Originally posted by greenpawn34
Please not a Kramnik - Carlsen match.
The important thing is winning the match, not entertaining the punters.
Kramnik will slip into dull mode like he did v Kasparov and bored the living
daylights out him (and us) so much so that Kapsaprov actually gave up playing chess.
I want Carlsen v Topalov.
Oh come on GP, Kramnik did what he had to do to beat Kasparov. When you are playing against a player who plays a brilliancy almost every game, what are you supposed to do? I played through that match just a few weeks ago and really enjoyed seeing how Kramnik executed his strategy. Carlsen is a product of that match!
Kramnik v Kasparov Munich 1994 (This is Kramniks 4th game ever against Kaspa, having one loss already and two draws)
[Event "Munich (Germany)"]
[Site "It"]
[Date "1994.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Vladimir Kramnik"]
[Black "Garry Kasparov"]
[ECO "E92"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "78"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 a5
8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Na6 10.O-O Bd7 11.Nd2 Nc5 12.b3 Nfxe4 { This move alone deserves about ten exclamation marks for sheer balls. Is it any wonder Kramnik eventually feels a need to adopt a containment strategy against this guy?? } 13.Bxd8
Nxc3 14.Qe1 Rfxd8 15.Rc1 Nxa2 16.Ra1 Nb4 17.Bd1 e4 18.Rb1 Re8
19.Qe3 f5 20.h4 Rf8 21.g3 Rae8 22.Kg2 Nbd3 23.Rg1 f4 24.gxf4
Rxf4 25.h5 g5 26.Rf1 Rh4 27.Rh1 Rf4 28.Rf1 Ref8 29.f3 Rh4
30.fxe4 Nf4+ 31.Kg1 Ncd3 32.e5 Nxe5 33.Rc1 Rh3 34.Nf3 g4
35.Nxe5 Rxe3 36.Nxd7 Nh3+ 37.Kg2 Rxf1 38.Kxf1 g3 39.Kg2 Nf4+
0-1
Kramniks entire style of chess is a response to the need to counter Kasparov. Kramniks game evolves slowly over the course of the 90's from a quite brilliant tactician, to an extremely patient positional grinder. There is only one reason for that. Take Kasparov out of the picture and Kramnik would most likely have ended up playing very much like Kasparov did himself!
As for Carlsen, he grew up watching all this. I think this game against Kramnik is really one of the finest games i have ever seen, hands down! He takes Kramniks style of "Come and get me" defense. This isn't the hedgehog defense, it's the scorpion defense!
[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2008.01.26"]
[EventDate "2008.01.12"]
[Round "12"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Vladimir Kramnik"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2799"]
[BlackElo "2733"]
[PlyCount "114"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7
7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 d6 9. Rd1 a6 10. Ng5 Bxg2 11. Kxg2 Nc6
12. Qf4 O-O 13. Nce4 Ne8 14. b3 Ra7 15. Bb2 Rd7 16. Rac1 Nc7 { This Kid makes it look so damn easy! All of a sudden e6 is defended by the knight and white is faced with losing a piece after ..f5. The thing i really admire about this game is the way he takes his time, brings the Ra8-a7-d7, nice and patient. He doesn't create any weaknesses, just allows white to over extend a little and then bang, this subtle little move starts a forced line that totally changes the complexion of the position... }
17. Nf3 f5 18. Nc3 g5 19. Qd2 g4 20. Ne1 Bg5 21. e3 { Go back ten moves and tell me you could see this position on the horizon! Carlsen v Kramnik WC match would be a dream contest imo! } Rff7
22. Kg1 Ne8 23. Ne2 Nf6 24. Nf4 Qe8 25. Qc3 Rg7 26. b4 Ne4
27. Qb3 Rge7 28. Qa4 Ne5 29. Qxa6 Ra7 30. Qb5 Qxb5 31. cxb5
Rxa2 32. Rc8+ Kf7 33. Nfd3 Bf6 34. Nxe5+ dxe5 35. Rc2 Rea7
36. Kg2 Ng5 37. Rd6 e4 38. Bxf6 Kxf6 39. Kf1 Ra1 40. Ke2 Rb1
41. Rd1 Rxb4 42. Ng2 Rxb5 43. Nf4 Rc5 44. Rb2 b5 45. Kf1 Rac7
46. Rbb1 Rb7 47. Rb4 Rc4 48. Rb2 b4 49. Rdb1 Nf3 50. Kg2 Rd7
51. h3 e5 52. Ne2 Rd2 53. hxg4 fxg4 54. Rxd2 Nxd2 55. Rb2 Nf3
56. Kf1 b3 57. Kg2 Rc2 0-1
What a game!! (Do you notice any similarity between these two games? The endings are surprisingly similar. One player takes on a massive amount of risk, one player removes a massive amount of risk. Same result.)
Carlsen v Topalov would be completely one sided. Carlsen is a much stronger player. Since 2009 Carlsen has 9 wins against Topalov without reply. Kramnik and Aroinian are the only two players who are anywhere near Carlsen. Yes he can lose a game here or there to any number of the top 20 or so, but in a match there are really only two contenders in my opinion.