Aronian all caught up in Gibraltar

by Macauley Peterson
2/1/2018 – Or, what Wijk-watchers have been missing. We take a look at the tournament of Levon Aronian who executed a "Swiss-gambit" of sorts, but finally is back in contention for first place. After lurking on the lower boards, Aronian is ready to pounce, and fans are treated to the hotly anticipated last round pairing Aronian vs. Nakamura, which could well decided the tournament. | Photo: Sophie Triay
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The top player on the Rock

Gibraltar has unfortunately been in the shadow of Tata Steel Chess the past few years since their schedules have clashed heavily, but for those coming late to the tournament, there's a wealth of content and highlights available on the official site, and we've brought some highlights of the action so far below, while the last round is underway, focusing on the path of top seed Levon Aronian.

James Humphreys makes the first move for Gara-Aronian

James Humphreys makes the first move for Gara-Aronian | Photo: Sophie Triay

Surprises at the start

For Aronian the tournament has been anything but smooth. His first round draw with Anita Gara was one of the surprises in the early going.

 
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1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Be2 Nf6 5.Nc3 0-0 6.0-0 a6 6...Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Nc6 9.Be3 Re8 10.Qd2 e5 11.d5 Nd4 12.Bd1 c6 13.f3 cxd5 14.exd5 Rc8 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bxh6 Qb6 17.Be3 Qxb2 18.Rb1 Qxc3 19.Rxb7 Nxd5 20.Qxc3 Rxc3 21.Bf2 Re7 22.Rb8+ Kh7 23.Be1 Rcc7 24.c3 Nxc3 25.Bh4 Red7 26.Bb3 Nxb3 27.axb3 Rb7 28.Rc8 Rxb3 29.f4 Ne2+ 30.Kh2 Nxf4 31.Bg5 Rb2 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rc4 Be5 34.Kh1 Rdb7 35.h4 Rb1 36.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 37.Kh2 f3+ 38.g3 f2 0-1 (38) Gara,A (2367)-Gaponenko,I (2435) Riadh 2017 7.Bg5 7.Re1 Nc6 8.d5 Na7 9.a4 e6 10.Be3 Re8 11.Bf1 exd5 12.exd5 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Nd7 15.Re2 Nc8 16.Rae1 Ncb6 17.Bc1 Rxe2 18.Rxe2 Qf8 19.a5 Nc4 20.Re1 Re8 21.Rxe8 Qxe8 1/2-1/2 (62) Fressinet,L (2662)-Aronian,L (2805) Riadh 2017 Usually played is 7.a4 7...h6 8.Bf4 Nc6 9.h3 e6 10.Qc1 Kh7 10...Nxd4 11.Nxd4 e5 12.Be3 exd4 13.Bxd4 b5 14.Bf3 Bb7 15.Nd5= 11.e5 11.Rd1!? 11...dxe5 12.dxe5 Nd7 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Qe3 Qc5 15.Qe4 15.Qxc5 Nxc5 16.Re1= 15...Qb4 16.Qxb4 Nxb4 17.Rd2 Nc6 White played the opening very solidly and so it was not so easy for Black to get active game. After the queen exchange e5 is a target of attack. 18.Re1 Ndxe5 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Bf1 Nc6 After 20...f6?! wins 21.Ne4 returning the pawn. 21.Bxc7 b5 Aronian would like to now bring some excitement into the game, but the Hungarian holds her own. 22.Ne4 f5 22...Bxb2 23.c4 Bg7 24.cxb5 axb5 25.Rc1= 23.Nd6 e5 24.c4 e4 25.cxb5 axb5 26.Bxb5 Ne5 27.Nxc8 "Better a bird in hand than two in the bush," Anita Gara thought and went for simplifications. The machine prefers 27.b4 and it appears White is clearly in front. 27...Rfxc8 28.Bxe5 Bxe5 29.a4 h5 30.g3 Rc5 31.Kg2 Rac8 32.b3 Kh6 33.Ree2 h4 Aronian throws his pawn majority on the kingside into the balance, but it's not enough to win. 34.Bc4 hxg3 35.fxg3 R8c7 36.Rd8 Bc3 37.Rc2 Ba5 38.Rd6 Re7 39.Re2 Bc7 40.Rd1 g5 41.Rd5 Rxd5 42.Bxd5 Re5 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gara,A2350Aronian,L2797½–½2018B08Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 20181

An elated Anita Gara after her mini-upset in round 1 | Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival YouTube

Aronian spent round two on a non-electronic board for the first time in quite a while, which he observed took the pressure off a little, knowing that no one was watching live. In the third round, however, he was back on a live board and out-calculated a fearless WGM Sarah Hoolt, but in rounds four and five he managed only half a point against Sergey Grigoriants and Alexander Huzman. A victory against Shardul Gagare got Aronian up to 4½ points and in 17th place. Replay all four games below

 
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1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Bd3 Ne4 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Ne2 c5 10.b3 Nd7 11.c4 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nd6 13.Qc2 Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Re8 15.Nf4 cxd4 16.exd4 Qd6 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5 19.Rfe1 Qf6 20.Rad1 Qf7 21.Qb5 a6 22.Qb6 a5 23.Nd3 Ra6 24.Qd4 b5 25.Qc5 Qb7 26.Ne5 Qb6 27.Qc1 Ra7 28.Qg5 Rae7 29.Rd3 Qc7 30.Qe3 Bb7 31.Rc1 Qb8 32.Nd7 Qa8 Aronian has been pushing, but the Hoolt has held up well. White is a bit better, but black has no unsurmountable problems. 33.Qg5 threatening Nf6. Kh8? This reflex does not solve the problem. Necessary was 33...h6 with complicated play, e.g. 34.Nf6+ 34.Qg6 Rf7= 34...Kf7 35.Qh4 35.Qh5+ is not enough for white. Kxf6 36.Rg3 Bd5 37.Qg6+ 37.f4 Rd7-+ 37...Ke5 38.Re3+ Kd6 39.Qg3+ e5 40.Qg6+ Re6 41.Qxf5 Rc8 42.Rd1 g6-+ 35...Rd8 35...gxf6? 36.Qh5+ Kf8 37.Qxh6+ Kf7 38.Qh5+ Kf8 39.Rg3 winning. 36.Rg3 Qb8= with the idea of Qe5. 36...gxf6 is risky: 37.Qh5+ Kf8 38.Qg6 Red7 39.Qxf6+ Rf7 40.Qxh6+ Ke7 41.Rg6 Bd5 42.Rg7∞ 34.Nf6 Nevertheless. Rc8 34...gxf6 35.Qxf6+ Rg7 35...Kg8 36.Rg3+ 36.Rc7 Reg8 37.Rxg7 Rxg7 38.Rd8++- 35.Rcd1 The thread is Rd7. Rf7 36.Nd7 also strong was 36.Nxh7 Kxh7 37.Rd7 Rxd7 38.Rxd7 Rc1+ gains time but the ending is lost. 38...Rg8 39.Qh5# 39.Qxc1 Bc6 40.Rc7 Bd5 41.Qg5 Qf8+- 36...Rg8 Possible was 36...Bd5 37.Nb6 Qc6 38.Nxc8 Qxc8 prolonging death. 37.Rh3 Idea: Rxh7 and Qh5# h6 38.Ne5 Rf6 39.Rxh6+ A nice conclusion. Rxh6 40.Nf7+ Kh7 41.Nxh6 Bf3 41...gxh6 42.Rd7++- 42.Nf7 Rf8 43.Qh4+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2797Hoolt,S24001–02018A80Gibraltar Masters 20183.18
Grigoriants,S2568Aronian,L2797½–½2018Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 20184
Aronian,L2797Huzman,A2561½–½2018Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 20185
Gagare,S2494Aronian,L27970–12018Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 20186

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Aronian talks about his first few rounds and how he decided to play Gibraltar this year

After this slow start, Aronian has been in form, beating Nigel Short in round seven, and S.P. Sethuraman in round nine. With that last crucial win he finally pulled equal to the leaders, and faces Hikaru Nakamura with white on board one, in a highly anticipated final round pairing.

 
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1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 c5 7.Ne5 Qc8 8.Qd3 Nc6 9.Nxd7 Nxd7 10.Nc3 10.Qb3 Be7 11.Nc3 0-0 12.0-0 was played in the FIDE World Cup final match between Aronian and Ding Liren in Tbilisi last year, and ended in a draw. 10...Be7 11.Qb5 a6 12.Qa4 Nd4 13.0-0 0-0 14.d3 Nb6 15.Qd1 Rd8 16.Bd2 Qd7 17.Rc1 Rac8 18.b3 h6 19.Kh1 Nd5 20.Nxd5 exd5 21.e3 Nc6 22.Qh5 Qd6 23.f4 a5 24.a4 Rb8 25.e4 dxe4 26.Bxe4 b6 27.g4
Aronian's last few moves indicate that he is prepared to live with a slightly awkward-looking pawn structure in order to have the services of two active bishops and mount a challenge to the black kingside. 27...Nd4 28.Bc3 f5!? Not 28...Nxb3 29.Be5 Qe6 30.Rce1 when Black is probably just lost. Black is now worried by an imminent kingside attack so he pre-empts it with a pawn sacrifice. 29.gxf5 Bf6 30.Rg1 Re8? 30...Kh8 retains the h-pawn but maybe then 31.Rg6 Qf8 32.Rcg1 leads to nagging pressure for White, without Black having scope for much active counterplay. The text move, however, gives up a pawn, seemingly for nothing. 31.Qxh6 Rbd8 32.Rce1 Re7 33.Re3 33.Re3 There is no time for Nxf5 33...Kf8 34.Qh8+ Kf7 35.Qh5+ Kf8 36.Reg3 is hopeless 34.Bxf5 Rxe3 35.Rxg7+ and mates. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2797Sethuraman,S26461–02018A13Tradewise Gibraltar Masters9.3

The Catalan is one of the most solid openings for White. It forms part of the large and strong fianchetto family in which White builds his strategy mainly around the bishop on g2. Grandmaster Victor Bologan covers all of Black’s replies to the Catalan, some of which can even transpose to other openings such as the Tarrasch System and the Queen’s Indian. Suffice it to say that the Catalan rules!

Aronian: "I had the squares and I had the bishops...I was not worried."

Five players are tied on 7 points, there's a good chance for a blitz playoff, and if the top three boards end drawn it could be a real mess, as there are a dozen players with 6½ who could catch up creating a massive tie.

Watch round 10 live

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

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