Aronian goes berserk against Caruana! ⎸2018 Candidates, Round 7

March 18, 2018 NHaselton Uncategorized

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Levon Aronian vs Fabiano Caruana, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Ragozin, Vienna Variation, D39
2018 Chess Candidates Tournament, Round 7

Levon played in absolute beast mode today! He made a boring opening look like the most aggressive Sicilian! He pushed for a win with a series of hyper aggressive but imprecise moves and managed to regain equality despite being material down and weakening his king irreparably.

The opening was the Vienna Variation in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the favorite at the Candidates so far, but Aronian pushed his pawns, opened up lines and managed to create a unique, volatile, attacking position which was so double-edged that both players got in time trouble very fast and there were so many crucial variations to calculate that it was mindboggling!

Unfortunately for Aronian, Caruana was up to the task and he survived the onslaught and went on to capitalize on the weaknesses Aronian had created during his menacing attacking play.

With this amazing victory, Caruana has now emerged as the sole leader at the Candidates Tournament with 5/7 (Mamedyarov is close behind in second, with 4.5/7) and he now stands a real chance at the title with seven more rounds to go. And he is playing with the white pieces tomorrow!

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