Grand Swiss: Aronian catches up with Caruana

Draws all around

The FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss is an eleven-round event that serves as qualifier to the 2020 Candidates Tournament. It takes place from the 10^th to the 21^st of October, with a rest day on the 16^th. You can find more info here. 

Most of the top games ended peacefully as the players showed good preparation after the sole rest day in the Isle of Man. Things atop the standings barely changed in consequence, with only Levon Aronian leapfrogging Wang Hao after winning their direct encounter. For the Armenian, this seems like the last chance to get a spot at the Candidates, a tournament he has been part of in every edition for over a decade.

The lack of decisive results also meant the chasing pack has not changed in size, with Wang Hao taking the place left by his round seven rival. After a painful loss, the Chinese was paired up against none other than world champion Magnus Carlsen. At least Wang will have the white pieces, a key consideration given the fact that Carlsen won three times in Douglas with White. 

Kryvoruchko v Anand and Anton v Vitiugov finished drawn | Photo: John Saunders 

Apparently Wang Hao was surprised by Aronian's choice in the opening, as he spent around twenty minutes both on move 8 and on move 12, when his 12...♝f6 was a novelty that gave up a pawn in almost every line. Black did have compensation but some imprecisions in the middlegame left Wang in a dismal situation against such a strong opponent:

Queen's Gambit Declined - A repertoire for Black based on the Lasker Variation

On this DVD, Sam Collins presents a repertoire for Black based on the rock-solid Lasker variation, reinvigorated with new ideas by former World Champion Vishy Anand and forming the cornerstone of many strong GM repertoires today.

Black had already been defending this endgame a pawn down for about ten moves. At this point, Aronian decided he would give up the a-pawn and go for an invasion on the kingside. Six moves later, his monarch had reached g7 and he started to look for ways to undermine Black's pawn chain. Wang was defending tenaciously though, and for a while it seemed like round seven was going to end with draws on all twelve top boards. 

Suddenly, however, Wang lost the thread: 

Aronian later mentioned that he could not understand Wang's decision to play 54...f4 here. The pawn push is still a draw, but it just complicates the defensive task. Black could have simply moved the rook along the third rank and wait for White to find a break, when it is very likely that only the h-pawn will survive — an easier-to-hold theoretical ending. 

Instead, after the text, White continued with the most challenging alternative, 55.g4, and after 55...f3 56.♔g5 there was only one move that held the balance:

56...♜d3 is the sole drawing continuation, while after Wang's 56...♜a3 Aronian found 57.♖f6 ♜a8 58.♖f5+ ♚e4 59.h5 and White's connected passers are too strong. Black resigned.

The idea behind 56...♜d3 is that in case of 57.♖f6 ♜d8 58.♖f5+ ♚e4 59.h5, as in the game, Black has 59...♜d5 pinning the white rook. After the rooks leave the board, Black's f-pawn queens before White's passer on the h-file. White would still be a pawn to the good, but it would be impossible to escape the perpetual checks.

It was a painful loss for Wang Hao | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

A visibly disappointed Wang discussed some lines with Aronian after resigning the game. Although this loss must certainly feel like a big blow to his chances, the Chinese is still well in contention for first place, as his great start in Douglas will give him an edge if tiebreak criteria are used to decide the winner.

Master Class Vol.3: Alexander Alekhine

On this DVD GMs Rogozenco, Marin, Müller, and IM Reeh present outstanding games, stunning combinations and exemplary endgames by Alekhine. And they invite you to improve your knowledge with the help of video lectures, annotated games and interactive tests

Aronian, on the other hand, talked to Fiona Steil-Antoni and described as 'exciting' the prospect of facing Caruana in the next round. Then came the commentators' 'daily question':

Steil-Antoni: If you could resurrect a player from the past, give him theory and knowledge and have him at his peak, who would you like to have playing in this tournament?

Aronian: I'd say Alekhine. Especially in modern days — everybody is playing sharp, so it would be a good fit.

When asked the same question earlier, Fabiano Caruana chose Bobby Fischer:

I guess it's the obvious choice. I mean, he was so dominant for such a short period of time before he stopped playing...so I would be curious if he would become world champion to start with, and also if he would be a consistent top player in the world.

The moment Levon Aronian joined the lead | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

The draw that allowed Caruana to remain in the shared lead was not without drama, as both he and Alexander Grischuk had barely a few minutes left on their clocks around five moves before the time control — Grischuk was in deeper trouble first, as he had about a minute to make ten moves, but soon enough Caruana 'caught up' with him in a highly complex position.

Grischuk had chosen the aggressive 12.g4 early on, which led to him giving up a pawn a few moves later. By move 28, with fewer pieces on the board, the Russian kept on pushing forward:

Marin's English Love Vol.1 and 2 - A complete repertoire for White after 1.c4

The aim of these Dvd's is to build a repertoire after 1.c4 and 2.g3 for White. The first DVD includes the systems 1...e5, the Dutch and Indian setups. The second DVD includes the systems with 1...c5, 1...c6 and 1...e6.

There followed 28.h4 ♞d2 (forking queen and rook) 29.♕xf7+ ♜xf7, and here Grischuk let his clock run down to 29 seconds before going for one of the sharpest playable continuations, 30.♖b4. Soon enough, Caruana was also in zeitnot, but in what followed none of the elite contenders committed a big enough inaccuracy to disrupt the balance. 

Grischuk's 34.h5 undermined the black structure around the king, which allowed him to find a perpetual with his doubled rooks on the f-file. The draw was signed after Black's 42^nd move.

World number two Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

On board three, Kirill Alekseenko held Magnus Carlsen to a draw with the white pieces. With great performances both at the World Cup and here, the 22-year-old Russian has gained 31.3 rating points, climbing a whopping 27 places in the world ranking — he is currently number 37 with 2705.3 in the live list. 

Alekseenko will play Black against Wesley So in round eight. The American defeated Ganguly on Thursday, thus returning to the top boards.

Kirill Alekseenko showing his game | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

Round-up show

Exchange on d5 in the Slav and Queen's Gambit

On this DVD, we will look at a simple-to-learn yet surprisingly effective system that White can play after 1 d4 d5. In all cases White will play 2 c4 - and if given the chance, 3 cxd5!

GM Simon Williams recapped the action of round seven

Commentary webcast (two parts)

Commentary by GM Daniel King and IM Anna Rudolf

Pairings for Round 8 (top 20 boards)

...77 boards

All games of Round 7

All games available at Live.Chessbase.com

Links

• Official site
• Full results (Chess-Results)
• Preview: Start of the "Grand Swiss"
• Round 1: Najer upsets Anand
• Round 2: Five-player leading pack
• Round 3: Caruana and Wang Hao still perfect
• Round 4: Maghsoodloo and McShane join the leaders
• Round 5: McShane lets Caruana off the hook
• Round 6: No quarter