Carlsen Magnus (NOR) – Aronian Levon (ARM)
Candidates Matches Elista,Russia, 2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.Be2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 a6 10.0-0 Nc6 11.Nf3 0-0 12.Qd2 Qb8 13.Rfd1 Rd8 14.Rac1 d6 15.Qc2 Qa7 16.a3 Rac8 17.Qb1 Nb8 18.b4 Nbd7 19.Bg3 d5 20.cxd5 Nxd5 21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.e4 Bc6 23.Nd4 Ba4 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Rc1 Qa8 26.f3 Bg5 27.f4 Rxc1+ 28.Qxc1 Qxe4 29.fxg5 Qxd4+ 30.Bf2 Qe5 31.Qc8+ Nf8 32.Qxa6 b5 33.Bf1 hxg5 34.Qc8 f5 35.Bc5 Qf6 36.h3 e5 37.Bxf8 Qxf8 38.Qe6+ Qf7 39.Qxe5 Qd7 40.Be2 Kh7 41.Kf2 g6 42.Qe3 Qd8 43.Qe5 Qd2 44.Kg3 Qc1 45.Kh2 Qxa3 46.Qe7+ Kh6 47.Qf8+ Kh7 48.Qe7+ Kh6 49.Qe5 Kh7 50.Qe7+ Kh6 51.Bxb5 Bxb5 52.Qe5 Kh7 53.Qxb5 f4 54.Qd7+ Kh6 55.Qe8 Qb2 56.Qf8+ Kh7 57.Qe7+ Kh6 58.h4 f3 59.Qxg5+ Kh7 60.h5 gxh5 61.Qxh5+ Kg7 62.Qg4+ Kh7 63.Qd7+ Kh6 64.Qc6+ Kg7 65.Qc7+ Kh6 66.Qf4+ Kh7 67.Qf7+ Kh6 68.Qxf3 Qxb4 69.Kh3 Qb1 70.Qf6+ Kh7 71.Qf3 Kg7 72.Kh4 Kh7 73.Qf7+ Kh8 74.Qh5+ Kg7 75.Qg4+ Kh7 76.Qh5+ Kg7 77.Qe5+ Kh7 78.Qd5 Kg7 79.Qd4+ Kh7 80.Qd7+ Kh8 81.g4 Qh1+ 82.Kg5 Qc1+ 83.Kg6 Qb1+ 84.Qf5 1-0
Click here to replay the game. The match is now tied at 5-5! We are going into 2 blitz playoff!
He’s no kiddo any longer. That’s for sure!
This kid has the same type of willpower of Judit or Fischer. As far as I’m concerned, he can lose this match and still be considered a winner. Let’s not forget this kid is just 16 years old. Incredible.
James
Bobby who?!?
This guy (magnus) is REAL talent!!
a shame that one of them will be eliminated
Aronian won the blitz. What a horrible way to decide this matchup. 🙁
Magnus is out, but great run!
Fun’s over. Carlsen lost.
Magnus’s future prospects more like will be more like Fischer’s than Judit’s. Maybe better than all.
Magnus lost both blitz games. He was black in first game and lost and white in the 2nd and he pushed too hard and lost again. Sad. But the real sad part is that both Aronian and Carlsen should be in Mexico. They deserve to be playing along side Mamedyrov, Radjabov etc. Forget these old fogies like Gelfand etc. Chess excitement and the fans are with the young players.
Talent, yes, but poor in blitz today.
In this game, it looked like Aronian could have gotten draw and match by 45…Qf4+ exchanging, instead of the adventuresome attempt to teach Carlsen a lesson with the riskier 45 …Qxa3. Later, Aronian missed a tablebase draw in time pressure.
These guys had fun playing each other! Fun to watch too. This is clearly Aronian’s last chance to become WC, so he better make the most of it!!!
Barely scraped by in blitz. Carlesen’s Kt rim shot in the first blitz game was a strange miscalculation.
Anonymous Frank
I was hoping for them to go all the way to armageddon, though a decision reached through blitz games is probably more ‘fair’. Certainly nothing to complain about since in the old days drawn Candidates matches used to be decided by spinning a roulette wheel.
Aronian – Carlsen has been a wild ride that I’m sure we all feel privileged to have witnessed.
very exciting game he lost the 5m blizt however, still a kiddo and an excellent future prospect for the chess crown.
well done lad
45…Qf4+ was TOO obvious – and to Aronian it was probably obvious that it loses. W can bring his K to c5 and win the b5 P. I’m not 100% sure, but it seems that W can win after 45…Qf4+
Anonymous Frank
why Aronians last chance at 24? Silly comment. The top 3 players in the world right now are all well past 30. Topa, Krammik, Anand…
Its Aronians last chance because MC is only 16. 2 years from now Magnus will defeat them all or atleast Aronian. We cant know that for sure, but it seems likely