It’s barely gotten underway, but the European Team Championship in Reykjavik already has featured an emotionally charged win for the French team and a sensational defeat of reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen.
Just a day after the devastating attacks Friday in Paris, the French squad upset the powerful Armenians in Round 2, with top board GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave winning the critical point in an epic 82-move struggle with Armenian star Levon Aronian. The French players wore black armbands during the game to honor the victims back home and Vachier-Lagrave admitted later he played the game in a “state of shock.”
“Somehow over the board, let’s say after an hour of play, I was at least managing to focus on the problems I had to solve,” he told Chess.com. “I took my mind off it for a while, but of course there is a long way to go before we can go back to normal life, but we have to.”
Remarkably, Aronian himself was able to bounce back in his very next pairing, against the world champ. Norway is not one of the favorites in the 32-team Open event, but with Carlsen running your anchor lap, you’re never out of the race.
This time, however, the Norwegian champion’s attempt to find dynamic play against Black’s stolid Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense leads him badly astray. Black dangles a pawn on the queenside that White unwisely chases, and Carlsen finds himself quickly exposed to a powerful attack after 10. Bb3 a5! (giving the strong bishop a retreat square, an idea that will pay big dividends) 11. Nc4 Ba7 12. a4 0-0! 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6?! (Bh4 g5!? 15. Bg3 Bg4 16. Qc2 Nh5 looks equal) Qxf6 15. Nxa5 d5! — White has won his pawn but now the center opens up and the Black pieces spring to life.
Black dominates the d-file and his rook takes up residence on d2, adding to White’s defensive burden. After 21. b4 Rad8, GM Robert Hess, analyzing the game at Chess.com, noted that Aronian planned to meet 22. Bb3 with the remarkable 22…Bh3!! 23. gxh3 Qf4 24. Bd1 R8d3 25. Kg2 Rxd1! 26. Rxd1 Qf3+ 27. Kg1 Rxd1 28. Qxd1 Bxf2+, winning the queen. The White queen is lost anyway after another slick combinational idea from the Armenian: 24. Qxf1 Rxf2 25. Qg1 (see diagram) Ra2!! 26. Rxa2 (Qxa7?? Qxg2 mate; White may have banked on 26. Bb3 Bxg1? 27. Bxa2 Qxd8 28. Rf1, with real survival changes, missing 26…Qxg2+!! 27. Qxg2 Rxa1+ 28. Qf1 Rxf1+ 29. Kg2 Rg1+ 30. Kf3 Rc1, winning) Bxg1 27. Kxg1 Qc1 28. Kf2 Qxd1 29. Nxc6 Qb3 30. Rd1 Qxc3, and the queen will dominate the White rook and knight in the coming play.
White’s queenside pawns can’t get moving, and White’s pieces can never coordinate to tie down the queen. In the final position, the White king must move to a dark square and the White rook is lost after either 45…Qc7+ or 45…Qb6+; Carlsen resigned.
—-
The win breaks a seven-game winning streak for Carlsen over Aronian dating back to 2009. FIDE announced earlier this month that the Armenian will be one of the wild-card selections for the eight-player candidates tournament in March 2016 to determine Carlsen’s next challenger. It was announced last week that Dutch star Anish Giri has secured the eighth and final slot in the field, which will include two Americans, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana.
The top-ranked Americans squared off in an unusual four-day mixed-format match that ended Sunday in St. Louis, including a Basque chess match, rapid, blitz and Fischer Random games. Nakamura won the Fischer Random contest, but Caruana prevailed in both rapid and blitz, earning an overall 10-8 win.
Carlsen-Aronian, European Team Championship, Reykjavik, November 2015
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. c3 Bb6 8. Na3 c6 9. Ba4 d6 10. Bb3 a5 11. Nc4 Ba7 12. a4 O-O 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Nxa5 d5 16. Bc2 dxe4 17. dxe4 Rd8 18. Qe1 Qg5 19. Kh1 Rd2 20. Bd1 Be6 21. b4 Rad8 22. Nxb7 Bc4 23. Nxd8 Bxf1 24. Qxf1 Rxf2 25. Qg1 Ra2 26. Rxa2 Bxg1 27. Kxg1 Qc1 28. Kf2 Qxd1 29. Nxc6 Qb3 30. Rd2 Qxc3 31. Rd6 Qb2+ 32. Ke3 Qa3+ 33. Kf2 Qxa4 34. Nxe5 Qc2+ 35. Kf3 f5 36. Rd3 fxe4+ 37. Kxe4 Qxg2+ 38. Nf3 Qg4+ 39. Ke3 g5 40. Kf2 Qf5 41. Rd8+ Kg7 42. Kg2 g4 43. Nd2 Qe6 44. Nf1 Qc6+ White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.