1.d4
d5
2.c4
c6
3.Nf3
Nf6
4.Nc3
a6
5.g3
dxc4
6.a4
e6
7.Bg2
c5
8.dxc5
Qxd1+
9.Nxd1
Bd7
10.Ne5
Bc6
11.Nxc6
Nxc6
12.Bd2
Nd5
13.Rc1
Bxc5
14.Rxc4
Be7
15.Ne3
0-0-0
16.0-0
Kb8
17.Nxd5
exd5
18.Rc3
Rhe8
19.Re3
Bf6
20.Rxe8
Rxe8
21.e3
d4
22.Rc1
Bg5
23.Bxc6
bxc6
24.Rxc6
dxe3
25.Bxe3
Bxe3
26.fxe3
Rxe3
27.Rxa6
Rb3
28.Rd6
Kc7
29.Rd2
Rb4
30.Rc2+
Kd7
31.Rd2+
Kc7
32.Rc2+
Kd7
33.a5
Rb5
34.Rd2+
Kc7
35.Rc2+
Kd7
36.b4
Rxb4
37.Ra2
Kc7
38.a6
Kb8
39.Rf2
f6
40.Re2
h5
41.Re8+
Ka7
42.Re7+
Kxa6
43.Rxg7
Kb6
44.Rf7
h4
45.Rxf6+
Kc7
46.Rf4
Rb1+
47.Kg2
hxg3
48.hxg3
After pushing hard to draw blood from a stone, White has at least managed to reach a rook and pawn vs. rook ending that's not yet trivially drawn. One would expect a near-2800 to hold this without too much discomfort, though.
48...Kd7
Black brings the king as near as possible...
49.Re4
and White conversely tries to cut it off as far from the pawn as possible.
49...Rb8
Again good, elementary technique. Until the pawn reaches the fifth rank, the king and pawn combo cannot successfully advance the pawn against the rook.
50.Re3
Rh8?!
It's still a draw, but this is a wasted move. Black's rook has nothing special to do until White brings his king up and around and/or pushes the pawn to g4, but he can and does need to improve the position of his king. [50...Kd6
is the most accurate move, and you'll soon see why.]
51.Kf3
Rf8+
52.Kg4
Kd6!
The only move to draw. (From here on, an '!' will be given to refer to the only move that preserves the evaluation.) [52...Rg8+
53.Kf5
Rf8+
54.Kg6
Rg8+
55.Kf7
Rg4
56.Kf6
Rg8
(56...Kd6
57.Rd3+
Kc5
58.Kf5
Rg8
59.g4+-
) 57.Re7+
Kd6
58.Rg7+-
]
53.Kg5
Rg8+?
Here it is, the losing move. Black must be very careful where he puts or leaves his king, for two reasons. First, he can't allow White's rook to protect the pawn on the fourth or fifth rank without its being challenged. Second, Black must beware of checks followed by blocks on the g-file (see moves 57 and 58 in the game). To achieve these functions, the king should be on d5 or d4, as events warrant. [53...Kd5!
54.Kg6
(54.g4
Rg8+!
55.Kh4
Rh8+!
56.Kg3
Rg8!
57.Re7
Kd6!
58.Re1
Kd5!
59.Re7
Kd6!
60.Rh7
Ke6!
61.Kh4
Kf6!
62.Kh5
Rg5+!
63.Kh4
Ra5=
(63...Rg8=
) ) 54...Rg8+
55.Kf7
Rg4
56.Kf6
Kd4!
(56...Rg8
57.Re5+
Kd6
58.Rg5+-
) 57.Ra3
Ke4!=
]
54.Kf6!
Kd5
[54...Rg4
55.Rd3+
Kc5
56.Kf5
Rg8
57.g4
wins: 57...Rf8+
58.Ke6
Rg8
59.Rg3
and the g-pawn runs.]
55.Re5+!
Kd6
56.Re3
Kd5
57.Re5+!
Kd6
58.Rg5
The winning idea. Now the g-pawn progresses up the board.
58...Rf8+
59.Kg7
Rf3
60.g4
Rf4
61.Kh6
White can't do without this sooner or later, even though it seems to let the Black king reach its ideal square. [61.Rg6+
Ke7
62.g5
Rf5
]
61...Ke7
62.Rg7+
Kf8
A draw? Not quite.
63.g5
Rf1
64.Ra7
If, if, if...if Black's rook were somewhere passive, like b8, then ...Kg8 would be a dead draw. Unfortunately for Aronian, he will never be able to safely get his king to g8.
64...Rg1
65.Kg6
Rg2
66.Ra8+
Ke7
67.Ra5
It doesn't hurt anything, but I'm surprised that White doesn't play the right move right away.
67...Kf8
68.Ra8+
Ke7
69.Rg8
This is the key. White needs to advance the g-pawn, and with the rook on g8 can do so with Kh7 next. Kh6 wouldn't work because of ...Kf7, but after Kh7 Kf7 g6+ does the job. Note that if the position were moved three files to White's left (making White's pawn a d-pawn), then 69...Rh2 would draw. Black would have enough room on the side to give lots of side checks, and White can only take stop them with 70.Re8, but then 70...Rd2 once again prevents White's plan to advance the pawn. Meanwhile, back to the game. The last move was allegedly 69...Kd6 and resigns, but as it's pretty nonsensical and looks more like a stumble on the way to a DGT setup, I'm going to assume it didn't really happen. 1-0