[Event "Altibox Norway Chess"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.10.15"]
[Round "17.2"]
[White "Tari, Aryan"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2633"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 {Fifty years ago R. Fischer revived this
line in his games versus the former world champion T. Petrosian. The Carlsbad
pawn chain is extremely popular nowadays, namely thanks to the rise of the
closed systems like the London one.} Nf6 5. h3 g6 ({More common is} 5... Nc6 6.
Nf3 Qc7 7. c3 g6 8. Qc2 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bd7 {as in
Fedoseev,V (2678)-Oparin,G (2652) Chess.com 2020}) 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. Be2 {White
correctly leaves the opponent's bishop on the board as it might be a concern
for the second player in the long run.} Nbd7 {N} ({An earlier game saw} 7...
Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. c3 Qc7 10. Be3 Nc6 11. Nbd2 Rad8 12. Re1 Rfe8 13. Rc1 h6 14.
b4 b6 15. b5 Na5 16. c4 dxc4 17. Nxc4 Nxc4 18. Bxc4 Qb7 19. Ne5 {and White was
eventually successful in Antipov,M (2546)-Ivanchuk, V (2698) Gibraltar 2020})
8. O-O e6 {Bf5 is left out but is obviously vulnerable. On top of that,
Aronian did not castle yet.} 9. Bf4 Qb6 ({The Armenian GM could have proceeded
with the development:} 9... Bg7 {as he does not need to worry about} 10. Bd6
Qb6 11. Ba3 Bf8) 10. b3 ({Tari, on his turn, could have also continued with a
normal development move:} 10. Nbd2 $5 {since} Qxb2 $2 {is risky to say the
least} 11. Rb1 Qxc2 12. Rxb7 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Ba3 ({Or} 13... Bg7 14. Bd6) 14. Bb5
{with a decisive pin.}) 10... g5 $1 {A creative try by Aronian! In the age of
computers, when human players are mocked for every different move, it takes a
lot of courage to play creatively!} ({The more obvious move is} 10... Ne4) 11.
Bxg5 ({After} 11. Nxg5 {Black builds his attack with} Rg8 12. Kh1 Bh6 13. Nxe6
Qxe6 14. Bxh6 Bxh3 {with an extremely sharp position.}) 11... Ne4 12. Bh4 {
Tari is also aggressive and prevents the opponent's castling. The bishop on h4,
however, is more vulnerable than it seems.} ({Somewhat safer seems} 12. Be3 Rg8
13. Kh1 Bd6 {although there too, Black has a lot for the pawn.}) 12... Rg8 13.
Kh1 e5 $3 {The only logical follow-up! The queen is entering the battle with
huge effect. The strongest black piece gains access to both the sixth rank and
the f2-pawn, and Aronian launches an immediate attack against the white king.}
14. dxe5 ({White would not mind trading some pieces. However,} 14. Nxe5 Nxe5
15. dxe5 {is beautifully refuted with} Be7 16. Bxe7 Qxf2 $3 {Apparently both
players saw this idea:} 17. Rxf2 Nxf2+ 18. Kh2 Nxd1 {and Black gains material.}
) ({There is no time to apply the standard central counterattack} 14. c4 {
due to} Qh6 $1) 14... Qg6 {Only here did Black go astray.} ({It seems as
Aronian understood that the brilliancy} 14... Be7 15. Bxe7 Qxf2 {no longer
works due to another brilliancy:} 16. Bg5 $3 {Then} Ng3+ ({Black's attack
evaporates after} 16... Qg3 17. Nh2) 17. Kh2 Nxf1+ 18. Qxf1 {promises White a
decisive material advantage.}) ({However, strong is} 14... Be7 15. Bxe7 Nxf2+
$1 16. Rxf2 Qxf2 {Then} 17. Bg5 $1 h6 18. Nc3 hxg5 19. Nxd5 g4 $1 {leads most
forces White likely to choose another forcing line:} 20. Qd4 Qxe2 21. Qb4 Kd8
22. Qe7+ Kc8 23. Qd6 Kd8 24. Qe7+ {with perpetual.}) 15. Rg1 Bc5 16. Qe1 $1 {
Tari defends in time.} ({But not} 16. Qxd5 Bxf2) 16... Rc8 (16... Qh6 $1 17.
Nbd2 Rg6 (17... Kf8)) 17. Nbd2 {And consolidates. After the active black
pieces are traded, White would be simply two pawns ahead.} Qb6 ({After} 17...
Nxd2 18. Qxd2 Be4 19. c4 {it is White who is attacking.}) 18. Nxe4 dxe4 ({
In case of} 18... Bxe4 {White could have chosen} 19. Bd3 Bxf3 20. gxf3 Rxg1+
21. Qxg1 {taking over the initiative, while keeping his extra material.}) 19.
Nh2 $1 {A solid human choice.} ({The almighty machine finds an even better
solution:} 19. e6 $3 Bxe6 ({Or:} 19... fxe6 20. Nd2) ({Whereas} 19... Qxe6 20.
Bc4 Qh6 21. Bd5 $1 {leads to large advantage for the first player after} Kf8
22. Bxe4 Re8 23. Bxf5 $1 Rxe1 24. Rgxe1) 20. Nd2 f5 21. Nc4 {with a decisive
counterattack.}) 19... Nxe5 20. Rd1 {Brings more and more pieces out.} ({
Also good is} 20. Qd2 $5 {when} Bxf2 $4 {is obviously impossible:} 21. Bxf2
Qxf2 22. Bb5+) 20... Qh6 21. Bg3 {Again the simplest and most solid choice.} ({
Another good choice is to throw in the move} 21. Rd5 f6 {and only then} ({
The key idea is} 21... Bd6 22. f4 $1 {to open up the black king.}) 22. Bg3 ({
Although the aggressive} 22. f4 Bxg1 23. fxe5 {looks great for White too.}))
21... Rxg3 {The last chance to get some play, but it is too late.} 22. fxg3
Bxg1 23. Qxg1 Qb6 24. Qf1 Bg6 25. Qf4 {Tari gave away one of his pawns but
defended everything and now has positional advantage besides the extra pawn.
The only problem for the Norwegian GM was his clock situation.} f6 26. Ng4 $1
Nxg4 27. Bxg4 Rd8 28. Rf1 {A step in the wrong direction. White needed to swap
the rooks.} ({Strong is} 28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 29. h4 h5 30. Qh6 {with a win.}) 28...
Qd6 29. Qh6 Qe5 30. Qg7 {This seems like a winning move, but it is based on a
wrong assumption.} ({It was not too late to switch to the h-pawn advance plan:
} 30. h4 $1 {The h4-h5 threat will ruin Black's defensive setup, and the move
is backed by small tactics:} Qxg3 ({If} 30... Rd5 31. c4 Rc5 32. Kh2 {White
consolidates and wants Qh6-g7.}) 31. Rxf6 Qxg4 32. Qf8+ Kd7 33. Rd6+ Kc7 34.
Qxd8#) 30... Qe7 31. Qg8+ Qf8 32. Qc4 ({It might have been here when Tari
understood that the obvious} 32. Qxf8+ Kxf8 33. Rxf6+ Ke7 34. Re6+ Kf7 35. h4
h5 {promises Black huge counterplay, thanks to his strong passer.}) 32... Qe7
33. Qg8+ Qf8 34. Qc4 Qe7 35. Bf5 ({The last chance for} 35. Rd1 $1 Rxd1+ 36.
Bxd1 b6 37. Be2 {followed by the advance of the kingside pawns was missed here.
}) 35... Kf8 36. Qc3 Kg7 37. Qe3 Rd5 38. g4 b5 $1 {Aronian can finally relax.
His king is safe, and his e-passer backed by both major pieces promises him
ample compensation for the pawn.} 39. Rf4 Re5 40. c4 ({Maybe} 40. Bxg6 hxg6 41.
c3 {intending Rf3-f1(f2)-c1(c2) preparing the c-passer advance is a better try.
}) 40... bxc4 41. bxc4 a5 42. h4 Bxf5 43. gxf5 h5 44. Rf1 Kh7 45. Qe2 Qe8 46.
Qe3 Qe7 47. Rf2 Qc5 48. Qxc5 Rxc5 49. Rc2 e3 50. Kg1 (50. Kg1 {The game would
have ended with} Rxf5 51. c5 e2 52. Rxe2 Rxc5) 1/2-1/2
