Magnus tries to surprise Aronian in the English Opening (and fails) ⎸2018 Grenke, Round 6

Magnus Carlsen vs Levon Aronian, English Opening, A18, Flohr-Mikenas System
2018 Grenke Chess Classic, Round 6, Baden Baden, Deutschland, 04/06/18

Magnus Carlsen faced Levon Aronian in rd.6. They were both at 3 points prior to this game (trailing half a point behind the leaders), so they were both looking for a win to get back in the running for first place. The most interesting thing about the game was the opening Magnus chose. He went for Levon’s signature English Opening. If there is an expert on 1.c4 it’s Aronian, and choosing it against him is almost a provocation. What’s worse, Magnus chose a like Aronian had prepared before, and even played it once before. What he probably wasn’t counting on is Levon knowing it more in depth than him.

Aronian played 18 straight moves of preparation without spending a single second on his clock! He even had 7 minutes more than he started with. They entered a very complex middlegame position in which it wasn’t clear what either side should do and what the best move was. Luckily for both players, but sadly for the spectators, the both played almost perfectly and managed to resolve the tension without casualties. The position soon became equal and they drew.

If you play the English Opening, this game will help you understand the Flohr-Mikenas System much better, and get new ideas from Aronian, the expert, but from Magnus as well.

Standings after Round 6:

Nikita Vitiugov 4/6
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 4/6
Fabiano Caruana 4/6
Levon Aronian 3.5/6
Magnus Carlsen 3.5/6
Matthias Bluebaum 3/6
Arkadij Naiditsch 2.5/6
Yifan Hou 2/6
Viswanathan Anand 2/6
Georg Meier 1.5/6

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bf5
7. d3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. d4 c4 10. g3 Be7 11. Bg2 Bd3 12. Ng1
Qa5 13. Bd2 Nc6 14. Ne2 Ba3 15. O-O O-O 16. Re1 Rad8 17. Bg5
Bb2 18. Bxd8 Rxd8 19. Rc1 Bxe2 20. Qxe2 Bxc1 21. Rxc1 Qa3
22. Qe3 b5 23. e6 f6 24. h4 Ne7 25. Rb1 a6 26. Qd2 Qd6 27. a4
bxa4 28. Qa2 a3 29. Rb4 h5 30. Qxa3 Nc6 31. Ra4 Qxa3 32. Rxa3
a5 33. e7 Nxe7 34. Rxa5 Rb8 35. Bxd5+ Nxd5 36. Rxd5 Rb3
37. Rxh5 Rxc3 38. Rc5 Rc1+ 39. Kg2 c3 40. Kf3 c2 41. Kf4 Rd1
42. Rxc2 Rxd4+ 43. Kf5 Kh7 44. f4 Ra4 45. Rc5 Kh6 46. Rd5 Ra6
47. g4 g6+ 48. Ke4 Ra4+ 49. Rd4 Ra5 50. Rd5 Ra4+ 51. Ke3 Ra3+
52. Rd3 Ra6 1/2-1/2

* Flohr-Mikenas System occurs after the moves:
1. c4 Nf6
2. Nc3 e6
3. e4

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