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Both opponents are in the middle of the tournament table at the moment. Both lost to Topalov but in such a long event a lot can happen so they may still aspire even for winning it. The game between them could be very interesting as both are fine positional players with excellent attacking skills. Ivanchuk has White, which defines his chances as somewhat preferable, but Aronian's repertoire is well worked through. Vasily is known for the diversity of openings he can play, thanks to an outstanding chess erudition. Would he choose 1.e4 to try Levon's rock solid Ruy Lopez or he would aim at a certain typical position his opponent may not be so familiar with? We'll see that soon enough.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 So Ruy Lopez it is.
7... O-O 8.d4 No Marshall variation, of course.
8... Nxd4 (8... d6 is played with greater frequency.)
9.Nxd4 (9.Bxf7+ is also possiible.)
9... exd4 10.e5 Ne8 11.Qxd4 Bb7 12.c4 All that took place in a recent game between Carlsen and Leko (another Marshall devotee).
12... bxc4 13.Qxc4 d5 ( The usual choice here is 13... d5 14.exd6 Nxd6 15.Qg4 Bf6 (15... Nb5) took place in the above mentioned game.) ( Maybe Ivanchuk intends to keep his 'e5' pawn by 13... d5 14.Qg4 c5 15.Nc3 to look for more pressure against the Black castle.)
14.exd6 Nxd6 15.Qg4 Nb5 16.Nc3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Bd6 18.Bf4 ( Still following that game. 18.Bf4 Qf6 19.Bxd6 cxd6 20.Rad1 (20.Qd7 Rab8 21.Re3 Rfd8 22.Rae1 being a possible improvement ) 20... Rad8 21.Re3 ?! lead to a Draw at move 29.) ( As there are some problems after 18...Qf6 - the 'd' pawn may be forced to 'd5' restricting their own Bishop - Aronian is looking for a suitable alternative. 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.Qxf4 Qd7 followed by Rae8 comes to mind.)
18... Qf6 19.Bxd6 cxd6 After prolonged reflection the main line is chosen, obviously for a good reason. Letting Withe take solid grasp of a central file could prove dangerous.
20.Rad1 (20.Rad1 Qxc3 21.Re7 Bc6 22.Qf4 Rae8 23.Rxe8 Bxe8 24.Qd6 Bb5 could be drawn.)
20... Rad8 ( 21.Qb4 could improve on 20... Rad8 21.Re3 (21.Qb4) 21... Rfe8)
21.Qb4 Attacking the Bishop gains time to prevent the Rook exchange on the 'e' file. Protects the 'c3' pawn at the same time.
21... Ba8 The White optically is very well, the problem being the draw tendencies resulting from any piece exchange. 22.f3 to restrict the Bishop followed by Kf2, Qd4 and doubling the Rooks on the 'e' file is a possible plan. Trading the Queens makes a centralized King important, else Qd4 covers the entire board. It is accepted that a chess game is divided into opening, mid-game and ending. The situations with 3-4 pieces each are between middle and endgame and don't have proper name. Sometimes they are called 'simple positions' and are hard to play correctly as they demand both good endgame knowledge as excellent calculation of the many lines.
22.Re3 g6 (22... g6 23.Qb6 and the 'a' pawn may become vulnerable.) (22... Qg5 23.Rg3 (23.g3 Qf5) 23... Qf6 deserves attention.)
23.Qb6 ( Black still can't play Rfe8: 23.Qb6 Rfe8 24.Rxd6 Rxd6 25.Rxe8+ Kg7 26.Qe3)
23... Qg5 Aronian accepts the loss of a pawn and is trying to weaken White King's cover. Even in such position he is looking for a Marshall style counterattack!
24.Rg3 (24.g3 Qf5 25.Qxa6 Qh3 26.f3 Rde8 even if better for White, is not the kind of position one wishes for in time shortage. Against great tactician like the Armenian, Ivanchuk bets on a prudent approach.)
24... Qb5 The 'd' pawn is dispensable, the 'a' isn't.
25.Rxd6 The ending seems lost, so Rooks should be traded, not Queens.
25... Rxd6 26.Qxd6 a5 ( It is important to get rid of this weak pawn and deprive the Bb3 of his dominant position. If 26... a5 27.c4 Qf5 28.h3 Re8 , then Black gets counterplay.)
27.Qf4 ( Now 27.Qf4 Bd5 28.Rg5 Qe8 seems quite tempting. After 29.Qd2 Bxb3 30.axb3 Qb8 Black has good chances to draw. Sample: 31.Rxa5 Qxb3 32.g3 Rc8 33.Rc5 Rxc5 34.Qd8+ Kg7 35.Qd4+ Kg8 36.Qxc5 Qb1+ 37.Kg2 Qe4+)
27... Bd5 Aronian rarely misses tactical blows.
29.Qe5 (29.Qe5 Rd8 30.Qxf5 Bxb3 31.Qxb5 Rd1+ 32.Qf1)
29... Rd8 30.h4 (30.Qxf5 was winning by force. The time trouble affects the quality of the moves played.)
30... a4 31.Bc2 (31.Bc2 Qe8 32.Qxf5 Qe1+ 33.Kh2 Qxc3 34.h5 Bf7 leaves Black with chances to defend.)
31... Qb8 ( Now 31... Qb8 32.Qxf5 Bxa2 33.Bxa4 is two pawns down.)
32.Qxf5 Bxa2 33.Bxa4 In time trouble it's much easier to attack than to defend, so Aronian's chances are quite slim.
33... Bf7 34.h5 is to be expected.
34.h5 Qb6 White may go on pressing on 'g6' but 35.h6 seems simpler.
35.hxg6 hxg6 5 moves for 1 min each.
36.Qf4 Rc8 37.Rg3 Rc4 38.Qh6 Rxa4 39.Rh3 Ra1+ 40.Kh2 Qd6+ After 37.Rg3? Rc4 White could still play 38.Qe5, but now he may be already lost.
41.f4 Qf6 42.Qh7+ Kf8 43.Qh6+ (43.Qh8+ Qxh8 44.Rxh8+ Ke7 gives little hope as White will not be able to exchange th 'g6' pawn.)
43... Ke7 44.Re3+ Though extracted to the center Black King is relatively safe.
44... Kd7 Time to transfer the Rook to the 5th rank - Ra5- is needed only for Aronian to begin direct attack against opponent's King.
45.Kg3 Ra4 Prevents 46.Qf8 prepared by 45.Kg3. Both R+B v R as Q+B v Q are draw but the 'g6' pawn cannot be eliminated.
46.Rd3+ (46.Qh4 deserved consideration. It is not easy to progress in case of 46... Qxh4+ 47.Kxh4 Rxf4+ 48.Kg5 Rf5+ 49.Kh6)
46... Kc6 47.Rd4 Ra3 48.Rd3 ( Capturing on 'c3' should be winning, but 48.Rd3 Ra2 49.Kh2 Rf2 50.Kg3 Rc2 51.Kh2 Bd5 52.Rg3 Be4 seems more to the point.)
48... Bd5 49.Qh3 Qf5 50.Qxf5 gxf5 51.Kh3 Ra1 ( The 'f' pawn should not be exchanged: 51... Ra1 52.g4 Rh1+ 53.Kg3 Rg1+)
52.Rd2 Rh1+ 53.Kg3 Rh6 54.Re2 Re6 55.Rd2 Rg6+ 56.Kh3 Kc5 57.Re2 Kc4 58.Rd2 Be4 59.g4 Kxc3 60.gxf5 Bxf5+ White resigns. A spectacular game in which Aronian proved himself once again as a great fighter. Ivanchuk used a novelty on move 23! and got better position which Black could still defend with precise play. Then in the time trouble strange things began to happen. After mutual mistakes the Armenian emerged with advantage which he confidently turned into a win. Being two pawns up against him in Ruy Lopez is quite perilous :) . Until tomorrow, the central game being Topalov-Carlsen.
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