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LEVON ARONIAN PRODUCES IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE AT THE TATA STEEL WIJK
Leonard Barden
The Guardian, Friday 24 January 2014 22.10 GMT
3342: A normal Caro-Kann after Black?s fourth move. Do you know
White's wicked trap which at least two world masters and numerous
amateurs have used here?
The world No2, Levon Aronian, looks poised to win at Tata Steel Wijk
this weekend. The Armenian has led all the way and is one and a half
points clear going into the final two rounds which will be shown free
and live online.
Aronian's rival Hikaru Nakamura, the US No1, had a dreadful first half
at the Dutch elite event and struggled to reach an even score. He
has now dropped to No7 in the rankings while Aronian, though still
50 rating points behind Norway's world champion, Magnus Carlsen,
has soared 40 rating points clear of the chasing pack.
Aronian, 31, is the favourite to win the eight-player world title
candidates, scheduled for Russia in March, which will decide who will
challenge Carlsen for the crown in a multi-million dollar series in
November this year.
The problem is that Aronian's track record in the final stages of world
title competition is fragile enough to suggest that the pressure and
tension of the occasion get to him. He finished next to last in the
2006 world championship tournament in Mexico, was knocked out in the
candidates quarter-finals when favourite in 2011 and had a poor run in
the London 2013 candidates which left him unable to catch Carlsen. It
is starting to be reminiscent of Paul Keres, the Estonian who had near
misses in five successive candidates events and is now considered by
his admirers as the best player never to be world champion.
Aronian is a national hero in Armenia, where chess is taught
in schools and where the presidential jet brought its gold medal
Olympiad team back to Erevan. He is also a well-liked cosmopolitan,
speaking excellent English, with a home in Germany and an Australian
girlfriend. If he can overcome his candidates block, he can give
Carlsen a hard fight.
After winning this week's game at Wijk Aronian said that White's
opening is his favourite method to counter Black's popular Grunfeld
Defence Nf6, Bg7 and d5. The stand-out feature of his system is that
White starts 1 c4, delays d2-d4 for a long time, then aims for a
small but nagging endgame edge.
The opening up to move 11 had been played earlier by his Armenian
team-mate Vlad Akopian, so Aronian knew it well. His young Filipino
opponent slipped by 17...Bxf3? (better bxc5! when 18 Rxc3? fails to
Rxb1!) after which White's bishop pair dominated the board and Black's
army got in a tangle. So lost a piece and resigned early rather than
play out a routine ending.
Levon Aronian v Wesley So
1 c4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Be2 c58
O-O Nc6 9 Qa4!? Bd7 10 Qa3 Qa5 11 Rd1 O-O 12 Rb1 b6 13 d4! Qxa3 14
Bxa3 Bg4 15 dxc5 Bxc3 16 Ba6 Rab8 17 Rdc1 Bxf3? 18 gxf3 Bd2 19 Rd1
Bc3 20 Kg2 bxc5 21 Bxc5 Bb4 22 Be3 Bd6 23 Rbc1 Nb4 24Bc4 Rfc8 25 f4
Kf8 26 a3 Nc6 27 Ba6! Bxa3 28 Rc4 Rd8 29 Ra1 Bb2 30Raa4 Rd6 31 e5
Re6 32 Rc2 Nd8 33 Bxa7! Ra8 34 Bb5 Bxe5 35 fxe5 Rxe5 36 Be3 1-0
3342 5 Qe2 Ngf6?? 6 Nd6 mate. Paul Keres won this in an international
tournament, Alexander Alekhine against five opponents in consultation.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jan/24/levon-aronian-tata-steel-wijk
Leonard Barden
The Guardian, Friday 24 January 2014 22.10 GMT
3342: A normal Caro-Kann after Black?s fourth move. Do you know
White's wicked trap which at least two world masters and numerous
amateurs have used here?
The world No2, Levon Aronian, looks poised to win at Tata Steel Wijk
this weekend. The Armenian has led all the way and is one and a half
points clear going into the final two rounds which will be shown free
and live online.
Aronian's rival Hikaru Nakamura, the US No1, had a dreadful first half
at the Dutch elite event and struggled to reach an even score. He
has now dropped to No7 in the rankings while Aronian, though still
50 rating points behind Norway's world champion, Magnus Carlsen,
has soared 40 rating points clear of the chasing pack.
Aronian, 31, is the favourite to win the eight-player world title
candidates, scheduled for Russia in March, which will decide who will
challenge Carlsen for the crown in a multi-million dollar series in
November this year.
The problem is that Aronian's track record in the final stages of world
title competition is fragile enough to suggest that the pressure and
tension of the occasion get to him. He finished next to last in the
2006 world championship tournament in Mexico, was knocked out in the
candidates quarter-finals when favourite in 2011 and had a poor run in
the London 2013 candidates which left him unable to catch Carlsen. It
is starting to be reminiscent of Paul Keres, the Estonian who had near
misses in five successive candidates events and is now considered by
his admirers as the best player never to be world champion.
Aronian is a national hero in Armenia, where chess is taught
in schools and where the presidential jet brought its gold medal
Olympiad team back to Erevan. He is also a well-liked cosmopolitan,
speaking excellent English, with a home in Germany and an Australian
girlfriend. If he can overcome his candidates block, he can give
Carlsen a hard fight.
After winning this week's game at Wijk Aronian said that White's
opening is his favourite method to counter Black's popular Grunfeld
Defence Nf6, Bg7 and d5. The stand-out feature of his system is that
White starts 1 c4, delays d2-d4 for a long time, then aims for a
small but nagging endgame edge.
The opening up to move 11 had been played earlier by his Armenian
team-mate Vlad Akopian, so Aronian knew it well. His young Filipino
opponent slipped by 17...Bxf3? (better bxc5! when 18 Rxc3? fails to
Rxb1!) after which White's bishop pair dominated the board and Black's
army got in a tangle. So lost a piece and resigned early rather than
play out a routine ending.
Levon Aronian v Wesley So
1 c4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Be2 c58
O-O Nc6 9 Qa4!? Bd7 10 Qa3 Qa5 11 Rd1 O-O 12 Rb1 b6 13 d4! Qxa3 14
Bxa3 Bg4 15 dxc5 Bxc3 16 Ba6 Rab8 17 Rdc1 Bxf3? 18 gxf3 Bd2 19 Rd1
Bc3 20 Kg2 bxc5 21 Bxc5 Bb4 22 Be3 Bd6 23 Rbc1 Nb4 24Bc4 Rfc8 25 f4
Kf8 26 a3 Nc6 27 Ba6! Bxa3 28 Rc4 Rd8 29 Ra1 Bb2 30Raa4 Rd6 31 e5
Re6 32 Rc2 Nd8 33 Bxa7! Ra8 34 Bb5 Bxe5 35 fxe5 Rxe5 36 Be3 1-0
3342 5 Qe2 Ngf6?? 6 Nd6 mate. Paul Keres won this in an international
tournament, Alexander Alekhine against five opponents in consultation.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jan/24/levon-aronian-tata-steel-wijk