Aronian-Kramnik takes off tomorrow - live commentary by GM Sergey Shipov

Tomorrow the friendly match between Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik will begin in Zurich, Switzerland and we'll have GM Sergey Shipov's live commentary translated into English here at ChessVibes! The numbers 2 and 3 of the FIDE rating list will fight each other in six classical games. They will play an additional rapid game if the main game on any given day is drawn in under three hours. There will be a rest day after game 2 and after game 4.

The long-awaited 6-game match between Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Levon Aronian (Armenia) starts tomorrow, Saturday 21 April, at 15:00 CET in the "Festsaal" in the Savoy Baur en Ville Hotel in Zurich. Never before in the history of the game has there been a match between two players rated above 2800. On paper, 30-year old Aronian is the favorite by a margin of 19 rating points, but this is counter-balanced by Kramnik’s vast match experience.

Their personal score in tournament games is 4 wins for Kramnik, 1 win for Aronian and 11 draws. Kramnik also has a slightly better score in blitz and rapid games. On the other hand,  when the two played a rapid match in Yerevan five years ago, it was Aronian who scored a fine 4-2 win. The two most recent encounters in Moscow and London ended in a draw, but from their past encounters it is evident that a highly imaginative and hard-fought duel can be expected.

Live commentary
At the venue admission for spectators is free of charge. On the official website each round will be broadcast live, with video commentary by GM Yannick Pelletier and IM Werner Hug of the Zurich Chess Club, which is organizing the match.

Here at ChessVibes we'll have live commentary in a game viewer from none less than Sergey Shipov, the highly acclaimed Russian grandmaster, coach, author and commentator. His Russian annotations at Crestbook will be translated by Colin McGourty, who did this many times before on his own site Chess in Translation.

Sponsors
The match is sponsored by IGC International Gemological Laboratories, a Russian institute providing gemological services, such as diamond grading reports, enhanced diamond identification, man-made/synthetic diamonds and imitation detection, as well as certification of diamonds, gemstones and jewellery in the Russian Federation. The other sponsor is Aspeco N.V. which is part of the K. Girdharlal Group of companies – one of the world's leading diamantaires, with sales offices around the globe.

Organization
The match is organized by the Zurich Chess Club, the oldest chess body in the world. In its long history it has staged numerous world-class events, regularly attracting the elite of the day. Three years ago it celebrated its 200th anniversary with a spectacular chess show which attracted all the living world champions. Since then, its activities have included organizing simultaneous exhibitions by Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen.

Schedule
Saturday, 21 April: 15:00  Round 1
Sunday, 22 April: 15:00  Round 2
Monday, 23 April: Rest Day
Tuesday, 24 April: 15:00  Round 3
Wednesday, 25 April: 15:00  Round 4
Thursday, 26 April: Rest Day
Friday, 27 April: 15:00  Round 5
Saturday, 28 April: 13:00  Round 6

Venue
Hotel Savoy Baur en Ville, Paradeplatz, 8022 Zurich, Switzerland

Poll