Kramnik – Aronian game 3 commentary by GM Naiditsch

Hello everyone and welcome to the Aronian – Kramnik 2800 third game match live coverage! Today is the second game, Aronian has white and a point advantage in the match. I am GM Arkadij Naiditsch and will be commenting for you live the games from Zurich. I have just finished my Dirty Chess DVD and now I will dedicate time to you, the chess fans!
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 5….Bb4 is the main move for Black, another option is 5…Bc5, but here Black is doing slightly worse. Aronian is having a thought, probably he is as well very surprised about the opening choice of White. What can have Kramnik prepared on the well known draw after 5…Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.O-O O-O with a very equal position
5… Bc5 what a surprising answer by Black. Why not 5…Bb4 !? I guess we will never know
6. Be3 Bb6 what a rare position we are already facing on the move 6! Instead of 6.Be3 main move is 6.Nxc6, but it seems like Kramnik is well prepared and until now is playing the moves almost instantly.
7. Qd2 after Kramnik’s 7.Qd2 we are in a position with no games of opponents of higher than 2350 ELO. Instead of 7.Qd2 sort of “main” can be considered: 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Nd5 with a totally unstable position. I see this king of lines for the first time in my life! If somebody would tell me, this would appear in the game between Kramnik and Aronian, I would answer: only in a blitz game!
7… O-O 8. O-O-O Re8 both players continue playing quite fast. At least one of them in bluffing it is clear! I cannot believe that both actors expected to have such a position at the board!
9. f3 I think now we have the first important moment in the game: can black play 9…d5!? The 9…d5 is looking nice to me! And should be clearly the main consideration of Black.
9… d5 yes, Aronian is going for it! what to do now for White: 10.Nxc6 seems to be the only option, Black just wants to take on d4 and take next on e4. So 10.Nxc6 bxc6 and maybe now 11.g4!? White needs to take quick action. In case Black manages to develop its pieces, in my opinion only Black could be better. What is very strange to me ii that Kramnik is playing so fast! Normally Kramnik is never going to a game without a huge preparation. Can it be that he prepared something until here? To me hard to image…
10. exd5 Note: CE May 2012 is now available!
10… Nxd5 11. Bg5 11.Bg5! a nice play by White!
11… Nxc3 wow, 11…Nxc3 played by Black and so quickly! We are clearly still in the preparation! What to say, the guys are working hard on chess!! 🙂 with the 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Bg5 it seemed like White go some plus, at 11…Nde7 12.Nxc6 would follow with a bit better position, but Aronian 11…Nxc3!? brough the game again into a very strange phase. White is after 12.Bxd8 Nxd1 13.Bh4 Nxd4 14,Kxd1 a Queen up for Blacks rook+piece, but Black got some initiative for it. Not so easy to say if White is doing better at all and now it is clear, Aronian knows it all! Again, what a brilliant preparation by the Armenian. 3rd game-3rd novelty! Only Kasparov was able to show this king of preparation in his best years!
12. Bxd8 Nxd1 what to do, White is playing of course 12.Bxd8 and getting Black’s 12…Nxd1. Probably best move now is 13.Bh4, it is very important for White to keep the black squares bishop alive. Now 13.Bxc7 is leading to something very complicated after 13…Bxc7 14.Nxc6 Ne3 15.Bb5! great move by White, now Black got few choices, for example 15…Bf5, we are facing a very complicated position. Lets see what will choose the current World Nr3! Kramnik is thinking, and we think with him. Yes, I guess there is no other more human move than 13.Bh4 and yes, probably I would feel myself quite uncomfortable here with White. It seems like Black is still in his preparation and the material advantage is not big enough to be sure, that actually White is doing better here! It could be another tough day for Kramnik! Note: next tournament coverage is Capablanca Memorial 2012
13. Bxc7 13.Bxc7 a very brave choice by White! Probably Black has to play now 13…Bxc7, in case of 13…Bxd4 14.Qxd1 and White is better
13… Bxc7 14. Nxc6 The game is getting very sharp and concrete: now probably 14…Ne3 is the only move and White’s 15.Bb5! as well the one and only, at 15.Nd4 Bf4 16.Bb5 Nf1!! A very nice tactic. Do You see another move than 14…Ne3?! Yes, maybe 14…Nb2!? but it seems not to work due to 14…Nb2? 15.Nd4! followed by Na4 16.Bb5 and White is winning. So I think 14…Ne3 is really the only option here. Let’s see if Aronian can find something better 🙂 I think this game is a very good CEWN candidate, so for everyone who have subscribed for CEWN expect all details on it
14… Ne3 yes, Black is playing the expected 14…Ne3, probably 15.Bb5 is quite forced and we are reaching a central position. Computer is showing us moves like 15…Bf5! which this is very hard to do during a practical game. Why White is thinking now so much?! I think 15.Bb5 is a “must move”. At 15.Nd4 as I already mentioned above, is coming 15…Bf4, it is too easy not to see for a former World Champion. What a strange game we are watching today. First moves were played almost instantly, and now both players are taking a lot of time for each of their moves!
15. Bb5 yes, of course we see the 15.Bb5! Can Black play now 15…bxc6?!seems like not, 16.Bxc6 Bf4 and 17.Kb1!! At 17…Bf5 is coming a cool 18.Ba8. At 17…Rb8 with the idea Rxb2 is coming 18.Qd4! and it seems White is winning. Of course all this is easy to see with a help of an engine, completely other thing is to evaluate all the lines at the board in a practical game! I think, for a practical game position of White is looking super dangerous, but all seems to work out tactically. So probably 15…Bf5 seems to be the only move for Black now…not an easy move to make!
15… bxc6 ufff a decision that could make the score equal in the match, Aronian is playing 15…bxc6? According to the computer it is a mistake! Lets see if a human brain can see something that our machines don’t 🙂
16. Bxc6 Black has to make a big choice, to play 16…Bf4 or to play 16…Nc4!? 17.Qd4 Be6! with the idea Bb6 or Be5 next. The machine is still happy about Whites position, but from human point of view it is not clear at all… The more I look into the position, the more I think 16…Nc4 should be the main move. Black will have huge practical chances after it to make the game very complicated, so we will see a game at 3 results. White’s idea will be to make the pawn of the queenside move, but it is in a very long term. 3 pieces of Black standing in the middle of the board will always provide some counter chances. Will it be enough, this we will see now.
16… Nc4 Yes we see the 16…Nc4!? an absolutely good practical decision from Aronian in my opinion. White has a few moves with the Queen, 17.Qd4 or 17.Qg5 are looking like the most logical ones…but a lot to calculate here, for example 17.Qg5 is giving Black an extra tempo by playing 17…h6, the 17.Qd4 Be6 and the White Queen is under at least 3 different attacks: Bb6, Be5 and Rd8. So not an easy decision to take now for White
17. Qd4 Kramnik is choosing the 17.Qd4 probably now 17…Be6 is quite a forced move
17… Be6 18.Ba8 seems to be the only as well, now the calculation has to begin, Black got at least 3 moves: 18…Be5, 18…Bb6 and 18…Rxa8
18. Bxa8 Bb6 seems like we just started to calculate, and Aronian already finished :). Black plays very quickly 18…Bb6 Where to move the White Queen now!?. Seems almost all moves are leading to king of unclear position. I think 19.Qd3 is looking quite human. 19.Qe4 Be3 20.Kd1 Rd8 is looking very dangerous for White
19. Qd3 so Kramnik is choosing the a bit more human then the other moves 19.Qd3. Should Black play now 19…Rd8 first before taking on a8?!, or 19…Rxa8 20.Rd1 Ne3 21.Rd2 Rc8 with probably a better position for White, but everything is still very unclear
19… Rxa8 20. Re1 so Aronian decided to take 19…Rxa8 and Kramnik is playing not the expected 20.Rd1, but 20.Re1 a logical move as well, but now Black is taking over the d line
20… Rd8 21. Qe4 so White is replying with 21.Qe4. Somehow position seems to stabilize a bit. White has a clear material advantage, but all the Black pieces are standing just great which gives them good practical chances. Black has a few moves from which they can choose now, one of them seems very logical to me this is 21…g6!? The question is, if White can play 22.b3 but after 22…Bc5! position is getting quite unclear! Of course 23.bxc4 leads to immediate draw after 23…ba3 24.Kb1 Rb8 with a perpetual check
21… g5 after a long thinking Black is playing 21…g5!? an interesting idea as well. It could be useful in the future to Black the White pawns on the King side immediately! Now at 22.h4 is coming 22…Bf2
22. c3 22.c3! a very strong move I think. White is securing the position of his King which is the first priority here. Now b3 is already a threat. not an easy position to play for Black…also at some moment maybe the g5 move could reveal to be a bit “too creative” and the pawn could get lost. White has also an extra option at some moment to play h4. Now it would be great for Black, if they could go back by playing g5-g6 🙂
22… Bc5 with the 22…Bc5 Aronian is acting against the direct threat of White b3, but maybe now White could try to act on the different corner of the board by playing 23.h4!?
23. Re2 White continue their very solid plan with the idea of preparing the b3 move and plays 23.Re2. A logical play even if I liked a bit more the more energetic 23.h4
23… h6 Aronian found nothing better than to play 23…h6 which gives now the opportunity to White to fulfill their plan by playing 24.b3. Now it is very clear, that White is doing much better and that slowly Black tricks are coming to an end. We can also see, a very good and constant calculation by Kramnik. Many people say he is a great position player, in my opinion his calculation is much more impressive!
24. g3 The game got to a stage, when it is a bit hard to comment on the particular moves. It is clear that White is dominating, and soon White will play on b3 or h4, trying to create an extra weakness in the Black yard. Also it is clear, that in case of exchange of rooks White would be totally winning. Another motive for White could be to give the rook for a Black bishop. This would eliminate most of threats and the Queen would get more space for action
24… a5 the “last hero” is going into game, the Blacks a-pawn 🙂
25. f4 Another important factor in the current game will be time, Aronian has only 10 minutes for the next 16 moves till the time control which is significantly not enough to make “good” moves all the way. Kramnik’s 16 minutes are looking a bit better, but as well it is not a “time bank” to have a moment of relaxation. So Kramnik’s idea was more to play f4 then h4, hard to say why. f5 is not really a threat, Black always has the Bd5 move, so maybe we can expect 25…a4
25… a4 yes, 25…a4 was played, now let’s see what White will do.. the b3 move option is gone, now at 26.b3? Black simply can 26…axb3 27.axb3 and 27…Na5! and the pawn is getting lost. Maybe now 26.h4 is still an option for White !?
26. f5 Bd5 27. Qd3 Kramnik is playing 26.f5 Bd5 27.Qd3, not so sure this was the best he could do. The black king is now having a more or less safe position. On the other hand, Black somehow “self blocked” the d line. Maybe a move like 27…Bb6 could be now an option
27… Bb6 28. b3 a good but a bit risky move by White 28.b3!?. Now everything is very concrete!
28… axb3 29. axb3 Na5 probably 30.b4 Bc4 31.Qxd8 is giving White a big advantage-probably a winning position due to the 2 passed pawns. Also 30.Qb5!? is looking interesting! but for this White needs to be very careful in their calculation.
30. Re8+ a bit strange decision to me by White, now Black has some drawing chances. Black needs to give their knight for the 2 White pawns b and c, after which clearly a draw position would appear
30… Rxe8 31. Qxd5 Rd8 32. Qb5 Rd6 Black needs 2 more moves to stabilize, to play Kg7 and Rf6 after which position should be close to a draw
33. Kc2 a lot will be desired now in the time trouble!
33… Kg7 I see quite big chances for Black to survive today with some luck!
34. b4 Nb7 35. c4 Rf6 36. g4 Nd8 37. c5 Bc7 38. Qd7 Nc6 39. b5 Na7 40. Qxc7 Nxb5 The time trouble is over and white has a fantastic Qd7!
41. Qe5 An inaccuracy, still of course White is totally winning, but at least now there is sort of a fight…
41… Na7 42. Kd3 the idea of White is simple now I think: to put the Queen to c3, after bringing the king to g3, play h4, take hxg5 hxg5 and win the g5 pawn by playing Qe3. Black got a “dead” pin on f6 and can’t do much about it. At some moment Black was close to making a fortress but the limited time and good play of White was more than enough to get a totally winning position. With that Kramnik equalizes the “2800 match”. Thank you for following with me GM Arkadij Naiditsch and do not forget to suscribe to the CEWN and WCC newsletters. see you in round 4 for more live commentary! 1-0