[Event "WR Chess Masters 2023"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.02.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "3700"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.09.11"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin.} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. a4 $5 {
\"It's kind of a move... . I think everything equalizes.\" (Aronian)
?????????????(????)} (6. Nxe5 {
???????} Be7 (6... Nxb5 $4 7. Nxc6+ $18) 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O
9. d4) 6... Be7 7. Nc3 a6 8. Bf1 e4 $5 {The most ambitious.
???????,?????????!} (8... f6 {is the
highest-scoring move.}) 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Rxe4 d5 11. Re1 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Be2
{This bishop seems unable to decide where it wants to go. Here, it breaks the
pin, and apparently the three moves it took to get here don't hurt White.} O-O
14. d4 Re8 15. Ne5 $5 $146 ({Just one game was played over the board here.} 15.
Bf4 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. c3 h6 18. Nh4 Bxe2 19. Rxe2 Rxe2 20. Qxe2 Qe7 $11 {
Black was completely fine in Blohberger,F (2490)-Predojevic,B (2592) Austria
2022.}) 15... Bxe2 16. Rxe2 Nxe5 {A completely fine move, although both
players preferred 16...Qd6 when they analyzed after.} (16... Qd6 {After the
game, the players thought this would have been more precise:} 17. Bf4 {The
bishop would be misplaced after} (17. Nxc6 {Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:}
Qxc6 18. Bf4 g6 19. Qd2 Bf8 20. Rxe8 Rxe8 21. b3 Qb6 22. Rd1 c6 23. Be5 Re6 24.
Kf1 Qd8 25. Re1 Qe7 $11) 17... Nxe5 18. dxe5 ({Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:
} 18. Rxe5 f6 19. Re4 {[%CAl Rf4d6]} Qd7 20. Re1 Bb4 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Qd3 c6
23. Bd2 Bd6 24. Kf1 Re4 $11) ({Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 18. Bxe5 Qd7
19. Qd3 Bf8 20. Re3 f6 21. Bf4 Rxe3 22. Bxe3 Bd6 23. Kf1 Re8 24. Qb3 c6 25. Bd2
Re4 26. Qd3 g6 27. Re1 Rxe1+ 28. Bxe1 Qe7 $11) ({Stockfish
dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 18. Re3 Qd7 19. dxe5 Rad8 20. Rd3 Qe6 21. c3 c6 22. a5
f6 23. exf6 Bxf6 24. Bc7 Rc8 25. Bb6 Qe2 26. Rd2 Qe6 27. Rd3 $11 {[%eval 0,36]}
) 18... Qe6 $11) 17. dxe5 {[%CAl Re5d6,Re5f6]} Qd7 18. Qd3 {Aronian felt he
had a chance by this point. \"Every time Black tries to play for ...c5, I have
this a5.\"} Rad8 ({If} 18... c5 $5 {????,??????????
€??????????????????????} 19. a5 $5 {[%csl Rb6,Gb7][%CAl
Ga5b6] Aronian felt this slowed Black's pawns.
???????,????????}) 19. b3 {[%CAl Gc1b2]} Qe6
20. Bd2 (20. Bb2 {??????????} c5 {\"d4 at some point will
come, and I will have to reroute my bishop again.\" (Aronian) The engine gives}
21. f4 d4 22. a5 Qd7 23. Bc1 Qb5 24. Bd2 {with a relatively equal position.
The position has to reroute to d2 after all.}) (20. f4 $5 {Just leaving the
bishop on c1 may have been even stronger. It can decide on a square later.
?????????,???????????} c5 21. f5 Qc8
22. f6 $1 {[%c_effect f6;square;f6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] A pawn
sacrifice.} gxf6 23. Bh6 Kh8 24. Rf1 c4 $11 {with a very complicated position.
??????,??????!}) 20... Qg6 21. f4 (21. g4 $5 {
[%c_effect g4;square;g4;type;Interesting;persistent;true]} c5 22. f4 Qc6 23. f5
{\"With this king on g1, there might be some tactical ideas.\" (Aronian)}) ({
Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 21. Qc3 c5 22. Rae1 Bf8 23. a5 b5 24. axb6
Qxb6 25. Qd3 d4 26. Bf4 Rc8 27. Re4 Rc6 28. Bg3 Qb5 29. Qd1 Rd8 30. Kh2 c4 31.
Rxd4 Rxd4 32. Qxd4 cxb3 33. cxb3 Qxb3 $11) ({Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:}
21. Qxg6 hxg6 22. Kf1 d4 23. Re4 Bc5 24. Rae1 Rd5 25. b4 Bf8 26. e6 $1 f5 27.
Re5 Rxe5 28. Rxe5 c6 29. Re1 b5 30. axb5 axb5 31. Ke2 Rxe6+ 32. Kd3 Kf7 33.
Rxe6 Kxe6 34. Kxd4 g5 $11) 21... f5 $2 {[%c_effect f5;square;f5;type;Mistake;
persistent;true] One point is that, with queens on, the plan of ...Kf7-e6 is
no longer viable to defend against White's center.} (21... Qxd3 22. cxd3 f5 23.
b4 $5 {Aronian felt this was slightly better for White. The engine disagrees,
claiming equality.} (23. exf6 {Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} Bxf6 ({
Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 23... gxf6 24. g4 h5 25. Kg2 Bc5 26. Rxe8+
Rxe8 27. Kf3 Bd4 28. Rc1 c6 29. f5 hxg4+ 30. hxg4 Kg7 31. Bf4 Rh8 32. Re1 $11)
({Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 23... Bc5+ 24. Kf1 gxf6 25. g4 h5 26. gxh5
Kf7 27. f5 Rg8 28. Rg2 Rxg2 29. Kxg2 Rh8 30. Rc1 Bd6 31. h6 Rg8+ 32. Kf2 Rg3
33. Rg1 Rxh3 34. Rg7+ Kf8 35. Rg6 Kf7 36. Bc3 Bf8 $11) 24. Rae1 Rxe2 25. Rxe2
Rd6 26. Re8+ Kf7 27. Rb8 b6 28. Kf1 Rc6 29. Ke1 Rc2 30. g4 Be7 31. f5 Bd6 32.
Rd8 Rb2 33. b4 Ke7 34. Bg5+ Kf7 $11 {[%eval 0,33]}) 23... Kf7 24. g4 Ke6 25.
Rg2 g6 $14 {In practical terms, White is the one pressing.}) 22. b4 {
??!???????,????!} (22. g4 $2 Rf8 23. e6 {
Aronian correctly felt this was headed in the wrong direction.} fxg4 24. Qxg6
hxg6 25. hxg4 Rde8 26. Kg2 Bd6 $11 {Black has enough play against the white
pawns to be equal. ??????????,???}) 22... Qe6 {
????e5????,???????!} (22... Bxb4 $5 {
????} 23. Bxb4 {[%tqu "En","","","","g6b6","",10]} Qb6+ 24. Kh2 Qxb4
25. Qxf5 Rf8 26. Qe6+ Kh8 27. g3 {\"I really didn't think I have anything here.
\" (Aronian)
??????????????,????????}) 23. c3
c5 {\"I thought c5 is strategically wrong somehow.\" (Aronian)} ({Aronian
showed} 23... a5 $2 24. bxa5 Ra8 25. Rb1 Rxa5 26. Rxb7 Rxa4 27. Qb5 $14 {
with an advantage for White. ????}) 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 {\"It's kind of a miracle that Black survives here.\" (Aronian)} 33. cxd4
Rc4 34. Rxb5 Rxd4 {[%CAl Rd4f4]} {[%tqu "En","","","","b5b7","",10]} 35. Rb7 {
[%CAl Rb7g7,Rg3g7]} g6 {[%tqu "En","","","","g3a3",
"??!???7??!!!?????!!!",10,"g3c3","",0,
"g3f3","??f4?,???????",0]} 36. Ra3 $1 {[%CAl Ga3a7]
??!???7??!!!?????!!!} ({Stockfish
dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 36. Rc3 Rc4 37. Rf3 Re4 38. Ra3 Rxf4 39. Raa7 Rh4 40.
Kg3 g5 41. Rg7+ Kh8 42. Rxg5 Rb4 43. Kf3 Rg8 44. Rxf5 Rb3+ 45. Kf4 Rb4+ 46. Ke3
d4+ 47. Kf3 Rb3+ 48. Ke4 Rxg2 49. Kxd4 Rd2+ 50. Ke4 Rb4+ 51. Ke3 $14) ({
Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 36. Rf3 {
?????,??f4?,???????} Re4 37. Ra3 Rxf4 38.
Raa7 Rh4 39. Kg3 g5 40. Rg7+ Kh8 41. Rxg5 Rb4 42. Rxf5 Rg8+ 43. Kf3 Rb3+ 44.
Kf4 Rb4+ 45. Ke3 d4+ 46. Kf3 Rb3+ 47. Ke4 Rxg2 $11) 36... Rxf4 37. Raa7 Re4 $2
{[%c_effect e4; square;e4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] This is the losing
move of the game.} (37... Rh4 $1 {[%c_effect h4;square;h4;type;GreatFind;
persistent;true] Only move.} 38. Kg3 g5 $3 {[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;
Brilliant;persistent;true] holds, but this is extremely hard for a human to
find and play.} 39. Rg7+ Kh8 40. Rxg5 {[%tqu "En","","","","h4b4","(%c_effect
b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true) The farthest square from the
white king.",10,"h4c4","",0]} Rb4 $1 {[%c_effect b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;
persistent;true] The farthest square from the white king.} (40... Rc4 41. Rxf5
Rg8+ 42. Kf3 Rc3+ 43. Kf4 Rc4+ 44. Ke3 $16 {The king gets closer to the black
rook.}) 41. Rgg7 (41. Rxf5 Rg8+ 42. Kf3 Rb3+ 43. Kf4 Rb4+ 44. Ke3 d4+ 45. Kf3
Rb3+ $11 {draws.}) 41... Rg8 $1 {[%CAl Rg7g8] [%c_effect g8;square;g8;type;
GreatFind;persistent;true] with a draw.} {Stockfish dev-20230128-e4e61cd9:} 42.
Rxg8+ Kxg8 43. Rd7 Re4 44. Rxd5 Kf7 45. h4 Ke6 46. Rd6+ Kxe5 47. Rd7 Rg4+ 48.
Kh3 Rg8 49. Rxh7 f4 50. Kh2 Rg3 51. Rh5+ Kf6 52. Rg5 Rxg5 53. hxg5+ Kg6 54. Kg1
Kh5 55. Kf1 $11 {[%eval 1,26]}) 38. Rg7+ Kf8 {\"A terrible blunder. I got
lucky here, of course.\" (Aronian) It turns out the position was already lost
either way.} ({Aronian calculated all of the following:} 38... Kh8 39. Rxh7+
Kg8 40. Rag7+ Kf8 41. Rf7+ Kg8 42. Rhg7+ Kh8 43. Rh7+ $1 {[%c_effect h7;square;
h7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] He missed this winning line.} ({And here
Aronian saw Black draws with} 43. Rxg6 $2 {??????} Rxe5 44. Rg5 d4
45. Rfxf5 Rxf5 46. Rxf5 d3 47. Rf1 d2 48. Rd1 Rd3 49. Kg1 Kg7 50. Kf2 Kh6 51.
Ke2 Rg3 52. Rg1 Kg5 53. Kxd2 Kh4 54. Ke2 Rg8 {\"He's just in time.\" (Aronian)}
55. g4 Kxh3 56. Kf3 Kh4 57. g5 Kh5 $11 {He showed this entire line in the
interview.} (57... Rxg5 $4 {[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type; Blunder;persistent;
true]} 58. Rh1#)) 43... Kg8 44. Rfg7+ Kf8 45. Ra7 Kg8 46. Rhe7 d4 47. e6 Rh4
48. Rad7 Ra8 49. Rg7+ {[%CAl Gg8f8,Gg8h8]} Kh8 (49... Kf8 $4 {[%csl Rf7][%CAl
Ge6f7,Gd7f7,Gg7g8]} {[%tqu "En","","","","d7f7","",10]} 50. Rdf7+ Ke8 51. Rg8#)
{[%tqu "En","","","","g7g6","White wins with the extra material plus permanent
mating threats.",10]} 50. Rxg6 $18 {[%csl Re7][%CAl Ge6e7,Gd7d8,Ge7d8] White
wins with the extra material plus permanent mating threats.}) 39. Raf7+ Ke8 40.
Rxh7 Rh4 41. Re7+ (41. Rxh4 Kxf7 $17) 41... Kf8 42. Rhf7+ Kg8 43. Rg7+ Kh8 44.
Rxg6 {White wins material and is in time to stop the d-pawn.} d4 45. Rd6 Rc8 (
45... Rxd6 46. exd6 {[%c_arrow d6d8;keyPressed;none;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;d8;
persistent;false]}) 46. Rf7 Rf4 {[%tqu "En","","","","e5e6","",10]} 47. e6 Kg8
48. Rdd7 (48. Rdd7 {and just to show the winning method for White:} Kh8 49.
Rh7+ Kg8 50. Rdg7+ Kf8 51. e7+) 1-0
