[Event "Import"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/5gix7EyS"]
[Date "2017.05.24"]
[Round "-"]
[White "So, W. (2822)"]
[Black "Kramnik, V. (2811)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Jacob531"]
[ECO "A14"]
[Opening "English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Neo-Catalan Declined"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[UTCDate "2017.07.27"]
[UTCTime "20:30:11"]
[Variant "Standard"]

{ One of my favorite chess players takes on the former world champ in a very long and tense showdown. I'd like to imagine that Kramnik was hoping that So would play something a little more typical... } 1. c4 { [%csl Gd5] } 1... e6 { The Agincourt defence. Fighting over d5: "I can have this square!" "No you can't!" [%csl Gd5][%cal Gc4d5,Ge6d5] } 2. g3 { Fiancettoing. Interestingly, the main novelty of this game is the move that So does NOT play, at least until move 11: Nc3. } ( 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 Bb4 { This is an example of how to stop someone full out determined on playing the NI. } ) 2... d5 { Solid. White could go into the Queen's gambit declined here with d4. One of the main strengths of the English is its transpositional value, especially against the Nimzo-Indian. This seems to be a bit of a pattern here: no NI. } 3. Bg2 Nf6 { Black seems to be playing for a reversed Colle. I have no idea what this is called when black plays it. Maybe the Elloc? } 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O { Hiding his king, the coward. Oh wait, So just did that, too. Never mind. } 6. d4 dxc4 { BOOM! And now, ladies and gentlemen, we are playing the Catalan. } 7. Qc2 { More accurate was Ne5. } 7... a6 $5 { What is really interesting here is that this move is not intended to prevent Nb5 of Bb5. The purpose is to dissuade White from capturing on c4. Unfortunately for Kramnik, that will happen anyway. } 8. a4 { Both a-pawns are already out! Now THAT'S unusual at this level. Good move, though. [%csl Gb5][%cal Gb7b5,Ga4b5,Gb5c4] } 8... Bd7 9. Qxc4 { Safe to capture now. } 9... Bc6 10. Bf4 a5 $5 { Ooh...this is minor, but he just moved the a-pawn twice in the opening.
And I don't know why. Probably pushing for space. [%csl Ga6,Gb4][%cal Gb8a6,Ga8a6,Ge7b4,Ga5b4] } 11. Nc3 { Finally! The usual move two comes...on move eleven. } 11... Nbd7 { Kramnik is Krammed in a tight spot right now. Probably hoping for some liquidation soon. So has more center control right now, as well as occupying it. (That's what all the annoying green arrows are for). [%csl Gd4][%cal Gc3d5,Gc3e4,Gf3d4,Gf3e5,Gc4d5,Gc4d4,Gf4e5,Gc6d5,Ge6d5,Gf6d5,Gf6e4,Gd7e5,Gc6e4,Gd4e5] } 12. Qd3 { Good range for the Queen. [%cal Gd3h7,Gd3a6] } 12... Bb4 13. Rfe1 { Pins the knight. (White's) } 13... Re8 14. Qc2 Bxf3 { Not sure why Kramnik would voluntarily let So's light-squared bishop loose. Note that this starts a very long string of Stockfish approved moves ending with 19. Nc1. Kramnik then plays the interesting Nd5 } 15. Bxf3 { [%cal Gf3a8] } 15... c6 { That bishop has very short range now. Had Kramnik played c5, the exchange would have definitely been a bad idea. As it is, So's "little piece of lightning" is now a "little piece of lightning" with an emphasis on the little. [%csl Gd5,Gc6,Gb7,Ga8,Gg4,Gh5][%cal Gf3e4,Gf3g2] } 16. Red1 { Should have played this on 13.
And don't worry, that's Stockfish's opinion, not mine. Just in case you were about to sue me for claiming to be better than So. } 16... Qe7 17. Na2 Bd6 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. Nc1 Nd5 { Centralizes the Knight but impairs the Queen. Stockfish viewed this as the second-best move. [%csl Gd5][%cal Gd6d1,Gd5e3,Gd5c3,Gd5f4,Gd5b4] } 20. e4 Nb4 { I'd bet So saw this from a mile away. } 21. Qc3 { And I'll bet Kramnik saw this from two miles away. } 21... e5 22. Nb3 Qe7 23. Bg2 exd4 24. Rxd4 Nf8 { Slight error. So got the edge and didn't really look back. The game was honestly won in the endgame, though, so there is no more need for my extremely boring commentary. I did however, put a few green arrows at the end after the resignation, illustrating checkmate. Just for fun. } 25. Rad1 Red8 26. R1d2 Ne6 27. Rxd8+ Rxd8 28. Nxa5 Ra8 29. Nc4 Rxa4 30. Nd6 Ra1+ 31. Bf1 Na6 32. Kg2 Nac7 33. Nf5 Qe8 34. Bc4 Ra8 35. Rd6 Qf8 36. Rd7 Re8 37. Qe5 b5 38. Ba2 g6 39. Ne3 Re7 40. Rxe7 Qxe7 41. Ng4 Qg5 42. Nf6+ Kh8 43. Nd7+ Qxe5 44. Nxe5 Nd4 45. Bxf7 c5 46. f4 c4 47. Kf2 Kg7 48. Ke3 Nb3 49. g4 Nc5 50. h4 Na4 51. b3 cxb3 52. Bxb3 Nc5 53. Bd1 h6 54. Nc6 N7a6 55. Kd4 Ne6+ 56. Ke5 Nec5 57. Bc2 b4 58. Nd4 g5 59. hxg5 hxg5 60. f5 Nd7+ 61. Kd6 Nf6 62. e5 Nxg4 63. Ne6+ Kh6 64. f6 Nb8 65. Ba4 { 1-0 Black resigns. } 65... Kg6 66. Be8+ Kf5 67. f7 Ne3 68. f8=Q+ Kg4 69. Bb5 Nf5+ 70. Kc5 Na6+ 71. Bxa6 Ng3 72. Kxb4 Kh3 73. Bc8 Kg2 74. Nxg5 Nf5 75. Qxf5 Kg3 76. Qf3+ Kh2 77. Qf2+ Kh1 78. Bb7# { [%csl Gh1,Gh2,Gg2,Gg1,Gc3,Gc4,Gc5,Gb5,Ga5,Ga4,Ga3][%cal Gf2g1,Gf2g2,Gf2h2,Gb7g2,Gb7h1] } 1-0