke Open International Tournament
1993

Won the PCA Interzonal, Groningen Champion. The strongest Swiss tournament ever
Qualified for the FIDE Candidates Cycle Interzonal, Biel
1994

Qualified for PCA World Championship Candidates Final, after beating Michael Adams
 
Won PCA Grand Prix, Moscow Champion Won ahead of Kasparov

Won Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco Champion Won ahead of stalwarts like Karpov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk
1995

Lost the final of the PCA World Championship, New York to Kasparov
 
Beat Gata Kamsky in PCA World Candidates Final in Las Palmas and qualified for final against Kasparov

 

1996

 
Won the Credit Swiss Rapid Chess Grand Prix, Geneva beating Kasparov in the final.

Joint winner at Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund with Kramnik.

 

1997

Won the Knock-Out Championships in Groningen which was the qualifier for the world championship finals. He beat 3 out of the top 10 in the world, Shirov, Gelfand & Adams in the final tiebreak.
 
Won the InvesbankaChess tournament”, Belgrade
 
Won the Credit Suisse Classic Tournament in Biel (also won prize for most beautiful game)
Runner-up in Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund
 
Won the Chess Classic Rapid Tournament, Frankfurt beating Karpov in the Final.

Won 4-2 in an Exhibition against 6 computers at the Aegon Man Vs Computers chess event. One of the few players to play 6 computers simultaneously and win.

Won the 6th Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco. Finished overall first and individually first in blindfold and rapid to become the first player in the history of the tournament to do so.

Won the Torneo de Ajedrez, Dos Hermanes. This was a Category 19 Tournament.

 

 

1998

Won the Fontys-Tilburg International in Tilburg
 
Won the Siemens Nixdorf Duell which had Computers in the field in Frankfurt
 
Won the Siemens Nixdorf Duell Rapid event in Frankfurt
Won the strong “Torneo Magistral Communidad de Madrid
 
Won the Category 21 Linares Super torneo
 
Tied for first place at the Hoogoven’s Schaak Tornoi in Wijk Aan Zee
1999
Won the Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez in Leon by defeating Anatoly Karpov 5-1

Won the Chess Oscar for the second straight year!

Won the 1999 Wydra Memorial Rapid Chess in Haifa
2000
Won FIDE World Championships final in Teheran beating Shirov 3.5-0.5

Won FIDE World Qualifier in New Delhi, won five rounds without losing a game

Won the FIDE World Cup in Shenyang, China beating Bareev 1.5 – 0.5 in final

Joint first with Kramnik in Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund

Won the Fujitsu Siemens Giants Rapid in Frankfurt

Won “Torneo Magistral” an Advanced Chess Tournament, where players can use Computers in Leon beat Shirov in final

Won the Wydra Int’l Rapid in Haifa

Won the Plus GSM World Blitz Cup in Warsaw 
 
2001

Wins the Corsica Masters title in Bastia, in November

Won the Rapidplay event in Villarrobledo in Spain

Drew the WDRTV Match with Peter Leko in Cologne in August. But as per rules, having played black and drawn, Anand will qualify to play the match next year.
Won the Duel of World Champions in a 10-game rapid clash with Vladimir Kramnik in Mainz, Germany in June

Won the Merida International tournament in Mexico

Won “Torneo Magistral” an Advanced Chess Tournament, where players can use Computers in Leon
2002

Winner of the The Corsica Masters three times in a row

Winner of World Cup Chess Championship in Hyderabad.
2003

 
Wins Corsica Open Rapid Chess for the 4 th year in running

Wins official World Rapid Chess Championships in Cape d’Agde re-affirming his position as the world’s best rapid chess player winning the official World Rapid chess title

Chess Classic Winner at Mainz, Germany, fourth success in as many years
 
Highest scorer in the German league
SIS-MHMasters, Denmark winner with an incredible score of 5.5/6

Melody Amber Blind and Rapid Chess champion for the third time
 
Winner at the 65 th Corus Super GM Chess 2003
2004

Anand retains Corus Super Grandmasters title in Holland
Retained the 2004 Corus Grandmasters Chess tournament title in Wijk Aan Zee, Holland. Anand retained the Corus Grandmasters chess title in Wijk Aan Zee with8.5 points from 13 rounds with five wins, seven draws and one loss.

Anand wins Blitz Match against Vesselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria
Anand won the Blitz Match for Bulgarian TV beating Veselin Topalov 1.5-0.5 in his first appearance in Bulagria.

Anand wins Rapid Title in Melody Amber at Monaco
In Monaco, where he has been a champion many times in the past at the Melody Amber tournament, Anand won the rapid title, once again re-iterating that he was the best player in the world in rapid. He also finished third overall. The joint winners were Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Morozevich.
Anand leads World Squad to Win over All-Star Armenian Team (Team Petrosyan) in Russia
In a unique match in Russia captained a Rest of the World team, which beat an all-star Armenian team that also had Garry Kasparov in it. This was the second time he has led a world team to such a win. In the past, he led a Rest of the World team to a win over a Russian team.
Anand wins the Dortmund Super Grandmasters Chess Title
In a masterly display at Dortmund Super GM tournament, Anand won the title in a convincing manner making it two out of two in Super GM classical events for 2004. Winning two major classical events like Corus and Dortmund is indeed a matter of great prestige.

Anand Wins the Chess Classic of Mainz for Fourth Time in a Row
Anand outplayed Alexey Shirov in his favourite international venue, Mainz, as he won the Chess Classic of Mainz, an annual event, where he has been winning for last four years. In he past he has beaten Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov and Judit Polgar in the one-on-one battles on the banks of River Rhine.
Anandwins Corsica title for record fifth time
Anand, steamrollered over Russian Sergei Rublevskyfor his fifth successive Corsica Masters Chess title in Bastia, France. The Indian ace won 2-0, the third time in this tournament he had achieved this wipeout result.

Anand won the Sao Paolo Rapid Chess Challenge
Anand won the SaoPaolo Rapid Chess Challenge with a three-point margin over the runner-up. He beat each of his other rivals at least once in the round robin event. His victims included Anatoly Karpov.

Anand wins the Paul Keres Challenge in Tallinn, Estonia
Anand demolished the field in a tournament held to mark the memory of Paul Keres in Estonia. Anand outplayed each of his five rivals to win the title by an unprecedented margin.

 

 

2005
Anand makes a clean sweep of three titles at Melody Amber
Playing in Monaco at the famous Melody Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament, started with a string of 2-0 victories, which helped him build a huge lead. He won the Rapid, Blindfold and Overall sections, marking only the second time any player has performed a clean sweep. And the first to do so, was none other than Anand himself!
Anand win the Leon Rapid Chess Challenge
Anandplaying in Leon after a gap of two years, emerged winner for the fifth time in six years. Anand won the title beating Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the final. Anand’s earlier victories in Leon have included a match against Miguel Illescas in 1997; match against Anatoly Karpov in 1998, Advanced Chess title in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He was second in 2002.

2006

Anand became the only player in the tournament’s 70-year history to win the Corus Chess event five times (1989, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006).

 
2007

1’st place at the Linares tournament.

Became highest rated player

Became World Champion at the 2007 FIDE World Championship tournament in Mexico

Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand was born on December 11, 1969 in Madras India. At the age of 14, Vishy won the 1983 National Sub-Junior Chess Championship with a score of 9/9. A year later he became India’s youngest player ever to achieve the International Master title. In 1987, Anand became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship. The following year he became India’s first ever Grand Master. After several tries, Anand was recognised as World Champion by FIDE after defeating Alexei Shirov 3.5 – 0.5 in 2000. Vishy never received the recognition he deserved due to the fact that he did not defeat Garry Kasparov to win the title. Anand captured the title again in 2007 by way of a FIDE tournament. This time around, Anand’s critics point out that he did not win the World Championship through match play which was the historical standard for the title. Viswanathan Anand can silence these critics by defeating Vladimir Kramnik in the World Championship match beginning on October 14, 2008.
   Below is an outstanding game played by Anand in 2001. The first 13 moves are all book in the petroff defense. Perhaps Piket should have played 13… f6 which is favored by a lot of top players. 15. Nh4 is Anand’s evil invention which confused his opponent. Piket’s 19… bxc5 helped Anand develop his final combination by freeing up the d4 square for the bishop. This game is an outstanding example of why Viswanathan Anand is one of my all time favorite chess players.

[Event “Corus”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee NED”]
[Date “2001.??.??”]
[White “Anand,V”]
[Black “Piket,Je”]
[Round “11”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “2790”]
[BlackElo “2632”]
[ECO “C42”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1
Re8 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bg4 12. Bg5 Rxe1+ 13. Qxe1
Qd7 14. c5 Bc7 15. Nh4 h6 16. Bd2 Qd8 17. f4
Bc8 18. Qg3 b6 19. Re1 bxc5 20. dxc5 Qf8 21. Be3
Na6 22. Bd4 g5 23. Qf2 1-0

Countdown until Anand vs. Kramnik

 

   In 22 days Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik will face off in Bonn, Germany for the title of World Chess Champion. According to my database these two elite chess players have faced each other in 127 official games. On these occasions, Anand beat Kramnik 19 to 15, with 93 draws. Below is Vladimir Kramnik vs. Viswanathan Anand from the so called fide World Championships in Mexico City. Kramnik missed 35 Qh6! after 35…Qd6 36 Qxg5 f6 37 Qg8 Rd8 38 Qh7 Rd7 39 Qh4. After running computer analysis on that line I feel Kramnik would have had much better winning chances.   

 

[Event “WCh”]
[Site “Mexico City MEX”]
[Date “2007.09.24”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Kramnik, V.”]
[Black “Anand, V.”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D43”]
[WhiteElo “2769”]
[BlackElo “2792”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[EventDate “2007.09.13”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5
9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bd6 a6 14. Bh5 Bf8 15.
Bxf8 Rxf8 16. e5 Qb6 17. b3 O-O-O 18. bxc4 Nxe5 19. c5 Qa5 20. Ne4 Qb4 21. Nd6+
Rxd6 22. cxd6 Nd7 23. a4 Qxd6 24. Bf3 Nb6 25. axb5 cxb5 26. Bxb7+ Kxb7 27. Qh5
Nd5 28. Qxh6 Nf4 29. Kh1 Qd5 30. f3 Rd8 31. Qg7 Rd7 32. Qf8 Ne2 33. Rfe1 Nxd4
34. Red1 e5 35. Rac1 Qd6 36. Qg8 f6 37. Rc8 a5 38. h3 a4 39. Qe8 Kb6 40. Rb8+
Ka5 41. Ra8+ 1/2-1/2

Nigel Short Forfeited By Cell Phone

The European Union Open Championships took place from September 9th to 18th September 2008 in Liverpool, England. Hometown hero and former world chess champion contender Nigel Short was penalized in this event for allowing his cell phone to ring. Before his game against Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, Nigel Short turned off his brand new Nokia cell phone and placed it on top of a biography of Fidel Castro beside him on the table. Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant admits that this occurred before the game. After receiving loss for that round, Short explained that his phone had had a low battery and played a theme to remind its owner to charge it. The offending phone had been a gift from a sponsor at a recent tournament and Nigel had just started using it. Below is the F.I.D.E. rule relating to such a disturbance:

“It is strictly forbidden to bring mobile phones or other electronic means of communication, not authorised by the arbiter, into the playing venue. If a player`s mobile phone rings in the playing venue during play, that player shall lose the game. The score of the opponent shall be determined by the arbiter.”

from Paragraph 12.2 in the Laws of Chess

I understand the need for chess tournaments to limit distractions and maintain an honest playing area, however I feel a warning should be issued on the first offense. Speaking as a regular attendee of the symphony, I know from experience how easy it is to make a call at intermission and then forget to switch the phone back to silent mode. The reason I have never been embarrassed by having my cell phone add to the music is due to the fact that the symphony makes a public service announcement reminding attendees to mute their cell phones. I wonder if the Chief Tournament Director for the European Union Open Championships delivered such a reminder.

The game Nigel Short lost because of his cell phone is below.

Short,N (2655) – Arakhamia,K (2448) [B45]
4th ch-EU Liverpool ENG (2), 10.09.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 Be7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.g4 d5 10.g5 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Nh5 12.0-0-0 Bxg5 13.Kb1 Kh8 14.exd5 exd5 15.Bxg5 Qxg5 16.Rg1 Qf4 17.Qxd5 Nf6 18.Qg5 Qxg5 19.Rxg5 Be6 20.Bd3 h6 21.Rb5 b6 22.a4 Bd7 23.Rb4 Bc6 24.f4 Rad8 25.Rc4 Bf3 26.Re1

 

World Chess Championship?

Here are the new world chess rankings based on FIDE ratings. This makes the upcoming Kramnik vs. Anand match seem questionable in its ability to crown a new world champion. Then again, any match is better than another FIDE farse world championship tournament.

01	Topalov	off	2790
02	Morozevich	off	2787
03	Carlsen	off	2786
04	Ivanchuk	off	2785
05	Anand	off	2783
06	Kramnik	off	2771