An Escape in Time

Levon Grigori Aronian – Alireza Firouzja
7th Grand Chess Tour; 1st stage; Superbet Chess Classic; Bucharest, May 7, 2022
Slav Defence D17

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5 12. Ne3 gxf4 13. Nxf5 0-0-0 14. Qc2 Kb8 15. gxf4 (15. a5 Nc5!) 15. ... Nc4 16. e3 Nc5 17. Rd1 Rxd1+ 18. Nxd1 Qa5+. This is all theory so far. 19. Ke2? A gross mistake, which loses a Pawn by force. Usual is 19. Nc3 Qb6∞ 20. 0-0 Qxb2 21. Qxb2 Nxb2 22. Rb1 Ncd3 23. Be4 Kc7 24. Kf1 a5 25. Bxd3 Nxd3 26. Ke2 Nc5 27. h4 Ne6 28. Ne4 Nc5 29. Nc3 Ne6 30. Rc1 Bb4 31. Ne4 h6 32. h5 b6 33. Rg1 b5 34. Ra1 bxa4 35. Rxa4 Nf8 36. Nf6 Nd7 37. Nxd7 Kxd7 38. Kd3 c5 39. Kc4 Ke6 40. e4 Rd8 41. f3 Rd1 42. Nxh6 Rd4+ 43. Kb5 Rd3 44. Nf5 Rxf3 45. h6 Bd2 46. Kxc5 Rh3 47. Nd4+ Kd7 48. f5 Rxh6 49. e5 Rh4 50. e6+ ½ : ½ 王皓 (Wáng Hào) – Nakamura, 40th Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2012.

19. ... Qa6! 20. Kf3 Qxa4 21. Qxa4. It took an hour for Aronian to resign himself to the inevitable. 21. ... Nxa4 22. Ke2. Unfortunately for White, the Pawn fork on b3 would be refuted by the Knight check at d2. 22. ... Ncxb2 23. Nxb2 Nxb2 24. Rb1 Na4. Once again a little tactics: White cannot recover the Pawn with 25. Bxc6?? on account of the Knight check at c3 forking King and Rook. 25. Kd2 Nb6. Black has one extra Pawn and three united passed Pawns. All in all, it should be enough for Firouzja to do whatever he wishes. 26. Bf3 Bc5 27. Nh6 Bc5 27. Nh6 f6 28. Rg1 a5 29. Rg8+ Rxg8 30. Nxg8 f5 31. Kc2 a4 32. Nh6 Nc4 33. Be2 Nd6 34. Bd3 Ne4 35. Bxe4 fxe4 36. Ng8 b5 37. Nf6 Kc7 38. Nxh7 b4 39. Ng5 b3+ 40. Kb2 Bb4. Time control is reached. The e-Pawn falls, leaving White with four passed Pawns, but Black’s better King gives his Pawn triad irresistible strength. 41. Nxe4

41. ... c5? Firouzja will no doubt be told by his coach that his technique still needs a lot of work. The correct method is 41. ... Kb6! 42. f5 Ka5 43. f6 Bf8!−+ blocking White’s Pawns. On the other hand, Aronian must be credited for achieving a study-like draw: 42. Nc3! Bxc3+ 43. Kxc3 c4 44. Kb2 Kd6 45. f5! Ke5

46. f3! And not 46. e4?? because of 46. ... Kd4! 47. f6 c3+ 48. Kc1 Kd3 49. f7 a3 50. f8=Q b2+ 51. Kb1 c2+ 52. Ka2 b1=Q+ 53. Kxa3 c1=Q+ 54. Ka4 Qc4+ followed by mate. 46. ... Kxf5 47. h4! As FIDE Master Yosha Iglesias first noted via Twitter, a position of reciprocal zugzwang appeared on the board: “Black to play, White draws. White to play, Black wins. Unfortunately for Alireza, it’s his move”. 47. ... Ke5 48. h5 Kf5 49. f4! Ke4 50. h6 Kd3 51. h7 c3+ 52. Ka3 c2 53. h8=Q c1=Q+ 54. Kxa4! b2

55. Qh7+! Kxe3 56. Qh3+ Kxf4 57. Qh4+ Kf5 58. Qh3+ Ke5 59. Qh5+ Kd6 60. Qg6+ Kc7 61. Qg7+ Kb6 62. Qxb2+! Forcing a stalemate. 62. ... Qxb2 ½ : ½.

“Not every day one gets a reciprocal zugzwang in a game! Can’t say I am happy with my play, but definitely a memorable moment!”, Aronian eventually said. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.