WR Masters: Aronian beats Giri to widen the gap

Back in the top 10

Levon Aronian held the second spot in the world ranking, behind Magnus Carlsen, in all but two ratings lists between January 2012 and September 2014. After losing the spot to Fabiano Caruana, Aronian regained his standing as the second-strongest player in the world between October and December 2017, right after winning the World Cup in Tbilisi.

Since then, he never made it back above the 2800-rating mark, hitting his lowest rating since 2005 in November last year. Now, his three victories and two draws at the WR Chess Masters have allowed him to return to the top 10 in the live ratings list.

Master Class Vol.10: Mikhail Botvinnik

Our experts show, using the games of Botvinnik, how to employ specific openings successfully, which model strategies are present in specific structures, how to find tactical solutions and rules for how to bring endings to a successful conclusion

So far, 9 out of 25 games have finished decisively in Düsseldorf, and all 9 encounters have favoured the player with the white pieces. Aronian, who beat Anish Giri on Monday, has won all three of his games with white, in rounds 1, 3 and 5. The Armenian now representing the United States has a full-point lead over Wesley So and Dommaraju Gukesh. He will play black against the ever-solid So in the next round.

Besides returning to the top 10 in the world ranking, with his round-5 win, Aronian ended Giri’s 28-game unbeaten streak. The winner of the Tata Steel Masters had not lost a single classical game since Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated him in round 7 of the Norway Chess super-tournament on 7 June 2022.

Round 5 in Düsseldorf also saw Gukesh and Ian Nepomniachtchi playing a hard-fought draw, while Vincent Keymer scored a remarkable win over Nodirbek Abdusattorov, his first of the event. Keymer, who was in sole last place before the rest day, is now sharing 6th to 10th place with four other players, all currently on 2 out of 5.

Ian Nepomniachtchi playing white against Dommaraju Gukesh | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Aronian 1 - 0 Giri

 

Aronian, Levon2736

1–0

Giri, Anish2780

WR Chess Masters 2023 Duesseldorf21.02.2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 Aronian confessed that he did not expect the Berlin against Giri, and that he had spent all morning preparing the Open Spanish. 6.a4

Aronian about a2-a4: "It's kind of a move. [...] The only problem for Black is that there are so many good moves for him". 6...Be7 7.Nc3 a6 8.Bf1 e4 8...f6 9.d4 Nf7 is the most principled for Black and leads to a sharp position. 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.Rxe4 d5 11.Re1 Bg4 12.h3 Bh5 13.Be2 Aronian quipped: "So humble. [...] White is definitely not worse". 0-0 14.d4 Re8 15.Ne5 Creates an imbalance. According to Aronian, Black's strategic risk is slightly higher than White's. Bxe2 16.Rxe2 Nxe5 16...Qd6 is the alternative. 17.dxe5 Qd7 18.Qd3 Rad8 19.b3 Qe6 20.Bd2 Qg6 21.f4 Aronian looked at 21.g4 c5 22.f4 Qc6 but there are counterchances for Black after ...e5-e4 here. 21...f5

The novelty in the game. Giri spent over 20 minutes before playing this committal move. Aronian liked the idea. 22.b4 22.g4 was the most principled according to Aronian, but "Anish probably spent his whole time calculating this, and I have great respect for his calculation" Rf8 23.e6 c5 22...Qe6 Aronian gave 22...Bxb4 23.Bxb4 Qb6+ as Black's best alternative here: 24.Kh2 Qxb4 25.Qxf5 Rf8 26.Qe6+ Kh8 27.g3 23.c3 Aronian: "Here I was happy" c5 According to Aronian, this was a psychological mistake, since White practically cannot lose. Black agrees to remain passive. 24.bxc5 Bxc5+ 25.Be3 Bxe3+ 26.Qxe3 Rc8 27.Rb1 Qc6 28.Qd4 b5 29.axb5 axb5 30.Kh2 Red8 31.Re3 Qc4 32.Rg3 Qxd4 33.cxd4 Rc4 34.Rxb5 Rxd4 35.Rb7 g6 36.Ra3 Rxf4 37.Raa7

Two rooks on the seventh! Black is fighting for survival. 37...Re4 37...Rh4 38.Kg3 g5 is the best defence according to the engines, although Aronian considered ...Rh4 to be "way too smart for anybody". 38.Rg7+ Kf8 39.Raf7+ Ke8 40.Rxh7 Rh4 41.Re7+ Kf8 42.Rhf7+ Kg8 43.Rg7+ Kh8 44.Rxg6 d4 45.Rd6 Rc8 46.Rf7 Rf4 47.e6 Kg8 48.Rdd7 1–0

Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals

In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.

Living legend Boris Gelfand is a guest of honour in Düsseldorf — the Israeli GM is also a good friend of Levon Aronian’s | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Keymer 1 - 0 Abdusattorov

 

Keymer, Vincent2690

1–0

Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2734

WR Chess Masters 2023 Duesseldorf21.02.2023

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 Re8 8.0-0 Nbd7

This is a rather rare move. Keymer noted that Abdusattorov had not blitzed out this move, so he doubted that his opponent was well-prepared in this line. 9.Qb3 Bd6 Keymer did not think this was enough, but he nonetheless got a dangerous position in the game. 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Qxd5 Nc5 11...Nf6 is worse than ...Nd7-c5. Keymer gave: 12.Qg5 12.Qf3 Be6 13.Rd1 Qd7 is also better for White. 12...Bxh2+ 13.Kh1 Bd6 14.e4 12.Bxh7+ Kxh7 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.dxc5 Re5 15.Qf3 Rxc5 16.Ng3 White emerges a pawn up, but Black has the bishop pair. Keymer: "I wanted to be coordinated, that's why I played Ng3". Bd7 17.e4 Qh4 18.Bd2 Rb5 White had to calculate forcing lines such as 18...Bg4 19.Qe3 Rh5 20.h3 Bxh3 21.Nxh5 Bxg2 22.Ng3 ..."but this is never mate" (Keymer). 19.Bc3 Re8 20.Rae1 Rg5 21.e5 Bc6 22.Qd3 Bc5

Black has kept the initiative with his active pieces. Keymer: "I had the feeling I did something wrong". He was right. 23.b4 Bb6 But Abdusattorov made the wrong decision here. 23...Bxb4 24.Bxb4 Qxb4 was the way to go. Keymer: "Only White can be worse". According to the German, his opponent got carried away with the beauty of the coming sacrifice. 24.b5 Re6 25.Ne4 This is the correct path for White to keep his advantage. only draws: 25.bxc6 Rh6 26.Qd8+ Kh7 27.Qd3+ Kg8 28.Qd8+ 25...Rxg2+

Abdusattorov's idea! Unfortunately for him, it's not enough. 26.Kxg2 Rg6+ 27.Kh1 Rh6 28.h3 Bxb5 29.Qf3 Bd7 30.e6 This is, according to Keymer, probably the move Abdusattorov missed in his calculations. The white dark-squared bishop is now extremely dangerous on the long diagonal. Bxe6 31.Rg1 Qxh3+

Things have not gone according to plan for Black, as his best chance here is to allow a queen swap. 32.Qxh3 Rxh3+ 33.Kg2 Rh5 34.Kf3 Rf5+ 35.Ke2 g6 36.Rh1 Kf8 37.Bf6 Ke8 38.Rh8+ Kd7 39.Rd8+ Kc6 40.Bd4 Bxd4 41.Rxd4

The time control has been reached, and White has a rook for three pawns. 41...b6 42.a3 Kb7 43.Rc1 Rh5 44.Ke3 a5 45.f3 Rb5 46.Rc3 Rh5 47.Rd1 a4 48.Rd4 Ra5 49.Rb4 Re5 50.Kf2 c6 51.Nc5+ Kc7 52.Nxe6+ Keymer fended off Black's attacking attempts, and won a remarkable game. 1–0

The London System with 2.Bf4 Reloaded

Over the last couple of years nearly all the world's elite grandmasters have been employing the London System, and on this DVD Simon Williams shows what we can learn from their practice. The "Ginger GM" takes a look at all the latest developments whilst teaching you all the basics that you need to know in order to play this opening with success.

FIDE’s Dana Reizniece-Ozola plays the first move in the game between Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes 

Results - Round 5

Standings - Round 5

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Links

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