ARONIAN vs GRISCHUK – SINQUEFIELD CUP 2018 ROUND 9

I certainly wasn’t expecting to see 18.Rxf7!! Even more impressive was the speed at which Aronian played the move. I may be wrong, but it looked like the f7 pawn was off the board before Grischuk had even pressed his clock.

The win gave Aronian a share of first place and confirmed his spot in the London series finale.

Today’s game features an Old Indian, Ukrainian variation that includes some Q&A style annotations.

While playing through the game, scroll slowly so that when you get to the questions you can put some time on the clock (ten to fifteen minutes) and try and find the solution.

Aronian,Levon (2767) - Grischuk,Alexander (2766)

6th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2018 Saint Louis (9), 27.08.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.g3 Nbd7 4.Bg2 e5 5.c4 c6 6.Nc3 e4 7.Nh4 A54: Old Indian, Ukrainian variation 
7...d5 8.0–0 Bb4  9.cxd5 White is a little better. 
9...cxd5 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7zpp+n+pzpp'
6-+-+-sn-+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-vl-zPp+-sN$
3+-sN-+-zP-#
2PzP-+PzPLzP"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

10.f3N [10.Nf5 0–0 11.Qb3 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 Nb6 13.Ne3 Be6 14.b3 Qd7 0–1 (57) Kovalenko,I (2642)-Kabanov,N (2501) Moscow 2014] 
10...Bxc3 11.bxc3 0–0 12.Ba3 Black now has to pay attention to fxe4. 
12...Re8 13.Nf5 Nb6 14.Nd6 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.fxe4 Nxe4 17.Qc2 Qd5 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+r+k+(
7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+q+-+-%
4-+pzPn+-+$
3vL-zP-+-zP-#
2P+Q+P+LzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

Can you find White's killer blow in this position?

00000

18.Rxf7!  
18...Kxf7–+ 
How would you have responded if Black had replied with 18...Qxf7 instead?

00000

[Rather not 18...Qxf7 19.Bxe4 Qh5 20.Re1²] 
19.Rf1+ Bf5! 20.g4 g6 21.Qc1 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+-+(
7zpp+-+k+p'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+q+l+-%
4-+pzPn+P+$
3vL-zP-+-+-#
2P+-+P+LzP"
1+-wQ-+RmK-!
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21...Kg7 
Can you find a better option for Black instead of the move he played?

00000

[21...Re6!–+ 22.Qg5 (22.gxf5? gxf5 23.Qg5 Qxd4+ 24.cxd4 Nxg5µ) 22...Qxd4+! 23.cxd4 Nxg5] 
22.gxf5³ gxf5 Threatens Re6 
23.Bxe4 fxe4 [A no go is 23...Qxe4 24.Qg5+ Kh8 25.Qf6+ Kg8 26.Rxf5=] 
24.Qf4 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+-+(
7zpp+-+-mkp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+q+-+-%
4-+pzPpwQ-+$
3vL-zP-+-+-#
2P+-+P+-zP"
1+-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

What is Black's best option to fend off the looming attack?

00000

24...h6! 25.Qc7+ Kh8 [25...Kg6µ 26.Kf2 Rac8] 
26.Bd6!‚ White attacks. 
26...Rg8+ 27.Kf2! Rg6! 28.Be5+ Kg8 aims at ... Rf8 +. 
29.Ke3 

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8r+-+-+k+(
7zppwQ-+-+-'
6-+-+-+rzp&
5+-+qvL-+-%
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3+-zP-mK-+-#
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1+-+-+R+-!
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29...Rd8?
What should Black have played instead?

00000

[29...Re8=] 
Black's error exposes a vicious mating attack. Find the move.

00000

30.Qe7!+- b5 31.h4 a5 32.h5 Rg5 33.Rf6 Rxe5 34.Rg6+  1–0