WR Masters: Aronian beats Abdusattorov, leads

“It was fairly easy”

A colourful personality, Levon Aronian thus described the win that allowed him to become the sole leader at the WR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf. Aronian defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov with white and had the following exchange with commentator Anastasiya Karlovich in the post-game press conference:

Sicilian Dragon: The Real Deal! Part 1-3

In this first part, the emphasis is on themes and ideas whereas Part 2 and 3 focus on theoretical knowledge!

A. Karlovich: We thought it was a game without any mistakes, one in which you actually crushed your opponent. Are you happy with the result?

L. Aronian: I’m very happy, but to say that there were not many mistakes — I mean, there were many mistakes on my opponent’s part.

A. Karlovich: But I meant from your side.

L. Aronian: Ah, from my side it was fairly easy. It didn’t require much effort.

Indeed, things quickly went astray for Abdusattorov, who strangely decided to play ...f7-f6 early on after having castled kingside out of a Sicilian Dragon. Aronian, who used to play this system as a teenager, felt the pawn push had been a strategic mistake, and went on to convert his advantage into a 31-move win. Aronian’s class was in full display throughout the game.

In the other game featuring two players who had entered the round as co-leaders, Gukesh held Wesley So to a draw from the black side of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Therefore, Aronian is now alone atop the standings with 2½ points to his name. In Sunday’s fourth round, Aronian will have the black pieces against Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

The second game that ended decisively in round 3 was Praggnanandhaa’s victory over Vincent Keymer. With this win, Pragg left the cellar of the standings after losing his first two games in Düsseldorf. This was the seventh decisive game of the newly established super-tournament, and the seventh to favour the player marshalling the white pieces.

In shared second place after drawing their direct encounter — Dommaraju Gukesh and Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Aronian 1 - 0 Abdusattorov

 

Aronian, Levon2736

1–0

Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2734

WR Chess Masters 2023 Duesseldorf18.02.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.g4 h5 10.g5 Ne8 11.0-0-0

Abdusattorov's 9...h5 is a rarely played move, but after Aronian's reply and the temporary closure of the kingside, White gets only a modest advantage. 11...Qa5 12.Nb3 Bxc3 13.Nxa5 Bxd2+ 14.Bxd2

After the simplifications, Black has a position without weaknesses - but also without perspective for active play. 14...f6? But Abdusattorov does not want to admit that he has to take it slowly here. 14...Nd4! places the knight on an uncovered square, but is still a very good move. 15.f4 Or 15.Bg2 b6 16.Nb3 Nxb3+ 17.axb3 15...Bg4 16.Re1 Nf3 17.Re3 Nxd2 18.Kxd2 Rc8 19.Bd3 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.gxf6 Nxf6

The g6-pawn is weak, while the pawn duo on f3/e4 is mobile, which will lead to lines being opened, which in turn will benefit the white bishops and rooks. All this is the consequence of Abdusattorov's ...f7-f6. 16...exf6 17.Bh6 Rf7 18.Bc4 loses immediately. 16...Rxf6 17.Bg5 Rxf3 18.Bxe7 is hardly any better. 17.Bh6 The most precise was 17.Rg1 17...Re8 18.Bc4+ Kh7 19.Bg5 Kg7

This move covers f7, but does not really help Black in the long run. But even after 19...Nd7 the game would have been lost anyway. 20.Rhg1 a5 21.Rg2 Nd7 21...Ba6 22.Bb3+- 22.Rdg1 Ba6 23.Bb3 Nf8 24.Bd2 Bc8 25.a4 e5

This move creates a new target on d6, which Aronian immediately attacks. Without it, however, f3-f4 would have come. 26.Bc3 Be6 27.Rd2 Bxb3 28.cxb3 Re6 29.Rgd1 Rd8 This no longer works at all. 30.f4 g5 31.f5 White will capture either on d6 or on e5. 1–0

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A smiling Levon Aronian | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Praggnanandhaa 1 - 0 Keymer

 

Praggnanandhaa R2690

1–0

Keymer, Vincent2690

WR Chess Masters 2023 Duesseldorf18.02.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.Bd2 0-0 9.h3 h6 10.Re1 Rb8 11.a3 Re8 12.Nc3 Bf8 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 Ne7 15.Bb3 c5 16.a4 Bb7 17.Nh4 Qc7 18.axb5 axb5 19.Qg4 Qc8 20.Qg3 c4 21.dxc4 bxc4 22.Ba4 Bc6 23.Bxh6 Rxb2 24.Bc1

This complicated position was certainly not easy to evaluate. 24...Rb7 With 24...Bxa4! Black might have improved his play: 25.Bxb2 Bxc2 Bishop + pawn against rook is quite OK, but here Black gets the added advantage of a bishop placed on d3, where it considerably hinders White's major pieces. Black also gets a lot of space and some active possibilities on the queenside, while reducing the danger on the kingside. 25.Bg5 Bxa4 26.Rxa4 Qc6 27.Ra5 Qc7 28.Ra6

Black has landed in a position without positive prospects. 28...Nc6 Understandably, he did not want to allow Bxe7. Now Black can occupy the open lines on the queenside, but there is nothing there for his rooks to attack. 28...Reb8 29.Bxe7! Qxe7 30.Nf5 Qf6 31.Kh2± The knight is clearly better than the bishop. 29.c3! Rb3 30.Nf5 Nd4 The move c2-c3 was not suitable to completely paralyse the c6-knight, but Black's placing his rook on b3 and his knight on d4 does not lead to any concrete results. 31.Bf6! Suddenly White has a real attack. Ne6 After 31...Nxf5 32.exf5 threatens Bxg7 and f5-f6. 32.Rxd6 Rxc3 32...Bxd6 33.Nxg7+- 33.Qxc3 Bxd6 34.Qg3 Bf8 35.Bxe5 Qd7 36.Kh2 Qb7 37.Qg4 Rd8 38.Rc1 Qa7 39.Rc2 Qc5 40.Nh6+ Kh7 41.Nxf7 Re8 42.f4 Kg8 43.Qg6 There is a threat of Nh6+ followed by Qxe8 or f4-f5, etc. 1–0

How to attack - principles of training

Most players prefer to attack rather than defend. But what is the correct way to do it? GM Dr Karsten Müller has compiled many rules and motifs to guide you, along with sharpening your intuition for the exceptions.

Praggnanandhaa has yet to draw a game in the event | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Results - Round 3

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Links

• Tournament page
• Creating a super tournament from scratch: Interview with Wadim Rosenstein