Aronian vs. MVL: A fascinating endgame

by Karsten Müller
1/4/2021 – The Airthings Masters brought a lot of interesting endgames. One such endgame occurred in the decisive game of the semifinal match between Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: Aronian had bishop and knight and tried to convert an extra pawn against the pair of bishops. After inaccuracies from both sides Aronian finally won and advanced to the final. Zoran Petronijevic had a close look.
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Winning against the bishops pair

It is not easy to win against the bishops, but after a long and complicated struggle Levon Aronian was successful. Time-trouble led to several mistakes from both players – as Zoran Petronijevic found out:

 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 0 g6 0 3.Nc3 0 d5 0 4.Bg5 38 Ne4 0 5.Bf4 2 Nxc3 0 6.bxc3 0 c5 0 7.cxd5 4 Qxd5 0 8.e3 2 cxd4 45 9.Qxd4 3 Qxd4 6 10.cxd4 0 Nc6 13 11.Nf3 15 e6 35 12.Rb1 1:30 f6 42 13.h4 1:07 Bb4+ 17 14.Kd1 5 Be7 1 15.Bc4 1:58 Na5 2:02 16.Bd3 0 Bd7 15 17.Ke2 24 0-0 1:02 18.e4 4:35 Rac8 44 19.Bd2 28 b6 0 20.Bxa5 7 bxa5 0 21.Rb7 3 Rfd8 2 22.Rxa7 29 Rb8 1:10 23.Rc1 47 Rb2+ 25 24.Rc2 8 Rxc2+ 0 25.Bxc2 0 Bb4 1 26.Bb3 12 Kf8 2 27.e5 4 fxe5 53 28.Nxe5 3 Be8 1 29.Ke3 1:14 Bc3 0 White is clearly winning. 30.Nf3!+- 15 Bd7 2 30...Bc6 does not change the result. 31.Rxh7 Bxf3 32.Rh8+ Ke7 33.Rxd8 Kxd8 34.Kxf3 Ke7 35.Ke3 Be1 36.g4 Bb4 37.g5 Be1 38.Bd1 Bb4 39.f4 Bc3 40.Kd3 Bb4 41.Ke4 Bc3 42.h5 gxh5 43.Bxh5 a4 44.Bd1 a3 45.Be2 Bb4 46.Bc4 Ba5 47.Bb3 Bb4 48.d5 exd5+ 49.Kf5 Kf7 50.Bxd5+ Kg7 51.Kg4 Be7 52.f5 Bd8 53.f6+ Bxf6 54.gxf6+ Kxf6 55.Kf4+- 31.Rc7 29 31.Ra6 is also very strong. 31...Bb2 12 32.Ng5 0 32.Ke4 seems stronger - Black has problems to find a good move: e5 33.Nxe5 Bf5+ 34.Kf3 Rxd4 35.Rf7+! Ke8 36.Rxh7 Kf8 37.g4 Be4+ 38.Ke3 Bb1 39.Nd7+ Ke8 40.Nc5 Rxg4 41.Bf7+ Kf8 42.Nd7+ Ke7 43.Bxg6+ Kd6 44.Bxb1+- 32...h6 2
33.Nh7+! 51 33.Bxe6? Is a mistake that allows Black to escape: Bxd4+ 34.Ke4 hxg5 35.Bxd7 Bb6 36.Rb7 gxh4 37.Rxb6 Rxd7 38.Rxg6 Rd2 39.Kf3 Rxa2 40.Rf6+ Ke7 41.Rf4 Ra3+ 42.Kg4 Rb3 43.Rf5 Rb4+ 44.f4 Rb2 45.Kh3 Rf2 46.Kxh4 Rxg2= 33...Ke8 25 34.Bc2 1:03 Much stronger is 34.Ke4 a4 35.Nf6+ Ke7 36.Bxa4 Kxf6 37.Bxd7 g5 38.hxg5+ hxg5 39.a4 Ba3 40.Bc8 Bb2 41.Rc4 Rd5 42.f3 Ra5 43.Bd7 Ba3 44.Rc8+- 34...Rc8 58 34...Bc1+ is more stubborn, though White should still win: 35.Ke4 Ba3 36.g4 Bd6 37.Ra7 Bb8 38.Rxa5 Kf7 39.g5 Rh8 40.Nf6 Bc6+ 41.Kd3 hxg5 42.hxg5 Rh3+ 43.Kc4 Rf3 44.Bb3 Rxf2 45.Ng4 Bd5+ 46.Kc5 Rg2 47.Ne3 Rxg5 48.Nxd5 exd5 49.Ra8 Bf4 50.a4 Be3 51.Bxd5+ Ke7 52.Ra7+ Kd8 53.a5 Rg1 53...Rg4 54.Kd6+- 54.Ra8+ Kc7 55.Re8 Rc1+ 56.Bc4 Bg1 57.Re7+ Kd8 58.Re4 Rd1 59.a6 Kc7 60.Be2 Ra1 61.Re7+ Kb8 62.Bb5 g5 63.Rd7 g4 64.Kc6 Kc8 65.Rg7 Kb8 66.Rxg4+- 35.Nf6+ 51 Ke7 3
36.Rxc8? 0 Better was 36.Rxd7+ Kxf6 37.Bb3 Rc6 38.Ke4 Rb6 39.g4 g5 40.h5 Rb4 41.Rd6 a4 42.Bxe6 Ke7 43.Ke5 Rb5+ 44.Rd5 Rxd5+ 45.Bxd5 Kf8 46.Ke4 Kg7 47.Bc6 a3 48.d5 Kf6 49.d6 Bc3 50.Kd5 Bd2 51.Ba4 Bb4 52.f3 Kf7 53.Kc6 Ba5 54.d7 Ke7 55.Bb5 Bd8 56.Kb7 Ba5 57.Kc8 Bb6 58.Be2 Ba5 59.f4 gxf4 60.Bd1 f3 61.Bxf3 Bd8 62.Bg2 Bb6 63.Be4 Ba5 64.g5 hxg5 65.h6 Kf6 66.d8Q++- 36...Bxc8= 0 37.Ng4 1 h5? 53 This is a mistake. After 37...Bc1+ Black should be able to draw, e.g. 38.Kf3 g5 39.h5 Bb7+ 40.Be4 Ba6 41.Nxh6 Bc4 42.Bb1 Bb2 43.Ke4 Bd5+ 44.Ke5 Bxg2 45.Be4 Bh3 46.Bd3 Bc1 47.Be2 Bf4+ 48.Ke4 a4 49.f3 Kf6 50.Ng4+ Bxg4 51.fxg4 a3 52.Bc4 Bd6 53.Kd3 53.h6 Bf8 54.h7 Bg7= 53...Bf8 54.Kc3 Bd6 55.Be2 Kg7 56.Kc4 Kf6 57.Bd1 Bf8 58.Kb5 Kg7 59.Bc2 Kf7 60.Be4 Kf6 61.Bd3 Kf7 62.Kc4 Kf6 63.Kb3 Bd6 64.Ka4 Bf8 65.Bc2 Kf7= 38.Ne5+- 9 Bc1+ 5 39.Ke2 9 After 39.Kf3 White should win: g5 40.hxg5 Bxg5 41.Nc4 Bb7+ 42.Be4 Ba6 43.Nxa5 Bd2 44.Bb7 Bb5 45.Nc6+ Kd6 46.Ne5 Bc3 47.Ke3 Bb2 48.f4 h4 49.Be4 Kc7 50.Bd3 Ba4 51.Bc4 Bc1+ 52.Kf3 Bd1+ 53.Be2 Bc2 54.Nd3 Ba3 55.Ne1 Bb1 56.Bc4 Kd6 57.Kg4 Bc1 58.Nf3 Bf5+ 59.Kxh4 Bxf4 60.g4 Bg6 61.a4 Be3 62.a5 Be8 63.a6 Bc6 64.Kg3 Be4 65.a7 Kc7 66.Bxe6+- 39...g5 1 40.hxg5?! 1:00 After 40.Nd3 White should win: Ba6 41.Kd1 Ba3 42.hxg5 Bc4 43.Bb1 h4 44.Kd2 Bd5 45.Nf4 Bc4 46.Ng6+ Ke8 47.Nxh4 Bb2 48.Nf3 Bd5 49.Ke3 Bc1+ 50.Ke2 Ke7 51.g3+- 40...Bxg5 4 More stubborn was 40...Ba6+ 41.Bd3 Bb7 42.g6 Kf6 43.f3 Bb2 44.Nc4 Bc3 45.Nd6 Bc6 46.Be4 Ba4 47.Ke3 Bb4 48.Nc4 Be8 49.Ne5 Ba3 50.Bd3 a4 51.f4 Bd6 52.d5 Bc5+ 53.Ke4 Bxg6+ 54.Nxg6 Kxg6 55.Ke5+ Kf7 56.Be2 exd5 57.Bxh5+ Kg7 58.Kxd5+- 41.f4 34 Bf6 5
42.g3?! 1 Easier was 42.Ke3 Bd7 43.Nc4 a4 44.Ne5 a3 45.Nc4 Bh4 46.Bd1 Bb5 47.Nxa3 Bf1 48.Bxh5 Bxg2 49.Bf3 Bf1 50.Be2 Bg2 51.Nc4 Bd5 52.Ne5 Be1 53.Bc4 Bb7 54.Nd3 Bc3 55.Nc5 Bc8 56.Ke4 Ba5 57.a4 Bc7 58.Ba6 Bd7 59.Nxd7 Kxd7 60.Bc4 Kd6 61.d5 exd5+ 62.Bxd5+- 42...Bb7 15 43.Ke3? 1 43.Bb3 gives good practical winning chances: Bd5 44.Bxd5 exd5 45.Kd3 Ke6 46.g4 hxg4 47.Nxg4 Bg7 48.a4 Bf8 49.Ne3 Bh6 50.f5+ Kd6 51.Nd1 Bg5 52.Nc3 Bh6 53.Nb5+ Ke7 54.Nc7 Kd6 55.Ne6 Ke7 56.Kc2 Kf6 57.Nc7 Kxf5 58.Kd3 Bg5 58...Bf8 59.Nxd5+- 59.Nxd5+- 43...Bd5= 24 Now Black should be able to draw. 44.a4 20 Kd6 16 44...Kd8 also leads to a draw. 45.Ng6 Kc7 46.Bd1 Bc6 47.Bb3 Be8 48.Nf8 Kd6 49.Nh7 Bd8 50.Ng5 Ke7 51.Nxe6 Bxa4 52.Nxd8 Bxb3 53.Nc6+ Kf6 54.Nxa5 Bd5 55.Kd3 h4 56.gxh4 Kf5 57.Nc4 Kxf4 58.Nb6 Be4+ 59.Kd2 Kg4 60.Ke3 Bf5= 45.Nf7+ 5 Ke7 3 45...Kd7 also leads to a draw 46.Ng5 Be7 47.Bd1 Bc6 48.Bb3 Bd5 49.Bxd5 exd5 50.Nf3 Ke6 51.Ne1 Kf5 52.Nc2 Bd8 53.Kf3 Bb6 54.Ne3+ Ke6 55.f5+ Kd6 56.Nc2 Ke7 57.Kf4 Bc7+ 58.Kg5 Bxg3 59.Kxh5 Kf6 60.Kg4 Bf2 61.Kf3 Bg1 62.Kg2 Kxf5 63.Kxg1 Ke4 64.Kf2 Kd3 65.Ne3 Kxd4= 46.Ng5 5 Bc6 51 47.Bd1 9 Bg7 10 Easier is 47...Kd6 48.Kd3 Kd7 49.Bb3 Ke7 50.Kc3 Kd6 51.Bd1 Be7 52.Bxh5 Bxa4 53.Ne4+ Kc6 54.Bg4 Kd5 55.Bf3 Bb4+ 56.Kd3 Bb5+ 57.Ke3 Bd7 58.Nc5+ Kd6 59.Nxd7 Kxd7 60.Bd1 Ke7 61.g4 Bd6 62.g5 Bb4 63.Kf3 Be1 64.Ke4 Bc3 65.Bb3 Bb4 66.Kf3 Bd2 67.Ba4 Be1 68.Ke4 Bb4 69.d5 exd5+ 70.Kxd5 Kf7 71.Bb3 Kg7 72.Bc2 Bc3= 48.Nf3 28 Bf6 33 49.Ne5 0 Be8 1 50.Nc4 5 h4! 2 51.gxh4 2 51.g4 also leads to a draw. Kf8 52.g5 Be7 53.Kf2 Bb4 54.Kg2 Bc3 55.Kh3 Be1 56.Nd6 Bg6 57.d5 exd5 58.f5 Bg3 59.fxg6 Bxd6 60.Kxh4 Kg7= 51...Bxh4 0 52.Nxa5 2 Be1 8 53.Nb7 15 53.Nc4 is not enough to win the game Bb4 54.Bb3 Bc6 55.Ne5 Be8 56.Bc2 Ba5 57.Nc4 Bb4 58.Nd2 Bc6 59.Ne4 Ba5 60.Nc5 Bb6 61.Bb3 Kf6 62.Ne4+ Ke7= 53...Bc6 4 54.Nc5 1 Bb4 8 55.Bf3 32 Be8 12 56.Be2 19 Bc6? 13 56...Bxc5 57.dxc5 Bxa4 leads to an easy draw. 57.Bf3? 12 After 57.Bc4 Black should play Ba3 58.Ke2 Bxc5 59.dxc5 Bxa4= The best was 57.Bb5 after which White has great winning chances. For instance: Bd5 58.Nd3 Bc3 59.Ne5 Kd6 60.Bc4 Ba8 61.Ba6 Bg2 62.Bd3 Kd5 63.Bc4+ Kd6 64.Ba6 Ba8 65.Bd3 Bd5 66.Bb5 Ke7 67.Nc4 Kf6 68.Ba6 Bg2 69.Ne5 Ke7 70.Bd3 Bb7 71.Be4 Ba6 72.Bc6 Kf6 73.Bd7 Bb7 74.Bb5 Bd5 75.Bc4 Bg2 76.Nd7+ Ke7 77.Nc5 Bh3 78.Nb3 Bb4 79.a5 Bd6 80.Nc5 Bb8 81.a6 Kd6 82.Ne4+ Kd7 83.Nc3 Bg2 84.Nb5 Ba8 85.a7 Bd6 86.Nxd6 Kxd6 87.Bd3+- 57...Be8! 1 58.Kd3 4 Kf6? 30
This loses. The best is 58...Bxc5! 59.dxc5 Bxa4 and White should not win this position. 59.Kc4!+- 9 Ba5 13 59...Bxc5 60.dxc5 Bxa4 61.Be4+- 60.Bg4 14 Ke7 26 61.Kd3? 18 White misses the win: 61.Bxe6 Bxa4 62.Nxa4 Kxe6 63.Nc3!+- 61...Bb6? 23 61...Bb4 leads to a draw: 62.Bd1 Ba5 63.Ke3 Bb6 64.Nd3 Ba5 65.Bb3 Bc3 66.Nc5 Bb4 67.Bd1 Bc6 68.Bc2 Be8 69.Nd3 Ba5 70.Ne5 Bb4 71.Nc4 Bc6= and White cannot penetrate. 62.Bd1? 10 62.Kc4 was winning: Kf6 63.Bxe6 Bxc5 64.Kxc5 Kxe6 65.a5+- 62...Bc7 10 63.Ke3 5 Ba5? 25
63...Bc6? loses after 64.Bf3 Be8 65.Be2 Bc6 66.Bb5 Bd5 67.Nd3 Bb3 68.Ne5 Kf6 69.Ke4 Bd5+ 70.Kd3 Bb7 70...Bd8 71.Ke3 Bb7 72.Bc6 Ba6 73.Nd7+ Ke7 74.Nb8 Bc8 75.Bb5 Bb7 76.Nc6+ Bxc6 77.Bxc6 Kd6 78.Bb5 Bb6 79.Bc4 Ba5 80.Ke4 Bd2 81.Bb3 Bc3 82.d5 exd5+ 83.Bxd5+- 71.Ke3 Ke7 72.Bd3 Kf6 73.Be4 Ba6 74.Nd7+ Ke7 75.Nc5 Bc4 76.Bc2 Bf1 77.Bd3 Bg2 78.Bc4 Bh3 79.Nb3 Bb8 80.a5 Kd6 81.Nc5 Bg4 82.a6 Ba7 83.Be2 Bh3 84.Ne4+ Kc6 85.Ng5 Bf5 86.Bc4 Kd7 87.Bd3 Bg4 88.Ne4 Kc6 89.Nf2 Bh5 90.Bc4 Kd6 91.Ne4+ Ke7 92.Nc3 Be8 93.Nb5 Bxb5 94.Bxb5 Kd8 95.Bc4 Ke7 96.Ke4 Bb6 97.d5 exd5+ 98.Kxd5+- The best is 63...Bb6! after which Black saves the game: 64.Bc2 64.Nd3 Ba5 65.Nb2 Bb4 66.Nc4 Bc6 67.Ne5 Be8 68.Bb3 Ba5 69.Nc4 Bb4 70.Bc2 Kf6 71.Ne5 Ke7 72.Nd3 Ba5 73.Bd1 Kf6 74.Nc5 Bb6= 64...Bc6 saves the game: 65.Nd3 Ba5 66.Nb2 Bc3 67.Nc4 Bb4 68.Nd2 Be8 69.Ne4 Bc6 70.Nc5 Be8 71.Nd3 Bc3 72.Ne5 Ba5 73.Bb3 Bb4 74.Nd3 Ba5 75.Nc5 Bb6 White cannot improve his position. 64.Bb3? 7 64.Be2! was winning: Bc6 65.Bf3 Be8 66.Nb3 Bc7 67.a5 Bb5 68.Bb7 Bd8 69.a6 Bb6 70.Nc5 Ba7 71.Kd2 Bb6 72.Kc3 Ba5+ 73.Kc2 Bb6 74.Kd2 Bf1 75.Ke3 Bb5 76.Nd3 Kd6 77.Nb4 Kc7 78.Be4 Bd7 79.Bf3 Ba7 80.Be2 Bc8 81.Bc4 Kd7 82.Nd3 Ke7 83.Nc5 Bb6 84.Kd3 Ba7 85.Kc3 Kf6 86.Kb4 Ke7 87.Be2 Bd7 88.Nxd7 Kxd7 89.Kc4 Kd6 90.Kd3 Kd5 91.Bf3+ Kd6 92.Ke4 Bb8 93.Bg4 Ba7 94.Be2 Kc6 95.Bc4 Kd6 96.d5 exd5+ 97.Bxd5+- 64...Bb4= 6 65.Ke4 19 Kf6 30 66.Bc4 15 Bc6+ 1:17 66...Bxc5 67.dxc5 Bxa4 again leads to a draw. 67.Ke3 1
67...Ke7? 15 This loses. 67...Bxc5 68.dxc5 Bxa4 should draw. 68.Bb5+- 0 Bd5 1 69.Nd3 1 Ba5 8 70.Ne5 2 Bc7 9 71.Kd3 3 Kf6 0 72.Bc6 12 Bb3 2 73.Nd7+ 38 The game move wins, but stronger was 73.Kc3 Bd1 74.Kd2 Bb3 75.Kd3 Ba5 76.Bb5 Bd5 77.Ke3 Bc7 78.Bc4 Bg2 79.Nd7+ Kf5 80.Bd3+ Kg4 81.Nf6+ Kg3 82.Ne4+ Bxe4 83.Kxe4 Bxf4 84.Bc4 Kg4 85.Bxe6++- 73...Kf5 3 74.Nc5 1 Ba2 2
75.Kc3? 42 This is a mistake. After 75.Na6 White wins, e.g. Ba5 76.Ke3 Kf6 77.Nb8 Bc3 78.Kd3 Ba5 79.Nd7+ Ke7 80.Ne5 Be1 81.Bb7 Kd6 82.Ba6 Bd5 83.Nc4+ Kc6 84.Nd2 Kc7 85.Ke2 Bg3 86.Ke3 Be1 87.a5 Kb8 88.Bd3 Kb7 89.a6+ Ka7 90.Be2 Ba2 91.Bf1 Bd5 92.Bd3 Ba2 93.Ne4 Bd5 94.Nc5 Kb6 95.Nd7+ Ka7 96.Ne5 Bc3 97.Be4 Bb3 98.Bb7 Be1 99.Bc8 Bd5 100.Nd3 Bh4 101.Nc5 Bc4 102.Bxe6 Bxa6 103.f5+- 75...Kxf4= 4 Now Black should be able to draw. 76.Kb2 14 Bc4 5 77.Kc3 2 Ba2 2 78.Nb7 16 Bb6?! 44 Easier was 78...Ke3 79.a5 Bb1 80.d5 exd5 81.Bxd5 Bd3= 79.a5 3 Ba7? 2
The decisive mistake. After 79...Bc7 should be able to draw, e.g. 80.a6 Bb6 81.Nd6 e5 82.d5 e4 83.Nc8 Bf2 84.d6 e3 85.Bb5 e2 86.Bxe2 Be6 87.a7 Bxa7 88.Nxa7 Ke5 89.Nb5 Bd7 90.Bc4 Bxb5= 80.Nd6!+- 12 e5 2 81.d5 8 81.Nb5 was easier: exd4+ 82.Kb2 Bc4 83.Nxa7+- 81...e4 26 81...Bd4+ loses after 82.Kb4 e4 83.Nb5 Bf2 84.a6 Ke5 85.Nc3 e3 86.Ne2 Bh4 87.a7+- 82.Nxe4 2 Ke5 32 83.d6 0 Be6 2 84.Kd3 13 Bb8 2:48 85.d7 3 Bc7 0 86.a6 2 Bxd7 0 87.Bxd7 2 Bb6 0 88.Bc6 4 Bg1 2 89.Kc4 3 Ba7 5 90.Nc3 3 Bb6 3 91.Nb5 3 Ke6 0 92.a7 4 Bxa7 1 93.Nxa7 0 Kd6 1 94.Bd5 1 Ke5 0 95.Kc5 2 Kf5 0 96.Kd4 1 Kf4 0 97.Nc6 2 Kf5 0 98.Ne5 2 Kf6 1 99.Be4 2 Ke6 1 100.Nc4 1 Kf6 2 101.Kd5 1 Ke7 0 102.Bf5 2 Kf6 1 103.Ke4 1 Ke7 2 104.Ke5 1 Kf7 0 105.Nd6+ 3 Kg7 3 106.Ke6 7 Kg8 0 107.Kf6 2 Kh8 1 108.Nf7+ 2 Kg8 0 109.Bg6 1 Kf8 0 110.Bh7 0 Ke8 2 111.Ne5 1 Kd8 0 112.Ke6 1 Kc7 5 113.Nd7 0 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2781Vachier Lagrave,M27841–02021D80Airthings Masters KO 20202.2

Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.

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Karsten Müller is considered to be one of the greatest endgame experts in the world. His books on the endgame - among them "Fundamentals of Chess Endings", co-authored with Frank Lamprecht, that helped to improve Magnus Carlsen's endgame knowledge - and his endgame columns for the ChessCafe website and the ChessBase Magazine helped to establish and to confirm this reputation. Karsten's Fritztrainer DVDs on the endgame are bestsellers. The mathematician with a PhD lives in Hamburg, and for more than 25 years he has been scoring points for the Hamburger Schachklub (HSK) in the Bundesliga.

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