FIDE World Cup Final: Aronian wins tiebreak! (Express report)

by ChessBase
9/27/2017 – After four draws in Classical games, we are now down to the tiebreaks. It's going to be two games of 25+10 followed by 10+10 if required, and then 5+3 and finally armaggedon. Games kick off at 13:00 CEST (7:00 AM EST) with live commentary from Tbilisi by GMs Evgeny Miroshnichenko and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and live updates by our reporters Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.
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World Cup Finals tiebreak

World Cup

tbilisi2017.fide.com

Games and commentary

 
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Commentary by GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili

Live updates

Interview with Levon Aronian after he became the World Cup 2017 champion!

Ding Liren was a gracious loser and gave full credit to his opponent's superior play

Start of game one of 25'+10" rapids at the World Cup 2017

Brilliant attack by Levon Aronian to win game one of the 25+10 rapid tiebreak

Light analysis of game one of 25'+10"

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1.c4 0 Nf6 1 2.Nf3 0 e6 2 3.Nc3 0 d5 1 4.d4 0 c6 1 5.Bg5 2 h6 1 6.Bxf6 2 Qxf6 2 7.Qb3 2 Nd7 0 8.e4 7 dxe4 3 9.Nxe4 2 Qf4 2 10.Bd3 6 e5 7 11.0-0 0 Be7 12 All this is pretty well known and standard. And now Levon unleashed this novelty with Rae1. 12.Rae1!?N 4 Levon has this huge bunch of interesting novelties which he is uses one by one at these rapid games. exd4 3:35 13.Bb1!? 8 0-0 47 14.Ng3 3 Bd8?! 5:48 After this Black's position becomes critical mainly because his pieces are undeveloped. 14...Bd6 This might look like a playable move, but it loses to 15.Qd3! 15.Nf5 Nc5-+ 15...g6 16.Re6‼± Nf6 17.Ne2 Bxe6 18.Nxf4 Bxf4 19.Qxd4± 14...Nc5 might be the best move. 15.Qa3 Qc7∞ 16.b4?! Ne6 15.Qd3 36 g6 6 16.h4! 2 Nf6 4:51 17.h5! 1:11 Levon was playing very fast and had a lot of time on his clock, while his opponent Liren was taking a lot of time for his moves. g5 1 18.Ne5! 3:10 18.Nxd4 18...Ba5 4:38 18...Bc7 19.Ng6 fxg6 20.Qxg6+ Kh8 21.Re7 19.Ng6! 1:04 Qd2 5 It seems like Black has defended himself, but White keeps the initiative going. 20.Ne7+ 0 Kg7 25 20...Kh8 21.Qf3+- 21.Qb3 58 21.Ngf5+ Kh8 21...Bxf5 22.Nxf5+ Kh8 23.Qb3 Bb6 24.c5 Bxc5 25.Nxh6+- 22.Qb3± 21...Qf4 53 22.Rd1 1:14 22.Nef5+ Kh8! 23.Re7 Bd8∞ 22.Ngf5+! Bxf5 22...Kh8 23.g3!+- 23.Nxf5+ Kh8 24.Re7+- 22...Bb6 1:16 23.Ngf5+ 6:03 Bxf5 0 24.Nxf5+ 1 Kh8 1 25.g3! 0 A very nice little move, The black queen is out of squares near her king. 25.Nxh6 25...Qg4 3:31 25...Qc7 26.Nxh6± 26.Nxh6 4 Black's position is already very difficult, but now he blunders. Qxh5 1:22 26...Qe6 27.Rde1+- 27.Kg2!+- 17 A powerful move, making way for the rook to come to h1. d3 4 28.Qc3! 48 28.Rh1 Qe2! was the final trick. 29.Nf5+ Kg8 White has no good way to defend f2 and has to make a draw. 28...Kg7 38 29.Nf5+ 20 Kg6 2 30.Rh1 14 A great attacking game by Levon handing Ding Liren his first defeat of the tournament. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2802Ding,L27711–02017D43FIDE World Cup 20177.5

[

Start of game two of 25'+10"

Four of the greatest champions of women chess in the press room

Final moments of game two of the rapid that crowned Aronian's campaign!

The hall erupts into applause after Levon Aronian becomes the World Cup Champion!

Levon Aronian's manager Grant Akopian after the victory

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Ding Liren was in a must win situation as he had lost the first game with black against Aronian. 1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 0 e6 2 3.Nf3 0 d5 1 4.Nc3 0 Bb4 7 5.cxd5 0 exd5 2 6.Bf4 0 c6 41 7.e3 0 Bf5 10 8.Be2 10 0-0 15 9.0-0 2 Be7 3 After this move Ding was out of his preparation as he said after the game. 10.Nh4 23 Bg6 0 11.Nxg6 34 hxg6 12 12.Qb3 7 Qb6 41 13.Qc2 2 13.Qxb6 axb6 14.a4!? 13...a5 44 14.g4!? 45 This move is doubled edged. It gains space and has some aggresive intentions but Black is very solid and can defend without too much trouble. Nbd7 1:28 15.g5 0 Ne8 1:53 16.e4 2 Something seems to be wrong with White's play . He first pushed the pawn in front of his king and later broke in the centre. That's what a must win game can do to you. dxe4 0 17.Nxe4 1:22 17.d5!? Qd8 18.Rad1∞ Bxg5 19.Bg3 17...Qd8 42 18.h4 1:06 Nb6 3 19.Be5 2:08 Nd5 59 Over the last few moves Black has consolidated his position, but White has been able to create imbalance which helps him continue to play ambitiously. 20.Bg4 52 Kh8?! 8:12 20...Nef6! 21.gxf6 gxf6 22.Bh2 f5 23.Bxf5 gxf5 24.Nc3∞ 20...Nd6 21.Nc5 21.Rae1! 1:29 White is not just better. He has all his pieces well placed and we can hope that he could have taken advantage of it. But it was not to be. Nef6!? 4:31 This move is a little too late. White has a way to keep his advantage. 21...f5 22.gxf6 gxf6 23.Ng5 fxe5 24.Ne6 Qd7 25.Qxg6+- 22.gxf6 3:51 gxf6 2 23.Bh2 29 23.Bg3 f5 24.Bxf5 gxf5 25.Nc3!± 25.Qd1 Ding wanted to play this during the game. This move is also very strong. 23...f5 2 24.Bxf5 1 gxf5 2 25.Qd1 31 25.Nc3 Bd6 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.Qxf5∞ 25...Rg8+ 42 26.Kh1 5 Rg4! 0 This move was missed by Ding Liren. 27.Ng3 1:29 Rxh4 6 28.Nxf5 35 Rh7 1:18 29.Nxe7 4:24 Nxe7 2 30.Re5 1 Ding would like to exchange his rooks via h5, but Levon's next move stops that. Nf5! 1:28 30...Qd6! 31.Rfe1 4:37 31.Qg4 Qh4 32.Qxh4 Nxh4 31...Qh4 52 32.Re8+ 3:21 Kg7! 2 32...Rxe8 33.Rxe8+ Kg7 34.Qg1+ Kf6-+ Also would have won, but what Levon does is much better. 33.Rg1+ 2 Kf6 1 A historic game. This gave us the new World Cup champion - the first man in the history of the game to have won the World Cup twice. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2771Aronian,L28020–12017D38FIDE World Cup 20177.6

Format of the finals

The finals of the World Cup 2017 has a different format from the other rounds. Instead of the usual two classical games, we will witness four. And in case of a 2-2 tie, the match will go into the tiebreaks on 27th of September. Levon Aronian has the white pieces in game one. The winner takes home USD 120,000 (net 96,000) and the runner-up receives 80,000 (net 64,000). 

Make your predictions

A word of caution: Ding Liren after his win against Wesley So told us that he saw the predictions of his semi-final match and was not pleased to see only 25% of people thought he could win! Of course, the Chinese player proved himself by playing some fantastic chess. Noting his form in this tournament and his past record against the Armenian grandmaster, do you still think Aronian is the favourite?

Who do you think will win?
Levon Aronian161
63%
Ding Liren94
36%

A look back

When Ding Liren finished his semi-final game and was interviewed by ChessBase, the game between Aronian and MVL was in progress. Ding Liren was asked,"Who is it that you would prefer to play against in the finals?", he replied, "Against Aronian I have a plus score, while against MVL I have done very badly." It was obvious that he preferred to play against Aronian. And this is how well Ding has done against Aronian:

Ding Liren has three wins — all in classical chess, against Aronian's none, and four draws

Levon Aronian won a thriling contest against MVL in the Armageddon and qualified to the finals. Of course, we let Aronian know Ding Liren's thoughts about his final opponent. To which Levon Aronian said, "It's true I have a bad score against Ding Liren, but this is a chance to improve it!"

The two players and their path to the finals

Replay all games between Ding and Aronian

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 c5 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bxb4 cxb4 9.Qd3 a5 10.Nbd2 Na6 11.e4 d6 12.Rad1 Qe8 13.Ne1 e5 14.Nc2 Rd8 15.Rfe1 Qe6 16.b3 Rfe8 17.Nf1 Qc8 18.f3 g6 19.Nfe3 Kg7 20.h4 h5 21.Kh2 Qa8 22.Qd2 Nc7 23.Nf5+ Kg8 24.Qh6 Ne6 25.d5 gxf5 26.dxe6 Rxe6 27.Qg5+ Kh8 28.exf5 Nh7 29.Qxh5 Re7 30.Nd4 Red7 31.Nb5 f6 32.Re3 d5 33.cxd5 Bxd5 34.Rc1 Bc6 35.g4 Bxb5 36.g5 Rg7 37.g6 Rc8 38.Rd1 Rd8 39.Rc1 Rc8 40.Rd1 Rd8 41.Rc1 Rc8 42.Rd1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2702Aronian,L2815½–½2012E16Beijing Sportaccord blitz8
Ding,L2707Aronian,L28091–02013D45Alekhine Memorial1
Aronian,L2797Ding,L2730½–½2014D73Moscow Petrosian Memorial3
Aronian,L2797Ding,L27320–12015E90Tata Steel-A 77th13
Aronian,L2770Ding,L2755½–½2015A65WchT 10th4.1
Ding,L2755Aronian,L2792½–½2016D63Sinquefield Cup 4th1
Ding,L2760Aronian,L27851–02017E05Sharjah FIDE GP9

All results

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