A Shortcut in Time

Levon Grigori Aronian – Anish Giri
Grand Prix 2017; fourth stage; Palma de Mallorca, November 19, 2017
English Opening A16

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. d3 Bg7 6. Bd2 0-0 7. g3 c5 8. h4!? Nc6. 8. ... h5 9. Bg2 Nc6 may transpose into Bacrot – Lékó, 4th SportAccord World Mind Games, Blitz Event, 北京 (Beijīng) 2014. 9. h5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 c4 11. hxg6. Not 11. d4 because of 11. ... e5! with a very comfortable game for Black. 11. ... hxg6 12. Qa4 Na5? This leads Black to a sad situation. Giri probably didn’t like Stockfish’s line 12. ... cxd3 13. Qh4 f6, which, however, seems quite sustainable; for instance: 14. Bh6 Qa5 15. Qc4+ Rf7 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Rh7+ Kxh7 18. Qxf7+ and draw by perpetual check. 13. d4 b6 14. Bg2 Bb7 15. Qc2 Qd5 16. Nh4 Qd7 17. e4! White finally breaks through the wall and prepares for the assault on the Kingside. 17. ... e5 18. d5 Bc8 19. f4! Qe7 20. f5 g5

21. Qd1! Maybe not necessary, but brilliantly correct! 21. ... gxh4 22. Rxh4 Rd8 23. Qh5 Kf8 24. Rg4!? 24. Bh6 was possibly simpler, but Aronian is following his aesthetic plots, or maybe only his own computer preparation. 24. ... Bf6? A tough, tougher and toughest defence was 24. ... Qd6, but after 25. Rxg7! Kxg7 26. Qg5+ Kf8 27. Kf2! (Δ Ra1-h1) 27. ... Ke8 28. Qg7! Qf8 29. Qxe5+ Qe7 30. Qg7 Qf8 31. Qxf8+ Kxf8 32. Bg5! (Stockfish’s analysis) Giri would have found out that, even without Queens, White’s attack was strong enough to force him to give back (too) much of his extra material. 25. Bh6+ Ke8 26. Rg8+ Kd7 27. d6! A most romantic pointe. 1 : 0.