World Cup Final: Kramnik Wins First Game
On Friday Vladimir Kramnik beat Dmitry Andreikin in the first game of the World Cup final in Tromsø, Norway. In a Queen's Gambit Declined, the 14th World Champion sacrificed his queen for a rook, bishop and protected passed pawn and eventually won an ending with two rooks against a queen after 63 moves. Three more classical games are scheduled; game 2 starts Saturday at 15:00 CET / 09:00 EDT.
The one opening that's occurred the most in World Championship matches is the Queen's Gambit Declined, and so it deserves to be in a World Cup final as well. Kramnik held a slight edge out of the opening (he wasn't sure if 15.a4 would have been more accurate), but Andreikin's position was very solid.
On move 28 Kramnik pushed his d-pawn as he had found a very strong positional queen sac, which was probably missed by Andreikin. It's not clear whether the resulting position is winning for White, but it's certainly easier to play.
At first Andreikin defended very resiliently, but it seems that he made the decisive mistake on move 48 where ...fxg5 gives some drawing chances. Showing his famed endgame technique, Kramnik gave his opponent no chance of survival.
FIDE World Cup 2013, Final | Score
| Name | Rtg | G1 | G2 | G3 | G4 | G5 | G6 | G7 | G8 | G9 | Pts | TPR |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | 2784 | 1 | 1 | 2941 | ||||||||
| Andreikin, Dmitry | 2716 | 0 | 0 | 2559 |
Held every two years, the World Cup is part of the World Championship cycle. The winner and the runner-up will qualify for the 2014 Candidates Tournament. The World Cup takes place August 10th-September 3rd in Tromsø, Norway. Photos by Paul Truong courtesy of the official website; games via TWIC.
