Levon Aronian vs Sergey Karjakin, A13, English Opening, Agincourt Defense (Catalan Accepted)
2018 Chess Candidates Tournament, Round 11
Sergey Karjakin is back! After having started the Candidates Tournament on the wrong foot, he has now managed to come back with an amazing victory against Aronian. And to make matters worse for the Armenian, he did it with in his signature English Opening.
Both players played on almost engine level, and the game was extremely complex and, surely, both physically and mentally exhausting. There were no “one-move” tactical tricks, but a constant positional struggle for supremacy on the board in which Karjakin ended up victorious.
He outmaneuvered Aronian and got a dominant position which resulted in winning a pawn. That led Aronian to have to defend which just made things worse and his position soon fell apart completely. A brillian win by the ex-challenger for the world championship title. He is now at 6 points, just a point behind Fabiano, and he stands a chance to win!
There are still three games to be played though, and four players are still in the running, with only a point separating them. That promises a super exciting end to the Candidates Tournament. Pick your favorite and stay tuned as I will be covering all the games! Cheers
Standings after round 11:
Fabiano Caruana 7/11
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 6.5/11
Alexander Grischuk 6/11
Sergey Karjakin 6/11
Ding Liren 5.5/11
Vladimir Kramnik 5/11
Wesley So 4.5/11
Levon Aronian 3.5/11