Thoughts from WCC Round 1

During History class, I was watching the first round of the WCC here on chess.com.  I was rather disappointed as to the opening choice.  However, I thought that Kramnik was either not prepared against Anand's Slav or was saving his best lines and ideas for later in the match.  I believe the latter is true because he has been preparing for Anand for awhile.  Kramnik wanted the draw in game one.  He did not want to be too aggressive and lose in the first round.  As for the middlegame, very nice pawn sac by Anand.  I immediately liked the move as it gave Anand control of the c-file and the bishops of opposite color as a drawing weapon.  Kramnik played the middlegame well until 24. e5 I believe.  If he wanted a draw or sterile endgame, he should have played Rd2 followed by an endgame with passed pawns on both sides.  It was still drawn to be sure, but would have offered at least a little chances for both sides to play on.  Good game overall.  As the match progresses, look for Kramnik to play a novelty against Anand's Slav or transition to e4 if he needs to win.  Next game, Anand plays the White pieces against Kramnik.  Should be a really good game!