Levon Aronian vs Vugar Gashimov (2010)

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Levon Aronian vs Vugar Gashimov
Linares (2010), Linares ESP, rd 10, Feb-24
Benoni Defense: Classical Variation. General (A70) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Given 4 times; par: 100 [what's this?]

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Feb-24-10		zealouspawn: 43. Bxd6 Nxd6 44. cxd5 was also an interesting try. Good for Aronian, finally breaking his drawing streak. It must have been frustrating

Feb-24-10		Edmontonchessclub: Zealouspawn, 44. cxd5 would not be a legal move in your variation.

Feb-24-10		Andrew Chapman: I think he meant bxc5

Feb-25-10		M.D. Wilson: All those draws might have been frustrating, but he didn't lose a single game in this tournament. These days that's an achievement in itself.

Feb-25-10		zealouspawn: true.. and yes bxc5 is what I meant

Feb-25-10		melianis: 47.Nd8 :-)

Feb-25-10		doubledrooks: Anish Giri claims on chessbase.com that white had a winning shot with 25. Ne5, instead of 25. Ra5.

Feb-25-10		mworld: 25.Ne5 would have been pretty interesting and complicated. check out this line I just played through (white's winning, but there was definitely a lot to workout/see to get to this point) 25.Ne5 Nh5 26.Ng6 Qf6 27.Nxf8 Nxg3 28.Na2 Rb7 29.Ne6 Bxe6 30.dxe6 d5 31.Bd3 Qxe6 32.fxg3 Bxa1 33.Rxa1 Qxe3+ 34.Kh1

Feb-25-10		Everett: I see few lines ever given by Giri. Could he be a slave to Rybka as well?

Feb-26-10		Eyal: So this makes an overall 1.5/4 score for Gashimov with the Benoni at Linares - and in the two games where he got points (vs. Gelfand & Vallejo) he also had rather bad positions out of the opening, especially against Gelfand. I wonder if he'll keep playing the Benoni regularly in top tournaments.

Feb-27-10		Peligroso Patzer: <Eyal: So this makes an overall 1.5/4 score for Gashimov with the Benoni at Linares - and in the two games where he got points (vs. Gelfand & Vallejo) he also had rather bad positions out of the opening, especially against Gelfand. <I wonder if he'll keep playing the Benoni regularly in top tournaments.>> A good question. Others have noted that Gashimov tends to score very well against lower-rated opposition, but poorly against the elite super-GMs. The Benoni is representative of his use of sharp but out-of-fashion (perhaps because not-fully-sound) openings, and this may be largely responsible for such results. In the future, he may be well-advised to adopt more conventional openings against elite opponents.

Feb-28-10		Everett: The KID was considered "unsound" after Kasparov gave it up, but before Radjabov kept scoring wins and draws against the very best. Perhaps there will be an eventual champion of the Benoni down the line.

Feb-28-10		Spell Binder: <The KID was considered "unsound" after Kasparov gave it up> Last time I checked, it was Kasparov who <gave> up and not the opening.

Feb-28-10		5hrsolver: Nakamura won with the KID against Gelfand recently Gelfand vs Nakamura, 2010

Mar-01-10		Starf1re: 34)...Q f6 looks a lot better for black.

Mar-01-10		Everett: <SpellBinder> and <5hrsolver> Perhaps you both do not understand the spirit of my post. I am stating the KID is not unsound, but it took Radjabov's work with it in the early to mid 00's (and Smirin throughout the 90's to now) to bring it back to life, in particular against the Bayonet. Many top players had decreased playing it against the best. Now it is back, and Nakamura's adoption of it is evidence of its resilience. Again, I ask... will someone be able to inject life into the Benoni, so it can be made fully viable again at the top levels?

Mar-01-10		Shams: <Everett> It would be great if the Benoni could be salvaged. Black is so cramped, though...would be tough.

Mar-01-10		Everett: Seems Gashimov is its only hope at the moment. His record with it is quite good actually, against some stiff competition. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... The only problem is, because some of the games are labeled like the above game (E10 for example) it does not give a full example of his results in these positions.

Mar-02-10		Everett: <Eyal> though Gashimov scored 1.5 out of 4 with the Benoni, is this really so terrible with black against top competition? It's only a half point off from even.

Mar-24-10		Spell Binder: <Everett> I see your point. I was just making a joke then. I don't think the Benoni should be faulted here. Gashimov may have some problems when it comes to middlegames. Or he hasn't gotten the "feel" for the opening. Everett, if you want some nice Benoni wins do check out GM Keene's games with the opening. He seemed to have a very good record with it. KID at the top level? We'll just wait and see. But you wouldn't want to use the KID vs. Kramnik these days.

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