Aronian's Candidates Preparation

We begin by linking to an article that is interesting, but could have been even more interesting - and valuable - had they supplied some detail. The gist of the article, which is in Spanish (Google Translate does an adequate but not fantastic job with it), is that Levon Aronian's preparation for the Candidates includes work with the doctors and nutritionists of the Spanish soccer team Real Sociedad*. This is an excellent idea, and hopefully he started working with them soon enough for it to make a difference in the Candidates.

HT: Pedro Espinosa

*Google Translate renders this "Royal Society" in English, giving the misleading impression that Aronian is working with the Spanish analogue to the British scientific society whose most famous past member was Isaac Newton. It's not; it's a soccer team.

Aronian Interview

There are few chess specifics, but for those who aren't well acquainted with Levon Aronian this interview may be of interest.

Palma Grand Prix, Rounds 3-5: Aronian Leading; MVL in a Six-Way Tie for Second

After five rounds of nine Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is close to the lead and still has a good chance of qualifying for the Candidates, but if the event finished right now he'd be out: the tie for second place is too large. Levon Aronian has 3.5/5, while Vachier-Lagrave has 3, tied with Hikaru Nakamura, Ding Liren, Peter Svidler, Pentala Harikrishna, and Dmitry Jakovenko.

The round 5 action was incredibly lame, with all nine games drawn, eight of them quickly. (Mostly very quickly, and MVL didn't exactly cover himself in glory with a 13-move draw, with White, against Nakamura.)

But the flip side is that round 4 was a thriller, with six decisive games and a lot of spectacular chess. Aronian seized the lead after bludgeoning Anish Giri on the white side of an English. Nakamura outplayed Teimour Radjabov in an important game, as Radjabov, like Vachier-Lagrave, is hoping to qualify for the Candidates with a sufficiently strong result here. Ding Liren beat Ernesto Inarkiev with the black pieces; this would have been an important victory had Ding not already qualified via the World Cup. Harikrishna crushed Francisco Vallejo Pons, Jakovenko ground down Pavel Eljanov with Black, and Richard Rapport won speedily with a kingside attack against Jon Ludwig Hammer. It was really a great round.

Round 3 was quieter, with only two victories: Hammer lost with White to Svidler, and Vallejo beat Boris Gelfand, who with Hammer is presently at the bottom of the tournament table with 1.5/5.

The games and full standings are here. Today (=Tuesday) is a rest day; they'll resume on Wednesday.

Aronian's Wedding

As many of you know, Levon Aronian married his long-time girlfriend and fianceé Arianne Caoili on Saturday (September 30). Here's an article with some pictures, courtesy of Chess Today.

World Cup, Round 7 Tiebreaks: Aronian Defeats Ding Liren 2-0, Wins the Tournament

A great event, especially for Levon Aronian, comes to a close. Ding Liren was in serious trouble in a couple of the classical games, so it's not too surprising that Aronian was able to break through at the shorter time controls. Despite the 2-0 triumph in the 25-minute games, Aronian was fortunate to win the second game, as Ding was winning at one point. (Replay the games here, with my notes.)

This is Aronian's second World Cup victory - he also won the inaugural event in 2005 (the World Cup-like tournaments in the preceding years were FIDE World Championships). And while Ding was the runner-up, he is the first Chinese player to make the Candidates, so congratulations to both players. And a further congratulations to Levon Aronian, who will marry his very long-time girlfriend and fiancee Arianne Caoili this Saturday.

World Cup, Round 7 (Final), Day 4: Aronian Comes Close Again, but Tiebreaks are Coming after a Fourth Draw

The white pieces aren't proving very helpful in the final of the World Cup. Levon Aronian hasn't achieved any advantage in his white games, while Ding Liren's tries in games 2 and 4 have nearly finished in disaster. After 23 moves Aronian was winning a pawn for nothing, and the only question was whether he'd manage to convert his advantage. He didn't, but it was close. (The game is here, with my notes.) So it's on once more to tiebreaks, and unless Ding Liren comes with better openings, Aronian will be a prohibitive favorite to win.

World Cup, Round 7 (Finals), Day 3: A Short Day at the Office

While Ding Liren eventually came under heavy pressure in his white game yesterday, he has had only slight difficulties in his black games - his preparation has been very good. Today we got the sort of Catalan-like English that occurred in one of Aronian's games with Vassily Ivanchuk - but with colors reversed. With White, Aronian varied from Ivanchuk's 8.d3 with 8.Qd3, which has also arisen in some very high-level games. 10.Qb3 left all the predecessors behind. White hoped for an edge with his bishops, especially the one on g2, but Ding first eliminated White's bishop pair and then blunted the Bg2 at the cost of an isolated pawn. After further exchanges the position was equal, and a draw was agreed on move 30. (The game, with my notes, is here.)

The final classical is tomorrow; if anyone wins it, they win the World Cup; otherwise, it's on to tiebreaks.

World Cup, Round 7 (Finals), Day 2: Aronian Misses a Big Opportunity

Or several. The first 29 moves were what you'd expect: Ding Liren, with White, was playing solid, two-results chess, trying to maintain and grow a safe, small opening edge, while Levon Aronian's goal was to neutralize it and get out with a draw. That was the script, with the "draw" ending on the way, until Ding played the careless 30.Ncb3. After 30...b6 31.Nxc5 bxa5 Black's a-pawn posed a real problem for White. Objectively he was still in decent shape, but Aronian outplayed him and reached a won ending. Fortunately for Ding, there was never a stone-cold obvious way for Black to win, especially with only a handful of minutes on the clock (and after hours of play, after weeks of play), and Aronian missed his chances and allowed his indefatigable opponent to escape with a draw.

The game, with my relatively light comments, can be replayed here. And here's Ding Liren, interviewed after the game:

Svidler On His World Cup, and on Game 1 of Aronian vs. Ding Liren

The audio isn't especially good, but it's worth watching if you can tolerate its choppiest moments. Have a look.

World Cup, Round 7 (Anti-climactic Final), Day 1: A Solid Draw **UPDATED**

The big prize of a trip to the Candidates has already been won by the finalists, Levon Aronian and Ding Liren, but an extra $40,000 and the prestige of winning the World Cup are still at stake. Game 1 of this best-of-four game mini-match is now history, and it was a good, correct draw in the English. The line 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nf3 Bf5 7.Be2 d4!? has sprouted out of nowhere the last few months, and for the moment it seems to be solving Black's problems in the variation. Ding Liren held without much trouble, and he'll have his first shot with the white pieces in game 2 tomorrow.

Here's the game, with annotations - now back to watching Caruana-Kramnik from the Isle of Man - what an insane pairing!

UPDATE: I've updated the annotations, which are marked by "UPDATE", on moves 7, 13, 17, 23, and especially 29. Also, here are some useful videos: