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Petroff Defence: Classical Attack, Jaenisch

Adams–Smeets, Staunton Memorial 2009 · Anand–Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2010 · 7:44 · ECO C42

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In this video

Game 1: Michael Adams (2699) vs Jan Smeets (2632)

Staunton Memorial 2009, 10 August 2009 · Black won (0-1) · 49 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 9.cxd5The first move after the opening line0:38
  2. 17.Qxd5The evaluation moves from −1.95 to −2.88, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here1:14
  3. 18...Rxd5The queens come off1:22
  4. 49.Ke4The evaluation moves from −3.46 to −4.643:54
  5. 49...h4Black wins after 49 moves3:56

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

Game 2: Viswanathan Anand (2790) vs Vladimir Kramnik (2788)

Wijk aan Zee 2010, 30 January 2010 · White won (1-0) · 45 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 9.Be2The first move after the opening line4:34
  2. 35...Rxc4The evaluation moves from +1.68 to +4.35, and White stays more than two pawns ahead from here6:42
  3. 38.Kh2The evaluation moves from +5.00 to +2.566:55
  4. 44...Rf1The evaluation moves from +6.41 to +8.807:28
  5. 45.Bf3White wins after 45 moves7:30

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

About these games

Both sides keep a symmetrical pawn chain, but Black's knight sits actively on e4, and 8...Nb4 attacks the bishop on d3 to take away White's best attacking piece. White uses c4 to challenge d5. The choice is either to exchange at once on d5 or to keep the bishop with Be2 and accept hanging pawns on c3 and d4.

Adams–Smeets went 9.cxd5 Nxd3 10.Qxd3 Qxd5, and Black castled long. 14...Bb4 15.Re2 Bxg4 16.Nxg4 Nc3 won the exchange through a fork. From 17.Qxd5 Black stayed more than two pawns ahead, and after 18...Rxd5 the queens were off at −2.97. 22...Bxh2 gave the bishop back for pawns and left two rooks against rook, knight and bishop. The score fell from −4.62 to −2.51 but stayed clearly in Black's favour. Black's rooks and king advanced with ...g5 and ...h5, and after 49.Ke4 (−4.64) 49...h4 Black won.

Anand–Kramnik took the main line 9.Be2 O-O 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3, and White built hanging pawns on c4 and d4. Unlike Game 1, where the play was an endgame, White kept the pieces on and attacked. The score stood near +0.50 until 25.d5 and 26.Bxc7. White then gave up the exchange with 28.Rxc2 Qxc2 and checked with the knight from h6 and f7. After 35...Rxc4 the evaluation jumped from +1.68 to +4.35. 40...gxh6 (+4.56) was followed by 42.d6, and 45.Bf3 ended the game with White winning.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Adams vs Smeets, Staunton Memorial 2009
  3. 4:05Game 2: Anand vs Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2010

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4

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