Magnus Carlsen vs Levon Aronian (2011)

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Magnus Carlsen vs Levon Aronian
Tata Steel Group A (2011), Wijk aan Zee NED, rd 1, Jan-15
Scotch Game: Mieses Variation (C45) · 1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 6 OF 6 · Later Kibitzing>
Jan-15-11		BobCrisp: <Aronian LOOKS like a World Chess Champion!!> That's a bit of a generalisation. At least a couple of them were tolerably well looking.

Jan-15-11		Check It Out: switching to another game, CG?

Jan-15-11		kudubux: How about Nepo-Kramnik, cg.com?

Jan-15-11		SamAtoms1980: Aronian would have gotten almost to -1.00 with 20....Rad8 22....Rxf8 would have been better, but not critical 23....Bc8 threw away all of his advantage, he would have kept it with 23....g5

Jan-15-11		Eyal: Apparently Aronian could have played more ambitiously (but also more dangerously) at several points - like 20...Rad8 instead of Rab8 with great complications, keeping the queens on since White doesn't have time for Qh6; or 23...g5 instead of Bc8, where engines suggest that White's best is 24.Bd4! to take on a7, not fearing discovered checks on the b-file, rather than the more human 24.Kc1 Bc8 (to transfer the bishop to f5) with a clear edge for Black.

Jan-15-11		Eyal: Also, it's worth noting that 24...Bf5+ (with the idea of recapturing on g6 with the bishop) fails to 25.Bd3! Bxd3+ (25... Nxd3 26.gxh7 Rxb2+ 27.Ka1 Bxh7 28.Rxh7 Kg8 29.Rg7+ Kf8 30.Rh1 and Black has to give back a rook with 30...Re1+ to prevent mate) 26.Rxd3 fxg6 (26...Nxd3 27.gxh7 Rxb2+ 28.Ka1 and Black is losing despite all of his momentary material advantage) 27.Rd7 with advantage to White.

Jan-15-11		whizz3r: Carlsen shouldn't have castled queenside. It's a total non-book move and puts his king in danger as proved later in the game.

Jan-15-11		polarmis: My final version of Sergey Shipov's commentary on this game: http://www.chessintranslation.com/2... It looks like move 20 was when Aronian had his best chance (and was possibly simply winning).

Jan-15-11		dregoz: Unfortunate! Black missed the win- should be prepare Qa5 , Rae8 , Bc8 ,d6 and Bf5+ threaten into the White Castle wall.

Jan-15-11		HeMateMe: As a teenager, I was told the Scotch was a "safe but dull" opening, to teach beginners the opening principles. But, the young GMs have breathed some sharp variations into it.

Jan-15-11		Anatoly21: Both Eyal and Shipov have pointed out that Aronian could have played more ambitiously on move 20. While perhaps objectively more correct, I'm not sure its a mistake since 20...Rab8 gave Black an advantage, albeit not a decisive one, with far less complications. Its a tough decision to make over the board, especially in the first round of a tough tournament. Rybka gives the dizzying variation 20...Rad8 21.Be2 Nd5 22.Qh6 Nxf6 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Qf4 Ne8 with the idea of a Bc8-Bf5 to follow. I'm still not sure if its enough to win against Magnus, but it does appear to be worth a try.

Jan-15-11		achieve: <Anatoly> Spot on!!

Jan-15-11		Captain Hindsight: <I’m sure I was better>, Aronian said afterwards. <I know the line, of course, but I couldn’t remember all the different variations equally clearly and so we soon ended up in an extremely complicated position. My 23rd move was probably asking too much. White had a defence mechanism and I had to settle for a draw five moves later>, said the Armenian, who currently holds the third spot in the international rankings. <I’m not dissatisfied with the result but in view of my position I think I could have hoped for more.> http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tourn...

Jan-15-11		beenthere240: I believe Kasparov was one of the "younger" GMs who breathed new life into the Scotch.

Jan-15-11		Bobwhoosta: <Anatoly21, achieve> +1 When in your opponents preparation, it is always best to proceed cautiously. Aronian seems to have studied this line, but he didn't PREPARE it, as he had no idea if he would face the Scotch this tournament or not. So considering Carlsen's speed of play, I'm sure he thought that his 20th move was an adequate refutation of the novelty. Nice insight <Anatoly>

Jan-15-11		Eyal: In his brief comments on the game (http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/t...) Aronian says that after 19.Qf4 he was quite confident that he's better, but "got too excited" with 23...Bc8 which allows an immediate draw - "forgetting" (I've noticed players tend to use this phrase when they miss something...) about 24...Bf5+ 25.Bd3! (see analysis in my previous post).

Jan-15-11		crazybird: Mig on twitter: <Carlsen's 12.0-0-0 was in Svidler's notes for Rus Ch last month -- and Kasparov's notes from 1993, where it was given "good only for draw.">

Jan-15-11		Eyal: <Carlsen's 12.0-0-0 was in [...] Kasparov's notes from 1993, where it was given "good only for draw.> Well, here's the definite proof that Carlsen and Kasparov aren't cooperating anymore, for anyone who doubted their public statements about it...

Jan-15-11		Hesam7: <Aronian and I were next to finish. Something went wrong in my preparation for the game and the 30 minutes extra on the clock wasn’t much of a consolation for my poor prospects in the sharp middle game. A pawn down, my kingside was as vulnerable as his and after exchanging queens black was slightly better. Aronian went for a line leading to a forced draw as he seemed to have missed hxg6! and the game ended with perpetual checks after just 2 hours.> GM Carlsen http://www.arcticsec.no/index.php?b...

Jan-16-11		musicmanTRIBALx: when would aronian have played hxg6!, as carlsen says in that excerpt?

Jan-17-11		Sastre: <musicmanTRIBALx: when would aronian have played hxg6!, as carlsen says in that excerpt?> I think Carlsen meant that Aronian didn't see 24.hxg6 after 23...Bc8.

Jan-17-11		Eyal: More precisely - that Aronian missed that after 24.hxg6 Bf5+ (the idea of 23...Bc8), 35.Bd3! is good for White.

Mar-15-11		Penguincw: If I'm not mistaken,the rating for both playera are wrong.I believe Carlsen's rating was 2814 at the time and Aronian's rating was 2805.I'll sumbit a correction slip.

Apr-10-11		kibitzwc: Instead of 23...Bc8, Aronian had 23...Kg8!? to try for a win.

Aug-11-11		SatelliteDan: A World Championship between these two would be exciding.

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