An exciting day, with hard fought games and... facing the author of the express report with a difficult task. (In fact, today I took my family to a one-week vacation at high altitude and was naive enough to hope for an "easy" round after few hours of driving followed by playing football with the kids).
The fight in Aronian-Shirov took "concrete" forms from an early stage. Black's piece activity seemed to compensate for his worse structure. By giving up a pawn, Aronian managed to stabilize the position and went on increasing his advantage gradually. After the first control, Black's situation deteriorated rapidly, but White seems to have gone wrong immediately after the second control, allowing the simplification to a drawn rook ending. Overall, a very tense game, where the final result remained hard to predict for most of the time.
Bareev repeated the variation that led him to defeat in the first game, but offered rather feeble resistance against a well-determined Leko. It took a long time and effort before Black could castle artificially and connect rooks, but, ironically, it was just then that Black's king's problems started. White carried out the attack in elegant way.
After the first round defeat, Rublevsky abandoned his pet variation in the Sicilian and chose a well-approved line. However, he soon found himself under very strong attack. The position looked more or less winning for White, but the wide choice of tempting continuations seems to have confused Grischuk, who allowed his opponent a miraculous escape.
Kamsky stuck to his policy of playing solid, unpretentious, schemes with White, with the obvious aim to outplay his opponent in the middlegame. However, his fifth move looked dubious already, allowing Gelfand to carry out the minority's attack in very effective way, something he failed to do one day earlier. By the first time control, White's entire queenside structure had vanished from board, leaving Black with three (!) extra pawns. Curiously, Kamsky decided to test Gelfand's technique for 18 more moves before resigning.
1.d4
d5
2.c4
dxc4
Frankly speaking, the Queen's Gambit Accepted does not really suit Shirov's enterprising style of play, but match strategy has its own rules: play solidly with Black and try to win with White.
3.e4
Or maybe Shirov relies on the fact that Aronian plays this uncompromising move, leading to positions that can easily explode tactically...
3...e5
4.Nf3
exd4
5.Bxc4
Nc6
6.0-0
Be6
7.Bb5
[Despite the favourable result of the first game of the match, Aronian deviates from 7.Bxe6
]
7...Bc5
8.b4
Bb6
9.a4
a6
10.Bxc6+
bxc6
11.a5
Ba7
12.Bb2
Nf6
13.Nxd4
Bxd4
14.Bxd4
Nxe4
15.Bxg7
Rg8
16.Be5
Bh3
17.Bg3
Nxg3
18.hxg3
Qxd1
19.Rxd1
Be6
After a short phase of intense piece contact, the position has calmed down and we can draw the first conclusions. Black's structure is in ruins, but his rooks can be activated very easily. In fact, the b- and g-files were opened precisely as a consequence of allowing the creation of "pawn islands". In order to obtain an advantage, White needs to install his knight on c5, defended by the c5-pawn. However, this seems to be difficult to achieve in view of the threats ...Rg4 and ...Rb8.
20.Nc3
Rg4
21.Rab1
Rb8
22.f4!
As mentioned above, the b4-pawn is essential. White can do without one of his double g-pawns, because Black cannot create a passed pawn on this wing anyway.
22...Bf5
23.Rb2
Rxg3
24.Na4
Kf8
25.Nc5
Ra8
We can see that Black's extra-pawn is not too significant. It is true that the double pawns control important squares along the d-file, but at the same time they prevent the communication between the king's rook and the queenside (for instance, it would be better to defend the a6-pawn with ...Rg6 and maintain the other rook active). We can conclude that as long as he can maintain the stability of his knight on c5 (meaning not to lose the b4-pawn) White can count on a stable advantage.
26.Kf2
Rc3
27.Rbd2
Rc4
28.Rd4
Rxd4
29.Rxd4
Ke7
30.Rd1
Be6
31.Re1
Kf6
32.Re5
SInce the black rook is tied down to the defence of the a6-pawn, White has the upper hand in the centre.
32...h6
33.g3
Bc4
Understandably, Shirov becomes worried by White's slow but constant progress in the centre and on the kingside and decides to free his rook from its humiliating duties. However, this will allow a radical activation of the white pieces.
34.Nd7+
Kg7
35.Re7
An instructive position. White plays for domination despite the reduced amount of material left on board. His pieces are not easy to be driven away from the seventh rank.
35...Rd8
Creating a relative pin. If Nc5 now (attacking the c7-pawn), then ...Rd2+ followed by ...Rb2.
36.Ke3
h5
37.f5
[The position was not ripe for 37.Nc5
yet. After 37...Rd1
Black would have sufficient counterplay against the b4- and g3-pawns.]
37...Rg8
Shirov understands that his opponent is not going to clear the d-file so easily tries to find new horisons for his rook. The main threat is ...Kh6 followed by ...Rg4.
38.Re4
Bb5
39.Rh4
Rd8
40.Nc5
Kh6
41.Kf4
[41.g4
was inoffensive because of 41...Kg5
, but once White has taken the g5-square under control, the threat becomes serious.]
41...Be2
42.Rh2
Bb5
43.Ke5
Although Black has displayed certain inventivity in the search for counterplay, White's achievement in the previous phase of the game is more important: his king is superbly centralized, putting the f7-square (and, in certain cases, the enemy king) in great danger.
43...Kg5?!
[This seemingly active move is the main cause of the rapid deterioration of Black's position in the next phase of the game. Black should have kept the f6-square well-defended with 43...Kg7
and even if this would have lost a pawn to 44.Rxh5
, his counterplay after 44...Rd5+
45.Ke4
Rd1
looks sufficient for saving the game. White has problems defending his b- and g-pawn and also to activate his king.]
44.Ne4+
Kg4
45.Kf6
Kf3
46.Rh4
Bd3
47.Nc5
Kxg3
48.Rxh5
Bc4
49.Rh1
The exchange of one pair of pawns has not brought Black the desired relief. Once the g3-pawn has dissappeared from board, the black king has absolutely nothing to do on the empty white kingside and will face serious problems returning into play.
49...Rb8
50.Rd1
Rxb4!?
[It is hard to give a definitive evaluation to this move, which eliminates such an important pawn. Objectively speaking, it could have just... shortened Black's suffering, but from practical point of view it appears to be correct decision. The fact is that the character of the position will change abruptly and White will have to take concrete decisions, something not easy after 50 moves and a rather long technical phase, where the calculation of just 1-2 moves ahead was sufficient... White's main threat was Rd4 anyway, when the bishop would have had to abandon one of the a6- and f7-pawns. After 50...Ra8
51.Ke7
followed by Kd7, he would have been hopelessly passive.]
51.Rd4
Setting up a deadly pin and cutting the enemy king along a rank, which is highly unpleasant.
51...Kf3
52.Nxa6?!
[This careless move allows Black to prolong the fight. The prophylactical 52.Rh4
, threatening Nxa6 would have won after a couple of accurate moves: 52...Kg3
(Trying to dismantle White's mechanism. There is not much to be said about 52...Ke3
53.Nxa6!
Ra4
54.Nc5
Rb4
55.a6
when the a6-pawn will cost Black dearly.) 53.Re4
Kf3
54.Ke7!
Suddenly, Black is in zugzwang. If the king moves, the white rook would cease to be attacked, which would allow Nxa6. This leaves us with 54...Ra4
but then 55.Rh4!
Kg3
56.Rd4
forces 56...Rb4
and now 57.Nxa6
wins as shown above.]
52...c5!!
At the cost of one pawn, Black wins essential time. However, his position was so bad that he hardly can count on a draw yet.
53.Nxc5
Ke3
54.Rh4
Kd2
55.Na6
Ra4
56.Nxc7
Kd3
57.a6
Ra5
58.Rf4!
[By over-defending the f5-pawn, White prepares the transfer of the king to the queenside. After the careless 58.Ke7?
Black draws with 58...Bxa6
59.Nxa6
Rxf5!
]
58...Kc3
59.Ke7
Rc5
60.Kd6
Ra5
61.f6?
[As this frequently happens, the first move after reaching the time control is bad. Aronian obviously considered the capture on a6 impossible and did not wish to spend time on prophylactic moves. The correct continuation would have been 61.Kc6!
Not only preventing ...Bxa6, but also preparing to sustain the advance of the a-pawn. 61...Ra1
(After 61...Bxa6
62.Kb6
Re5
63.Nxa6
Kd3
64.Nc5+
Ke3
65.Rf1
Black cannot increase the pressure against White's last pawn. After the return of the enemy king to the kingside, Black would be completely hopeless.) 62.Kb6
Rb1+
(The attempt to catch the pawn from g2 with 62...Bf1
allows the elegant 63.Rxf1!
Rxf1
64.a7
with an easy win.) 63.Kc5
and Black will have to sacrifice one of his pieces for the dangerous pawn.]
61...Bxa6!
62.Nxa6
Rxa6+
63.Ke7
Aronian probably considered this ending to be winning and in fact he will miss just one tempo to prove it...
63...Ra7+
64.Kf8
Kd3
65.Rh4
Ke3
66.Rh7
Kf4
67.Rxf7
White has managed to win the pawn, but his pieces lack harmony.
67...Ra6
68.Kg7
[and in view of the variation 68.Kg7
Kg5
69.Rf8
Rb6
70.f7
(What else?!) 70...Rg6+!=
with perpetual, Aronian offered a draw.] 1/2-1/2