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Levon Aronian vs Alexey Shirov
Grand Slam Chess Final (2009), Bilbao ESP, rd 5, Sep-11
English Opening: King's English Variation. General (A20)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
1-0

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

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Kibitzer's Corner
Sep-11-09  luzhin: Typical Aronian, making something out of nothing: Shirov cracked with 35...Qb4. He had to stay covering his f-pawn with 35...Qb8 -- but the squeeze would have continued.
Sep-11-09  brucejavier: Aronian has a nice winning streak happening!! how long is it gona last? amazing game
Sep-11-09  whiteshark: What is about <25...e4>?


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The idea is to open the cage door.

Sep-11-09  donehung: Could anyone tell me if 36..qf8 was any good?
Sep-11-09  Jason Frost: <donehung>

After 36...Qf8 just the simple 37. Rc7 looks very strong for white

Sep-11-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Shirov looked very good with the 3 pawns in the center. But he must have seen whites explosive way of gaining space. Maybe a different pawn structure was called for?
Sep-11-09  Udit Narayan: what do you guys think??? is aronian now better than the world champ anand???
Sep-12-09  UrVileWedge: I'm not so certain. Everyone in the top has had tournaments where they've dominated. Anand might not be as hot as Aronian is now, but can Aronian carry the distance? He's had some problems with that in the past. My vote is that it's too early to tell.
Sep-12-09  apiana: 14 b4 astonishing such a brilliant little combination,
Sep-12-09  Ulhumbrus: An alternative to 24...Qxa2 (which the chessbase website considers mistaken) is 24...f3 isolating White's d3 pawn by attacking the e2 pawn
Sep-12-09  ryumico93: aronian is doing his homework very well
Sep-12-09  Ulhumbrus: <whiteshark: What is about <25...e4>?> It opens the long diagonal for White's Queen's bishop so that after 26 Rxb7 White attacks g7 twice.
Sep-13-09  whiteshark: <Ulhumbrus> After 25...e4 26.Rxb7 black plays 26...Rf7 with e.g. 27.Rxf7 Bxf7.


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I think Black's position is still preferable. White's major pieces are less active and coordinated.

Sep-13-09  euripides: Against <25...e4> perhaps 26.Ra1. White has threats involving Rxa7 and Rxb7; Black has the possibility of f3, though perhaps White can meet this with exf3 exf3 Qg3 and the king can go to f2. A possible line might be 26...Qf7 27.Rxa7 f3 28.exf3 exf3 29.Qg3 and if 30...Re7?! then White would have 30.Ba3. White looks a bit better to me though it's not clear.

<Ul>'s 24...f3 looks interesting.

Sep-14-09  JohnBoy: Better than 28.exf3 exf3 in <euripides>' line above is 28...exd3. Demands more of white.

Both 24...f3 and 24...e4 (to follow with ...f3) are interesting.

Oct-10-09  YoGoSuN: Wonder how many polayers would have allowed 2 outside passed pawns for Shirov like that...
Nov-10-09  notyetagm: <YoGoSuN: Wonder how many polayers would have allowed 2 outside passed pawns for Shirov like that...>

When <TACTICS> is your middle name like it is for Aronian, the normal rules do *not* apply to you.

Annotated by Aronian himself in New In Chess 2009/7 (http://www.newinchess.com/Shop/Prod...).

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