Every so often a game is played which is worthy of joining the immortals in the pantheon of chessboard masterpieces. Anderssen v. Kieseritsky, London 1851, Zukertort v. Blackburne, London 1883, Botvinnik v. Capablanca, AVRO 1938; these are the jewels to which every chess player aspires. As Marcel Duchamp once observed: ‘not all artists are chess players, but all chess players are artists’.
The former world champion Vladimir Kramnik played such a game against Levon Aronian, one of the pre-tournament favourites in the Berlin Candidates to determine the challenger to Magnus Carlsen’s crown. The championship match itself is set for London in November.
Aronian-Kramnik: Fidé Candidates Berlin 2018; Ruy Lopez
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4 d3 Bc5 5 Bxc6 This kind of ‘delayed exchange’ is a popular counter to the Berlin Defence. 5 … dxc6 6 0-0 Qe7 7 h3 Rg8 (see diagram 1) This is an extraordinary idea and shows an admirable flexibility of thought.
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