CHESS BY VICTOR STRUGO
Today’s game comes from St Louis. But fear not, it has nothing to do with the current cheating scandal. Until the verdict is in, I’d rather focus on chess as it should be played.
Missouri’s largest metropolis has a long chess heritage dating back to the 1886 Steinitz-zukertort match. In modern times, on the firm foundation of the Sinquefield Cup and US Championships, the city has become a global chess Mecca, attracting more major tournaments (and big prize money) than any other. Unsurprisingly, this has led many top grandmasters to make their home here.
Among the latest to do so is former Armenian No 1 Levon Aronian, now ranked 10th in the world. In the 2022 America Cup Championship, he bested the world No 5 in a game that produced thrills aplenty and an irresistibly publishable position.
Wesley So – Levon Aronian (Nimzo-indian Defence): 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 O-O 5 Bd2 c5 6 a3 Bxc3 7 Bxc3 Ne4 8 Ne2 b6 9 d5 d6 10 Rc1 e5 11 Ng3 Nxc3 12 Rxc3 f5 (White has come out of the opening with an artificial position, while Black clearly has Kingside prospects) 13
Bd3 e4 14 Bc2 Nd7 15 O-O Ne5 16 b4 Rf6 17 f4 (Creates weaknesses, but the alternative is to sit and wait for a Pawn steamroller attack) exf3 18 gxf3 f4 19 Nh5 Bh3 20 exf4 Rh6 21 fxe5 Bxf1 22 Ng3 Bh3 23 e6 Qg5 (White has a massive Pawn for the sacrificed Exchange and Black has no concrete threats – yet) 24 bxc5 bxc5 25 Qe1 Rf8 26 f4?! Qh4! (Accurate. 26 … Qxf4 27 e7 is dangerous) 27 Qe2? Qxf4! (It’s good now because the Rc3 is hanging) 28 e7 Qd4+ 29 Kh1 Qxc3 30 e8=q Rf6! (White has material superiority but the attack is still dangerous) 31 Q8e4 Qa1+ 32 Bb1 g6 33 Qe1 Qb2 34 Bd3 Rf4 (The “computer move” was 34 … Rf2! and 35 Be2 Bg2+ 36 Qxg2 Rxg2 37 Kxg2 Qxa3 retains Black’s advantage) 35 Q4e2! Qf6 (As often happens when a pressurised defender just reaches safety, White makes a fatal error. He should now play 36 Qe7 when a Q Exchange favours him, so Black has nothing better than … 36 … Qb2 when 37 Q7e2 leads to a draw by repetition) 36 Kg1? Qd4+ 37 Qe3 and here I refer you to the picturesque diagram below. White still has the material superiority of Q+N vs 2 Rs, but Black’s next move was a killer. Can you find it?
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Black to move