
Anand's Defensive Brilliancy! - Best Chess Games - Kramnik vs. Anand, 1997
Great defensive chess is rarely appreciated in chess. It has been observed that while brilliant attacking moves are often a joy to behold, brilliant defensive moves are often ugly, necessary things.
In today's game, Viswanathan Anand shows that great defense can also be beautiful. Facing a fearsome light-square assault, he finds a way to surrender material and hold all his key points. Once the counterattacking pawnslaught begins, Kramnik is in great trouble.
I've annotated this game below. I tried my best to paint a good picture of the course of the game without obsessing over smaller inaccuracies and accepting that complete truth in the analysis of such a complex game could only be achieved after days of analysis with the most powerful engines. This is by no means a definitive analysis
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Want more of Viswanathan Anand's games? Check out my previous videos!
- Best Chess Games: Anand's Most Spectacular Move? - Anand vs. Lautier, 1997
- Best Chess Games: Anand's Incredible Exchange Sac - Anand vs. Ivanchuk, 1996
- Best Chess Games: Anand's Sacrificial Miniature - Anand vs. Gelfand, 1996
- Best Chess Games: Anand Defeats Kasparov in the World Championship - Anand vs. Kasparov, 1995
- Chess Masterpieces: Anand Crushes The Sicilian - Anand vs. Sokolov, 1992
- Anand's Positional Chess Masterpiece? Ivanchuk vs. Anand, 1992