Sometimes you just have to hack

Vladimir Kramnik has had a reputation for being a safety first player, at least in the latter part of his career. He has even been nicknamed 'Drawnik' in some quarters, although I do wonder what his drawing percentage is compared to his contemporaries. But like the famous scorpion in the tale told by Boris Spassky, there are times when Kramnik has to sting.
His game against Daniel Fridman in the current Dortmund Classic  is such a game. After a slow double-fianchetto opening, Kramnik opens the f file with a pawn sacrifice, followed by an immediate exchange sac. After that his pieces just climb into Fridmans position, and within 10 moves Fridman is lost.


Kramnik,Vladimir (2784) - Fridman,Daniel (2629) [A13]
41st Sparkassen-Chess-Meeting Dortmund GER (6.5), 01.08.2013

1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Nf6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c5 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. e3 b6 9. Nc3 dxc4 10. bxc4 Qd3 11. Ne1 Qd7 12. Qe2 Bb7 13. f4 Rfd8 14. Rd1 Nb4 15. d3 Bxg2 16. Nxg2 a6 17. a3 Nc6 18. g4 Ne8 19. f5 Nd6 20. f6 Bxf6 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Nf4 Ne5 23. Nh5 Qe7 24. Rf1 Nd7 25. Qg2 h6 26. h4 Kf8 27. Qg3 Ke8 28. Qf4 Qf8 29. Nd5 exd5 30. Bxf6 Ne5 31. Qxe5+ Kd7 32. Bg7 Re8 33. Nf6+ Kc7 34. Qa1 1-0