FIDE Candidates Tournament 2018
Berlin, Germany
March 10-28, 2018
Standings (6 of 14)
1-2. Fabiano Caruana USA 2784, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2809, 4.0/6
3-5. Ding Liren CHN 2769, Alexander Grischuk RUS 2767, Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800, 3.0/6
6-7. Wesley So USA 2799, Levon Aronian ARM 2794, 2.5/6
8. Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763, 2.0/6
Average Rating: 2786 Category 22
Time Control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 50 minutes for the next 20 moves followed by 15 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1.
We are nearing the halfway mark of the Berlin Candidates Tournament and it is Fabiano Caruana and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who are in the lead. Whoever wins this tournament will be lined up for a shot at the title of World Champion which is currently held by Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen. This will be a 12-game match and is scheduled to be played in London between 9 and 28 November 2018.
Vladimir Kramnik started out with 2.5/3 with wins against Alexander Grischuk and Levon Aronian (an absolute brilliancy which I will show you on Thursday) and a well-fought draw with Sergey Karjakin.
The 4th round could well be the turning point of the tournament for Kramnik. In a fantastic battle with Caruana the Russian GM first got a lost position but turned the tables during Caruana’s time trouble leading up to the 40th move. It was then Kramnik’s turn to wreck his winning position just before the 2nd time control (move 60) and Caruana made no mistake in nailing down the win.
In the 5th round, probably mad at himself, Kramnik really toughed it out and tried to make something out of nothing against Wesley So. They fought on until the 57th move and finally agreed on a draw.
These two big fights seemed to tire out Kramnik and he was unrecognizable in the 6th round, allowing Mamedyarov to win.
Wesley So had the opposite trajectory. He had the worst possible start with 2 losses in the 1st two rounds (against Caruana and Grischuk). He then steadied himself with short draws against Ding Liren and Sergey Karjakin. In the 5th round was that drawn-out struggle with Kramnik. Now, in the 6th round, came a brilliant victory over one of the tournament favorites, Levon Aronian.
So, Wesley (2799) — Aronian, Levon (2794) [C88]
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (6.1), 16.03.2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0
Aronian is known as a Marshall Attack expert, which comes about after 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5. and now either 11…c6 or 11…Nf6.
8.a4
Along with 8 h3, this move is considered to be one of the best ways of avoiding the Marshall. If you, like me, bought a lot of the Batsford Books reprints in the ’70s and ’80s the “old theory” of the Marshall recommends 8…Bb7 as Black’s best response. Nowadays it is not so popular for with 9 d3 d6 and now 10 Nbd2! rather than the previously played 10 Nc3 Black hasn’t achieved good results.
Today 8….b4 is more or less exclusively played at the top level. Counted among its adherents are Grischuk, Anand, Leko and Aronian.
8…b4
Some theory to catch you up?
8…d5?! is hardly ever played anymore. After 9.Bxd5 Nxd5 10.exd5 Nd4 (10…Qxd5 11.Nc3 White is clearly better) 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.axb5 Bb7 13.c4 dxc3 14.dxc3 axb5 15.Rxa8 Bxa8 16.Qd3 Bxd5 17.Qxb5 left White a clear pawn. De Firmian,N (2575)-Sokolov,I (2670) Amsterdam 1–0 40.
8…Bb7 was played by Short in his world championship match vs Kasparov (game 7). Kasparov continued 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Nd7 11.c3 Nc5 12.axb5 axb5 (12…Nxb3? fails to 13.bxc6 Nxa1 14.cxb7 Rb8 15.Qa4 and the a1–knight will fall) 13.Rxa8 Bxa8 14.Bc2 Bf6 15.b4 Ne6 16.Nf1 Bb7 17.Ne3 g6 18.Bb3 Bg7 and now 19.Nc2, with the idea of 20 d4, favors White according to Kasparov.
Giving up the a-file with 8…Rb8?! is considered dubious. I remember an article in Chess magazine where the author says that “so what if I lose the a-file, I still have 7 other files to play with!” I am not so sure that is viable as after 9.axb5 axb5 10.c3 d6 11.d4! exd4 (11…Bg4? 12.d5 surprisingly enough the c6–knight is lost!) 12.cxd4 Bg4 13.Nc3 Qd7 14.Be3 White’s central position is very strong. Keres,P-Rabar,B Munich 1942 1–0 32.
9.a5
Without a doubt the best move here — it restricts Black’s activity, since both …a6–a5 and …Na5 are no longer possible and it also isolates the a6– and b4–pawns, making them both potential targets. The white bishop on b3 is now very powerful so Black must seek to exchange it off as soon as possible.
9…d6 10.d3 Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Nbd2 Rb8 13.Nb3
Aronian lost a game to Magnus Carlsen in the Sinquefield Cup 2017 after the world champion continued 13.c3 Qe8 14.Nc4 Qg6 15.h3 Nd7 16.Be3 d5 17.Ncd2 bxc3 18.bxc3 Nc5 19.Bxc5 Bxc5 20.Qa4 and White went on to win. Carlsen,M (2822)-Aronian,L (2809) Saint Louis 2017 1–0 52. However, Aronian made several mistakes later in the game and the loss was not because of the opening. He was probably eager to try it out again against Wesley.
13…Qc8 14.h3 Nd8 15.Be3 c5 16.Nbd2 Nc6 17.c3 Rb5 18.d4!?
This is a very difficult maneuvering game. Wesley sacrifices a pawn to try and take advantage of Black’s currently uncoordinated pieces. Aronian sees a clear path to equality but decides that he should try to refute Wesley’s play.
18…exd4
Take note that 18…Nxa5? blunders a piece to 19.dxe5 dxe5 20.c4.
Aronian saw that he can equalize with: 18…bxc3 19.bxc3 exd4 20.cxd4 c4 21.Nxc4 Nxe4 “should be around equal.” (Aronian)
19.cxd4 Nxa5 20.dxc5 dxc5 21.Ra2
Wesley admitted after the game that this was his preparation against Aronian. For the pawn he has compensation in that Black’s queenside pieces are out of play and Wesley might be able to mobilize an attack against the Black king position. By the way, Wesley So is self-studied — he does not have any GM seconds or assistants. He worked this all out himself. Very impressive.
21…Qb7
Aronian keeps his knight on a5 to prevent White’s Nc4.
22.b3!
White wants to put his queen on c2 where it can protect his weaknesses on the queenside and at the same time backstop a kingside attack. You will see how all this works out in a while.
22…Kh8
Taking the e4–pawn is very dangerous. After 22…Nxe4 23.Nxe4 Qxe4 24.Bg5 Qb7 25.Rd2! the Black position is in danger of falling apart.
23.Qc2!
Every move carries a threat. Now White threatens, amongst others, Ng5 followed by e4–e5 with an attack against h7.
23…Nd7 24.Rea1 Bd8 25.Nc4 Nxc4 26.Qxc4 Bf6 27.Rd1 Qc6 28.Rad2 Nb6 29.Qc2 Qc7 <D>
Position after 29…Qc7
Watch how Wesley takes Black’s position apart.
30.e5! Be7
[30…Bxe5? 31.Ng5 threatening mate on h7 as well as Nxe6.]
31.Nd4 Rc8 32.Nxe6!
Wesley ignores winning the exchange and keeps up the attack.
32…Qxe5 33.Nf4 Rf8?
[33…Kg8! was an “only move.” Black had to get his king out of possible mating threats]
34.Re2!
Black is really in big trouble. White’s threat is 35.Bc1 and Black is going to lose a lot of material and quite possibly be mated. For example, 35…Qf6 36.Rde1 Bd6 17.Ne6 Rc8 38.Ng5 g6 39.Bb2 etc.
34…Qc3
[34…Rxf4 35.Bxf4 Qxf4 36.Rxe7 Qf8 (take note that 36…h6 won’t prevent back rank mate because the white queen on c2 covers the h7 square) 37.Qe4 Black is completely lost]
35.Qb1! Qf6 36.Bc1!
Threatening Bb2.
36…c4 37.bxc4 Nxc4 38.Re6 Qg5
Aronian did not see any saving move, so he gives up his queen for rook and knight in the hope that he can come up with a fortress.
39.Ng6+! Qxg6
[39…hxg6 40.Bxg5 Bxg5 41.Qxg6 Bf6 42.Rxf6 gxf6 43.Rd7]
40.Rxg6 hxg6 41.Qe4
Winning another piece.
41…Bf6 42.Qxc4 b3 43.Ba3 Rfb8 44.Rb1 b2 45.h4
There is nothing wrong with Wesley’s technique and he brings home the point efficiently.
45…Ra5 46.Qd3 Rd8 47.Qb3 Rc8 48.Qb7 Rd8 49.Qb3 Rc8 50.Qb4 Rb5 51.Qg4 Rc3 52.Bxb2 Rxb2 53.Rxb2 Rc1+ 54.Kh2 Bxb2 55.Qxg6 Ra1 56.g4 a5 57.Qh5+ Kg8 58.Qb5 Ba3 59.Qe5 Rd1 60.Qe6+ Kh7 61.Qe4+ Kh8 62.Qa8+ Kh7 63.Qxa5 Bd6+ 64.Kg2 Rd4 65.Qf5+ Kh8 66.Qh5+ Kg8 67.g5 Kf8 68.Qg6 Be7 69.Qf5+ Ke8 70.Kh3 Rd6 71.Qh7 Kf7 72.f4 Rd4 73.Qf5+ Ke8 74.Qe5 Rb4 75.Kg4 Kf8 76.Qf5+ Ke8 77.Qe6 Rd4 78.Qe5 1–0
Black’s last pawn is lost and with it all hope.
We will keep you updated on Wesley’s progress in this Candidates’ tournament.
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
