Chess greats Levon Aronian and @Magnus Carlsen go head-to-head at the 2014 World Blitz Championship in Dubai! Watch two former world blitz champions battle in this commentary with @Daniel Naroditsky!
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This is GM Daniel nerdinski we are Watching Grandmaster Lavon aronian Taking on the world champion Magnus Carlson at the 2014 feed a world Blitz Championship and the handshake the game Begins with D4 and C4 and Magnus putting On the board the Queen's Indian defense One of the most reputable lines in chess And Incredibly solid opening D5 pushed By Magnus and an early trade in the Center as the sides continue to Blitz Out their moves and develop their pieces Bishop B4 check by Magnus posing an Early decision to Levon how is he going To block that check my guess would be Bishop D2 and that is indeed what he Plays and Magnus with a very typical Maneuver you check on B4 to induce an Awkward developing move and then the Dark squared Bishop drops back to D6 as Is indeed very customary in this line Knight C3 Knight bd7 and now the sides In furiously quick fashion have both Completed their developments and now They take their turns moving their Rooks Into the game rookie one rookie eight And I like the way that Magnus has Positioned his pieces both of his Bishops look really good especially that Bishop on A6 which is preventing white Snipe from jumping into P5 and now Magnus moves his other Rook into Position Rook A8 to C8 he is most Definitely preparing to expand in the
Center with C7 C5 and then Lebon might Feel a little bit of awkwardness with His Queen sitting on C2 and getting X-rayed by that Rook on Sk8 and solobon For very obvious reasons is taking a Significant thing how is he gonna deal With C5 and there's the answer as he Pushes his Pawn up to A4 very Confidently executed move and he secures The B5 Square for his nine my guess is That he wants to meet C5 with Knight B5 And so Magnus pushes his C Pawn up but Only one square C7 C6 in order to secure That B5 square with his Pawn but Lavon He doesn't stop there the a pawn is now On A5 and that Bishop on A6 suddenly Feels very vulnerable white threatens a Takes B6 and then Magnus would have to Take back with the queen and ruin his Own structure and so Magnus decides to Be proactive he aches on A5 so he is up A pawn but obviously Levon has succeeded In damaging Black's Queen Side Pawn Structure and now he takes hold of the Center E2 E4 what a brave decision by Levon striking in the center and that is Why he put his Rook on E1 in order to Prepare E4 and now he plays it he Figures that his pieces are more Prepared for the opening of the center Than Magnus is let's see if his Intuition is correct a little bit of Hesitation from the world champion as he Decides whether to take on e4 I don't
See an alternative because otherwise White's Pawn would have moved up to E5 With devastating effect and we have a Mass trade in the center every possible Piece is traded on the E4 Square in Levon hesitating for a couple of moves I Don't think he was seriously considering Sacking to Rook on e4 he's probably Thinking about the future Magnus moving His other Knight into position Controlling that important D5 Square Which is a blockading score white has an Isolated Pawn on D4 but black has Pawn Weaknesses all over the board I think E4 Was a successful call by Levon it seems Like he is is in charge of the game will He recapture the pawn on A5 yes he will And he will do so with the Rook Attacking the bishop on A6 and smoking It out of its comfortable perch and it Moves back to its initial Square to C8 Dropping the queen away from F5 and my Guess is that Magnus is going to reroute He's going to reroute that light squared Bishop either to E6 in order to pressure The B3 Pawn which is actually lavon's Only Pawn weakness or maybe all the way To G4 in order to harass the F3 Knight Lavon moves his Queen down to C2 Attacking C6 Magnus has more Pawn Weaknesses than LeBron he's got two Weaknesses on the queen side and Levon Only has one so aronian he could start Gobbling he could gobble upon an A7 that
Is exactly what he does and if Magnus Recaptures on B3 white takes on C6 and He will be a healthy Pawn up in not just Any pawn a Central well-defended Pawn on D4 so that decision to play E4 by Levon Has led to some frustration there as you Can see Magnus changing his sitting Position and pondering his next course Of action does he accept a pawn down Position and a long struggle to equalize Or does he find a tactical way to solve His problems maybe he can play Queen d8 To B6 attacking The Rook on A7 and Defending the pawn on C6 that looks like A pretty good move to me but Queen B6 Maybe The Rook moves back to A1 and Maybe there's something Magnus doesn't Like about the way that the queen will Be positioned on B6 Lavon also has the Idea of driving his knight from F3 up to E5 and putting even more pressure on the C6 bottom Magnus after a very long think There was something he didn't like about Queen B6 and he does decide to acquiesce This Pawn down position this is very Unpleasant levonne is up upon but the Positive thing for Magnus is his peace Placement that Bishop on D5 it is a Monster it is blockading White's extra Pawn it is controlling a lot of Important squares but Magnus still has a Difficult defensive task ahead of him He's a pawn down he's 25 seconds down on The clock and he decides to proceed very
Calmly he makes some Luft on the king Side pushing his Pawn up to H 6 some air For the king and now the Bishops are Traded which uh really one could argue Benefits both players Lavon gets rid of That very important blockader but Magnus He gets rid of white spian cattle bishop And that King on G2 is feeling pretty Uncomfortable maybe Magnus will try to Get his Queen to D5 by moving his Bishop Away from D6 Bishop D6 to f8 looks like A pretty solid defensive move it also Attacks the pawn on D4 now there's no Question that Magnus is the one getting Tortured here and he is spending Significant chunks of time trying to Figure out what the best defensive Posture is does he want to trade Rooks With Rook A8 who does that benefit these Are difficult questions that cannot be Easily resolved and he's got 45 seconds Now Magnus has to press on the gasp at All here he's 50 seconds down on the Clock he's down a Pawn on the board and Lavon is sitting pretty now 30 seconds On the world champions clock as he still Has not made a decision and Levon is Threatening to drive his Queen up to C4 And threaten the pawn on F7 you can see The nervousness that anxiety by Magnus Says he finally makes a decision and he Moves his Bishop away from D6 back to f8 As we discussed there's that Queen C4 Move by Lavon precipitating a queen
Trade on D5 who does that Queen trade Benefit well it's hard to say there's no Question that black has great drawing Chances in this position that Rook on B8 Can infiltrate the second rank with Rook B2 but that doesn't necessarily produce The kind of effect that Magnus would Wanted to produce the big question in my Eyes is whether Lavon can put his extra Pawn on D4 to good use will he be able To push it to D6 or will Magnus launch a Successful blockade against that pawn on The D5 square and LeBron bringing his Knight up to a very active Square Magnus Pushing H5 in order to prepare G6 and Levon prevents G6 by pressuring the Knight on F6 which jumps into E4 and now The bishop on G5 is attacked as Magnus Briefly looks off to the side you can Sense the concentration there from both Players as this end game is starting to Reach a climax will LeBron be able to Convert his extra Pawn or will the world Or will the world champion show his Storied defensive skills and hold a draw Here as his clock is now dipped to 15 Seconds 97 checked by Levon and Consternation from Magnus there if the King would have moved Bishop F4 would Have attacked the rook and the h-trip on At the same time and so Magnus has no Choice but to trade his Bishop for Lavon's Knight and that most certainly Favors white white now has a monster
Bishop in the open board and still has That extra Pawn on D4 which can be Easily defended by the bishop because it Is in a dark square but it is not Important for white to Simply rest on His Laurels and keep his extra Pawn he Will have to set that pawn in motion at Some point and that is precisely what Magnus tries to prevent with the move Knight back to F6 and he controls the D5 Square and prevents the further progress Of the pawn for the time being Bishop to D6 by Levon Rook d8 by Magnus attacking The bishop and putting more control on The D5 Square Bishop to E7 by LeBron and He forces a trade Rook takes D4 Eliminates the pawn but Rook takes H5 Restores White's material serial Advantage King G7 and now we have a two On three Central a three on two Situation where Lavon has that perfect Pawn structure and Magnus has doubled Pawns on the file but those doubled Pawns are actually not as bad as they Look they are doing a great job at Preventing the further progress of White's f and g pawns and Magnus has no Choice but to go back and forth but that Is good for him because he's down to 15 Seconds and he simply is going to do Nothing and gain time on his clock it is Up to Lavon the ball in his court is in His court can he figure out a way to Keep pushing his Pawn successfully F3
That is exactly what the Armenian Grand Master is trying to do as he has managed To push his Pawn all the way up to H5 But now it meets with Fierce resistance From Black's king the king is preventing The pawn from moving up to H6 and now Magnus uses his Rook to cut off White's King on the fourth Rank and prevent it From moving up to the fifth ring Ken Lavon smoked that Rook out of the fifth Rank and for the time being he is just Sort of moving back and forth Magnus Defending quickly and Khan confidently And moving The Rook back and forth and Keeping the king cut off and the King up To E4 once again we've been here before And this time Lavon decides to take Active steps F4 continuing to push his Pawns forward forward they go Rook to D5 Now he is the one now Levon is the one Who controls the fifth Rank and that Means the king can move up to F5 and he Is making progress now Magnus has Transitioned his defense over to the Sixth Rank and he is on the edge of the Precipice here Lavon trying to gain some Time for himself he's down to 18 seconds As well this is not an easy position to Convert an album taking some time to Think He can play G5 but every Pawn trade Brings by back black closer and closer To the draw and now Levon has moved back To the fifth rank there was something he
Didn't like about playing G5 I think Magnus is defending successfully here And somehow the world champion is now Ahead on the clock as well incredible Defensive resilience here the king once Again moves up to F5 and finally Levon Sees no alternative but to play G5 and This is still an incredibly dangerous Position for black as the pawn has Reached H6 and now the king is going to Move up to F6 and there he goes King F6 Attacking the pawn on F7 Rook F1 check With a back rank defense Rook F5 by Lavon and a trade of Brooks is losing For black Madness is going to have to Sacrifice his F7 Pawn but the good news For him is that White's King is going to Be incredibly vulnerable to the side Checks and that is what Magnus does Rook A7 check they're furiously checking the King and pushing it back to E5 will the King be able to find a safe haven Anywhere on the board Rook a four Chicken if the king moves too far back Then black is going to move his King up To G6 and now LeBron's pawns are Incredibly vulnerable Rock to f8 by Lavon the pawn on G5 is Untouchable but Magnus continues the side checks Rook A3 And Rook A4 and Lavon blocks with his Rook but Magnus once again that sixth Ranked defense and even with two pawns Down I don't see a way for LeBron to Make progress if LeBron moves his Rook
Away from the fourth rank Magnus gives That fourth ring check once again and Lavon moving back and forth he doesn't See a way to make progress and he Finally drives his Rook up to E8 and There's that fourth ranked check Separating separating the king from the G5 pawn and another check on G5 and a Check on F5 and Magnus is going to win The G5 Pawn with his rook and the H6 Pawn is going to fall as well and Levon Sees no alternative but to trade Everything and give up his pawns what a Defensive effort by Magnus and a Headshake from Lavon if you enjoyed this Video make sure to click the link in the Playlist thank you so much for watching Foreign
