[Event "Tilburg Fontys"]
[Site "Tilburg"]
[Date "1998.10.24"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "classical attack, Chigorin variation"]
[Annotator "pgn4web with notes from http://www.chessgames.com"]
[WhiteElo "2825"]
[BlackElo "2810"]
[WhiteFideId "5000017"]
[BlackFideId "4101588"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]

{ pgn4web personal account on Kramnik and the Petrov, part 1: in October
1998, I watched this game live from the tournament hall in Tilburg. At some
point I was hoping to witness a masterpiece sacrifice win from Kramnik, but
apparently Anand was well prepared. }

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7
8. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 { This is a very old line, with games from Lasker and
Capablanca's times. } 10. Qb3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Qa4 { Later White tried
an alternative plan with Qc2 followed by b4 and rapid expansion on the
queenside, often preceeded by a repetition, as in } (12. Qa4 Nc6 13. Qb3
Na5 14. Qc2 Nc6 15. b4 { see Anand-Leko, Leon 2001 and the next game of
this PGN file }) 12... Nc6 13. Bb5 Nxd2 { After this game Black tried to
improve with } (13... Bh4 14. g3 Bf6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Qxc6 Re8 { as in
Anand-Kamnik at Wijk An Zee 1999 and in Shirov-Kramnik, Belgrade 1999 })
14. Nxd2 Qd6 { So far following Anand-Yusupov, Linares 1993, where 15. Nb3
ensued, eventually a draw. } 15. h3 { $1 This novelty was suggested by
Anand's second Ubilava after the game in Linares. 15. h3 diverts Black's
Bishop control of the e6 square and makes sure the h Pawn will not be
captured when the Black's Queen arrives on h2. This move was voted the 4th
most important novelty in Informant 74. } 15... Bh5 16. Nb3 Bh4 17. Nc5
Bxf2+ { A thematic sacrifice for the variation, but Anand was well
prepared. } 18. Kxf2 Qh2 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Qxc6 f4 21. Qxd5+ Kh8 22. Qxh5
f3 23. Qxf3 { Apparently Anand's home analysis already assessed this
position as won for White. } 23... Rxf3+ 24. Kxf3 Rf8+ 25. Ke2 Qxg2+ 26.
Kd3 Qxh3+ 27. Kc2 Qg2+ 28. Bd2 Qg6+ 29. Re4 h5 30. Re1 Re8 31. Kc1 Rxe4 32.
Nxe4 h4 33. Ng5 Qh5 34. Re3 Kg8 35. c4 { Sadly, it was not the day for a
masterpiece sacrifice win from Kramnik, but look at the next game to see
what happened more than 10 years later. } 1-0

[Event "London Chess Classic"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2009.12.13"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Howell, David"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "classical attack, Chigorin variation"]
[Annotator "pgn4web"]
[WhiteElo "2597"]
[BlackElo "2772"]
[WhiteFideId "410608"]
[BlackFideId "4101588"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]

{ pgn4web personal account on Kramnik and the Petrov, part 2: since the
previous game at Tilburg 1998 I did not attend in person any other top
event until December 2009. More than 10 years had passed when I was in the
tournament hall in London, watching Kramnik sacrificing a piece in the same
variation of the Petrov. Again, I did not witness a masterpiece sacrifice
win from Kramnik, but the similarity between the two games amazed me. }

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7
8. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. Qb3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Qa4 Nc6 13. Qb3 Na5 14.
Qc2 Nc6 15. b4 a6 16. Rb1 b5 17. a4 Rb8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Ne5 Nxe5 20. dxe5
Nxf2 { Again a piece sacrifice on f2 for attacking chances, however Howell
defends well. } 21. Kxf2 Bh4+ 22. Kf1 Bxe1 23. Kxe1 Qh4+ 24. g3 Qxh2 25.
Nf1 Qxc2 26. Bxc2 Rbe8 27. Bd3 Rxe5+ 28. Kf2 f4 29. gxf4 Bf5 30. Bxf5 Rexf5
31. Ng3 R5f6 32. Kf3 Rc6 33. Bd2 g5 34. Ne2 gxf4 35. Nd4 Rg6 36. Nxb5 Rg3+
37. Kf2 Rd3 38. Rg1+ Kh8 39. Ke2 Rg3 40. Kf2 Rxg1 41. Kxg1 c5 42. Nd6 cxb4
43. cxb4 Kg7 44. Bc3+ Kg6 45. b5 Rd8 46. Be5 Rb8 47. Bd4 Rd8 48. Be5 Rb8
49. Kf2 Rb6 50. Kf3 Kg5 51. Nf7+ Kg6 52. Nd6 Kg5 53. Nf7+ Kg6 { Once again,
not the day for a masterpiece sacrifice win from Kramnik. Maybe Kramnik and
I will be more lucky next time, I'll tell you about part 3 of this personal
account in another 10 years. pgn4web, London 2011. } 1/2-1/2