The Zurich Chess Club staged 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 met 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 past months. The 36-year-old Kramnik gained a convincing victory at the London Chess Classic in December, and the 29-year-old Aronian won the famous tournament in Wijk aan Zee with an outstanding score.
While Kramnik finally reverted to his beloved 1.Nf3 in game five, his payback of Aronian's unexpected 1.e4 having already been made, the Armenian showed that 1.e4 was more than just a surprise weapon, and opened game six with it. The Russian played his pet Berlin – and why not? Levon had not shown anything especially dangerous in their first game. This time he chose to avoid the main lines with the queen swap, and opted for the d3-c3 buildup that is typical of so many Ruy Lopez lines.
While the game remained fairly balanced, if dynamically so, it was a combative game that kept the momentum going of what has been a superb match all in all. It had seemed as if Aronian had been the one with the greater potential, one they never really worked out, but it was Kramnik's unexpected and superb 31...Rxe3! exchange sac that threatened to end the match in his favor. Sadly, with little time to find the perfect sequence, he missed 33...Ne7! after which he had a small but insufficient edge, and a repetition was the result.
Vladimir Kramnik in the postmortem session after the game
Levon Aronian checking attacking lines in the opening
Generally satisfied: Aronian and Kramnik at the closing ceremony
No, only daddy and the other nice gentleman get prizes, Daria darling
Marie Laure Kramnik, wife of the former world champion, mother of Daria
Guests of honour: Petra and Viktor Korchnoi
The games were 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:
