Anna opens with the queen's pawn
Perhaps we're going to see a quieter game than game 1, where Odin invited Anna into playing the super sharp Sicilian Defense?
Odin develops his knight
This flexible move is the most popular move at the highest levels in chess. If you were watching the recent World Championship match, you might have noticed that this was the most common response chosen by both players against the queen's pawn move!
Anna develops her own knight
For now both players are choosing flexible moves, they're not showing their hand in terms of which opening they want to play for now.
Odin develops his central pawn
A couple of ideas here is to follow up by pushing a pawn in the centre, while also there's the possibility to give a check with his bishop. Well..in truth there's a lot of options at this early stage of the game, but these are some of the most popular.
Anna improves her central control
She pushes a second pawn in the centre. This makes sense, since a key advantage of having the White pieces is that the extra move makes it easier for you to get a bigger slice of the pie in the centre than your opponent.
An aggressive choice!
Odin targets the pawn. Now if Anna pushes forward and grabs space, it will create a very imbalanced pawn structure. It's a riskier approach than some popular alternatives, but it's in keeping with Odin's enterprising style!
Anna goes for a solid approach
She defends her centre, getting ready to take back with a pawn in case Odin decides to exchange.
Odin contests the centre
At the same time, now that there's contact between the two central pawns, it's possible that more pawns will come off the board and we'll get what's known as an 'IQP structure'. This stands for 'isolated queen's pawn', and it refers to the fact that Anna might be left with a central pawn that has no friendly pawns on either of the files next to it.
Anna goes for a solid developing move
The knight puts some pressure in the centre here.
Odin mirrors his opponent's last move
For now the players keep the tension in the centre. One interesting idea now for Anna would be to advance her pawn and grab some space on the queenside. Will she do it, or will she perhaps worry that then her pawns might be a little overextended?!
Anna develops her queen's bishop
She pins the knight, which is a way of indirectly pressuring the centre since the knight is one of the main defenders of Odin's pawn.
Odin breaks the pin
A natural choice, which also sets up the possibility of castling next.
Anna develops her other bishop
Now she's also ready to castle.
This is a typical moment to exchange pawns. The reason is that Anna has just moved her light-squared bishop, and now she's going to have to move it a second time to recover her pawn.
Anna recovers her pawn. Now she has this isolated pawn in the centre of the board. While usually such pawns are considered a weakness, they are not necessarily bad. It's a double-edged sword, because although the pawn might be harder to defend, it also leaves Anna with more space and better attacking chances.
Odin brings his king to safety
He goes for short castling. So far the position is a pretty typical one, neither player has done anything too far out of the ordinary and it's roughly balanced.
Anna also brings her king to safety
Now it's up to the players to solve harder problems, like building a middlegame plan!
Odin prepares to expand on the queenside
He's looking to grab space on the left side of the board. A key idea behind this is to then be able to step the light-squared bishop onto the long diagonal. That's Odin's final undeveloped piece, so it makes sense that he's looking to fix that.
Anna brings her rook into the game
It seems a reasonable move at first sight, but the problem is that it doesn't stop Odin's threat of expanding on the left side of the board.
Odin carries out his plan
He gains a bit more time against Anna's light-squared bishop, and next he'll plant his bishop on the long diagonal.
Anna drops the bishop back
It's a natural square to retreat to, since from here the bishop is placed on the longest diagonal it could find.
Odin develops his bishop
The pawn in the centre could not be taken, for tactical reasons.
Anna challenges Odin's queenside pawns
She's looking to provoke the pawn to push, when Odin will have less control over the light squares and Anna can try to take advantage of this down the line.
Odin pushes the pawn
Now it's on Anna to choose where to place the knight. The most natural square is in the centre.
A small mistake from Anna, who does not seize the opportunity to jump into the centre with her knight. The risk here for her is that her position might become a little bit passive, since the knight in its current square is not able to create as many threats as it would in a more advanced post.
Odin shifts his knight to the edge
With this move, he opens up the scope of his light-squared bishop. Now, there's a threat in the air of capturing the knight. While the bishop is a little stronger than the knight, the benefit of exchanging is that it would damage Anna's pawn structure.
Odin's last move has not been too convincing. One of the reasons is because now Anna can jump her threatened knight to the centre.
Anna capitalises on Odin's slight mistake, and jumps her knight to the wonderful central square. Now Odin has to be a bit careful that his knight that he put on the edge of the board isn't knocked out of the game for a long time.
Odin challenges for the open file
He brings his rook into the game, contesting the only open file on the board. An open file is one where neither side has a pawn on it, while a semi-open file is one where only one side has a pawn.
Anna goes for the rook exchange
It's a good move, since now she can follow up by moving her queen and bringing her other rook to the open file in the future.
Odin goes for the queen capture
This makes sense to me, since the alternative of capturing with the bishop would leave that piece very passive.
Anna goes for an aggressive choice
GM Pia Cramling, who is Anna's mother, is not too happy to see this move. She was hoping to see Anna bring her queen to the centre instead, since now she's a little concerned that the queen might end up misplaced in the long run on the left side of the board.
Odin deals with the threat
Anna's last move had some tactical venom, as it was possible for her to capture Odin's knight on the kingside, and then win a pawn.
Anna ignores the attack against her bishop!
But Odin has no time to capture it, since with her last move, Anna is now targeting his queen with her rook.
Odin returns his queen to the starting square
It seems like a great choice of square, since from here his queen will put some pressure against Anna's isolated pawn in the middle of the board. Besides this, Odin might be able to bring his queen to the centre in the future and set up what's known as a queen-bishop battery.
A queen-bishop battery is when you stack the queen and the bishop along the same diagonal, so that they join forces!
Anna retreats the bishop
This is a solid choice, overprotecting her central pawn and keeping the bishop defended as well.
Odin centralises his knight
At the same time, there's a threat of capturing the bishop. The problem is that after an exchange, Anna's dark-squared pawns might get into some trouble, so it's definitely something Anna has to react to.
Anna drops the bishop back
The danger for Anna in this position is that she is reacting to Odin's threats. This more cautious approach can work well in different kinds of middlegames, but it's not the best strategy when you are the side with a weaker pawn structure (Anna is the side with an isolated pawn in the centre). It looks like Odin's got a clear advantage right now. Let's see how he will continue next.
Odin jumps in with his knight
This move makes a lot of sense, coming in with a double attack against Anna's rook and bishop, forcing her to continue to be on the defensive and reacting to his threats.
Anna sidesteps with the rook
At the same time, she makes sure to keep her bishop defended as that piece too was under attack.
Odin drops his knight back
His idea is to try hunt down Anna's pawn on the edge of the board, but the computer doesn't like this move. Apparently, it's a bit too greedy, and it will give Anna some much needed time to improve her piece coordination.
Anna ignores the attack against her queenside pawn, instead focusing on her own much more potent attacking possibilities against Odin's king! And, it's telling of the change of dynamic in the game, that we now see Odin spending quite a bit of time reflecting on how to best meet Anna's threats!
Odin challenges the knight
After a long think, Odin decides that he can afford to play this relatively quiet response. There were lots of threats like checks with bishop and knight, but seems like objectively speaking the position is around balanced.
A good move!
GM Pia Cramling was worried that Anna would play something overly aggressive. Her grandmaster mother was saying that this move is "the move that the position is calling for". Anna keeps everything solid in the centre for now.
Odin drives his knight to the centre
With this move he asks a question of both Anna's knight and bishop. Probably it's best to just exchange knights now.
Anna goes for a pawn capture!
But now Odin will be able to get some good counterplay and opportunity to recover his pawn soon.
Odin recovers his pawn
The position is close to balanced, but from a human perspective maybe Odin's pieces on the queenside might be a little intimidating!
Anna drops her knight back
It's a good move, coming with an attack against the bishop and other threats.
Odin drops his bishop back
He chooses a sensible square, from where it guards against potential forward jumps by Anna's knight.
Anna offers a knight exchange
It looks like Odin's active knight on the queenside was bothering her.
Odin retreats with his knight
This may not be the best move, but perhaps Odin is trying to keep as many pieces on the board as possible so that the position remains very complicated. This would play to his advantage because of the situation on the clock.
Anna targets Odin's bishop
At the same time, she's now taken control of the most significant file in the position.
Odin steps the bishop forward
From here it covers potential entry squares by Anna's rook. The position is dynamically balanced, but Anna is down to just seconds!
Anna activates her light-squared bishop
It's a logical choice, linking up with her queen.
Odin goes for the most aggressive reply
This move comes with a nasty threat of pushing the pawn one more square, which would trap Anna's bishop.
Anna responds in kind
Unfortunately, this move is not so great because now in the long run Anna's king safety is going to be a real problem, with Odin's light-squared bishop exerting a significant influence on the game for a long time.
Odin goes for a rook lift
It seems like he has very aggressive intentions! But this move is a mistake, since now the queens can get exchanged by Anna, and then the attacking configuration that Odin is going for would not make so much sense...!
Anna finds the idea! Now the queens are coming off the board, and now Odin's rook is looking silly given that the queens are about to be traded. Against the odds, with less time on her clock and a difficult position, Anna remains very much alive in this game.
Odin drops his bishop back
The point of this move is to make sure that the knight stays well defended, without retreating it directly which would leave the file open for Anna to invade with her rook.
Anna lifts her rook up
She's looking to pick up the undefended pawn on the queenside.
Anna targets Odin's knight
One of the options that she now sets up is the possibility to win the pawn. But the position would still remain around balanced in such a case, since Odin would be the only side left with the two bishops on the board, as well as a better pawn structure.
Odin unleashes chaos!
What a crazy move, cracking everything open and offering up a free pawn. Odin stays true to his hyper-aggressive style in all game conditions and match circumstances it seems to me!
Anna goes for the pawn exchange. Soon she'll have a choice between which pawn to take.
Anna goes for a piece exchange
The idea is to remove the knight, as this was the piece that was defending the pawn.
Anna has now won a pawn
But Odin's two bishops offer enough compensation, so for now it's very much anyone's game!
Odin pushes his kingside pawns
This move comes with a gain of time against Anna's bishop, which is under fire now and has only one square to retreat to.
Anna drops her bishop back
This was the only square available to the bishop.
Odin centralises his bishop
This move makes a lot of sense, anchoring the bishop on this very strong outpost (a square supported by a pawn that cannot be attacked by an enemy pawn). It's a useful move, even if it may not contain a specific threat.
Anna moves forward with her knight
This is a good move, since from here the knight can jump forward in the future towards the centre.
Odin retreats with his rook
A good move, 'recycling' the rook that was stuck in a passive position on the third rank.
Anna centralises the knight
But now the problem is that Anna's king may become difficult to defend if Odin shifts his rook to the left side corner.
A good move!
The rook reaches the open file, and is ready to invade deep into enemy territory next.
Anna creates an escape route for her king
It was necessary, since otherwise the check against her king along her first rank would have led to disaster.
Check!
The rook is now going to be able to play along the last couple of ranks and Anna will have to remain very vigilant in order to ensure that the rook's threats are always kept under control.
Anna moves her king
She had no other good option against the check.
An uncomfortable move to face
Anna's bishop has nowhere to turn, but fortunately she does have a way of defending it.
Anna guards her bishop
She continues to show tremendous resilience in a complex position and with almost no time on the clock.
Odin pushes the pawn
He plays for the discovered check, but it's not clear that this is such a great idea since while the pawn looks very dangerous, Anna is able to blockade it for now.
Anna blocks the check
She was facing two threats: the check, and the threat of pawn takes pawn. This move takes care of both.
Odin steps up with his king
Perhaps he was uncomfortable to have his king within the line of sight of Anna's knight.
Anna shifts her rook one square to the left, so that she can, much like her opponent, begin plans of invading into enemy territory with her rook.
The king continues to march forward
Odin steps his king away from the second rank, to take the sting out of Anna's threat to pin the bishop.
Anna activates her rook
This move makes a lot of sense, just trying to improve her pieces as much as possible.
Odin defends his bishop
He not only defends his piece, but also might be threatening to bring his rook to Anna's second rank in the near future.
Anna mobilises her queenside pawn
Anna is trying to make the most of her extra pawn, but that's a tricky one to push forward given how carefully its forward squares are being guarded by Odin's two bishops.
Odin pins Anna's bishop
It doesn't contain an immediate threat, but it does tie down Anna's knight to the defense of this piece indefinitely.
Odin targets the pawn
This pawn is really difficult to defend for Anna, so it makes sense to try to hunt it down.
Odin targets the pawn
This pawn is really difficult to defend for Anna, so it makes sense to try to hunt it down.
Anna overlooks a tactic in the time trouble. Will her opponent spot it?!
Odin finds it, continuing to show very sharp and precise chess as in game 1. The point is that now once Anna captures the bishop back, he will have a check that will ensure he recovers his sacrificed piece.
Anna captures the bishop
It was such a strong piece that it had to be captured, but now Odin has a check and when the dust settles he will end up a pawn to the good.
Check!
Now the dark-squared bishop will be captured on the next move.
Odin has gone wrong!
With best play, the position is going to be drawn. The reason is because if now Anna steps the king to the right, she will lose her own rook to a discovered check. BUT, she will end up winning Odin's bishop. Perhaps this was overlooked by the Norwegian?!
This move was absolutely necessary, since shuffling the king to the left would have walked into a check from the enemy bishop.
Odin gives a check for now
This is a safe move. He can force a draw by repetition if he wishes....or will he try to play for more?!
Anna steps back with her king
This was the only legal move.
Repetition!
Repetition!
Odin has gone for the only way to keep the game alive, when now he will have a rook and better placed pieces. But, on the other hand, Anna will have a knight and bishop - which can be a tricky combination to deal with!
This position is equal on paper, but in practice and with only minutes on the clock for both players, absolutely any result is possible! The most dangerous plan for Odin here is to keep pushing forward with his king, since then the combination of king, rook and pawn can be really unpleasant to deal with.
Odin pushes forward with his king. This is by far the best practical try, since unless Anna finds the right defensive plan, her pieces could get uncoordinated easily. That's sometimes the thing about having two minor pieces versus the rook...they can be stronger when well coordinated, but the rook is usually easier to maneuver.
Anna gives a check
Her goal seems to be to eliminate Odin's powerful passed pawn.
Odin 'ignores' his pawn
The thing is however that there's a nasty little trick. If Anna captures it, he'll move with his king to attack the knight, setting up the threat of winning the knight, as well as checkmating along the back rank!
Anna moves her knight
It looks like a good move, protecting the central pawn for now, and also eyeing up a deadly fork against Odin's king and rook.
Odin snaps off the pawn.
Check!
Anna knows she cannot hang on to her pawn in the centre, so she goes after Odin's own vulnerable pawns.
Odin captures the pawn in the centre
He had to respond to the check.
Anna captures a pawn with check
The position has now become much more simplified, and is looking like it will drift towards a draw over the coming moves, short of a major blunder from either player.
Odin sets up a mate threat!
Anna has to find one move only - to give a check with her bishop - in order to hold the balance.
Check!
Now Anna expels the king from its ideal square.
Odin threatens checkmate again!
Even though Odin's king is no longer opposing the white king, there's *still* a threat of mate because Anna's bishop blocks one of her king's escape squares.
Check!
Anna drives the king away, forcing it to choose a worse square.
And *still* the same threat!
Funnily enough, Odin is still looking to set up a backrank mate! But now that it's Anna's turn, she can lift up her bishop and create an escape route for her king in this way.
Anna moves her bishop
This is a good move, creating a couple of different threats: to bring the king forward, as well as to capture Odin's undefended pawn. The position is likely to peter out into a draw over the coming moves.
Sliding the rook across
Odin is looking to eliminate Anna's remaining pawn, as he knows that without it he will run no risk of losing.
Anna steps up with her king
She's threatening to pick up Odin's most advanced pawn next.
Odin snaps up the pawn, at the same time also defending his own remaining pawn for now.
After a rapid fire burst of moves, the position has liquidated further and is now in 'dead draw' territory (a chess term for when a position is drawn, and offers no real practical chances for either side to trick the other!)
Odin targets both of Anna's minor pieces
Anna has a couple of ways of meeting the threat. She can drop her bishop back and use it to defend her knight. Or she can drop her knight back and use it to defend her bishop!
Anna sets one last trick!
If Odin were to try to approach with the king, he would fall for a nasty tactic, leaving Anna with a winning position!
Odin forces matters, giving up his rook for just one of Anna's minor pieces. But a lone minor piece is not enough to checkmate the opponent, so the game is a draw.
Odin brings his king to the center
Just waiting for Anna to take his pawn, which is the situation where the rules of chess declare the position a draw. In case you're wondering why it's not declared sooner...well, funnily enough, sometimes king plus knight against king plus pawn can be won! Chess can be a strange game at times!
And the game is over!
The second game goes down to the wire, with the players ending up with almost no pieces by the time the dust had settled!
It was a very hard fought affair, with Odin having more pressure throughout the middlegame, and building up a big lead on the clock to boot.
However, Anna showed tremendous grit and resilience, and was able to find the right defensive ideas in several key moments. Odin kept trying to make progress, but was unable to prove any advantage, and eventually all the pawns on the board were traded off in a frenzy, as the players understood that the game was inevitably headed for a peaceful result!
That puts the score at 1.5-0.5 in Odin's favor as we move into day 2. Hope you enjoyed the action, and we hope to see you tomorrow!
"How does he play so fast? I don't get it! He's like the fastest player I've ever played against...it's crazy!" - Anna Cramling during her recent visit to the confession booth 😅
So far in game 2, Odin has continued to keep up the pace! In game 1 he played near-instantly for large parts of the game, a factor that contributed greatly to Anna's time trouble. Early into this game, Anna has used 1/3rd of her starting time, while Odin has used just a few minutes. Such opponents can be very tough to fight against when they're in good form!
Odin has just stepped into the confession booth, and is saying that the opening has not gone according to his preparation. He was hoping that Anna would have pushed the pawn in the centre on move 4, rather than the quieter option that she chose. And now he says that he's not too comfortable with the position that's on the board, as he is not super familiar with the theory. Which could be good news for Team Anna!
Around 10 minutes remain until game 2 of a total of 6 games in this match.
The action kicked off earlier in the day, and it was the Norwegian, Odin, who got off to the perfect start, scoring a convincing victory from the White side in a game featuring the reputable and always sharp Sicilian Defense.
Now, the pressure is on Anna as she will have the white pieces and a golden opportunity to fight for the full point. That said, she's going to have to take well-calculated risks, since a second loss would leave her with an uphill battle moving into day 2 of the match tomorrow.
Let's see if Anna has cooked up some aggressive opening preparation for this match, and whether it will be enough to put the squeeze on Odin, who played a great game of chess in game 1, showing that he's arrived to the match in excellent form.