In a Nutshell

Levon Grigori Aronian – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
7th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 1 (25+10); Tbilisi, September 27, 2017
Queen’s Gambit Declined D30

Levon Grigori Aronian proved to be too strong for 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) and deservedly won the World Cup. As usual 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) showed his defensive stubbornness, but he wasn’t able to amend in extremis his stereotyped openings, and moreover, he also arrived here quite tired after his long march. This time Aronian showed as much creativity as temper, and maybe the fact that he is actually a happy man made the difference. 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qb3. In the footsteps of Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine. 7. ... Nd7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Qf4 10. Bd3 e5. The immaculate matrix was 10. ... Be7 11. 0-0 0-0 12. Rfe1 Rd8 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. Ng3 Nf8 15. Qc3 a5 16. a3 a4 17. Ne5 Qa5 18. Qc1 Bd7 19. c5! b5 20. Be4 Qc7 21. Qc3 Be8 22. Ne2! Ra6 23. Nc1 Nd7?! 24. Nxd7 Rxd7 25. Nd3 Rd8 26. Ne5 Bf8 27. h4! Raa8 28. Bb1 h5 29. Qf3 g6 30. g4! hxg4 31. Qxg4 Bg7 32. Ba2! b4 33. Bc4! bxa3 34. bxa3 Qa5 35. Qe4 Qc7 36. Qf4 Rab8 37. h5 gxh5 38. Kh1 Rb7 39. Rg1 Qe7 40. Rxg7+! Kxg7 41. Rg1+ Kh7 42. Nxf7! 1 : 0 Alekhine – Asztalos, Kecskemét 1927. 11. 0-0 Be7 12. Rae1!? A romantic spot for a wedding. 12. Rfe1 is almost invariably played. 12. ... exd4 13. Bb1 0-0 14. Ng3 Bd8!? It is a novelty which costed 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) much of his time: perhaps a sign that he got entangled in Aronian’s computer chess theory. 14. ... Nc5 15. Qa3 Qc7 16. Nxd4 Rd8 17. Ndf5 Bxf5 18. Nxf5 Bf8 19. Qh3 Re8 20. Nxh6+ gxh6 21. Qf5 Bg7 22. g3 Rad8 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Rd1 Rd8 25. Rxd8+ Qxd8 26. Kg2 a6 27. Be4 Qc7 28. f4 Qd8 29. Kh3 Qc7 ½ : ½ Ivanišević – Schenk, French Team Championship Top 16, Gonfreville 2006. 15. Qd3 g6 16. h4! Nf6 17. h5 g5 18. Ne5! Aronian took the upper hand and pushes hard on Black’s nutshell. 18. ... Ba5 19. Ng6!

19. ... Qd2! 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has yet the strength to defend his own with desperate stubbornness despite the very few time left. 20. Ne7+ Kg7. 20. ...Kh8 21. Qf3! Qf4 22. Qa3! Bxe1 23. Nd5! doesn’t look any better. 21. Qb3! Qf4 22. Rd1!? Almost all chess engines give 22. Ngf5+ Bxf5 23. Nxf5+ Kh8 24. Re7 with a decisive White’s preponderance, but, of course, Aronian’s way is not bad... 22. ... Bb6 23. Ngf5+ Bxf5 24. Nxf5+ Kh8 25. g3 Qg4 26. Nxh6 Qxh5? Black finally disappears under the avalanche. 27. Kg2! d3 28. Qc3 Kg7 29. Nf5+ Kg6 30. Rh1 1 : 0.