Chess World Cup 2017 Semi Final Tie Breaks - Tblisi

As expected, the match between Aronian and MVL went all the way to Armageddon where MVL won the toss and elected to play black – giving him a minute less on the clock, but more importantly only needing to hold Aronian to a draw to be able to reach the final.

I was expecting the Ding match to hold out until the blitz games where the Chinese GM held the rating advantage, but the match was decided in the first of the two 10 minute rapid games.

So,Wesley (2792) - Ding,Liren (2771)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (6.5), 21.09.2017

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.c4 c6 6.0–0 0–0 7.Nbd2 a5 8.b3 a4 9.Bb2 Bf5 D78: Fianchetto Grünfeld: 6 0–0 c6 

10.e3 Nbd7 11.Qe2 Ne4 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Qb5 Ra5 15.Qxb7 Nc5! 16.Qb4 Nd3 17.Qd2 Rb5

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18.Bc3N aiming for Ng5. [18.Ng5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Nxb2 20.Qxb2 1/2–1/2 (105) Berkes,F (2649)-Salem,A (2594) Baku 2014] 
18...axb3 19.Ng5 [19.a4!? Rb8 20.Ng5±] 
19...b2 20.Rab1 

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20...Nxf2! 21.Qxf2 Bxb1 22.Rxb1 e5 And now ...exd4 would win. 
23.Nh3 [23.Bf1= Rb8 24.h4] 
23...exd4³ 24.exd4 Qc7 25.Qd2 Rfb8 Strongly threatening ...Qc4. [25...Qc4!?] 
26.Nf4 [Don't go for 26.Bxb2? Qc4–+] 
26...Qc4 27.Bxd5! Rxd5 28.Nxd5 Qxd5 29.Rxb2 Rc8 30.Rb3 [30.Qd3!= keeps the balance.] 
30...h5µ ...Rxc3! is the strong threat. Black has strong compensation. 
31.Bb2 Kh7 32.h3 Qe4ƒ Black has strong initiative. 
33.Qd3? [33.Re3µ Qb1+ 34.Re1 Qxa2 35.Qf2] 
33...Qe1+–+ 34.Qf1 Qd2 ( -> ...Rc2) 
35.Qf2? [35.Qd3 Bxd4+ 36.Qxd4 Rc1+ 37.Bxc1 Qxd4+ 38.Kg2 Qe4+ 39.Rf3 Qc2+ 40.Rf2 Qxc1 41.Rxf7+ Kh6 42.Rf2] 
35...Qd1+ 36.Qf1 Bxd4+ 37.Bxd4 Qxd4+ Endgame KQR-KQR 
38.Kh1 Qd5+ 39.Rf3 Rc3! 40.Kg2 Qc6 [¹40...Ra3 41.h4 f5] 
41.h4 Kg8 42.a4 f6 43.a5 Kg7 44.a6 Rc2+ 45.Kg1 Rc1 46.Rxf6 Rxf1+ 47.Rxf1 Qxa6 KQ-KR 
48.Kg2 Qe2+ 49.Rf2 Qe4+ 50.Kh2 

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50...g5! 51.hxg5 h4 52.Rf4 Qe2+ 53.Kh3 hxg3 54.Kxg3 Black mates. 
54...Kg6 55.Rf2 Qe3+ 56.Kg2 Kxg5 57.Rf3 Qe2+ 58.Kg3 Qe1+ 59.Kg2 Kg4 60.Rf2 Qe4+ 61.Kh2 Kh4 62.Ra2 Qe5+ 63.Kg1 Qd4+ 64.Kh2 Qd6+ 65.Kg1 Qc5+ 66.Kh2 Qc7+ 67.Kg1 Qb6+ 68.Kg2 Qb7+ 69.Kh2 Qb8+ Precision: White = 24%, Black = 78%. 0–1

Aronian,Levon (2802) - Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2804)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (6.9), 21.09.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.Nb5 Na6 6.e3 D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines 

6...0–0 [6...c6 7.Nc3 Nb8 8.h3 0–0 9.Be2 Bf5 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Qc1 Re8 12.Bh2 Ne4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Ng5 Bf5 15.g4 e5 16.Nxf7 Kxf7 17.gxf5 exd4 1–0 (45) Aronian,L (2793)-Giri,A (2771) Stavanger 2017] 

7.h3 c6 8.Nc3 Nc7 9.Be2 b6

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[9...c5!?] 
10.0–0N [10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Ng4 Ne6 12.Bh6 Re8 13.Qd2 1–0 (25) Kovacs,M (2141)-Geher,K (1529) Budapest 2015] 
10...Bb7 11.Bh2 c5 12.a4 a5 13.Ne5 Nd7 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.Bg4 e6 16.Qd2 Bc6 17.b3 Rfc8 18.Ne2 cxd4 19.Nxd4 b5 20.axb5 Nxb5 21.c3 Nxd4 [21...Bb7 is interesting. 22.Rfc1 Nd6 23.Qb2 h5 24.Be2 e5] 
22.exd4 a4 Threatens to win with ...Bb5. 
23.b4 Bb5 24.Rfc1 a3 [24...h5!? 25.Be2 Bxe2 26.Qxe2 a3³] 
25.Be2 [25.Bf4=] 
25...Qc6 [25...Bxe2µ 26.Qxe2 Bh6] 
26.Bxb5= Qxb5 27.Bd6 Rc6 [27...Rd8!? 28.Bc5 Ra4³] 
28.Bc5 Rca6 29.Ra2 Qc4 30.Qe2 Qxe2 31.Rxe2 a2 32.Ra1 Ra3 [32...Bf8=] 
33.Rc2 [33.b5² R3a5 34.Rb2] 
33...Bf8 34.Kf1 e5 35.Bxf8 Kxf8 36.dxe5 Endgame KRR-KRR 
36...Ke7 37.Ke2 Ke6 38.f4 

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38...d4! 39.cxd4 Kd5 [39...Kf5!= remains equal.] 
40.Rd2 [40.b5!±] 
40...Kc4? [40...Ke4= and Black has nothing to worry.] 
41.d5+- Kxb4 42.d6 Kb3 43.Kf3 Kc3 44.Rf2 h5? [44...Kb4+ 45.Kg4 Kb3] 
45.Kg3! Kd4+ 

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46.Kh4! Kd5 47.Kg5? [47.d7+- Ke6 [#] 48.Rfxa2! Rxa2 49.Rxa2] 
47...Ke6± 48.g4 [48.Re2±] 
48...hxg4= 49.hxg4 And now Re2 would win. 
49...R3a5! 50.Re2 Hoping for f5+. 
50...f6+! 51.Kxg6 Rg8+! 52.Kh6 Rxg4 aiming for ... Ra8. 
53.f5+ [Much less strong is 53.Raxa2?! Rxa2 54.Rxa2 fxe5±] 
53...Kxf5 ...Ra8 is the strong threat. 
54.e6 Ra8? [54...Raa4= 55.Kh7 Rh4+ 56.Kg7 Rag4+ 57.Kf8 Rh8+ 58.Kf7 Rh7+ 59.Kf8 Rh8+ 60.Kf7 Rh7+ 61.Kf8 Rh8+] 
55.Rf1++- Rf4 56.Rxf4+ Kxf4 

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57.Rxa2! Rxa2 KR-KPP 
58.e7 Rd2 59.e8Q Rxd6 KQ-KR 
60.Qe7 Rd4 61.Qxf6+ Ke3 62.Kg5 Rd5+ 63.Kg4 Rd4+ 64.Kg3 Rd3 65.Qe5+ White mates. 
65...Kd2+ 66.Kf2 Kc2 67.Qc5+ Rc3 68.Qf5+ Kb2 69.Ke2 Rc2+ 70.Kd3 Rc3+ 71.Kd2 Rb3 72.Qe5+ Kb1 73.Qd4 Rh3 74.Qb6+ Ka1 75.Qf6+ Ka2 76.Qe6+ Rb3 77.Kc2 Ka1 78.Qa6+ Precision: White = 47%, Black = 40%. 1–0