GM Vladimir Kramnik - GM Peter Leko;
World Chess Championships
Brissago, Switzerland; (SUI) /
2004.
Page # 01, general information. (summary)
(A
permanent page devoted to this match!)
Unless
you have been in a cave the last month or so, you know that we FINALLY had a
World Championship Match. GM V. Kramnik and GM P. Leko squared off in their
long-awaited WCS Match. This will be my pages to cover this event. I will try to
be as complete as possible and even provide a few links. (October
25th, 2004.)
This
is my overview of the recent match
between
GM Vladimir Kramnik and GM Peter Leko.
*************************************************************************************
<< The Classical World Chess
Championship takes place at the Centro Dannemann in Brissago, Switzerland; September
25th - October 18th, 2004. A total of 14 games will be played under classical
time controls.
Vladimir Kramnik is defending the title he
won from Garry Kasparov in 2000 against Hungarian GM
Peter Leko, who qualified at the
Dortmund
Candidates in 2002.
>>
- From a press release on the
Internet.
*********************
Although one could argue that these two
really did not deserve to play this match … Kramnik lost to Shirov, and Leko
is not the # 1 or # 2 player in the world,
(As I write this, Leko is NOT even in the
“top five” in the world!); this was
still a long overdue event.
(If it had happened in a timely manner, it would
have been held at least two years ago.)
After all the pomp and ceremony, the two
squared off for a match. They got right down to business, with Kramnik winning
the very first game of the match.
A few draws followed, and then Leko struck
back with a win in game five, after a big surprise … the use of the move, 1.d4
by Peter Leko.
In game eight, Leko won what seemed to be
the decisive win of the match, gaining victory with the Black pieces.
Additionally, Leko seemed to find a hole in Kramnik’s pre-match preparation
… over the board!!
Several more tough draws followed;
especially noteworthy was game thirteen, which Leko drew while all the experts
were predicting he was lost.
With the deck stacked against him, Kramnik
had to win game fourteen – it was the final game of the match. A draw or a
loss left Kramnik out in the cold … he HAD to win in order to retain his
title. Kramnik pulled out a big TN out of his bag of tricks … and motored to a
win. To his credit, Kramnik was able to accomplish something many other players
- in similar situations - had been unable to do.
Hats off to both players. Leko probably
wished he had played on in a few games … especially when he had an edge. Peter
Leko was also probably regretting a few of his short draws, especially with the White
pieces.
But in the end, the better player won, the
rating differential predicted a victory for Kramnik. (By
a small margin.)
-
LIFE-Master
A.J. Goldsby I (Friday,
October 22, 2004
.)
(If
you want all the games of this match - in PGN format - then click here.)
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Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2004-2009. All rights reserved.
This page was created in 10/04 and first posted on my website on October 25th,
2004. Page last updated on: 05/17/2009
.
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