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One of the features in the four classical games that Levon Aronian and Ding Liren have played is white not being able to claim even a minute edge in any of the games. Somehow both the players have been unable to find loopholes in their opponent's black repertoire. The fourth game was no exception.
The photographers take their positions much before the players have arrived. This might well be the last game of the FIDE World Cup 2017 | Photo: Sagar Shah
Ding began with his usual 1.d4 and Aronian countered it with the Ragozin trying to repeat the same line that was played by Wesley So against Ding in the semifinal rapid tiebreaks. The Chinese player had agreed to a 9-move draw against So, but today he seemed to be better prepared as he went for the much more critical 6.e4.
Aronian as always came very well prepared to the game and blitzed out his opening moves | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The opening phase of the game between Ding and Aronian
Position after Levon's 13....Bd7. None of the players are at the board | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Black's play left Ding confused. Usually White has two approaches in this position:
I think Ding Liren wanted to go for the second option but started off on a wrong foot by making the move Rfd1. There was absolutely no need to develop the 'f' rook to d1. Rad1 could have been more accurate. Or just to begin with Bd3, planning Ng3 and Qe4. Aronian had his game against Grischuk from 2010 to fall back to. The Armenian might have been soon out of his preparation, but I am sure he knew this idea of Ne7-g6.
The manoeuvre Nc6-e7 turned the tide in Black's favour. Very soon Ding landed in a position where he had to exchange the queens. His e5 pawn was weak and his opponent had the bishop pair. It was then that he decided that he would play practically, exchange a pair of bishops even if that meant being a pawn down.
Black has just played his rook from f8 to c8. His plan is simple — get the king to e7 via f8 and then just play Rd8 and exchange the rooks. What can White do? You have to be a tad imaginative to find the solution to this:
How nicely Ding Liren was able to find an idea and put his opponent under pressure, in three minutes
Slowly and steadily Ding managed to improve his position and Aronian drifted into passive defence. There were a lot of important points in the game that could discussed, but we stick to the one which shows Ding Liren's active style of play in the best possible manner.
Ding prefers things to be as clear as possible. He played the move g4 in the above position. This move clearly looked like a mistake, but the Chinese player has calculated accurately. After fxg4 Rxg4 Rh3 Ding was able to show the key move of the game 41.Be4!
Once the move Be4! was played by Ding, Aronian realized that the win no longer existed. This made him really dejected and depressed. Check out this video which shows Levon's grim expression along with the final moments of the game.
Levon Aronian's expressions tell you the story of how important it is for him to win the World Cup
It's not so easy to finish off Ding. He remained unbeaten in 16 classical games that he played at the World Cup 2017 | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Where could I have improved? A very important question. | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The Ragozin is being played by every top grandmaster in the world - it is time you also add it to your repertoire to get interesting and dynamic positions against 1. d4!
GM Alejandro Ramirez analyses every single move that White can play once the Ragozin is reached, but due to several transpositional possibilities he always emphasises strategic goals to keep in mind.
The new "Minister of chess Defence"?! Ding Liren speaks about game four.
Aronian's manager and physical trainer can sense their man coming very close to victory, but the job is still left to be done | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Tiebreaks:
The tiebreaks will be in the same format as the previous ones. Two games of 25' + 10". If still tied then two games of 10' + 10", followed by two games of 5' + 3" and finally an Armageddon of 5 minutes versus 4.
Ding Liren will have the black pieces in the first rapid game and the Chinese player was quite happy with this fact | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Three legends in the press room: Gaprindashvili, Alexandria and Ioseliani. Only one missing is Chiburdanidze. | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Nona Gaprindashvili, Nana Alexandria and Nana Ioseliani analyze the game in the press room
IM Salome Melia, top Georgian woman player visits the tournament hall and gives her opinion about the match and also talks about her daughter Ketevan.
