4/24/2012 – On move eleven Levon Aronian sacrificed his queen – and it didn't seem to be preparation, as the opening choice by Vladimir Kramnik was very offbeat – a Scotch Four Knights, something he had never played before. He refuted the very dangerous looking attack of Aronian with precise calculation and went on to win an unusually exciting game – for which we bring you extensive commentary.
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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 three
Before the start of game three: Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik
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Move
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Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,182,453
54%
2421
---
1.d4
957,826
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
285,853
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,465
56%
2443
---
1.g3
19,863
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,579
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,949
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,899
50%
2383
---
1.b4
1,790
48%
2378
---
1.a3
1,249
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,080
49%
2409
---
1.d3
967
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.e460 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.e5602.Nf30Nc60 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.Nc30Nf604.d4!0 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".exd4120 Aronian's only foray in this line dates back to 2003,
when he was 19 years old and rated 2581.5.Nxd40Bc52405...Bb46.Nxc6bxc67.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.Be360Bb6 607.Qd2 120 "Expect the unexpected" indeed! This variation has only been played twice by players even rated 2500, and only one is worth mentioning.0-0 4208.0-0-0 0Re8 09.f3 60d5 120 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...d610.g4Nxd411.Bxd4Be612.Rg1Bxd413.Qxd4c514.Qd2Qa515.a3a616.g5Nd717.f4b518.f5Bc419.g6fxg620.Bxc4+bxc421.fxg6h622.Qxd6Ne523.Rd5Qd824.Qxc5Qh425.Rdd1Rac826.Qa7Qxh227.Nd5c328.bxc3Qh429.Rdf1Kh830.Qd4Nc6 1/2-1/2 (30) Reefat,B (2430)-Hebden,M (2550) Dhaka 1995 CBM 048 [King, D]10.exd5 480Nxd5 6011.Bg5 0Nxc3 12012.Bxd8 480Nxd1! 6012...Bxd413.Re1Nxa2+14.Kb1Rxd815.Kxa2Be6+16.Rxe6!fxe6is clearly better for White.13.Bxc7 66013.Bh4Nxd414.Qxd1Nf515.Bg5h6Black has enough compensation
for the queen.13...Bxc7 42014.Nxc6 60 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 102015.Bb5! 1380 Kramnik spent a lot of time on this move. Going back is simply not an option!15.Nd4?!Bf4already 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 108015...Bf5?!16.Nd4Bf417.Bxe8Nxg218.Qxf4Nxf419.Bxf7+Kxf720.Nxf5This
is not so easy to win, but : "if I wanted to hold, I would've played 5... Bb4"
- Aronian15...a616.Ba4Nc4!?Wait for the next CBM issue for full annotations
in all these crazy variations.16.Bxc6 0Nc4 54017.Qd4 90017.Qb4!?Kramnik mentioned during the postmortem that this
was possibly better.17...Be6 12018.Bxa8 0Bb6! 0 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 126019.Qe4trying to hold on to the Bishop, simply
doesn't work.Be3+20.Kd120.Kb1??Nd2+-+20...Nxb2+20...Rd8+!?21.Ke1Bb6Aronian thought that he was winning in this position. Much more
analysis is needed.21.Ke1Bd7And Black is at least ok in every line.19...Rxa8 90020.Re1 0 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 6021.Qe4 0g5 600 This is a strange move. Black seems to weaken unnecessarily.22.c3 12022.b3Bc523.Qb7Ba3+24.Kb1Nd2+25.Ka1and Black cannot make any progress.22...Bc5 27423.Re2 240h6 9324.g3 237 The pieces are controlled for now, and now f4-f5 is coming into the fray.a5 21225.f4 82a4 20626.f5 320Bd5 427.Qd3! 6 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?a328.b3Ne3!and the tables have turned.27...Bb6 17928.b3! 93axb3 3629.axb3 3Na5 1330.Re8+ 195 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.Kc2Bc532.Re5+-The bishop
is trapped which means that the knight is doomed. Black has no more counterplay.30...Rxe8 331.Qxd5 1 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 9332.Qb5 31Rd6 3733.Kc2 6333.Qe5! was more accurate to prevent a little maneouvre from black,
Bd8-f6, which grants him some coordination.33...Kg7 3733...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 17Nb7 035.c4 43 Now it's all over, Black has no coordination, and there is little hope to sacrifice one piece for both pawns.Rf6 436.g4 55Nd8 337.c5 11Bc76.48/
0 138.Qd7 9Nc6 139.b5 27Na7 140.Qxc72 35Nxb5 141.Qe5362141.Qd7!Traps the knight,
but White no longer has to be very accurate, just minorly careful.41...Na7360142.Kd30 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
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:
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