Naiditsch Smashed Kramnik's Petroff

Vishy Anand must be taking notes

Just as we thought that Vladimir Kramnik is off to "another +2 with White, equal with Black" expedition, young German Grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch set out to impossible mission of challenging Kramnik's trustworthy Petroff defence. The World Championship finalist didn't lose a classical time control game in this opening since his clash with Peter Svidler at the 2005 Russian Superfinal.

Naiditsch introduced a daring novelty 19. Qd2!, which should allow White to mobilize faster than with 19. Rf5 as seen in Kasimdzhanov-Yussupov. Kramnik side-stepped the critical 19...Qxe5 20. Qb4+ Ke8 (20...Kg8 21. Ne7+ and 22. Ng6+ wins the Queen) 21. Re1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1, which looks extremely dangerous in spite of having extra Rook, because King is stuck under heavy fire.

After almost one hour of calculation, Black decided to continue with 19...Ng6, hoping to consolidate and connect the Rooks. However, White heavy pieces quickly possessed the central files and Kramnik was forced to give up a Queen for Rook and Knight. Naiditsch played the remaining moves quickly and with confidence until Kramnik gave up on move 42.
Examining all the tactical nuances in this variation in a new assignment for Viswanathan Anand's team.

Arkadij Naiditsch (left) during 2007 Serbian League

Round 3 results:
Arkadij Naiditsch 2624 - Vladimir Kramnik 2788 1-0
Loek Van Wely 2677 - Peter Leko 2741 ½ - ½
Vassily Ivanchuk 2740 - Ian Nepomniachtchi 2634 ½ - ½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2752 - Jan Gustafsson 2603 ½ - ½

Round 3 standings:
1-2. Jan Gustafsson 2603 and Peter Leko 2741 - 2.0
3-6. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2752, Vladimir Kramnik 2788, Arkadij Naiditsch 2624 and Ian Nepomniachtchi 2634 - 1.5
7-8. Vassily Ivanchuk 2740 and Loek Van Wely 2677 - 1.0

Round 4 pairings:
Vladimir Kramnik 2788 - Peter Leko 2741
Ian Nepomniachtchi 2634 - Loek Van Wely 2677
Jan Gustafsson 2603 - Vassily Ivanchuk 2740
Arkadij Naiditsch 2624 - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2752

Cautious First Round at Dortmund 2008

Burning Stage in Dortmund (Round 2)