Update: video added.
Viswanathan Anand has taken the lead in the 2008 World Championship Match. He defeated Vladimir Kramnik in a great, but very complicated struggle that lasted 41 moves.The third day in Bonn was a great day in Bonn. Actually it was a great day for any chess fan around the world, and just a tiny bit more for Anand fans. With the black pieces the reigning world champion defeated challenger Vladimir Kramnik in a Meran Semi-Slav, after coming up with a very interesting and virtually new pawn sacrifice.Kramnik's reaction to Anand's top-notch preparation was superb as well: instead of getting his own king under fire, the Russian decided to go for a promising piece "sacrifice" that yielded White three pawns and what looked like a strong attack on top of that.But then it was Anand's turn again. With some accurate moves he managed to manoever his king into safety and return the piece under favourable circumstances. Suddenly it was Black who had the initiative again, and to this second wave of pressure Kramnik finally succumbed. With about six minutes for eight moves, he made the decisive mistake afer which Anand went for a long but forced line that led to a win. That he missed a much quicker win there was not important.
Even the weather was great today, but still, the spectators would soon realize that they had made a wise choice...
...to go inside the Kunsthalle, becausethey'd soon be watching a great show
The actors on stage: Vladimir Kramnik & Viswanathan Anand
Not Exchange Slav this time...
...no, a main line Meran Semi-Slav...
...after many complications eventually won by Anand, just after the first time control
Here's the third game of the match. Sit down, relax and enjoy!
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”