2006 World Chess Championship, Game 2: Sensational! KRAMNIK WINS AGAIN, takes 2-0 lead!!!

Amazing! Blunders on both sides of the board, but excellent chess nonetheless! Topalov, with the White pieces, was on the attack as expected, and created a very sharp game, but Kramnik defended well and Topy finally committed a final innacuracy (some have called it another blunder, but things were very hard to find at the board) to lose the game.Tomorrow (Monday, September 25th) is a rest day for the players. It will be interesting how these two early losses affect Topalov pyschologically. For many players, the match would already be over. In fact, at this point, Kramnik could from now on play ultra-conservatively and play dull, uninteresting chess to get drawn games and win the match. If Topalov still has a fire in his belly by Tuesday, however, he will continue to fight for the win, as he has nothing to lose but the match at this point. Here is the game...analysis courtesy of my friend GM Susan Polgar at her own blog:1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 0-0 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Bg6 15.Ng5 (Instead 15.Bxg6 fxg6 16.Ng5 Re8 17.Qh3 Nf8 18.Qb3 and draw was agreed in Petrosian-Smyslov, 1980)15...Re8 16.f4 Bxd3 (Possibly a new move. In a couple of other games, Black tried 16...Rc8 or 16...Nf8)17.Qxd3 f5 ( Black had to stop the f4-f5 advance. After 17...Nf8 18.f5 White's attack is very strong)18.Be3 Nf8 19.Kh1 Rc8 20.g4 Qd7 21.Rg1 Be7 22.Nf3 Rc4 23.Rg2 fxg4 24.Rxg4 Rxa4 25.Rag1 g6 26.h4?! (Ng5! maybe a better choice as White maintains a dangerous attack!) 26...Rb4 (Topalov is pushing as White as expected. He created a dangerous attack on the Kingside. However, it seems that he made an inaccuracy on move 26 by playing h4 instead of Ng5. Now, it looks like Kramnik is holding an edge) 27.h5 Qb5 (now Black holds an edge as Kramnik is trying to trade Queens) 28.Qc2 Rxb2? (Rb3 is needed to attack the Bishop and slowing down White's rampage on the Kingside) 29.hxg6! (Topalov is still attacking, offering to sacrifice his Queen! Now White once again has a dangerous attack and advantage. He may really pull it off in game 2!) 29...h5 (After 29...Rxc2 30.gxh7+ Kh8 31.Rg8+ Kxh7 32.R1g7+ Kh6 33.f5+ Bg5 34.R1xg5 wins) 30.g7! (now it comes down to who can calculate better. If Topalov can win this game, it may be the game of the year! Wow! This is truly an incredibly exciting game!) 30...hxg4 (After 30...Rxc2 31.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 32.Rg8+ Kf7 33.R1g7 checkmate!) 31.gxf8(Q) Bxf8?? (This is a losing move. 32.Rxg4 and Black can resign as there is no defense against a decisive advantage) 32.Qg6+??? (This move just threw away the win! What a shocking back to back blunder by both players!!) 32...Bg7 33.f5 Re7 34.f6 Qe2 35.Qxg4 (White still has an edge but big miss by Topalov on move 32) 35...Rf7 36.Rc1? (Qh5 with the idea of Rg3 is unstoppable. If Black takes with Qxe3, White would play Ng5 and game over. White is threatening fxg7 otherwise) 36...Rc2 37.Rxc2 Qd1? (This is helping King get to a better position. Gaining this tempo is not needed) 38.Kg2 Qxc2+ 39.Kg3 (White is clearly better but there is still a lot of work to do for White to convert this game to a win) 39...Qe4 40.Bf4? (Qxe4 may give Topalov a better shot) 40...Qf5 41. Qxf5 exf5 42.Bg5 a5 43.Kf4 a4 (I am also watching the game now on ICC. This has been an amazing game so far. I think nerve is the reason why you see so many big blunders. However, no one can say that the game is boring. Topalov will continue to push forward like a mad bull. This reminds me of the Ali - Foreman boxing match. Will the outcome be different for the aggressor in this match?) 44.Kxf5 a3 (This looks like a draw even though Topalov still needs to be very careful. I do not see any chance for Topalov to win this position. This has been a horrible start for Topalov so far. He could have been leading 1.5 - .5 instead of the other way around) 45.Bc1 (Kramnik now has an edge. This is a real tragedy for Topalov. What an unfortunate turn of event!) 45...Bf8 (This is the best move. With this move, I find it very hard for White to hold on for a draw. This is truly shocking!) 46.e6 Rc7 (This is looking bad for White. I can't even imagine what goes on Topalov's mind right now. Wow!) 47.Bxa3 Bxa3 48.Ke5 (Topalov is still fighting hard but I cannot imagine Kramnik letting him off the hook here. It looks hopeless for White) 48...Rc1 49.Ng5? (White had to play Kxd5 to have small chance. Now 49...Rg1 and game over!) 49...Rf1 (Wow! 49...Rg1 would have been much stronger!) 50. e7 Re1+ 51. Kxd5 Bxe7 52.fxe7 Rxe7 53. Kd6 (What a series of moves! Kramnik had an easy win with 49...Rg1. Now, he has to earn it!) 53...Re1 54.d5 Kf8 (this is still better for Black. However, this is much more than what Topalov would have had if Kramnik played 49...Rg1) 55.Ne6 Ke8 56.Nc7+ Kd8 57.Ne6+ Kc8 58.Kf7 (Here Rh1 is the only move to give Black chances to win) 58...Rh1 59.Ng5?? (Kd6 gives better chance. Now 59...b5 is over) 59...b5 60.d6 Rd1 (White is completely losing now. Too many blunders for Topalov!) 61.Ne6 b4 62.Nc5 Re1+ (This is the only move to win!) 63.Kf6 Re3 (Kramnik is finishing it off nicely! This reminds me of scholastic chess where whoever makes less blunders wins! Nerve is playing tricks on both of them now. This is an incredible set back for Topalov. He definitely should have been 1.5 - .5 and not 0-2) 64. White painfully resigned giving Kramnik a 2-0 lead with only 10 games left to play!