Chess lessons › Famous chess games
Vladimir Kramnik
Kramnik’s double check against Anand, 1994, and a pawn on f7 against Karpov, 1997.
The idea
Kramnik’s knight gives a double check against Anand, 1994.
- The knight on b5 blocks the queen’s line to the king.
- The knight jumps to d6 and gives check itself.
- The queen on a4 checks too, so the king must move.
In a game: When your own piece blocks a line to the king, move it with a check of its own.
How the lesson begins
Vladimir Kramnik was born in Tuapse, Russia, in 1975. In 2000 he beat Garry Kasparov in London, 8½ to 6½, without losing a game. In 2006 he played Veselin Topalov in Elista: after twelve games it was 6 to 6, and Kramnik won the rapid tie-break 2½ to 1½, which made him the undisputed champion. In 2007 Viswanathan Anand won the tournament in Mexico City and took the title.
Here are two of Kramnik’s wins with White from the 1990s, the first against Anand and the second against Anatoly Karpov.
Kramnik has White against Anand in the Amber rapid tournament in 1994. A white knight lands on b5, and Black’s queen goes to b6. At the end of this stage White’s queen on a4 looks along the diagonal at Black’s king on e8, with the knight on b5 in the way.
- 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. g3 Qb6 7. Ndb5 Ne5 8. Bg2 a6 9. Qa4 Neg4 10. O-O Rb8 11. b4 axb5 12. Nxb5 d5
Find the move
The knight on b5 blocks your queen’s line to the king on e8, so every knight move gives check. Two of them, to c7 and to d6, also check with the knight: a double check. Find the stronger one.
A hint
From d6 the knight can be guarded next move by your c-pawn, from c5.
Show the answer
13. Nd6+
13.Nd6+ is a double check: the knight gives check, and so does the queen on a4 now that the knight has left b5. A double check cannot be answered by taking a checking piece or by blocking, so the king has to move. Anand played 13...Ke7, and 14.c5 guarded the knight and attacked the queen.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
988 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,290 and 2,213.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: knight 41%, rook 19%, queen 17%, bishop 12%, pawn 11%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.