The World Cup: Thrills and Spills
CBM 181 Review: Aronian marches on

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World Cup Chess is a cross between a marathon and a gladiator contest. On the one hand you should have the pace and persistence of a long distance runner, on the other you should be able to beat back rivals closing in on you. However, it can be frustrating when you are not able to get past your pursuers. A major part of this issue is devoted to the World Cup that Aronian won only after a tense match with Ding Liren in the last round. Those who fell by the wayside included Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen(world champions past and present), not to mention Vassily Ivanchuk, Vachier-Lagrave and last year’s finalists, Peter Svidler and Sergei Karjakin. The final round between Ding Liren and Aronian was hard-fought and the outcome was only determined in the play-off. The last game is annotated by Sagar shah and also explained in a video commentary by Daniel King in this issue. For the present review I have also checked what the players themselves have had to to say and subsequent findings by other experts.
Ding Liren - Levon Aronian, FIDE World Cup 2017
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 6.Bg5 6...c6 6...c5 7.e3 Bf5 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Be7 10.Nh4 Bg6 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Qb3 Qb6 13.Qc2 13.Qxb6 axb6 14.a4!? 13...a5 14.g4!? Nbd7 15.g5 15.Kg2! 15...Ne8 15...Nh5 16.Bxh5 gxh5 17.g6 fxg6 18.Qxg6 Rf7 19.Qxh5 Qxb2 16.e4 16.Bg4 Qd8 17.h4 16...dxe4? 16...Qd8 17.Nxe4 Qd8 17...Nc7 18.Nc5! Ne6 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Be3!± 18.h4 Nb6 19.Be5 Nd5 19...Nd6 20.Ng3 20.Bg4 Kh8? 20...Nef6!? 21.gxf6 gxf6 22.Bh2 f5 23.Bxf5 gxf5 24.Kh1! fxe4 25.Rg1+ Kh7 25...Kh8?? 26.Qe2+- 26.Qxe4+ f5 27.Qg2 Rg8 28.Qf3 Nf4 29.Bxf4 Qd5 30.Qxd5 cxd5 31.Rac1± 21.Rae1 Nef6!? 21...f5? 22.gxf6 gxf6 23.Ng5 fxe5 24.Ne6 Qd7 25.Qxg6+- 22.gxf6 gxf6 23.Bh2? 23.Bg3 f5 24.Bxf5 gxf5 25.Qd1! Kg7 25...fxe4? 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Rxe4 f5 28.Be5 Bf6 29.Kh1 fxe4 30.Rg1+ Bg7 31.Rxg7# 26.Qh5 Rh8 27.Qxf5 Qc8 28.Qf3± 23.Qc1! Kh7 24.Bg3 f5 25.Ng5+ Bxg5 26.hxg5 fxg4 27.Kg2 Qd7 28.Rh1+ Kg8 29.Be5 f6 30.gxf6 Nxf6 31.Qh6 Qg7 32.Qg5 Kf7 33.f3! gxf3+ 34.Kxf3 Kg8 35.Kg2+- 23...f5 24.Bxf5 24.f3! fxg4 24...fxe4 25.fxe4 Nf6 26.Be5 Kg8 27.Bf5 gxf5? 28.Rxf5+- 25.fxg4 Bxh4 25...Qd7 26.Qg2 26.g5! Bxg5 26...Bxe1? 27.Be5+ Kg8 28.Qh2 f6 29.gxf6 Nxf6 30.Nxf6++- 27.Be5+ Kg8 28.Rf3 Bh6 29.Qh2 Bg7 30.Kg2 Bxe5 31.dxe5 Kg7 32.e6 f6 33.Nd6 Rh8 34.Nf5+ Kg8 34...gxf5?? 35.Rg3++- 35.Qg3 g5 36.e7 Qd7 37.Qg4 Qc8 38.Qe4+- 24...gxf5 25.Qd1? 25.Kh1! Rg8 25...fxe4? 26.Qe2 Nf6 27.Be5 Rg8 28.Qh5+ Kg7 29.Rg1+ Kf8 30.Qh6+ Ke8 31.Bxf6 Rxg1+ 32.Rxg1 Kd7 33.Be5± 26.Ng3 Bb4 26...Bxh4?? 27.Nxf5+- 27.Qxf5 Qxh4 28.Re4 Qh7= 25.Ng3! f4 26.Re5 f5 26...fxg3?? 27.Rh5++- 27.Nxf5 Bf6 28.Re6 Qd7 29.Rfe1 Rae8 30.Rxe8 Rxe8 31.Rxe8+ Qxe8= 25...Rg8+ 25...fxe4? 26.Qh5+ Kg7 27.Kh1! 26.Kh1 Rg4! 27.Ng3 Rxh4 28.Nxf5 Rh7 29.Nxe7 Nxe7 30.Re5 Nf5! 31.Rfe1?? 31.Qg4 Qh4 32.Qxh4 Nxh4 33.f3 31...Qh4 32.Re8+ Kg7! 32...Rxe8 33.Rxe8+ Kg7 34.Qg1+ Kf6-+ 33.Rg1+ Kf6 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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Ding,L | 2771 | Aronian,L | 2802 | 0–1 | 2017 | D38 | FIDE World Cup 2017 | |
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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.
This issue also includes games from the Isle of Man Tournament won by Carlsen ahead of Nakamura and Anand. His second, Peter Heine Nielsen has annotated the key encounter, Caruana-Carlsen for this issue. For good measure this issue also has games from the European Team Championship won by Azerbaijan ahead of Russia among others.

An ecstatic Mamedyarov with other members of the Azerbaijan Team | Photo: EuroTeams2017.com
An unusual move in Slav Exchange
This brings me to other sections of this magazine. Apart from trademark sections on strategy, tactics and the endgame, there are 11 opening surveys ranging from the Sicilian to Slav. Among them I would single out the analysis of an unusual line in Slav Exchange (D10) by Alexey Kuzmin: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4.Bg5!?
The standard move is of course 4.Bf4. But the move here is not without merit. If Black plays 4...Nf6 White intends to disrupt his kingside with 5.Bxf6 gf6. However, it would offer Black compensation in the form of two bishops. Black can hold ...Nf6 in reserve and play 4...Nc6 or try 4...h6 and even the unorthodox 4...f6. An intriguing variation!
Classic Revisited
In the “Strategy” section Mihail Marin offers a discussion of attacking plans and finding difficult moves with quite a few celebrated examples. The best of them is the game, Fischer-Geller, Skopje 1967. Geller was one of the few players who had a plus score against Fischer (+5 -4 =2).

Geller vs Fischer, Curacao 1962 | Photo: via tabladeflandes.com
It figures as one of the three losses Bobby included in his classic, "My 60 Memorable Games". Over the years the game has seen commentary by Fischer, Geller and Kasparov, not to mention Edmar Mednis, Murey and Boleslavsky who have enriched our understanding with valuable analysis.
A Test for Young Readers
Marin has drawn our attention to quite a few phenomenal lines that might have arisen over the board. Here is just one of them. Black is a piece up, but faces a mating attack on h7 or g7. Desperate situations demand desperate remedies. So he offers the queen not only to quell the attack but also to set a minefield for his opponent.The challenge for young readers is to avoid the pitfalls and find a clear path to victory (solution at the end of this article).
Bobby Fischer - Efim Geller, Skopje 1967 (Analytical position)
When you examine this position in the context of the whole game in this issue, you, it’s only the tip pf the proverbial iceberg. There is more to it than meets the eye.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Bb3 0-0 9.Qe2 Qa5 10.0-0-0 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bd7 12.Kb1 Bc6 13.f4 Rad8 14.Rhf1 b5 15.f5 b4 16.fxe6 bxc3 17.exf7+ Kh8 18.Rf5 Qb4 19.Qf1 Nxe4 20.a3 Qb7 21.Qf4 Ba4 22.Qg4 Bf6 23.Rxf6 Bxb3 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Fischer,R | - | Geller,E | - | 0–1 | 1967 | B88 | Skopje | 2 |
Fischer,R | - | Geller,E | - | 0–1 | | B88 | Skopje | |
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Click or tap the second game in the list to switch
There is much else in this DVD that deserves to be explored. In all there are 2075 OTB games of which 135 are annotated. The annotators include Michael Adams, Suat Atalik and Michal Krasenkow among others. A major contribution is made by Sagar Shah who has annotated 33 games.
More info. on this issue may be found here.
Recommended.
Enjoy the best moments of recent top tournaments (World Cup, Isle of Man Open) with analysis of top players. In addition you'll get lots of training material. For example 10 new suggestions for your opening repertoire.
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