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While Vladimir Kramnik was seen circulating around the Wijk aan Zee venue, even explaining he was expecting to speak with the organizers for next year’s jubilee event, as it will mark the 75th edition of Wijk aan Zee, it turned out there was more to it than that.
He announced today that he had just signed a contract for a six-game match in classical chess against Levon Aronian, to take place in the end of April. Though a ‘friendly’ match, it is also a serious one, aimed to help both players prepare for the upcoming Candidates tournament, and as such will use the exact same time controls.
It is worth adding that this is also the first time in history in which two players rated 2800 play a classical match, and this includes previous World Championship matches, not that this would compare all the same.
The first game is scheduled for April 21st, 2012, with a rest day scheduled after rounds two and four, and the last game will be played on April 28th. An added innovation, for those who remember the drawfest of the last Candidates matches, is that in the event of a draw that ends with less than three hours of play, the players will play a rapid game at 25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment that same day for the spectators. Note that this will not count toward the score of course.
The sponsor is Russian precious stones giant ICG with another Western partner in the same field. The locale will be announced in a week or two.
Vladimir Kramnik breaks the news on his upcoming match with Levon Aronian
