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MEXICO PREVIEW: LEVON ARONIAN, THE GREAT ARMENIAN HOPE
ChessBase, Germany
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?ne wsid=4095
Sept 6 2007
06.09.2007 - Last week our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos
examined two encounters between Kramnik and Anand; this week he
continues his preview of the participants in the upcoming World
Championship tournament in Mexico City with a portrait of the young
and very much up and coming Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian. Be
there and watch.
Dennis Monokroussos writes:
While Alexander Grischuk is the youngest participant and has been a
big name on the world stage since 2000, Aronian, one year Grischuk's
senior, was comparatively unknown to the general chess public until
late 2004/early 2005. Since then it's as if he was shot out of a
cannon, blasting past almost everyone. He has won several super-GM
events, reached as high as number three on the rating list (he's
currently #8) and has even defeated Vladimir Kramnik in a rapid match.
Aronian has claimed to be a bit lazy when it comes to theoretical
preparation, but if true he certainly makes up for it in his ability
to improvise over the board. We will see this in our game tonight,
Aronian-Anand from this year's Morelia/Linares tournament. Anand
won the event, but Aronian won their mini-match with fine play in a
queenless middlegame/endgame.
What can we get from our examination of this game? First, friends and
foes of the Slav will get a glimpse into the important 4.Qc2 sideline
- a nice way for White to avoid the mounds of theory devoted to 4.Nc3
dxc4/a6/e6 (there are literally 100 times more games with 4.Nc3 than
4.Qc2 in the databases, so this is a real time-saver).
Second, several important pawn-structure themes arise in the game:
White accepts doubled, isolated h-pawns at one point, and it's
interesting to reflect on whether or not this is a serious problem.
On the other hand, White enjoys the more impressive pawn center,
as he usually does in the Slav. Whether this is serious, and what he
can do with it, will also be considered in our coverage.
Third: Aronian enjoyed the bishop pair in a situation where that can
prove meaningful, and so we'll spend some time discussing that feature
of the game as well. That the bishop pair can be used aggressively is
well-known, but they also performed useful prophylactic and defensive
work, too.
Fourth and finally, there are some beautiful tactics and finesses,
and of course we'll pay careful attention to them, too. Aronian's
win constitutes an impressive strategic effort, but it's the tactical
aspects that really put the shine on the game.
Remember to tune in for the show live, tonight (Thursday) at 9 p.m. ET
- hope to see you there!
Dennis Monokroussos' Radio ChessBase lectures begin on Thursdays at 9
p.m. EDT, which translates to 01:00h GMT, 02:00 Paris/Berlin, 11:00h
Sydney (on Friday). Other time zones can be found at the bottom of this
page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder,
Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free
trial client.
You can find the exact times for different locations in the world at
World Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here. And
you can watch older lectures by Dennis Monokroussos offline in the
Chess Media System room of Playchess:
Enter the above archive room and click on "Games" to see the
lectures. The lectures, which can go for an hour or more, will cost
you between one and two ducats. That is the equivalent of 10-20 Euro
cents (14-28 US cents).
ChessBase, Germany
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?ne wsid=4095
Sept 6 2007
06.09.2007 - Last week our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos
examined two encounters between Kramnik and Anand; this week he
continues his preview of the participants in the upcoming World
Championship tournament in Mexico City with a portrait of the young
and very much up and coming Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian. Be
there and watch.
Dennis Monokroussos writes:
While Alexander Grischuk is the youngest participant and has been a
big name on the world stage since 2000, Aronian, one year Grischuk's
senior, was comparatively unknown to the general chess public until
late 2004/early 2005. Since then it's as if he was shot out of a
cannon, blasting past almost everyone. He has won several super-GM
events, reached as high as number three on the rating list (he's
currently #8) and has even defeated Vladimir Kramnik in a rapid match.
Aronian has claimed to be a bit lazy when it comes to theoretical
preparation, but if true he certainly makes up for it in his ability
to improvise over the board. We will see this in our game tonight,
Aronian-Anand from this year's Morelia/Linares tournament. Anand
won the event, but Aronian won their mini-match with fine play in a
queenless middlegame/endgame.
What can we get from our examination of this game? First, friends and
foes of the Slav will get a glimpse into the important 4.Qc2 sideline
- a nice way for White to avoid the mounds of theory devoted to 4.Nc3
dxc4/a6/e6 (there are literally 100 times more games with 4.Nc3 than
4.Qc2 in the databases, so this is a real time-saver).
Second, several important pawn-structure themes arise in the game:
White accepts doubled, isolated h-pawns at one point, and it's
interesting to reflect on whether or not this is a serious problem.
On the other hand, White enjoys the more impressive pawn center,
as he usually does in the Slav. Whether this is serious, and what he
can do with it, will also be considered in our coverage.
Third: Aronian enjoyed the bishop pair in a situation where that can
prove meaningful, and so we'll spend some time discussing that feature
of the game as well. That the bishop pair can be used aggressively is
well-known, but they also performed useful prophylactic and defensive
work, too.
Fourth and finally, there are some beautiful tactics and finesses,
and of course we'll pay careful attention to them, too. Aronian's
win constitutes an impressive strategic effort, but it's the tactical
aspects that really put the shine on the game.
Remember to tune in for the show live, tonight (Thursday) at 9 p.m. ET
- hope to see you there!
Dennis Monokroussos' Radio ChessBase lectures begin on Thursdays at 9
p.m. EDT, which translates to 01:00h GMT, 02:00 Paris/Berlin, 11:00h
Sydney (on Friday). Other time zones can be found at the bottom of this
page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder,
Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free
trial client.
You can find the exact times for different locations in the world at
World Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here. And
you can watch older lectures by Dennis Monokroussos offline in the
Chess Media System room of Playchess:
Enter the above archive room and click on "Games" to see the
lectures. The lectures, which can go for an hour or more, will cost
you between one and two ducats. That is the equivalent of 10-20 Euro
cents (14-28 US cents).