Is Shipov suggesting 1.b4 ?
Wouldn't that be fun.

Many thanks for the commentaries , i thought Aronian would have gone for 24.Ne3 to prolong the fight although i don't know what the computers say about it

Anyway , i'm disappointed everytime i see a Berlin defence , it's probably an interesting position for some players in competitive environment when half a point is worthwile , but here it means 2 games out of 6 were almost irrelevant and Aronian wasted 2 whites going in that system against what is probably the best Berlin defence specialist on the planet , i hope next time he goes for d3 system or stick with 1.d4

While I agree with Shipov that 1. e4 was a poor way for Aronian to play for a win, I don't agree that it's therefore a poor choice. Aronian seems to be treating this as a training match and is trying to test and improve his own skills by pitting himself against Kramnik's strengths. Consider each of the four games. Aronian won game 1 by outmaneuvering Kramnik in a slightly advantageous queenless middlegame. He lost game 3 by making a speculative sacrifice against arguably the most solid player since Petrosian, and he invited Kramnik to play the Berlin in games 2 and 4. These are not decisions you make when you're trying to win a match. Given that Aronian is an intelligent person, it seems to me like the only possible conclusion is that Aronian's focus is on improving his skills from this match, and that winning it is only a secondary priority for him.

"17. Bf4
There's no end to their cunning. Elite chess players are as capricious as fashionable women. Their plans and preferences change seven times a day. I want to exchange bishops, I don't want to. I want to put the bishop on g5, I want to put the knight there - besides, it's still not clear which... And all to spite each other!"

Chess commentary does not get better than that! Hilarious. Hats off.

You're probably correct on Aronian not caring for the result since it is a friendly game , although it feels to me that they are playing this way also to hide their preparation for the next candidate match and high profile tournaments .

They probably had specific lines prepared (maybe in the Petroff with black for Levon ) that did not materialize yet .

i'm still convinced Kramnik is not condemned to play rock solid stuffs , even though he's a successor of Karpov for a stylistic point of view , it's true he's not the most creative or active player at the top level , but originally , he used to be quite a tactical player before the and i'm convinced that he can broaden his black repertoire succesfully like other top GMs did in history

I just seen Aronian won his rapid game with black against the d3 system , hmmm , interesting

I don't understand why Kramnik did not play 24.Ne4 in that rapid game and played f4 instead which led to the defeat . He probably wanted to try something very sharp and spectacular after that Berlin :) Or time trouble ? anyway nice game

I hope Kramnik plays 1.d4 tommorow :)

1.d4 is best. 1.e4 is too drawish. Times have changed...