Zurich Chess Challenge: Kramnik vs. Aronian
The Zurich Chess Club announces a six-game chess match between Vladimir Kramnik
(Russia) and Levon Aronian (Armenia) from 21 to 28 April 2012. The numbers two
and three of the world ranking will meet in the time-honored Hotel Savoy Baur
en Ville at Paradeplatz, the venue of many a famous chess event in the past.
Kramnik and Aronian are the winners of the two most prestigious tournaments
of the last months. While the 36-year-old Kramnik gained a convincing victory
at the London Chess Classic in December, the 29-year-old Aronian won the famous
tournament in Wijk aan Zee with an outstanding score.
Game four
[Event "Zurich Chess Challenge Kramnik vs Aroni"] [Site "Zurich"] [Date "2012.04.25"]
[Round "4.4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2820"] [BlackElo "2801"] [PlyCount
"49"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] 1. e4 {60} e5 {60} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. Bb5
{0} Nf6 {0} 4. O-O {0} Nxe4 {0} 5. d4 {0} Nd6 {0 Kramnik relies again on the
Berlin Defense, and why not?} 6. Bxc6 {0} dxc6 {0} 7. dxe5 {0} Nf5 {0} 8. Qxd8+
{60} Kxd8 {0} 9. h3 {0} Ke8 {0} 10. Nc3 {0} h5 {60} 11. Bg5 {0} Be6 {0} 12.
b3 {0} (12. a3 {was Vachier-Lagraeve's choice against Nielsen last year, and
it netted him a victory.}) (12. Rad1 Be7 13. b3 {transposes to the game, but
its a more common way of reaching the position.}) 12... Be7 {240} 13. Rad1 {0.15/0
0} h4 {0.48/0 60} 14. Rfe1 {0.10/ 0 60 a novelty, but hardly something earth-shattering.
Hou Yifan tried Rd3 against Ni Hua, but that game also went the drawn ways quickly.}
Rd8 {0.24/0 240} 15. Rxd8+ {0.36/0 180} Kxd8 {0.32/0 60 This position was reached
rather quickly. Black already has solved a lot of problems - he exchanged one
pair of rooks, he got his pawn all the way to h4 which allows his rook in the
game quickly and White hasn't made much progress. True, White now has a solid
grasp over g5, and cannot possibly be worse, but his chances or winning are
also slim. Here we were all expecting a rapid game to start up soon.} 16. Ne4
{0.08/ 0 0} b6 {0.07/0 300} 17. Bf4 {0.00/0 300} Kc8 {0.00/0 480} 18. Neg5 {0.00/0
420 } Bxg5 {0.00/0 180} 19. Bxg5 {-0.13/0 60} Bd5 {-0.04/0 0 Opposite colored
bishops are now on the board, and white has to retreat his knight in a rather
awkward way.} 20. Nh2 {-0.04/0 60} c5 {-0.10/0 240} 21. Rd1 {-0.18/0 300} Bc6
{ 0.00/0 240} 22. c3 {-0.03/0 60} a5 {-0.09/0 180} 23. Ng4 {-0.08/0 180} Bd7
{-0. 10/0 300} 24. f3 {240} a4 {180} 25. Kf2 {120 Neither side has very realistic
hopes of winning this position. Black has slightly more activity but there is
just not too much he can do with that. On to the rapid!} 1/2-1/2
Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian discuss the game at the board, then ...
... proceed to the press conference with IM Werner Hug and GM Yannick Pelletier
The rapid game
[Event "Zurich Chess challenge - Rapid game"] [Site "Zurich"] [Date "2012.04.25"]
[Round "4.2"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2820"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] 1. e4 {5700} e5 {5700} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6
{0} 3. Bb5 {0} a6 {0} 4. Ba4 {0} Nf6 {0} 5. d3 {0 In yesterday's round many
commentators pointed out that Kramnik was afraid to test Aronian's Marshall.
It seems that Kramnik isn't willing to go into it even in a rapid game!} b5
{0} 6. Bb3 {0} Bc5 {0} 7. c3 {0} d6 {-0.01/0 0} 8. Bg5 {-0.29/0 0 Already a
new move. The position resembles an Archangel, but some key differences are
on the board. First, White has very little hope of playing for a quick d4. His
bishop on g5 seems misplaced, but it binds some of Black's ideas and it is pretty
annoying as there is no easy way to break the pin.} h6 {-0.14/0 0} 9. Bh4 {-0.10/0
0} Bb6 {0.04/0 120} 10. Nbd2 {-0.08/0 0} Rb8 {0.00/0 120} 11. Qe2 {-0.08/0 60
White is probably delaying Castling as much as possible in hopes that Black
castles first, making a g5-h5 push less likely.} a5 {0.29/0 60} 12. a4 {0.18/0
60} b4 {0.29/0 0} 13. O-O {0.07/0 120} g5 $5 {0.04/0 59 Done anyways! Both sides
are out for blood now. Black has a lot of space but considerable weaknesses.
Will his pawn pushes be rewarded or punished?} 14. Bg3 {0.08/0 0} O-O {0.06/0
11} (14... Nh5 15. Nc4 Ba7 16. Ne3 bxc3 17. Bd5 Ne7 18. Nxe5 $5 {Would've been
fun.}) 15. Nc4 {0.00/0 184} Ba7 { 0.00/0 72} 16. Nfd2 {-0.16/0 25 Preventing
the previously mentioned Nh5 idea.} h5 $1 {0.00/0 79 Going for even more space!
Black is not worried about the weaknesses left behind - he is banking on his
piece activity and space advantage to restrict White.} 17. h3 {0.00/0 14} h4
{-0.05/0 47} 18. Bh2 {0.00/ 0 88} Kg7 {0.23/0 53} 19. Kh1 {0.00/0 42} Rh8 {0.23/0
1 Already Levon prepares malicious threats. g4/h3 is in the air.} 20. d4 $5
{-0.12/0 50 And the game goes wild! Kramnik valiantly tries to free himself
from the binding pawns. If he succeeds in opening up the game too much, even
at the cost of a few pawns, he will have a wonderful initiative against his
opponent's weakened king.} bxc3 {-0.11/0 50} 21. bxc3 {-0.11/0 3} exd4 {-0.11/0
76} 22. e5 {-0.24/0 23 The point} dxc3 $1 {0.00/0 27 Levon doesn't want to concede
any intiative, and sacrifices a knight. For it, he will get some king safety,
strong pawns and well coordinated pieces.} (22... dxe5 23. Nxe5 Re8 24. Rae1
$1 {is a significant initiative.}) 23. exf6+ {0.00/0 227} Qxf6 {-0.66/0 0} 24.
f4 $5 { -1.49/0 0 This move might be too optimistic. But interesting! Objectively
I'm sure it's just bad though.} (24. Ne4 Qe7 25. Bd1 (25. Bc2 $5 d5 26. Rae1
dxe4 27. Bxe4 $13) 25... d5 26. Nxc3 Qxe2 27. Bxe2 dxc4 28. Bxc4 $11 {Would've
been a very sad continuation considering how promising the game was going.})
24... cxd2 {-0.08/0 0} 25. fxg5 {-0.26/0 0} Qe6 {0.00/0 0} 26. Qd1 $2 {-2.59/0
270} ( 26. Ne5 {is brought to you by the magic of computers.} Rxb3 27. Rxf7+
Kg8 28. Rf6 dxe5 29. Rxe6 Bxe6 30. Qxd2 {Black's king is exposed, yes, but I'm
not entirely sure White has sufficient compensation for the sacrificed material.
I've a feeling the Queen will be overwhelmed. However it's much better than
the game continuation.}) 26... Rxb3 $1 $19 {-2.54/0 0} 27. Qxb3 {-2.62/0 6}
Ba6 {-2.61/0 0 Nicely calculated. Black gets the exchange back, and forces the
trade of queens.} 28. Qf3 $2 {-4.96/0 149 Objectively bad, but the other moves
lost without resistance.} (28. Nxd2 Qxb3 29. Nxb3 Bxf1 30. Rxf1 Rb8 {is a completely
hopeless endgame for White.}) 28... Bxc4 $19 {-7.24/0 9} 29. Qxc6 { -10.06/0
0} Bd4 {-7.47/0 6} (29... Bxf1 30. Rxf1 Qe2 {was possible, the text is just
more exact.}) 30. Bg1 {-8.26/0 19} (30. Rad1 Bxf1 31. Rxf1 Qe2 {is really over,
as White doesn't have Qc3+ anymore.}) 30... Bxa1 {-9.22/0 65} 31. Rxa1 {-8.51/0
0} Re8 $1 {-7.50/0 21} 32. g6 {-14.10/0 106} Qf6 $1 {-20.62/0 145 } 33. Qxc4
{-19.99/0 32} Re1 {-18.38/0 0} 34. Kh2 {-299.86/0 0} Rxa1 {2} 35. Bd4 {0} Rh1+
{0 A nice finishing tactic. Levon played a superb game, without fear.} 0-1
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site, and naturally
on Playchess. In addition there was a video broadcast with commentary and images
from the playing hall. If you missed it you can follow the entire four hours
of action and the press conference in this video stream:
Score
| Players |
Rating |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Total |
Perf. |
+/– |
| Levon Aronian |
2820 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
|
|
2.0 |
2801 |
–1 |
| Vladimir Kramnik |
2801 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
|
|
2.0 |
2820 |
+1 |
Remaining schedule
| |
Thursday |
April 26 |
Rest day |
| Round 5 |
Friday |
April 27 |
15:00h CEST |
| Round 6 |
Saturday |
April 28 |
13:00h CEST |
Round three commentary on Playchess by GM Daniel King
Round four and three commentary by Andrew Martin