The Screenplay Anniversary

Levon Grigori Aronian – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
7th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 2 (25+10); Tbilisi, September 21, 2017
King’s Indian Defence E81

In the end, Levon Grigori Aronian won, even if only in the ultimate Armageddon. Moreover, the Armenian Grandmaster never could have lost such a campal fight on the Independence Day of Armenia. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 e6 6. e4 Bg7 7. Nge2 0-0 8. Ng3 a6 9. a4 h5 10. Bg5 Qc7 11. Qd2 exd5 12. cxd5 Nh7. For 12. ... Nbd7 13. Be2 Rb8 14. 0-0 c4 see Giri – Bacrot, 30th European Chess Club Cup, Bilbao 2014. 13. Bh6 h4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Bc4!? A novelty and a very interesting Knight sacrifice. The older try was 15. Nge2 Qe7 16. Nf4 Nd7 17. Be2 Ne5 18. 0-0 f5 19. Rad1 Nf6 20. Ne6+ Bxe6 21. dxe6 Qxe6 22. Qxd6 Qxd6 23. Rxd6 fxe4 24. fxe4 Nfg4 25. Rb6 Rxf1+ 26. Bxf1 Ra7 27. Nd5 Nd7 28. Rd6 Nge5 29. a5 Ra8 30. Nf4 Rc8 31. Nxg6 Rc6 32. Nxh4 Kf8 33. Nf5 Nf6 34. Rd8+ Kf7 35. Rb8 Nxe4 36. Rxb7+ Ke6 37. Ne3 Nd6 38. Rb6 Rxb6 39. axb6 a5 40. h4 Kd7 41. h5 Kc6 42. h6 Kxb6 43. Nc4+ Ndxc4 44. Bxc4 Kc6 45. h7 Ng6 46. Kf2 Kd6 47. Ke3 Ke5 48. Bf7 Nh8 49. Be8 1 : 0 Dreev – Gladyszev, 25th Open, Metz 2007. 15. ... hxg3 16. hxg3 Rh8 17. e5 Qe7 18. 0-0-0 Nd7. After winning the first tie-break game, Vachier-Lagrave probably relied upon his ability to keep the complications under control, and objectively the situation is quite unclear. I think, however, that here he could have dared something more with 18. ... b5(!), aiming, he, too, for a win-win solution. 19. exd6 Qxd6 20. Ne4 Qe5 21. d6!

21. ... g5? Black suddenly becomes too ambitious and goes too far in weakening his King’s position. Best was 21. ... Ndf8 (intending ... Bc8-e6), after which it could have followed 22. d7 Bxd7 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Rxd7 Nxd7 25. Qxg6+ Qg7 26. Bxf7+ Kf8 27. Qd6+ Kxf7 28. Qxd7+ with perpetual check (Stockfish’s analysis). 22. Rhe1! b5 23. Bd5 Rb8 24. f4! Qd4?? Black collapses, but after 24. ... Qf5 25. Qc3+ Ndf6 26. d7! his situation was also bad enough. 25. Qe2 Qb4 26. Qh5! 1: 0.