12/3/2020 – In the second match of the quarterfinals of the Speed Chess Championship 2020 on chess.com, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave narrowly won 14.5-12.5 against Levon Aronian. Despite some errors, the level of the match was high and the match itself was close until the very end.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay.
€39.90
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Levon Aronian, 14.5-12.5
The Speed Chess Championship 2020 consists of matches with three differenz time controls in blitz. The players play 90 minutes with a time-limit 5+1, 60 minutes with a time-limit of 3+1, and 30 minutes bullet chess with a time-limit of 1+1. For each win – no matter whether it is 5+1 blitz or bullet – the players get 1 point, a draw gives half a point.
With an Elo-rating of 2784 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is currently number 5 the world, three points ahead of Levon Aronian, who is currently the world's number 6 with a rating of 2781.
The blitz match between the two was also balanced. In the 5+1 games, Vachier-Lagrave secured a slight lead with 4.5-3.5, which Aronian was able to make up for with a 5.5:4.5 victory in the 3+1 mini-match.
But in the bullet games "MVL" had more luck. He won the first two games of the mini-match and defended this lead until the end of the match.
In the semi-finals Vachier-Lagrave meets the winner of the match between Magnus Carlsen and Vladislav Artemiev.
All in all, the level of the match was high, though the time-control led to some curious mistakes and blunders, e.g. in the very first game of the match.
M. Vachier-Lagrave vs L. Aronian
Position after 29.Nxe4
In this position Aronian played 29...Ne8, and now Vachier-Lagrave, who had only seconds remaining on the clock, did not hesitate and played 30.Rc7?? to attack Black's weak pawn on c6. But Aronian, who also had only a few seconds left, did not take White's rook on c7 but played 30...Nf8??, which led to an endgame in which he had to fight for a while until the players agreed to a draw.
But all in all both players were tactically alert in most of the games and surprised again and again with interesting ideas.
The following position occurred in game six:
L. Aronian vs M. Vachier-Lagrave
Position after 44.Ng3
White is winning but Vachier-Lagrave tried a last trick and played 44...Rxf3!?. White cannot take the rook but Aronian kept his calm and won after 45.b5 axb5 46.cxb5 Be8 47.Qd5+ Rf7 48.Re4 1–0
Vachier-Lagrave also showed tactical ingenuity and cool nerves, particularly in the bullet games.
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d3d66.0-00-07.Re1a58.Nbd2Be69.Bb5Qb810.Nf1Qa711.Be3Bxe312.Nxe3a413.Qc2Ne714.Bc4Bxc415.dxc4Qa616.c5Ng617.cxd6Qxd618.Rad1Qe619.Nd5Rfc820.g3h621.Re3Ra622.c4c623.Nxf6+Qxf624.c5Rd825.Rxd8+Qxd826.Rd3Qe727.Rd6Nf828.Qc3Nd729.Nh4g630.Qe3Kh7White now tried a typical knight sacrifice:
31.Nf5!?gxf532.Qxh6+Kg833.exf5f6Black cannot take on c5:33...Nxc5??34.f6Qf835.Rd8!and White mates.34.Qg6+Kf835.Qh6+Kg836.Qd2!?White wants more than a perpetual and a draw.Nf837.g4White has
two pawns and active play for the piece but the engines think that Black is
slight better. However, in a bullet game, with only one minute for the entire
game and one second increment per move, Black's position is very difficult to
defend.Ra838.h4Qg739.g5fxg540.hxg5Qf741.Qd3Re8?The engines
recommend41...e4!42.Qxe4Re8with a complicated and dynamically
balanced position.42.g6Qg743.Qc4+Kh844.Rd3!This rook retreat
decides the game.Qh645.Kg2!e446.Rh31–0
The decisive bullet game also showed that it is often better in games with shortened time-control to risk a dubious attack than to try to find the objectively "best" moves.
M. Vachier-Lagrave vs L. Aronian
Position after 34.Re8
White had failed to get any advantage in the opening and gradually got under pressure. To get counterplay, Vachier-Lagrave had decided to sacrifice a pawn. A successful strategy.
In this position Black played 34...Rd8? After 34...Qf7 White still has to prove that he has enough compensation for the pawn. But after the text-move White immediately won with 35.Nxf6+. Aronian played 35...Kf7 (after 35...Kh8 White mates with 36.Qh7#), but resigned after 36.Nxd5. 1-0
This was the 25th game of the match, and after this win "MVL" led with 13.5-11.5 and practically decided the match in his favour.
Johannes FischerJohannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay.
€39.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.