Veselin Topalov vs Levon Aronian (2009)

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Veselin Topalov vs Levon Aronian
Amber Tournament (Blindfold) (2009) (blindfold), Nice FRA, rd 11, Mar-26
Semi-Slav Defense: General (D43) · 1/2-1/2

White to move.

ANALYSIS [x]

1/2-1/2

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

FEN COPIED

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Mar-26-09		hellopolgar: aronian wins amber XVIII. thanks to topa's 2 free draws(this is the first draw) in the last round. nice try kramnik, you are the best!

Mar-26-09		brucejavier: i really thought aronian was gonna lose in this game! great defense

Mar-26-09		Davolni: <hellopolgar> topa's 2 free draws.... lol.... relax before copying and pasting the same message 4000 times in CG....

Mar-26-09		AgentRgent: I don't think this was a "free" draw but Aronian vs Topalov, 2009 certainly looks like it...

Mar-26-09		chessplanet8: 32..Re8!! is an exceptional move. Especially in Blindfold ! The normal 32..Rxf8 or ..Kxf8 were probably expected by Topi, but 32..Re8! is threatening the e4 pawn while the knight is trapped. 33 Ng6 Re4+ 34Kd3 Bf5! is the point. Now in the end , White can play Kg6 on Rf1+ and try to play for the win.

Mar-27-09		arsen387: 24.b6? was of course a bad move and Topalov quickly obtained a won position, but Aronian played a great defence. Following this game live and seeing the maneouvre Bd7, Bg4+ and Re8 was impressive.

Mar-27-09		Eyal: Aronian achieved almost miraculously (or routinely...) good drawing chances, and he should have played 41...Re2+ 42.Kf6 hxg5 (42...b2?? 43.Rb8+ Kh7 44.g6#) 43.Rxb6 b2, but 41...Rb1? which essentially wastes a precious tempo was another blunder. Topalov, however, misses/avoids a relatively simple win with Kg6 instead of taking the repetition - e.g. 44.Kg6 Bf5+ (only way to avoid an immediate mate) 45.Kxh6 Kf7 46.Rxb6 Rf2 (or 46...Kxe7 47.Rxb3 and Black has run out of pawns) 47.h4 (to avoid mate on h2) b2 48.g6+! Bxg6 49.e8=Q+ Kxe8 50.Kxg6.

Mar-27-09		percyblakeney: Another funny winning line for white is <44. Kg6 Bf5+ 45. Kxh6 Kf7 46. d6 Rh1 47. h4 b2 48. Rb8 Bd7 49. g6+ Ke6 50. g7 b1=Q> and black is up a queen and a bishop but white to move is winning: click for larger view The engines see the strongest continuation as <51. g8=Q+ Kxd6 52. e8=N+> but choosing complicated lines involving underpromotions to knight while blitzing in blindfold is probably not the easiest way to win a game.

Mar-27-09		acirce: According to Topalov himself, he had lost track of the pieces somewhat and thought Black's rook was on f2 in which case Kg6 Bf5+ Kxh6 would not have been so good. Also 43.Kd6, which seems to be a good winning attempt as it is, would have been worse in view of 43..Kf7 and now ..Bf5, ..b2 is a much bigger threat with the rook on e2 - 44.gxh6 Bf5 (44..b2 45.e8=Q+! Kxe8 46.h7 would work no matter if Black's rook is on e1 or e2, but probably not even this was trivial to "see" at the time anyway) 45.Rxb6 works in the game but not if the b-pawn is defended after 45..b2.

Mar-28-09		Eyal: <According to Topalov himself, he had lost track of the pieces somewhat and thought Black's rook was on f2> I find that very strange - it's not like the rook was standing on its square without moving; Black played <...Rf1+> on moves 43 and 45, so how could he keep thinking it was on f2?

Mar-28-09		acirce: <Eyal> That's a very good point, that had slipped my mind! He would have seen that on the monitor. It would have made sense, had it been pretty much any other piece. Perhaps he really <did> deliberately avoid winning, using this as an excuse?

Mar-28-09		acirce: ( http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/l... is my source: "Even at the very end White is winning of course, but there Topalov thought that Black’s rook was on f2 instead of f1. What can we say...") and also the rd 11 video says the same thing.

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