The Longest Yard

Fabiano Caruana – Levon Grigori Aronian
Candidates Tournament; Berlin, March 26, 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. d3 d6 9. Bd2. The background story (the antefact) is 9. a4 Bd7 10. c3 Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. d4 exd4? (13. ... cxd4) 14. cxd4 Bg4 15. h3 Bh5 16. d5 (White stands clearly better already) 16. ... Qc8 17. Nf1 Bd8 18. g4 Bg6 19. Ng3 b4 20. Nh4 b3 21. Bb1 Nxg4 22. Nxg6 Nxf2 23. Ne7+ Rxe7 24. Kxf2 Re5 25. Kg2 c4 26. Nf5 Bf6 27. Qf3 c3 28. Nh6+ Kh8 29. Bd3 Re7 30. e5 Bxe5 31. Qe4 g6 32. Qh4 f6 33. Rxe5 dxe5 34. Qxf6+ Rg7 35. Qxe5 Qe8 36. Qxc3 Rc8 37. Qxa5 Re7 38. Bg5 Re2+ 39. Kg1 1 : 0 Caruana – Aronian, 5th Final Masters, Bilbao 2012. 9. ... Bg4. Two days ago Aronian opted for 9. ... Kh8 10. h3 Nd7 11. Nc3 Na5 12. Nd5 Nxb3 13. axb3 Bb7 14. c4 f5 finally managing (somehow) to save the day, Grischuk – Aronian, Candidates Tournament, Berlin 2018. 10. c3 d5 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qe2 Rb8 13. Bg5 dxe4 14. dxe4 h6 15. Bc1! Bg6 16. Nbd2 Nh5 17. Nf1 Bc5 18. g3! Kh7 19. Kg2 Qe7 20. Bc2 Rfd8 21. b4! Bb6 22. a4! Caruana has clearly won the theoretical challenge, so now Black comes up with a wild counterattack, reminiscent of their game in 2012. 22. ... Nf6 23. Nh4 Qe6 24. Bd3 Bh5!? 25. g4! Caruana is having a déjà vu experience right now! 25. ... Bxg4! 26. hxg4 Nxg4 27. Nf5! Nxf2! 28. Bc2! g6 29. N1e3!? The interpolation of 29. a5! might be useful, as after 29. ... Ba7 30. N5e3 Nh3 White has 31. Nd5! attacking c7. 29. ... gxf5 30. exf5 Qf6! 31. Qxf2

31. ... e4? Pressured by time, Aronian misses the incredibly strong 31. ... Nxb4! 32. cxb4 Rd4! (Δ ... Rb8-g8+) 33. Kh3 Rg8!? (33. ... Qg5!∞ might be even stronger) 34. Nd5! Rxd5 35. Qf3 Rd4 36. Be4 Rxb4 37. Ra3! bxa4∞ with very unclear play – but good compensation for Black. 32. Rh1 Rd6 33. Bxe4 Rg8+ 34. Kf1 Ne5 35. Qf4 c6 36. axb5 Rg5 37. bxa6 Qd8 38. f6+ Ng6 39. Rxh6+! 1 : 0. So Caruana leads alone by half a point with only one round to go.