The Scotch Undone

By GM Magesh and GM Arun

The Tata Steel Chess 2011 (used to be known as the Corus, Wjk Aan Zee) has produced some wonderful chess games for the fans. I have decided to share a very nice game today played by Alexey Shirov against Vladimir Kramnik in round 6.

I may be biased here, but there is something about Vladimir Kramnik playing a game that makes chess look more classy! The way he carries himself, his focus, his determination and above all his solid game play has sure won admirers around the globe. Even though he is known for his positional prowess, against Shirov he demonstrated his tactical skills beautifully.

At this point Kramnik was left with more than 90 minutes on his clock compared to the 30-odd minutes that Shirov was left with. I am guessing this all still falls under Kramnik's home preparation. Shirov sank into deep thought again and after 20-odd minutes he finally came up with a very good defense only to falter along the way.

A very sharp game with a dynamic counter-attack by black right from the opening. This is a very important trait in this variation of the scotch as black constantly fights for piece play as his pawn structure is ruined right from the beginning. Hopefully our readers enjoyed this fantastic display of dynamic play from Shirov and Kramnik.