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