Levon Aronian vs Vasilios Kotronias (2010)

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Levon Aronian vs Vasilios Kotronias
World Team Championship (2010), Bursa TUR, rd 6, Jan-10
Queen's Gambit Declined: Tarrasch Defense. Pseudo-Tarrasch Bishop Attack (D30) · 1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

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Jan-10-10		17.Bxg7: OMG, is this transcript correct? In move 49, without obvious time trouble, Aronian got his knight pinned instead of winning black knight with 49.Ne2. It looks like a horrible way to lose an advantage

Jan-10-10		ounos: I can't believe it! Greeks did it again!!! Hurray! (heh, someone is Greek amongst us :) :) :) )

Jan-10-10		ounos: Though this game indeed looks lost after 49. Ne2. Black can get his queen to f2, but after that, not much.

Jan-10-10		Eyal: Actually, on move 49 Aronian could have done even better than winning a piece with 49.Ne2 (though it should be enough to win as well) - <49.Qc4+> leads to mate or the loss of the black queen: 49...Kh8 50.Ng6+ Kh7 51.Qc8; or 49...Kh7 50.Qf7 Qd6 51.Ne6 Qe5 52.Nf8+ Kh8 53.Ng6+ Kh7 54.Nxe5; or 49...Kf8 50.Ng6+ Ke8 51.Qg8+ Kd7 52.Ne5+ Kc7 53.Qf7+ Kd6/b6 54.Nc4+ and 55.Nxa3.

Jan-11-10		notyetagm: Wow, what a terrible finish by Aronian: mate, winning a piece, or draw and Aronian picks draw.

Jan-11-10		notyetagm: 49 ♘f4-d5?? <LINES UP> with the <UNDEFENDED> White d3-queen in a way that Black can exploit with 49 ... ♕a3-d6!. 49 ♘f4-e2! <LINES UP> with the <UNDEFENDED> White d3-queen in a way that Black cannot exploit, along the a6-f1 diagonal.

Jan-11-10		notyetagm: Aronian vs Kotronias, 2010 <A TALE OF TWO PINS> 49 ? click for larger view A great example about the need to be extremely careful when <LINING UP YOUR PIECES>. You can <LINE UP> your pieces, making <ALIGNMENTS>, but you must do so in a manner that your opponent cannot exploit. 49 ♘f4-e2 <LINES UP> with the <UNDEFENDED> White d3-queen and wins because Black cannot exploit the <ALIGNMENT> White e2-knight + <UNDEFENDED> White d3-queen: the Black a3-queen cannot get to the f1-pinning square. On the other hand 49 ♘f4-d5??=, which Aronian(!) actually played, <LINES UP> with the <UNDEFENDED> White d3-queen in a way that Black can exploit to create a <PIN AGAINST UNDEFENDED PIECES> and throws away the win: the Black a3-queen can get to the d6-pinning square for 49 ... ♕a3-d6!=. So instead of playing 49 ♘f4-e2 with a winning <PIN> against the <UNDEFENDED> Black a3-queen, Aronian instead played the horrible blunder 49 ♘f4-d5?? and only draws due to the <PIN> against his <UNDEFENDED> White d3-queen! An unbelievable blunder by Aronian. 49 ♘f4-d5?? ♕a3-d6!= <pin: d3> click for larger view click for larger view (VAR) 49 ♘f4-e2 <pin: a3> click for larger view Rybka 3 32-bit 6. (1.70): 49.Nf4-e2 Qa3-b2 50.Ne2xc3 Qb2xf2+[] 51.Kh2-h3 Qf2-c5 52.Qd3-d5+ This just shows what a hard game chess really is: a tactical genius like Aronian eschews the straightforward win by 49 ♘f4-e2 for the drawing 49 ♘f4-d5??=. Wow. But there I go again, getting "too excited about simple tactics". These "simple tactics" would have gotten Aronian an extra 1/2-point in this game! :-)

Jan-11-10		notyetagm: Game Collection: BALEFUL INFLUENCE: every single square attacked 49 ... Qa3-d6! Black d6-queen threatens 1-1 loose White d5-knight, undef White d3-queen Aronian vs Kotronias, 2010

Jan-11-10		notyetagm: <ounos: Though this game indeed looks lost after 49. Ne2. Black can get his queen to f2, but after that, not much.> Yes. Rybka 3 32-bit 6. (1.70): 49.Nf4-e2 Qa3-b2 50.Ne2xc3 Qb2xf2+[] 51.Kh2-h3 Qf2-c5 52.Qd3-d5+

Jan-23-10		notyetagm: 49 ♘f4-d5?? click for larger view 49 ... ♕a3-d6!= <pin: d5,d3> click for larger view Aronian's 49 ♘f4-d5?? flaunted all of <WETESCHNIK'S PINNING RULES>: * every attacked piece of yours standing in front of another of your pieces must be regarded as pinned * always be on the lookout for ways to create or avoid pins * two pieces of the same color occupying the same file or diagonal are a prerequisite for a pin * every undefended piece is a potential candidate for a pin

Jan-24-10		percyblakeney: I wonder if Aronian's amazing blunder here wasn't influenced by the fact that Armenia sensationally just had gone 0.5-2.5 down in the match against Greece, and this game was suddenly of less importance than it could have been.

Jan-24-10		notyetagm: <percyblakeney: I wonder if Aronian's amazing blunder here wasn't influenced by the fact that Armenia sensationally just had gone 0.5-2.5 down in the match against Greece, and this game was suddenly of less importance than it could have been.> Good point. Perhaps the fact that his team had just shockingly lost to Greece(!) caused Aronian to lose concentration just long enough to play the drawing 49 ♘f4-d5?? instead of the winning 49 ♘f4-e2.

Apr-22-10		abuzic: 32...Nc4?? allowed white's dangerous attack. 32...Qd1! would keep black active. 36...Nd2? 36...Qf6 would keep black alive.

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