Game 6
Vladimir Kramnik		Garry Kasparov

Game 6 Tuesday 18th October 2000. Vladimir Kramnik vs. Garry Kasparov: Queens Gambit Accepted

The main off the board story was the expulsion of John Henderson as a journalist from the venue. In the first few games relations between the press and organisers rapidly degenerated over what the journalists saw as petty restrictions on their activities. Relations between John and the organisers were especially poor. The organisers finally decided to expel him after his report on round 4 BRAINDEAD@BRAINGAMES on the chesscenter wcc mini-site. In addition John was also reporting for CNN and the Scotsman. The organisers including Ray Keene confronted John Henderson shortly after the start of play and "asked" him to leave with a very large bouncer standing by whilst he packed up. I ran into John as I was on my way to the venue, he didn't seem especially surprised at being excluded. It was the talk of the press room with strong support from all the other journalists I spoke to both of his right to write what he liked and over the heavy handed methods used to expel him. Mig's picture of John Henderson leaving

Kramnik,V (2770) - Kasparov,G (2849) [D27] Braingames WCC London ENG (6), 17.10.2000

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 c5 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 Nf6 7.a4 Nc6 8.Qe2 cxd4 9.Rd1 Be7 10.exd4 0-0 11.Nc3 Nd5 12.Bb3 Re8 13.h4TN (13.Bd2 Gelfand-Ivanchuk Monaco 2000 1/2 54 moves 13. Ne5 Naumkin - Sadler, Ostend 1992. 0-1 46 moves) Ncb4 14.h5 b6 15.Ne5 Bb7 16.a5 b5 17.h6 g6 (About the time I arrived at the venue after a very long journey from my native Bradford) 18.Ne4 Nc7 This wasn't predicted in advance. Over the next few moves Kasparov appears to be getting the best of it but in retrospect things aren't so clear. Around the time of this position I said to Owen Williams Kasparov's manager that he at last had found a position he could enjoy playing. Owen replied that he was concerned about the amount of time Kasparov had left (about 35 mins until move 40) in retrospect he was probably right. 19.Nc5 Bd5 20.Ra3 Nc6 21.Bxd5 Qxd5 22.Ncd7 The natural consequence of Kramnik's play and expected in the press room Rad8 23.Nxc6 Rxd7 24.Nxe7+ Rexe7 25.Rc3 f6 Kasparov still looked slightly better here but this is deceptive. 26.Be3 Kf7 27.Rdc1 Qb7 28.Rc5 Nd5 29.Qf3 Nb4 30.Qe2 Rc7 It was time to think about 30. ...Nd5 but Kasparov has missed an important detail. 31.Bf4 Rxc5 32.dxc5 e5 33.Qd2! Kasparov said afterwards that he missed this move and now he gets into trouble. Nc6 34.Qd5+ Kf8 35.Be3 Qd7 36.Qf3 Kf7 37.Rd1 e4 38.Qe2 Qf5 39.Rd6 Re6 40.Rd7+ Re7 41.Rd6 Re6 With time control reached Kramnik thought for a long time. He has an instant draw so he could afford to weigh up whether to continue. 42.Qd1 g5? Kasparov will be extremely disappointed with himself. He played this losing move very quickly. 43.Qh5+? Ke7 44.Qd1 Kf7? Both players are have switched off temporarily. However faced with another point where a draw is to be had by asking Kramnik has a final think and sees he should continue. 45.Rd7+ Kg6 A sad necessity. 46.Rg7+ Kxh6 47.Qd7 Re5 48.Qf7 Rd5 49.Kh1 White wants to play 49. Kh2 and g4 winning but that doesn't work due to 49 Kh2 Ne5 50 Bxg5+ fxg5 51 Qxf5 Nf3. This is a nasty idea however. Nd8 50.Rxh7+ There was quite some discussion of 50. Qf8 which may indeed be winning. Qxh7 51.Qxd5 Kg6+ 52.Kg1 Qc7 53.Qg8+ Kf5 54.Qd5+ Kg6 55.Qxe4+ Kg7 56.Qa8 A very commital decision. There certainly isn't a clear win anymore. 56. Bd4 57. Bc3 is a plan to keep control of the position but he may not be able to break through. Qd7 57.Kh2 Qd3 58.g3 Kasparov fingered this as an error directly after the game but as a win hasn't materialised in analysis yet its not clear he's right. However Kasparov obviously took great comfort during the game about this concession and the position is now drawn. Nf7 59.Qb7 Kg6 60.Qxa6 Ne5 61.Qa8 Ng4+ 62.Kh3 Qf5 Kasparov had to find this but now its a clear draw. 63.Qg8+ Kh6 64.Qh8+ Kg6 65.Qe8+ Kh6 66.Qh8+ ½-½