Nice play by Aronian. He always had the initiative and forced Carlsen into an rook endgame a pawn down. The endgame was probably theoretically drawn, but Aronian kept the pressure on, making Carlsen find the only move. Eventually Carlsen cracked under the pressure.

5 ♕c2!? is fast becoming a main line against the Queen's Indian 4 g3 ♗a6.

In fact, over at chesspublishing.com, they speculate that Judit Polgar played 4 ... ♗b7 at Essen and not 4 ... ♗a6 in part to avoid the 5 ♕c2!? reply.

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73 ... Kg6! is the only move that draws.

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<Let us shift all the pieces except for the black rook one file to the left. Now when the rook is on the short side, Black, as one can see easily, is lost.>

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Here is the link to the chesspublishing.com site that I mentioned: http://www.chesspublishing.com/cont....

<From Nov-12-06>:

<Ulhumbrus: According to one master, possibly Dvoretsky, 73...Ra7? is a losing mistake, 73...Kg6! being necessary. It is conceivable that if a player applies a knowledge and understanding of a handful of Rook and Pawn endings, he will be able to understand what Black gains or avoids by 73..Kg6.>

The key point, as I understand it, is what Black <avoids> by playing <73. … Kg7-g6!>.

In the position after <73. Rd7-d6> (Black to move):

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Black’s defense depends on:

<(1)> his Rook's maintaining control of the 8th rank;

<(2)> his Rook's maintaining “maximum checking distance” (i.e., remaining on the a-file); and

<(3)> his King's maintaining contact with the f6-square (so that it can move there when White threatens to advance e6-e7); for example: <73. … Kg6 74. Rd8 Ra7+ 75. Ke8 Kf6!> [Note: 75. ... Kg6-f6! is the <only move> to draw in the position after 75. Ke8].

In the position in the diagram, <73. … Kg7-g6> is the only move that <avoids> surrendering any of the three above-listed desiderata.>

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This is a drawn position if played correctly - analysis by FinalGen

Look at a similar game between Dzagnidze and Zhukova to see how defender should have drawn...

'N Dzagnidze vs N Zhukova, 2008

Muller and Konoval comment that <"When the attacking pawns are far advanced, the defender needs to know the main motifs. Otherwise it is very difficult to hold in practice, which is confirmed by our statistics: 49% of the games are won">

Section 4.3.5) e- and f-Pawns vs f-Pawn on page 85, Karsten Muller and Yakov Konoval in their illustrious 2016 chess book, <Understanding Rook Endgames>

Back to the game continuation:

47...Rb5! (also Re4 draws) is the thematic way of preventing the setup of e5, f5 and the white king on g5.

Carlsen had the draw in hand but misplayed the rook plus a lone pawn versus rook phrase with 73...Ra7+? when 73...Kg6! is a draw - see the next post.

Mark Dvoretsky in an article <Swimming in Theory> commented: <"What can we say about all this? The conclusion seems obvious: the young and exceptionally talented Norwegian grandmaster was unfamiliar with basic endgame theory, because he never studied endgames.

However, the day after the game, I talked with Carlsen's trainer, grandmaster Peter-Heine Nielsen, who assured me that Magnus had studied books on the endgame. This invalidates the obvious explanation - the problem cannot be ignorance of elementary concepts. In fact, this episode spurs us to give some thought to the disconnect between theory and practice, and the need to train oneself in putting one's knowledge to practical use.

School lessons in mathematics cover theoretical rules, formulas, and problem-solving methods. But teachers do not confine themselves to teaching theory: they also give their students many exercises. Without these, acquired knowledge only becomes dead weight, most of which is soon forgotten.">

John Emms, Reuben Fine, Paul Keres, Karsten Muller and others give credit to the below and similar diagrams to Tarrasch

White to move at 73 leads to <(Tarrasch, 1906)> =/=

Wow! That is right, 100 years ago before Aronian vs. Carlsen game of 2006 this position was analyzed...

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John Emms in his marvelous 2008 chess book, <The Survival Guide to Rook Endings>, remarks about the Short-Side Defense using Tarrasch Draw on pages 24 and 25 as follows:

<"This is another significant position. Critically, Black has control of the a-file and keeps enough checking distance. Black draws, whoever has the move.">

1 ♖d8 ♖a7+

<(1...♖a6! 2 ♖d6 ♖a8 is perhaps the simplest way to draw, but 1...♖a1? loses to 2 ♔e8 ♔f6 3 e7 ♔e6 4 ♖b8 ♖a6 5 ♔f8!)>

2 ♖d7

<(Or 2 ♔d6 ♖a6+ 3 ♔e5 ♖a5+ 4 ♖d5 ♖a1 5 ♔d6 ♔f6.)>

2...♖a8

<(Black repeats. 2...♖a1 (or 2...♖a2) also draws, but 2 ♖a6? loses to 3 ♔e8+ ♔f6 4 e7 ♔e6 5 ♔f8!, when Black has no check.)>

(2...♖a3 or ♖a4 or ♖a5 also draw)

3 ♖d6!
Paul Keres says this is <"A crafty move which Black must defend exactly.">

Karsten Muller says <"Tarrasch's draw is quite difficult, so you should familiarize yourself with it:">

3...♔g6!
John Emms continues <"(This is the only move to draw. The point is that when White's rook is on d6, Black's rook must guard the back rank. 3...♖a7+? loses to 4 ♔e8 ♔f6 5 e7+ ♔g7 6 ♖e6 followed by ♔d8. Another problem is that 3...♖b8? reduces Black's checking distance, allowing White to win after 4 ♖d8 ♖b7+ 5 ♔d6 ♖b6+ 6 ♔d7 ♖b7+ 7 ♔c6 ♖e7 8 ♔d6. Luckily the king is just as effective on g6 as it is on g7.)">

4 ♖d7 ♔g7 5 ♖c7 ♖a1
<"Once again Black must keep on the a-file.">

6 ♖d7 ♖a2
<"(6...♖a8, reaching the start position again, is possible, but this also draws.)">

7 ♔e8+ ♔f6 8 e7 ♔e6 9 ♔f8 ♖f2+ 10 ♔e8 ♖a2

<"and no further progress can be made.">

References:

"Rook plus a lone Pawn vs. a Rook may look simple, but appearances are deceiving" by Mark Weeks

'https://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom...

Diagram 154 on page 123, <Practical Chess Endings> algebraic edition by the great grandmaster Paul Keres, ISBN 0-7134-4210-7 unfortunately out of print but the descriptive edition is still available.

Diagram 1.07 on page 13, Karsten Muller and Yakov Konoval in their illustrious 2016 chess book, <Understanding Rook Endgames>

For rook chess nerds like me, John Nunn goes into detailed positions with the following starting with topic 4.2.2 on page 268:

Pawn is on the 6th rank, attacker's king is in front of the pawn