Caïssa’s Solo

Wesley So – Levon Grigori Aronian
Candidates Tournament; Berlin, March 16, 2018
Spanish Game C88

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. a4 b4 9. a5 d6 10. d3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nbd2 Rb8 13. Nb3. Aronian had surely prepared an improvement over 13. c3 Qe8 14. Nc4! Qg6 15. h3 Nd7 16. Be3 d5!? 17. Ncd2 bxc3 18. bxc3 Nc5 19. Bxc5 Bxc5 20. Qa4! Rb2 21. Rf1! which pretty soon resulted in the collapse of Black’s Queenside, Carlsen – Aronian, 5th Sinquefield Cup, Saint Louis 2017. 13. ... Qc8 14. h3!? If 14. Qe2 then 14. ... Nd8 15. d4 exd4 16. Nbxd4 c5 17. Nb3 e5 18. Nbd2 Ne6 19. Nc4 Nd4 and Black soon succeeded in equalising, Caruana – Carlsen, 5th Sinquefield Cup, Saint Louis 2017. 14. ... Nd8 15. Be3 c5 16. Nbd2 Nc6 17. c3 Rb5. Black will be eventually able to gain the a5-Pawn, but at the cost of tying his forces to the Queenside, thus leaving White with excellent compensation elsewhere. 18. d4 exd4 19. cxd4 Nxa5 20. dxc5 dxc5 21. Ra2 Qb7 22. b3 Kh8!? A mysterious move. 23. Qc2 Nd7 24. Rea1 Bd8 25. Nc4 Nxc4 26. Qxc4 Bf6 27. Rd1 Qc6 28. Rad2 Nb6 29. Qc2 Qc7 30. e5! Be7. Not 30. ... Bxe5?? on account of 31. Ng5 winning on the spot. 31. Nd4! Rc8 32. Nxe6! Qxe5

33. Nf4!? So doesn’t feel confident enough to go for Stockfish’s 33. Rd6!! (Δ Be3-f4) 33. ... Bxd6? (also 33. ... c4 34. Bd4 is quite hopeless) 34. Ng5! gaining very heavy material. 33. ... Rf8? Luckily for him, however, Aronian misses his chance to consolidate by 33. ... Kg8(!) in order to answer 34. Re2 by 34. ... Bf8 with a still tenable game. 34. Re2 Qc3. Her Majesty comes in search for trouble, but also other moves would not have helped Black’s cause; for instance: 34. ... Bf6 35. g3(!) with an imposing position for White. 35. Qb1! Engines regard 35. Qa2! as even more accurate, so as to meet 35. ... a5(?) with 36. Bc1!+− (threatening both Bc1-b2 and Re2xe7). 35. ... Qf6 36. Bc1 c4!? Desperation. 37. bxc4 Nxc4 38. Re6 Qg5. Both 38. ... Qh4 39. Qe4 and 38. ... Qf7 39. Rd7 Re8 40. Qe4 lead to a very sad end for Black. The text doesn’t promise any better finale, so maybe Aronian could have resigned here. 39. Ng6+ Qxg6 40. Rxg6 hxg6 41. Qe4 Bf6 42. Qxc4 b3 43. Ba3 Rfb8 44. Rb1 b2 45. h4 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.