FIDE World Cup 2017: Aronian, So, Ding are in the semi-finals

by Sagar Shah
9/17/2017 – Four semi-final spots were at stake. Three of them have been filled. Levon Aronian drew his game against Ivanchuk after beating him yesterday, while Wesley So and Ding Liren beat Vladimir Fedoseev and Richard Rapport respectively. One remaining spot will be filled by the winner of Peter Svidler and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave encounter. The duo will fight it out in the tiebreaks on Sunday and the winner will take on Aronian. We have photos, analysis and video interviews that will give you a complete feel of round five, game two, from Tbilisi, Georgia.
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Ding Liren becomes the first Chinese ever to reach semi-finals

World Cup

tbilisi2017.fide.com

Ivanchuk vs Aronian

Ivanchuk had lost the first game against Aronian and was trailing in the quarter-finals by a full point | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Chucky came to the tournament hall extremely focussed, with a no-nonsense attitude. He sat down at the board with a serious face which could be miscontrued as one being dejected. Aronian on the other hand, entered the room with his charismatic smile. He high-fived some of his friends in the crowd and then took his chair on the chess board. Watch all of this unfold in the video below:

Video before the start and initial moments of the round

"I wanted to fight my demons!" is how Levon Aronian described this game. He played active chess, but consumed too much of his time on the clock. He had a very comfortable position out of opening, but after the 40 move mark, gave his opponents some chances to play for an advantage. As it turned out, Aronian managed to hold the position without too many difficulties and took home the match, also qualifying for the semi-finals.

After Baadur Jobava's elimination, the player whom Georgians mainly come to support is Levon Aronian | Photo: Amruta Mokal

 
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1.c4 0 Nf6 5 2.g3 0 e6 0 3.Bg2 0 d5 7 4.Nf3 0 dxc4 19 5.Qa4+ 0 Bd7 5 6.Qxc4 1 c5 5 7.Ne5 1:03 Qc8 4 8.d3 4:07 8.0-0 8...Nc6 32 9.Nxd7 0 Qxd7 8 10.Nd2 2 Nd4 8:46 11.Nf3 2:52 b5 18 12.Qc3 6 Nd5 0 13.Qd2 6 Be7 50 14.0-0 42 According to Aronian, this position is slightly more pleasant for White as Black has to prove what has he got in return for giving his opponent the bishop pair. 0-0 1:06 15.Qd1 2 Nxf3+ 0 16.Bxf3 10 Rac8 11 17.a3 2:58 Bf6 3:43 18.e3 1:32 Rfd8 2:11 19.Qc2 33 Ne7 15:31 20.Be4 7:00 20.Rd1 Nc6= 20...Nc6 4:51 21.Rd1 43 Be7 2:32 22.f4 4:09 f5 7:39 23.Bf3 10 Bf6 0 White has the bishop pair, but Black's space and active pieces, give White no hope for an advantage. 24.Rb1 5 Ne7 8:39 25.Be2 1:58 e5 6:07 26.fxe5 52 Bxe5 7 27.Bd2 5 Qd5 5:07 28.Be1 0 Kh8 4:28 29.Bf1 44 Ivanchuk is placing his pieces on the last rank. He is trying to make use of the spring theory, where he would like his pieces to get active all of a sudden, but I guess it is asking for too much out of them. Qe6 4:30 30.Bf2 26 Nd5 4:39 31.Qb3 53 Qh6 1:27 32.Re1 1:28 a6 4:05 33.d4 5:57 cxd4 0 34.exd4 5 Bb8= 54 35.Bg2 5:16 Nf6 10 36.Re6 7 f4 5:29 Ivanchuk,V (2727)-Aronian,L (2802) Tbilisi 2017 playchess.com [ChessBase] 37.Rbe1 5:47 37.d5 fxg3 38.hxg3 Qh5 37...fxg3 3:47 38.hxg3 1 Rf8 1:51 39.d5 2:03 Qh5 38 40.Bf3 0 Qh3 51 Ivanchuk,V (2727) -Aronian,L (2802) Tbilisi 2017 playchess.com [ChessBase] 41.Bd1 0 This is stretching it, but Black is happy with a draw, and white isn't. So the game has to continue. Rcd8?! 4:32 41...Ng4?! 42.Bxg4 Qxg4= 41...Ng8! The best move. 42.Qe3 Rcd8 42.Qf3 2:35 h5 5:26 42...Nxd5 43.Qg4 Qxg4 44.Bxg4∞ 43.Qg2 0 Qxg2+ 1:21 44.Kxg2 1:08 Rxd5 4 45.Bc2 45 a5 3:16 46.R1e2 1:38 Bd6 4:50 47.Be3 1:40 Bc5 8:29 48.Bc1 0 48.Bf4 48...g5 3:50 As Levon said after the game, once he got in this move he was very confident about his chances to hold the game. 49.Ra6 5:10 Ng4 28 50.Rae6 2:47 Rf2+ 2:56 51.Rxf2 5 Bxf2 2 52.Be4 1:38 Rc5 45 53.Bd2 16 Bd4 0 54.b4 45 axb4 4 55.axb4 3 Re5 1:08 56.Rxe5 3 Nxe5 10 57.Bxg5 1 This endgame is ever so slightly better for Wite.But Ivanchuk played on until the end. Kg7 20 58.Bd2 19 Nc4 1:42 59.Be1 2 Nd6 41 60.Bd3 0 Bf6 36 61.Kf3 21 Bg5 27 62.Ke2 44 Kf6 23 63.Bc3+ 5 Ke6 18 64.Kf3 1 Nc4 23 65.Be2 0 Kf5 1:01 66.Bd4 25 Ne5+ 20 67.Kg2 5 Nc6 12 68.Bc3 19 Be7 14 69.Bxb5 8 A draw was agreed and Levon advanced to the next round. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V2728Aronian,L2799½–½2017A13FIDE World Cup 20175.2

The opening that was played by Levon Aronian is the same one that is recommended by GM Daniel King in his excellent DVD, Powerplay 24 — A repertoire for Black against the Catalan.

On this DVD Grandmaster Daniel King offers you a repertoire for Black against the Catalan, based around maintaining the rock of a pawn on d5. Keeping central control ultimately gives Black good chances to launch an attack against the enemy king.

The final tense moments! Vassily looking for his chances, but Levon game him none!

That's the World Cup — one guy qualifies and the other one is eliminated!

 Arianne Caoili, Aronian's to-be wife, drove for nearly four and a half hours from Yerevan to give Levon a pleasant surprise. And the good news is that Levon gets two rest days to spend with her now! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Arianne Caoili speaks about her life out of chess, following Levon's tournaments and the upcoming wedding on 30th of September

Levon Aronian talks about his game against Ivanchuk and tells us how it feels to have his to-be wife by her side for the weekend

Vassily Ivanchuk knocked out Kazghalayev, Duda, Kramnik and Giri. He showed some excellent chess and entertained chess fans all over the world with his play. Thank you, Vassily for treating us to some high class games. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Ding Liren vs Richard Rapport

Once Richard Rapport didn't press with the white pieces in round one, it was clear that Ding Liren was the favourite to win the match. The main reason being that the Chinese player's white repertoire is extremely solid. While Ding focused on main lines, his coach Xu Jun made sure that Rapport could spring no surprises in the side lines. Together they prepared hard and came up with a new opening idea:

 
9. Re1 was Ding Liren's new opening idea which according to the Mega Database has been played only once before.

Richard Rapport couldn't contain his creativity as he faced a new line. He played the move 9...a6. Ding Liren proved once again that he was not a person that you mess with. With simple and strong moves he got a winning position. From there on he calculated accurately until the very end and converted his advantage into a full point.

 
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One of the biggest mistakes, according to me, made by Rapport is that he didn't play for a win or even put the slightest of pressure on Ding Liren with the white pieces. Now Ding had the white pieces and he wasn't going to take it easy! 1.d4 0 Nf6 40 2.c4 1:19 e6 7 3.Nf3 19 b6 13 4.g3 0 Bb7 5 5.Bg2 5 Be7 16 6.0-0 7 0-0 4 7.Nc3 7 Ne4 0 8.Bd2 6 Bf6 4 This is all well known and has been seen many times and now Ding Liren comes up with a move that has been played only once before. 9.Re1!? 9 According to the databases this move has been played only once before between Adamski and Kruszynski. a6 11:43 This is a weird move, the main idea is to make a waiting move, threaten b5 in some instances and also play d6 followed by Nd7, without having to worry about Ng5 ideas. 9...d6 might have been Rapport's idea, but it leads to a minus position after 10.Ng5! Nxc3 11.Qc2± 10.Ne5! 16:55 This is a good practical decision, White maintains slight pressure on the position. 10.Rc1 was also possible, but it leads to normal positions. 10.Qc2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 d6 Followed by Nd7 gives Black the bishop pair. 10...Nxc3 9:05 11.Bxc3 6 Bxg2 21 12.Kxg2 3 White is better developed and has superior development. It is a slight edge, but still not so easy to extinguish. d6 3:48 13.Ng4 1:57 Be7 1:14 14.e4 34 b5 6:43 The problem with Rapport is that he can never play normal chess! He will always try to go for activity. In this position it could have been better to just finish development with Nd7, although after f4 Black is still worse. But now Ding plays very strong chess. 14...Nd7 15.Qe2 10:54 bxc4 13:22 16.d5 0 16.Qxc4 was also possible and perhaps not at all a bad idea, but Ding wanted more. 16...Qc8 5:33 16...e5 17.Ne3± 17.e5! 21:52 The Chinese player made this move after 22 minutes of thought. He invested a lot of time in this idea and was able to calculate that he gets a good position in all lines. 17.Qxc4 was also possible. 17...exd5 4:22 17...Qb7 18.Rad1± 17...dxe5 18.Qxe5+- 18.exd6 5 cxd6! 9:38 18...Bxd6 which looks the most natural is refuted by a very brilliant little queen move that was seen by Ding. 19.Qf3‼ Nd7 19...Nc6 20.Bxg7!+- 20.Nh6++- 19.Qxe7 0 19.Rad1± was also possible keeping all the advantages intact. 19...d4 1:09 19...Qxg4 20.Qb7 Nd7 Looks normal but White is better after 21.h3 Qf5 21...Qg5 22.Qxd7 d4! And now White has to find the only move to hold the advantage. 23.Bb4!+- 23.Bxd4? Qd5+ 22.g4 The knight is lost. Qg5 22...Nc5 23.Qxa8+- Qd7 24.Qxd5 23.Qxd7 d4 24.Bb4± 20.Qe4?! 3:48 20.Bxd4 Qxg4 21.Qxd6 Nc6! 22.Bc3± Also gives White a very pleasant position. 20...Qc6 22 This move was missed by Ding. But luckily it spoils nothing. White still has many ways to keep his advantage. 20...dxc3 21.Qxa8 cxb2 22.Rab1 c3 22...Qxg4 23.Rxb2 Nd7 24.Re8 23.Ne3 21.Bxd4 3:36 f5 0 21...Qxe4+ 22.Rxe4 f5 23.Re7! Nc6 23...Rf7 24.Re8+ Rf8 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Ne3+- 24.Rxg7+ Kh8 25.Rg8+! Kxg8 26.Nh6# A nice variation suggested by Surya Sekhar Ganguly on Twitter. 22.Qxc6 1:13 Nxc6 2 23.Ne3 2:33 23.Bxg7 was also possible, but Ding decides to keep things simple. 23...Nxd4 16 24.Rad1 6 White is a pawn down, but all of Black's pawns are weak and there are soon going to fall one by one. f4 5:37 Ding,L (2771) -Rapport,R (2675) Tbilisi 2017 playchess.com [ChessBase] 25.Rxd4 0 fxe3 10 26.Rxe3 2 Such positions are Ding Liren's forte. As he said after the game, the endgame might not be winning, but it is extremely unpleasant to play as Black here. Rab8 21:00 27.Re2 6 c3 31 27...d5 28.Rxd5± 28.bxc3 9 Rb6 33 29.Rb4! 2:30 Rxb4 0 30.cxb4 4 Rb8 30 31.Rb2 1:18 Kf7 20 32.Kf3 55 Ke6 35 33.Ke4 19 d5+ 31 34.Kd3 1:15 Kd6 0 35.a4 47 Rb7 2:10 36.f4 1:05 h5 1:32 37.b5! 4:34 This move shows good confidence in your calculation. 37.Kd4 was also possible. 37...axb5 32 38.axb5 4 Kc5 46 39.Rc2+! 6 Kxb5 28 40.Kd4 0 White has given up the pawn, but cut off his opponent's king. Rf7 35 41.Kxd5 55 It might be a case of premature resignation, but I was quite sure that White would have been able to convert his advantage. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2777Rapport,R26751–02017E18FIDE World Cup 20175.2

You can usually find Ding Liren in his national sports jacket, but today he arrived in a formal shirt and suit. Watch the interview below to learn why. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Ding Liren speaks about his match with Rapport, washing clothes on the previous rest day, and why Zurab Azmaiparashvili asked him to reconsider his wardrobe.

Richard Rapport entertained his fans with some exciting chess before leaving Tbilisi | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Wesley So vs Vladimir Fedoseev

Vladimir Fedoseev came to the board very well prepared in the Petroff. He played fast and at one point he had one hour thirty-seven minutes, seven minutes more than when he started. Already a pair of rooks and two pairs of minor pieces had been exchanged. It seemed as if Fedoseev would exchange a few more and the players would go back to their rooms to prepare for the tiebreaks. As it turned out, the Russian made some inaccurate moves, enough for So to push him on the backfoot. After gaining an advantage, Wesley did face difficulties in converting it into a full point, but in the end he managed, thus avoiding the tiebreaks and also ensuring that he gets two rest days!

 
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1.e4 0 e5 6 2.Nf3 0 Nf6 6 3.Nxe5 13 d6 7 4.Nf3 0 Nxe4 9 5.d4 9 d5 8 6.Bd3 4 Be7 9 7.0-0 1:17 Nc6 0 8.Nbd2 2:16 Wesley So saw Anish Giri playing this line and according to the American, if Anish plays something in the opening you can be sure that it's solid. Bf5 13 9.Re1 6:56 Nxd2 11 10.Qxd2 8 Bxd3 5 11.Qxd3 5 White has a small edge in this position thanks to the control of the e-file and some superior development. 0-0 10 12.c3 9:38 Qd7 17 13.Bf4 9 a6 0 14.Re2 6:42 Rae8 9 15.Rae1 7 Bd8 5 16.Nd2 5:37 Rxe2 6 17.Qxe2 5 a5 8 Fedoseev was playing his moves extremely fast and it seemed as if he was very well prepared. As Wesley said after the game that he was thinking that a draw would most likely happen and he would have to prepare for the tiebreaks. 18.Nb3 11:57 18.Nf3 f6 19.h4 was another way to go. 18...b6 6 19.Nc1 12 f6 7 20.a4 5:13 Ne7 6:21 21.Nd3 0 g5?! 1:08 21...Ng6 22.Bg3 Rf7 would have been the best way to kill the game - shake hands and go back home. 21...Qxa4 22.Qe6+ Rf7 22...Kh8 23.Bxc7± 23.Bg3∞ 22.Bc1 3:54 Ng6 6:24 23.b3 10:23 Be7?! 1:05 23...Rf7= According to Wesley this would have helped Fedoseev draw the game very soon. Rook comes to e7 and pieces come off. 24.h4! 3:47 Taking advantage of the knight being overloaded on g6. gxh4 6:33 25.Nf4 4 So,W (2792)-Fedoseev,V (2731) Tbilisi 2017 playchess.com [ChessBase] Rf7 22:48 26.Qe6 8:30 A good practical decision. After this point, only two results are possible - White wins or draw. 26.Qh5 26...Qxe6 1:43 27.Rxe6 2 Nxf4 1:32 28.Bxf4 3 Bd8 50 29.b4! 19 Black cannot take as White would get an outside a-passer. But if he doesn't the his a5 pawn would be weak. Kg7 8:07 29...axb4 30.cxb4± 30.bxa5 3:34 bxa5 6 31.Ra6 0 c6 13 32.Rxc6 4 The material is even and effectively White is a pawn up because the h-pawns are doubled. Kg6 0 33.Rc5 3:18 Rd7 5:58 34.f3 2:43 Kf5 12 35.Bd2 2:16 Ke6 25 36.Rc6+ 43 Kf5 2:29 37.Be1 2:32 Kg5 0 38.Rc5 2:45 f5 4:52 39.Kh2 1:19 Kh5 7:31 40.Bf2 0 Rd6 5:34 41.Be3 14:29 Bb6 8:05 42.Rb5 21 Bd8 0 43.Bf4 3:51 Rd7 8 44.Be5 2:07 Kg5 1:03 45.Rc5 1:38 f4 2:42 As Wesley said after the game, he was very happy to see his opponent pushing this pawn on dark square. It only meant that if the players ever went into a bishop endgame, it would be completely lost for Black. 46.Rc6 1:39 Kf5 0 47.Ra6 1:20 Kg5 52 48.Kh3 1:10 Kf5 23 49.Rc6 3:42 Kg5 1:09 50.Re6 1:34 50.Rc5 Kf5 51.Rb5 This is some kind of zugzwang for Black. h5 52.Bb8 Ke6 52...Kg5 53.c4 53.Bxf4 Ra7 54.Be5+- 50...Be7 0 51.Rc6 2:01 Bd8 9 52.Bd6 53 Kf5 7:47 53.Kh2 1:52 Rg7 7:51 54.Be5 1:07 Rd7 1:36 55.Rd6 1:53 Wesley makes a big decision here of exchanging rooks and it is quite possible that it was not the best timing. Rxd6 7 56.Bxd6 1 Kg5 0 57.Kg1 59 Kf5 40 58.Kf2 4 Kg5 1:28 59.Kf1 2 Kf5 4:26 60.Ba3 10 Ke6 7:30 61.Ke2 16 Kf5 0 62.Bc1 4 Kg5 1:14 63.Kf1 5 63.Kd3 h3 64.gxh3 Kh4 65.Bxf4 h5 66.c4 dxc4+ 67.Kxc4 Kxh3= 63...Bc7 27 64.Bd2 11 Bd8 28 65.Be1 0 Once the bishop comes to e1, the white king can move without any worries. Kf5 46 66.Ke2 2 Ke6 14 67.Kd3 12 Kd7 15 68.c4 17 Kc6 20 68...Ke6!? 69.Bc3 12 Bb6 4:11 70.Bb2 1 Bd8 53 71.Bc1 1:02 Bc7 45 72.Bd2 4 zugzwang. h5 39 73.Bc3 13 Bb6 1:16 74.Bb2 18 Bc7 0 75.Ba3 15 Bd8 8 76.Bf8 7 Bg5 3:34 77.Bg7 10 Kd6 3 78.Be5+ 6 Kc6 5 79.Kc3 8 Bh6 0 80.Bf6 6 Bf8 23 81.Kd3 8 h3 58 82.gxh3 4 Bd6 10 83.Be5 1:33 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2810Fedoseev,V27311–02017C42FIDE World Cup 20175.2

If there could be an award for the most promising player of this tournament, or even 2017 as a whole, it has to be Vladimir Fedoseev | Photo: Amruta Mokal 

Wesley winning this match means that he would now face Ding Liren in the semi-finals | Photo: Amruta Mokal

What is Wesley's secret ingredient of success? | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Wesley So explains his win over Vladimir Fedoseev

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Peter Svidler

The only match that has gone into the tiebreaks is Peter Svidler against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Maxime had his chances today if he had found this amazing resource with the move Qd2. But, neither he, nor his opponent had seen that move. In the final position Svidler was slightly better, but he was unsure of how to continue. The players agreed to a draw and will now fight it out in the tiebreaks. It promises to be an exciting match. Will the younger of the two players succeed, or will Svidler's experience hold him in good stead against the Frenchman?

 
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1.e4 0 e5 7 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 6 3.Bc4 0 Bc5 14 4.c3 0 Nf6 5 5.d3 0 d6 1:25 6.0-0 29 a6 2:51 7.a4 1:35 h6 1:27 8.Re1 42 0-0 43 9.h3 1:01 a5 1:02 10.Nbd2 27 Be6 1:02 11.Bb5 6 Ne7 1:12 12.d4 15 exd4 0 13.Nxd4 8 Bd7 3:01 14.Nf1 3:02 Re8 6:41 15.Ng3 1:07 Ng6 10:19 16.f4 2:12 Bxb5 11:25 17.axb5 18 Qd7 0 18.Kh2 1:16 Re7 11:20 18...Bxd4!? 19.cxd4 Qxb5 20.e5 20.f5 19.Ndf5 12:15 Re6 1:55 19...Bf2!? 20.Nxe7+ Nxe7 21.Rf1 21.Re2 Ng4+ 22.hxg4 Qxg4-+ 21...Bxg3+ 22.Kxg3 Nxe4+ 23.Kh2 Qxb5 20.Nd4 2:23 20.Nxh6+ gxh6 21.f5 Re5 22.fxg6 fxg6 23.Bxh6 Bf2 24.Rf1 Bxg3+ 25.Kxg3 Nxe4+∞ 20.Qd2!± Once this move is played, you realize the strength of it. White threatens to take on g7 and follow it up with f5 and pick up the pawn on h6. 20...Re7 17 21.b4 10:13 21.Ndf5 Bf2 21...Bxd4 3:59 22.cxd4 35 Qxb5 1:02 23.f5 10:31 Nf8 7:11 24.Rxa5 10 Rxa5 0 25.bxa5 5 Qxa5 2:25 Black is a pawn up and Peter thought he might be better, but couldn't find moves that were easy make. Hence within 2-3 moves the players agreed to a draw. 26.Bb2 1:20 N8d7 2:00 27.Qc1 39 Re8 27...c5 28.e5 cxd4 29.exf6 Rxe1 30.Qc8++- This was Peter's calculation. 27...Re8 0 28.Re2 Black is better, but it is not so easy for him to find moves, and hence Svidler took the draw. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2789Svidler,P2751½–½2017C53FIDE World Cup 20175.2

Thoughts of both Svidler and MVL on the game

One incident that is worth mentioning is the fire alarm going off on many occasions today during the game. The players were quite disturbed and distracted because of it and the organizers were unable to pin down the reason why the alarm was going off.

As you can see from the pictures above, the technicians had suspected an issue in the press room, but they couldn't find it | Photo: Amruta Mokal

What are your predictions for the tiebreaks?

Who do you think will win?
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave199
68%
Peter Svidler90
31%

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Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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