By tying for places one through three in the elite Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Levon Aronian has proved once again that he is one of the world’s top four chess players But Aronian’s style is unquestion ably peculiar. Unlike other players of his caliber, he doesn’t work par ticularly hard at developing an ad vantage in the opening. If he were a tennis player, he would be de scribed as having a weak serve. But weak serve or not, once the ball is in play, Aronian manages to keep the volley going and outplay his opponents. He is equally adept in strategic and tactical struggles and has a strong command of endgames. A shining example of his play in action comes from his encounter with Sergei Karjakin Ukraine’s rising young star.

ARONIAN VS. KARJAKIN (white) (black) Catalan Defense

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 For a long time, players sought an advantage for white in the variation 8.a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 but nothing concrete ever turned up so they eventually returned to the old move played in this game. 8… b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2! An excellent idea developed by Polugaevsky, first tried by him in 1964. In recent tournaments this strange looking move has yielded quite good results for white. 10… Ra7 The formerly popular 10…Be4 11. Qc1 Bb7 lost any appeal after Kasparov-Kramnik 2000 – 12. Bf4! (Worse was 12. Be3 as Kasparov played against Karpov in 1984. After 12… 12…Nd5 13. Nc3 Nd7 14. Rd1 Rc8 15. Nxd5 Bxd5 16. Ne1 c6! black equalized.) 12…Bd6 13. Nbd2 Nbd7 14. Nb3 Bd5 15. Rd1 Qe7 16. Ne5 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 Nd5 18. Nc6 Nxf4+ 19. Qxf4! in which white obtained an unequivocal strategic advantage. 11. Rc1 Be4 12. Qb3 Nc6 13.e3 Qa8 14. Qd1 Nb8 15. Ba5 Bd6! Thorough exploration of this variation continued at the Corus tournament. In previous rounds, Anand played 15…Rc8 against Ponomarev and Kramnik. But after the world champion, playing 16.a3! Bd6 17. Nbd2 Bd5 18. Qf1 Nbd7 19.b4!, developed a major advantage, black had to search for something better. Karjakin thus introduces a valuable improvement in this game. 16.a3 Nbd7 17. Nbd2 Bd5 18. Qf1 Because the consistent 18.b4 Nb8 19. Ne1 Bxg2 20. Nxg2 e5 21. Nb3 e4! did not promise anything attractive to white, Aronian permits c7-c5 and continues the struggle in an approximately equal position. 18… c5! 19. dxc5 Bxc5 20. Rc2 Qb7 21. Rac1 Bb6 22. Bxb6 Qxb6 23. Nd4 Ne5 24. Bxd5 Nxd5 25.N4f3! Nxf3+ 26. Nxf3 Rd8! White would have a slight initiative after 26…Rc7 27. Rxc7 Nxc7 28. Qd3 Nd5 29. Ne5 Now black’s opening problems are behind him. 27. Qd3 Ne7 28. Qe4 Rad7 29. Kg2! f6 Not bad for black was 29…h6 30. Ne5 Rd2 31. Qf3 f6 32. Nc6 Nf5! threatening 33…Ne3; but the immediate simplification 29…Qb7?! 30. Qxb7 Rxb7 31. Rc7 Rdb8 32.b4 gave white a better endgame. 30.h4 e5 Black deprives the white knight of the d4 square, but simultaneously weakens f5. More prudent was 30…h6 31. Nd4 e5 32. Nb3 (32. Nc6 Nxc6 33. Rxc6 Qb7) 32…a5 33. Nc5 Rd5 34.b4 f5 35. Qf3 e4 planning to bring the e7 knight to e5. 31.h5 Qb7?! Not the best position for the queen. Better was 31…h6 ; or 31…Qe6. 32. Qg4! Kf7?! It was better to cover the e6 square with the queen: 32…Qb6! 33. Rc5 Rc8? Now black’s problems become overwhelming. It was necessary to play 33…Qb6! and the combination 34. Rxe5!? fxe5 35. Nxe5+ Kg8 36.h6 (in case of 36. Nxd7 black has 36… 36…Qb7+) 36…g6 (worse 36…Ng6 37. Rc6 Qb7 38. Qe6+ Rf7 39. Nxf7 Qxf7 40. Qxf7+ Kxf7 41. Rc7+ Ne7 42. hxg7 and white has better chances.) 37. Rc6 Nxc6 38. Qe6+ Kf8 39. Qf6+ (bad for white are both 39. Nxd7+ Rxd7 40. Qxd7 Ne7 and; 39. Qxd7 Nxe5) 39…Kg8 40. Qe6+ and white only has a perpetual check. 34. Rxc8 Nxc8

(See Diagram)

35. Qf5! g6 Forced, because bad for black is 35…h6 36. Rxc8 Qxc8 37. Nxe5+ 36. Qg4! Ne7 37. hxg6+ hxg6 38. Rh1! f5 More chances for resistance came from 38…Kg7 39. Qh4 Kf7 40. Qh8 Ke6 41. Rh7. 39. Rh7+ Ke6 40. Qg5 Qe4 41. Qh6! f4 Black is defenseless after 41…Kd6 42. Qf8 Qd5 43. Rg7 Qe6 44. Rf7 as well. 42. Qf8 Nc6 43. Qc8 Ne7 44. Qe8 Kd6 45. Qf8 Qd5 46.e4 Qe6 47. Ng5 1-0