DEEP FRITZ – Kramnik, V.

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.

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Date: October 8, 2002
Location: Manama BAH
Tournament: Brains in Bahrain
Round:
Opening: C45 Scotch Game
Submitted by:
Published on: February 20, 2020

[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 19. a3 {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 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