Awesome hat-trick by Kramnik

I have to confess to being extremely impressed with the way that Vladimir Kramnik is playing at the moment. I have been particularly struck by his awesome Catalan Hat-trick at the 2nd Tal Memorial.

Having received a lot of praise and derision for his development of the black ‘weapon’, the Berlin Defence, it has been intriguing to see his development and use of a white equivalent.

From a personal point of view, the beauty of his Catalan wins has been that you look at the moves and are convinced that you could make most of them yourself. This factor, combined with his Karpovian ability to create 'something out of nothing' has made me wonder why he never played the opening regularly before 2006!

I found the grinds against Leko and Shirov incredible. I have followed many of his classic positional wins, but in Moscow it seemed like he had discovered the secret of chess alchemy. Kramnik always had the draw in hand, but was able to keep giving his opponent a little more rope:

Kramnik – Leko, Tal Memorial, Moscow 2007 (3)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Ra7 11. Rc1 Be4 12. Qb3 Nc6 13. e3 Qa8 14. Qd1 b4 15. Qf1 Bd5 16. Be1 Rc8 17. Nbd2 Na5 18. Ne5 c5 19. dxc5 Bxc5 20. Nd3 Bf8 21. Bxd5 Nxd5 22. e4 Nb6 23. Rxc8 Qxc8 24. Nf3 Qb7 25. Nxb4 Qxe4 26.Qd3 Qxd3 27. Nxd3 Nac4 28. b3 Nd6 29. Rc1 Nd5 30. Rc6 Nf5 31. Ba5 Ra8 32.Nfe5 Nfe7 33. Rd6 Nf6 34. b4 Ned5 35. Rc6 Be7 36. a4 g6 37. Nc4 Kf8 38. Nc5 Bxc5 39. bxc5 Ke8 40. f3 Ng8 41. Nb6 Nge7 42. Rd6 Rb8 43. Nxd5 Nxd5 44.Rxa6 Rc8 45. Bb6 Nb4 46. Ra7 Nc6 47. Rb7 Ra8 48. Rc7 Nd4 49. a5 Nxf3+ 50.Kf2 Nxh2 51. c6 Ng4+ 52. Kf3 Nf6 53. Rb7 Nd5 54. Ke4 Nb4 55. c7 Rc8 56. Kd4 Kd7 57. Kc5 Nc6 58. a6 h5 59. a7 f5 60. a8=Q Rxa8 61. c8=Q+ Kxc8 62. Kxc6 1-0

Kramnik – Shirov, Tal Memorial, Moscow 2007 (5)

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Qc2 dxc4 7. Qxc4 a6 8.Bf4 Bd6 9. O-O b5 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 12. Nb3 Be4 13. Qd2 Qe7 14. Rfc1 Rfc8 15. Bxd6 cxd6 16. Qa5 Rcb8 17. Nbd2 Bd5 18. Rc2 Qd8 19. Qxd8+ Rxd8 20. Rac1 Nb6 21. Ne1 Rac8 22. Nd3 Rxc2 23. Rxc2 Rc8 24. Rxc8+ Nxc8 25. Nb4 Bxg2 26. Kxg2 a5 27. Nc6 a4 28. e4 Ne8 29. Kf3 Kf8 30. Ke3 Nc7 31. Kd3 Ke8 32. Kc3 Na6 33. Nb4 Nc7 34. Nf1 Kd7 35. Ne3 Ne7 36. g4 g5 37. Nd3 f6 38. f4 gxf4 39. Nxf4 e5 40. dxe5 fxe5 41. Nfd5 Ncxd5+ 42. exd5 Kc7 43. g5 Kb6 44. b4 axb3 45. axb3 Ka5 46. h4 Ng6 47. h5 Nf4 48. g6 hxg6 49. h6 g5 50. h7 Ng6 51. Kd3 1-0

For the final part of the hat-trick it was nice to see Kramnik showing up some of his critics who despair of his ‘safety-first’ play. The following is as consummate a demolition of a 2700 Grandmaster as there is ever likely to be:

Kramnik – Alekseev, Tal Memorial, Moscow 2007 (6)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 b5 6. e4 Nxe4 7. Qe2 Qe7 8. Bg2 Nd6 9. Be3 b4 10. Bxc5 Qxe2+ 11. Nxe2 Na6 12. Bxd6 Bxd6 13. Nd2 Rb8 14.Nc4 Be7 15. d6 Bf6 16. Nf4 Nc5 17. O-O Ba6 18. Nd5 O-O 19. Nxf6+ gxf6 20. Bd5 Na4 21. Rfc1 Rfe8 22. Ne3 Rb6 23. Rc7 Rxd6 24. Rd1 Kh8 25. Nf5 Rb6 26. Bxf7 Nxb2 27. Rdxd7 Re1+ 28. Kg2 Bf1+ 29. Kf3 Be2+ 30. Kf4 Rb8 31. Bc4 1-0