Throwback Thursday: Aronian and Kramnik draw in exciting Zurich match

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/14/2022 – Prior to the Candidates Tournament in 2013, two of the favourites to gain the right to challenge Vishy Anand in the next World Championship match were Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian — together with Magnus Carlsen, of course. In order to prepare for the all-important event, amid a scarcity of strong tournaments, Kramnik and Aronian played a 6-game match in Zurich. It was an exciting confrontation, which ended in a draw, with each player getting a win apiece.

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Preparing for the Candidates

Vladimir Kramnik, Levon AronianThe last edition of the Linares Tournament was played in 2010, while the last edition of the Amber Tournament took place in 2011. Among elite events, these were two of the most famous and traditional in the chess calendar. For the likes of Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian, their cancellation meant they had big holes to fill in their schedules — the calendar was quite imbalanced, with most events set to take place in the second half of the year.

By the time the 2012 Wijk aan Zee Tournament finished, the World Championship match between Vishy Anand and Boris Gelfand had not yet been played, but it had already been announced that the next Candidates Tournament would run as a round-robin event for the first time in 51 years.

Back then, Kramnik and Aronian were ranked second and third in the world, behind Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen had yet to participate in a Candidates event, as he had withdrawn from the previous edition, citing the selection process as not sufficiently fair. Given the Norwegian’s young age and his inexperience in similar events, many pundits considered Kramnik and Aronian to be the favourites at the 8-player tournament.

In addition, at the start of 2012, Kramnik and Aronian came from winning the last two elite tournaments played with classical time controls. Kramnik had won the 2011 London Chess Classic, while Aronian had finished clear first at the 2012 Tata Steel Masters. Both tournaments had Carlsen in their lineups.

Amid these circumstances, it was fitting for a friendly match between Kramnik and Aronian to be organized in the springtime of 2012. In what was the first edition of the Zurich Chess Challenge, which ran until 2017, the chess stars were pitted against each other in a 6-game contest. The match took place on April 21-28, almost exactly ten years ago.

An exciting match

The relaxed environment surrounding the match worked wonders, as the protagonists are well-known for their creativity and proneness to experimentation. Rest days were scheduled after rounds 2 and 4, while a slow time control, resembling the one used in the Candidates, was in place — 2 hours for 40 moves, an hour for the next 20 moves, 15 minutes until the end of the game and 30 seconds of increment per move starting from the 61st.

Since it was a friendly match with a live audience, in order to avoid the spectators from leaving the hall disappointed by a short draw, the organizers put forth a novel regulation: if a game ended in a draw after less than three hours, the contenders had to play an extra rapid encounter, which would not affect the final result of the match.

Only once did a game finish drawn in less than three hours, with Aronian grabbing a win in rapid after game 4. 

Petra Korchnoi, Viktor Korchnoi

Guests of honour: Petra and Viktor Korchnoi

Two games finished decisively in the week-long event. Aronian scored a win right out of the gate, beating his famed opponent with the black pieces in game 1. Kramnik bounced back the next time he got the white pieces, as he surprised his opponent by playing 1.e4 and choosing a Four Knights Opening in the third encounter.

Kramnik’s victory was highly entertaining. Aronian gave up his queen as early as on move 12, but got a dangerous initiative against White’s king, castled on the queenside. A sharp struggle ensued, with engines showing an almost permanent plus for White. Even a single inaccuracy could have turned the tables, though. Kramnik nonetheless showed great calculation skills and was rewarded with a spectacular win.

Replay the game with analysis by GM Alejandro Ramirez.

 
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1.e4 There is a certain irony when a valid comment is to state that both players of the match chose 1.e4 as a surprise weapon. After Aronian's 1.e4 in game two, Kramnik also chooses to employ it. True, Kramnik has played it before, but the last time he did so in a classic game was against Adams in the 2006 Dortmund SuperGM tournament. They drew. e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 This is already the first decision, though Kramnik had assuredly planned this in advance. Against the more typical 3.Bb5, Aronian usually plays his pet Marshall Gambit, his primary choice to neutralize his opponent with black. Unless Kramnik wishes to draw, or somehow try to outbook one the world's foremost theoretician's in the line, he needs another plan. 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4! The exclamation is because there is no way Aronian could have expected this unless he has a crystal ball. For one thing, Kramnik has never played any form of Scotch Defense with black or white in his career. The opening motto of the match seems to be "expect the unexpected". exd4 Aronian's only foray in this line dates back to 2003, when he was 19 years old and rated 2581. 5.Nxd4 Bc5 5...Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 Transposes to one of the main lines of the Scotch game. Aronian wants none of that. As he said after the game - he was playing for a win! This is a great advantage of the 'friendly' matches, as they allow players to really play for both results. 6.Be3 Bb6 7.Qd2 "Expect the unexpected" indeed! This variation has only been played twice by players even rated 2500, and only one is worth mentioning. 0-0 8.0-0-0 Re8 9.f3 d5 As Kramnik says, this is the only way of justifying Black's previous play. In some way, the Queen sacrifice that follows is somewhat forced. 9...d6 10.g4 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Be6 12.Rg1 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 c5 14.Qd2 Qa5 15.a3 a6 16.g5 Nd7 17.f4 b5 18.f5 Bc4 19.g6 fxg6 20.Bxc4+ bxc4 21.fxg6 h6 22.Qxd6 Ne5 23.Rd5 Qd8 24.Qxc5 Qh4 25.Rdd1 Rac8 26.Qa7 Qxh2 27.Nd5 c3 28.bxc3 Qh4 29.Rdf1 Kh8 30.Qd4 Nc6 1/2-1/2 (30) Reefat,B (2430)-Hebden,M (2550) Dhaka 1995 CBM 048 [King, D] 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Bg5 Nxc3 12.Bxd8 Nxd1! 12...Bxd4 13.Re1 Nxa2+ 14.Kb1 Rxd8 15.Kxa2 Be6+ 16.Rxe6! fxe6 is clearly better for White. 13.Bxc7 13.Bh4 Nxd4 14.Qxd1 Nf5 15.Bg5 h6 Black has enough compensation for the queen. 13...Bxc7 14.Nxc6 White is up a significant amount of material, but Black has a great deal of counterplay. First, he has the pair of bishops, which gives him a strong hold on some dark squares. Also, Black's pieces will swing into the game very quickly. Ne3 15.Bb5! Kramnik spent a lot of time on this move. Going back is simply not an option! 15.Nd4?! Bf4 already leaves white in huge problems. Consider the following two mover: 16.Bb5 (actually best) Nf1! And Black regains more than he sacrificed for the queen. 15...bxc6 15...Bf5?! 16.Nd4 Bf4 17.Bxe8 Nxg2 18.Qxf4 Nxf4 19.Bxf7+ Kxf7 20.Nxf5 This is not so easy to win, but : "If I wanted to hold, I would've played 5... Bb4" - Aronian 15...a6 16.Ba4 Nc4!? Wait for the next CBM issue for full annotations in all these crazy variations. 16.Bxc6 Nc4 17.Qd4 17.Qb4!? Kramnik mentioned during the postmortem that this was possibly better. 17...Be6 18.Bxa8 Bb6! The problem of having an extra queen is that when it gets attacked you really have to move it. Black is building up slowly by using the Queen as a punching bag. 19.Qd3 19.Qe4 trying to hold on to the Bishop, simply doesn't work. Be3+ 20.Kd1 20.Kb1?? Nd2+-+ 20...Nxb2+ 20...Rd8+!? 21.Ke1 Bb6 Aronian thought that he was winning in this position. Much more analysis is needed. 21.Ke1 Bd7 And Black is at least ok in every line. 19...Rxa8 20.Re1 Of course, every amateur will tell you that three pieces are worth more than a queen. However, in this specific instance, White also has two pawns, one of them passed! The struggle is far from over. Rd8 21.Qe4 g5 600 This is a strange move. Black seems to weaken unnecessarily. 22.c3 22.b3 Bc5 23.Qb7 Ba3+ 24.Kb1 Nd2+ 25.Ka1 and Black cannot make any progress. 22...Bc5 23.Re2 h6 24.g3 The pieces are controlled for now, and now f4-f5 is coming into the fray. a5 25.f4 a4 26.f5 Bd5 27.Qd3! Forced, but sufficient. There are no good discoveries since the rook is under attack, but as Kramnik proves, even if it was protected, there is nothing to fear. 27.Qg4? a3 28.b3 Ne3! and the tables have turned. 27...Bb6 28.b3! axb3 29.axb3 Na5 30.Re8+ A very human decision. Kramnik eliminates some pieces and lets his pawns decide the issue. 30.Qb5! is a surprising resource easily found by computers. However the Grandmasters were in time pressure and it is not so easy to calculate. Nxb3+ 31.Kc2 Bc5 32.Re5+- The bishop is trapped which means that the knight is doomed. Black has no more counterplay. 30...Rxe8 31.Qxd5 In many ways, the smoke has cleared. Black's material is very reduced, so there is no possibility of creating serious threats against the king. Without these threats, the pawns will simply roll forward. Rd8 32.Qb5 Rd6 33.Kc2 33.Qe5! was more accurate to prevent a little maneouvre from black, Bd8-f6, which grants him some coordination. 33...Kg7 33...Bd8! Aronian was down to his last few minutes here, and this backwards move is again, hard to find. White should still be winning in this position with accurate play, but the idea is to put the B on the a1-h8 diagonal, which combined with a N on c6 might potentially create threats against the king. 34.Qb8! 34.b4 Nb7 35.c4 Now it's all over, Black has no coordination, and there is little hope to sacrifice one piece for both pawns. Rf6 36.g4 Nd8 37.c5 Bc7 6.48/ 0 1 38.Qd7 Nc6 39.b5 Na7 40.Qxc7 Nxb5 41.Qe5 41.Qd7! Traps the knight, but White no longer has to be very accurate, just minorly careful. 41...Na7 42.Kd3 The king marches in, and the knight cannot help unpin the rook. A very exciting game in which Aronian was maybe too optimistic throughout the entire game, as can be seen in some of the comments. They did provide quite the spectacle! 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2801Aronian,L28201–02012Zurich Chess challenge Kramnik vs Aroni3.3

Every time Kramnik had the black pieces, a Berlin Defence appeared on the board — the weapon which allowed Kramnik to beat Garry Kasparov at the 2000 World Championship match in London. Except for game 4, which was the quietest of the match, the system did not lead to dull encounters, though.

In fact, game 6 saw both players missing chances in a tense battle which lasted 43 moves.

Levon Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik

Levon Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik and Daria Kramnik during the closing ceremony

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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 g6 10.0-0 Bg7 11.Re1 0-0 12.e4 e5 13.d5 Rd8 14.Re3 b5 15.dxc6 bxc4 16.Nd5 Qe6 17.cxd7 Rxd7 18.Qa4 Bb7 19.Qxc4 Bxd5 20.exd5 Qxd5 21.Qxd5 Rxd5 22.Rae1 Re8 23.g4 Kh7 24.g5 hxg5 25.Nxg5+ Kg8 26.f4 Rb8 27.fxe5 Rxb2 28.Nf3 Rxa2 29.e6 fxe6 30.Rxe6 Rf5 31.Nh4 Rf4 32.R6e4 Rf6 33.Rg4 Kf7 34.Rc1 Bh6 35.Rc7+ Ke8 36.Re4+ Kd8 37.Rh7 Bf8 38.Rd4+ Kc8 39.Rc4+ Kb8 40.Rd7 g5 41.Ng6 Bd6 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2801Aronian,L28200–12012D43Zurich Chess Challenge1
Aronian,L2820Kramnik,V2801½–½2012C67Zurich Chess Challenge2
Kramnik,V2801Aronian,L28201–02012C47Zurich Chess Challenge3
Aronian,L2820Kramnik,V2801½–½2012C67Zurich Chess Challenge4
Kramnik,V2801Aronian,L2820½–½2012D43Zurich Chess Challenge5
Aronian,L2820Kramnik,V2801½–½2012C65Zurich Chess Challenge6
Kramnik,V2801Aronian,L28200–12012C77Zurich Chess Challenge Rapid1

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) how to successfully organise your games strategically, consequently how to keep y


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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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