Levon Aronian vs Wesley So, A35, English Opening, Symmetrical Variation
2018 Chess Candidates Tournament, Round 14, Berlin, Germany, 03/27/18
While Round 14 meant winning or losing for players on top of the scoreboard, for Levon and Wesley it was a friendly encounter with no real impact. Both stood no chance to win the tournament so the result was really irrelevant and they drew in under one hour and right out of the opening.
Their poor performance should not be assessed into too much detail, as there could have been a hundred different reasons. What’s important is for them to be able to pick themselves up and have a great year despite of this setback. Prepare, train, and get back in 20 months or so. Despite the awful score this was an amazing experience for them and they will definitely have an advantage over less experienced players in the next Candidates Tournament. And they are more than capable of qualifying many more times.
They played an English Opening today (which they both know by heart, especially Levon). Wesley went for the Symmetrical English and they played a long theoretical line with more than 15 moves of theory. In fact, the exact position in which they started repeating moves which lead to a draw had been played several times before.
*The English Opening occurs after white plays 1.c4. The move is designed to strike in the center immediately by challenging the d5 square (similar to playing 1.e4). What’s most useful about the English Opening is the flexibility it provides for the player with white. Unlike in many e4 openings, where black chooses the variation most of the time (for example 1.e4 c6, and you are playing the Caro-Kann, black chose).
*The symmetrical defense in the English Opening (A30-A39) occurs when black responds to c4 with 1…c5, mirroring white’s move.