The Chess Forum No Frames Version of this column, suitable for printing In the midst of hurly-burly tactics, Garry Kasparov blundered against a mating attack by Vladimir Kramnik in Game 10 of their Brain Games Network World Chess Championship in London yesterday. The victory put Kramnik 2 points ahead, with the score now 6 to 4 in his favor. When Kasparov said before the match that he expected to find Kramnik a difficult opponent, he knew what he was talking about.
Nothing comes easy when they face each other.
Kramnik met Kasparov's Nimzo-Indian Defense with the Classical 4 Qc2 in Game 8. Since Kasparov was well prepared for that, Kramnik now switches to Rubinstein's 4 e3. At Move 7, Kasparov opens the the center with cd 8 ed dc 9 Bc4, thus isolating the white d4 pawn. This leaves White in control of more terrain, but if he does not use it to attack successfully, the d4 pawn can become a weakness in the endgame. This approach has been Anatoly Karpov's favorite for 30 years.