After a first game which has been described as a kind of observation round, Anand surprised Kramnik by playing 1. d4 in the second. He came close to winning the game, were he not in time trouble.
Thursday was a day off. Surely the players devoted this day to relaxing and planning with their respective teams the strategy they will use after the first 2 rounds.
Long before the third game started, the playing hall was filled up, the spectators wanting to choose the best places.
As usual, Anand was first to come, some 10 minutes before the round was due to begin. He headed quickly to his rest room accompanied by one of the arbiters. He was followed shortly after by Kramnik who went also to his rest room under the supervision of another arbiter.
About 2 or 3 minutes before 3 o’clock, Anand hurried to his seat. Kramnik arrived seconds later. They shook hands and at 3 o’clock sharp, the game started.
What a day! Anand has won after a fantastic game to the joy of chess fans. He leads with 2 points to 1. How will Kramnik react tomorrow? Let us hope for another exciting game.
by Lakhdar Mazouz
GM Kramnik (2772) - GM Anand (2783) [D49] 17.10.2008 - World Championship - Game 3
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0–0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Bd6 += Even though Black has double pawns and King safety issue, Vishy has compensation and counter play on the Kingside.
16.Rd1 Black does have a number of options here but I prefer the most logical 16...Rg8.
16...Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 I do not believe 17...Rg4 is the most accurate move in this position. This allows 18.Nd2.
18.Bf4 White should have played 18.Nd2 to maintain a small edge. Now 18...Bxf4 19.Rd4 and the position is unclear.
18...Bxf4 19.Nxf4 I think this is a mistake. 19...h5 is looking good for Black. I would have preferred 19.Rxd4.
19...h5 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rxd7 Kf8 22. Qd3 Rg7 += 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.gxf4 += After 24...Rd8 Black has more than enough compensation for the 2 pawns. This could be very dangerous for Kramnik.
24...Rd8 25. Qe2 Kh6 26. Kf1 Rg8 27. a4 Bg2+ 28. Ke1 Bh3 29. Ra3 Rg1+ 30. Kd2 Qd4+ 31. Kc2 Bg4 32. f3 Bf5+ 33. Bd3 Bh3 (Anand missed an immediate win with 33... Bxd3+ 34. Rxd3 (34. Qxd3 Rg2+ 35. Kc1 Qxb2+ 36. Kd1 Rg1+) 34... Qc4+ 35. Rc3)
34. a5 Rg2 35. a6 Rxe2+ 36. Bxe2 Bf5+ 37. Kb3 Qe3+ 38. Ka2 Qxe2 39. a7 Qc4+ 40. Ka1 Qf1+ 41. Ka2 Bb1+ {Black wins} 0-1
Anand is taking the important early lead. It is now up to Kramnik to mix things up. We can expect the games to be a lot more exciting now.
Once again our thanks to www.susanpolgar.blogspot.com for game commentary and analysis. The official website is www.uep-worldchess.com which is available via a link on the FIDE.com frontpage.
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