I’m more excited about this match than I am about the actual world championship.
Uff. Disappointing to see Kramnik lose the first round on a blunder (evaluations by Houdini, variations removed):
[Event “Zurich Chess Challenge”]
[Site “Zurich”]
[Date “2012.04.21”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “D43”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]
[BlackElo “2820”]
[Annotator “Houdini 1.5a w32 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “82”]
[EventDate “2012.05.??”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “SUI”]
{D43: Semi-Slav: 5 Bg5 h6} 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. O-O Bg7 11. Re1 O-O 12. e4 e5
13. d5 Rd8 $146 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 $15 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 $4 g5 $19 41. Ng6 Bd6 0-1
The blunder at the end came as Kramnik was defending a most unpleasant position. Should he have seen it? Yes. Did it change the result of the game? Probably no.
As nocab posted in another topic, round 2 was a snoozer in which Kramnik, perhaps feeling burned by yesterday, hunkered down and played a technically flawless but dull defense, which Aronian could do nothing but bang his head against for a while before giving up. Aronian never had more than a slight advantage, which had mostly dissipated already by the end of the opening.
[Event “Zurich Chess Challenge”]
[Site “Zurich”]
[Date “2012.04.22”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C67”]
[WhiteElo “2820”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[Annotator “Houdini 1.5a w32 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “74”]
[EventDate “2012.05.??”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “SUI”]
{C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence: 4 0-0 Nxe4} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.
O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Be6 10. Rd1+
Ke8 11. Ng5 Bc8 12. h3 Be7 13. Bf4 $146 Nh4 14. e6 f6 15. Nf7 Rg8 16. Bxc7 Bxe6
17. Nd6+ Bxd6 18. Bxd6 Kf7 19. f3 Nf5 20. Bc5 b6 21. Bf2 Rgd8 22. a4 Ne7 23. a5
c5 24. Nb5 Nc6 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. axb6 axb6 27. Ra6 Rd1+ 28. Kh2 Rd2 29. Rxb6
Rxc2 30. Nd6+ Ke7 31. Ne4 Nd4 32. Rb7+ Kf8 33. Rc7 Rxb2 34. Rxc5 Nf5 35. Ng3
Rxf2 36. Nxf5 Bxf5 37. Rxf5 Ra2 1/2-1/2
The score is tied after rounds 3 and 4. Kramnik took his revenge on Aronian in round 3 with a lively, unbalanced Scotch Four Knights. Then, in round 4, it was back to “flatline chess”: Aronian played the Ruy Lopez again, and Kramnik played the Berlin Defense again. Maybe Aronian thought something different was going to happen?
[Event “Zurich Chess Challenge”]
[Site “Zurich”]
[Date “2012.04.24”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C47”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]
[BlackElo “2820”]
[Annotator “Houdini 1.5a w32 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “83”]
[EventDate “2012.05.??”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “SUI”]
{C47: Scotch Four Knights and Four Knights with 4 g3} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.
Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bc5 6. Be3 Bb6 7. Qd2 O-O 8. O-O-O Re8 9. f3 d5 10.
exd5 $146 Nxd5 11. Bg5 Nxc3 12. Bxd8 Nxd1 13. Bxc7 Bxc7 14. Nxc6 Ne3 15. Bb5
bxc6 16. Bxc6 $16 Nc4 17. Qd4 Be6 18. Bxa8 Bb6 19. Qd3 Rxa8 20. Re1 Rd8 21. Qe4
g5 22. c3 $18 Bc5 23. Re2 h6 24. g3 a5 25. f4 a4 26. f5 Bd5 27. Qd3 Bb6 28. b3
axb3 29. axb3 Na5 30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Qxd5 Rd8 32. Qb5 Rd6 33. Kc2 Kg7 $2 34. b4
Nb7 35. c4 Rf6 36. g4 Nd8 37. c5 Bc7 38. Qd7 Nc6 39. b5 Na7 40. Qxc7 Nxb5 41.
Qe5 Na7 42. Kd3 1-0
[Event “Zurich Chess Challenge”]
[Site “Zurich”]
[Date “2012.04.25”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C67”]
[WhiteElo “2820”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[Annotator “Houdini 1.5a w32 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “49”]
[EventDate “2012.05.??”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “SUI”]
{C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense: 4 0-0 Nxe4} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.
O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5
11. Bg5 Be6 12. b3 $146 Be7 13. Rad1 h4 14. Rfe1 Rd8 15. Rxd8+ Kxd8 16. Ne4 b6
17. Bf4 Kc8 18. Neg5 Bxg5 19. Bxg5 Bd5 20. Nh2 c5 21. Rd1 Bc6 22. c3 a5 23. Ng4
Bd7 24. f3 a4 25. Kf2 1/2-1/2
After the fourth-round draw, Kramnik and Aronian also played a rapid game, which turned out to be more interesting than any of their full-length games so far (with the possible exception of round 3). If you’re tired of watching grandmasters play like machines, here’s what happens when you speed the machines up.
[Event “Zurich Chess Challenge rapid”]
[Site “Zurich”]
[Date “2012.04.25”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C77”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]
[BlackElo “2820”]
[Annotator “Houdini 1.5a w32 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “70”]
[EventDate “2012.04.??”]
[EventType “game”]
[EventCountry “SUI”]
{C77: Ruy Lopez: 3…a6 4 Ba4 Nf6, unusual lines} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6
4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Bb6 $146 10. Nbd2 Rb8
11. Qe2 a5 12. a4 $14 b4 13. O-O g5 14. Bg3 O-O 15. Nc4 Ba7 16. Nfd2 h5 17. h3
h4 18. Bh2 Kg7 19. Kh1 Rh8 20. d4 bxc3 21. bxc3 exd4 22. e5 dxc3 23. exf6+ $11
Qxf6 24. f4 $2 cxd2 25. fxg5 $15 Qe6 26. Qd1 $2 Rxb3 $19 27. Qxb3 Ba6 28. Qf3
$4 Bxc4 29. Qxc6 Bd4 30. Bg1 Bxa1 31. Rxa1 Re8 32. g6 Qf6 33. Qxc4 Re1 34. Kh2
Rxa1 35. Bd4 Rh1+ $1 0-1
I’m enjoying the commentary, both during the game and now after (with both players participating in post-game analysis):
Round 5: another draw, but a much more interesting one than the two previous draws, IMO. Lots of precise positional maneuvering.
[Event “Zurich Chess Challenge”]
[Site “Zurich”]
[Date “2012.04.27”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D43”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]
[BlackElo “2820”]
[Annotator “Houdini 1.5a w32 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “86”]
[EventDate “2012.04.??”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “SUI”]
{D43: Semi-Slav: 5 Bg5 h6} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6.
Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 Nd7 8. Be2 Qd8 9. O-O Be7 10. Qc2 O-O 11. a3 $146 b6 12. Rfd1
Bb7 13. Rac1 Qb8 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Qa4 Nf6 16. Ba6 Bxa6 17. Qxa6 Qc8 18. Qxc8
Rfxc8 19. Ne5 Bd6 20. Nd3 Ne8 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ke7 23. h3 Rc4 24. b3 Rcc8
25. a4 Ba3 26. Rc2 Rc7 27. Ra1 Bd6 28. Kd2 a5 29. Rcc1 Rac8 30. f3 f5 31. g4 g6
32. Ne2 Rxc1 33. Nexc1 Nf6 34. Ne2 Nh7 35. Ne5 Ng5 36. Nf4 Bb4+ 37. Kd1 Rc3 38.
Rc1 Rxe3 39. Rc7+ Kd8 40. Rg7 Kc8 41. Rg8+ Kb7 42. Rg7+ Kc8 43. Rg8+ Kb7
1/2-1/2
And the match concludes with . . . Aronian playing the Ruy Lopez and Kramnik playing the Berlin Defense, ending in a draw. Didn’t someone once define insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting something different to happen?
[Event “Zurich Chess Challenge”]
[Site “Zurich”]
[Date “2012.04.28”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C65”]
[WhiteElo “2820”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[Annotator “Houdini 1.5a w32 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “85”]
[EventDate “2012.04.??”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “SUI”]
{C65: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence (3…Nf6), unusual lines and 4 0-0 Bc5} 1. e4
e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nbd2 d6 6. c3 O-O 7. O-O Ne7 8. h3 $146
Ng6 9. Re1 c6 10. Ba4 Re8 11. d4 Bb6 12. Bc2 h6 13. a4 Be6 14. Nf1 exd4 15.
Nxd4 Bd7 16. f4 d5 17. e5 Ne4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. a5 Bxa5 20. Ng3 Bb6 21. Kh2 c5
22. Ndf5 Bxf5 23. Nxf5 Qxd1 24. Rxd1 Rad8 25. Be3 Rd3 26. Re1 f6 27. exf6 gxf6
28. Nxh6+ Kf8 29. Ra4 Rd5 30. c4 Rd3 31. b4 Rxe3 32. Rxe3 cxb4 33. Rg3 e3 34.
Rxg6 e2 35. Ra1 Bf2 36. Rg8+ Ke7 37. Rg7+ Kd6 38. Rxb7 e1=Q 39. Rxe1 Bxe1 40.
Nf5+ Kc5 41. Rb5+ Kc6 42. Nd4+ Kc7 43. Rc5+ 1/2-1/2