FIDE Grand Prix en Palma tras 4 rondas

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Palma 2017"] [Site "Palma de Mallorca"] [Date "2017.11.19"] [Round "4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A16"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2762"] [Annotator "Alex Yermolinsky"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 {These days White is having a nice streak of success in the Anti-Grunfeld setups.} 5. d3 ({Also, the immediate} 5. h4 {has been seen a lot lately.}) 5... Bg7 6. Bd2 O-O 7. g3 c5 {I'm not a big fan of this move here. For one thing, this is not a developing move. If you look at the similar position with reversed colors, Black is doing quite well with this Bd7 and Qc8 thing, and here with an extra tempo White can really cause problems for the black king.} ({Both} 7... Nc6 8. Bg2 Nb6) ({and} 7... e5 8. Bg2 Ne7 {seem more suitable to meet White's h2-h4 offensive.}) 8. h4 $1 { [#] Officially, a novelty. I mentioned in my previous reports how Aronian's opening preparation blends with his style of play. Levon seems to be getting his kind of positions nearly every time he has White.} Nc6 ({Surrendering the g5-square is unpleasant:} 8... h5 9. Bg2 Nc6 10. Ng5 Nc7 {and now White can even try} 11. Bxc6 $5) (8... h6 {on the other hand, gives White a tempo} 9. Qc1 Kh7 10. h5 g5 11. Bg2 {and how does Black protect his c5-pawn now?}) (8... Bg4 $5 9. Bg2 Nc6 10. Qa4 Nf6 {may be Black's best option. At least, he's well mobilized, as seen from a sample line} 11. Be3 Rc8 $1 12. Bxc5 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Ne5) 9. h5 Nxc3 ({I wonder if Black can get away with} 9... b6 10. hxg6 hxg6 11. Bg2 (11. Qa4 Nd4) 11... Bb7 12. Ne4 Nd4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 {or some such play.}) 10. bxc3 c4 $1 {An interesting concept from Anish. Too bad he didn't follow through on his ideas a couple of moves later.} 11. hxg6 hxg6 12. Qa4 {Aronian is very good in setting his opponents up with positional riddles.} ({The immediate} 12. d4 {allows Black to strike in the center with} e5 {and there's d4-d5 in reply to it.}) 12... Na5 $2 {That's exactly what Levon hoped to see.} ({The principled reply} 12... cxd3 {was most likely turned down because of} 13. Qh4 {Indeed, this had to be the idea behind White's previous move. It takes a lot of nerve to dismiss the other guy's ideas when he happens to be the World's #2. Still,} f6 $1 {[#] was fully playable. Nevermind the danger to the king: we're destroying White's center! The most direct attacking line,} 14. Bh6 (14. exd3 {meets with} Kf7 $1 {and Black is ready to intrercept the h-file, while his light-squared bishop covers the king from e6. You know what? White may be worse here.}) 14... Qa5 15. Qc4+ Rf7 16. Bxg7 {is countered by a nice shot} Be6 $1 ({Anyway, from the theoretical point of view even} 16... Kxg7 17. Rh7+ Kxh7 18. Qxf7+ Kh6 {is good enough, because White is forced to give a perpetual.}) 17. Bxf6 $5 exf6 18. Qxd3 Bf5 19. Qd2 Rd8 20. Qb2 Re7 {It looks like Black has a lot of compensation for a pawn.}) 13. d4 $1 {Now, as the black knight moved away from the center, Aronian stakes his claim in the middle of the board.} b6 14. Bg2 Bb7 15. Qc2 {If Black could only have his c-pawn back on c5, he would have had a normal Grunfeld. As it is, he has no counterplay to speak of.} Qd5 16. Nh4 Qd7 17. e4 e5 18. d5 Bc8 {Giri just cleared the b7-square for his knight, but he won't be given the time to complete his maneuvering.} 19. f4 $1 Qe7 (19... exf4 20. gxf4 Nb7 21. Be3 $1 Nc5 22. Bxc5 bxc5 23. Bf3 {followed by e4-e5 and, of course, Qh2 is decisive.}) ({or} 19... Nb7 20. Be3 Qd6 21. Nf3 exf4 22. gxf4 Nc5 23. e5 Bf5 24. Qxf5 gxf5 25. exd6 Bxc3+ 26. Ke2 Bxa1 27. Rxa1 Rfe8 28. Ne5 $18) 20. f5 $1 {[#] The most energetic.} g5 21. Qd1 $3 {Levon is in the zone!} gxh4 22. Rxh4 Rd8 (22... f6 23. Qh5 Rf7 24. Qg6 {and White only needs to bring the other rook to the h-file to force resignation.}) 23. Qh5 Kf8 (23... Qd6 24. Qh7+ Kf8 25. Bh6 Bxh6 26. Rxh6 $18) 24. Rg4 $6 {This is the one and only slip-up from Aronian in this brilliant game.} ({The somewhat counter-intuitive} 24. Qg4 $1 {would wrap it up soon:} Bf6 25. Rh7 Ke8 26. Bh6 Nb7 (26... Kd7 27. Qh5) 27. Qg8+ Kd7 28. Qxf7 Qxf7 29. Rxf7+ Be7 30. f6 {etc.}) 24... Bf6 $2 {Very unfortunate.} ({ Anish had a chance to put up stiff resistance:} 24... Qd6 $1 {I can only assume Levon planned to sacrifice more:} 25. Rxg7 Kxg7 26. Qg5+ Kf8 27. Kf2 Ke8 28. Qg7 {White's attack is formidable, but it's by no means over for Black.}) 25. Bh6+ Ke8 26. Rg8+ Kd7 27. d6 1-0