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The Observer | 01. 1 0. 17 | THE NEW REVIEW 39

Levon Aronian has won the Fide World

Cup in Tblisi, after a bruising four-game

fi nal against Ding Liren and rapidplay

playoff s on Wednesday.

World Cups are not for the faint-

hearted and by the time the fi nal got under

way on Saturday 23 September, Aronian

had played 29 games (classical, rapidplay,

blitz and even an Armageddon shoot-out

with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semi-

fi nal), with fi ve rest days, while Ding had

played 20 games with four rests. T his was

a huge number of games to absorb with

many crises to assault the nervous system.

As in the fi nal between Peter Svidler

and the winner Sergey Karjakin two years

ago in Baku, the outcome was an uneven

aff air, in which snatches of excellence

were interspersed with mistakes. Aronian

was in the ascendant throughout but

unable to break Ding’s magnifi cent

resolve, as he got into serious trouble in

every game but the third, with the greatest

danger averted in his two Whites.

This surely left Aronian frustrated,

but also posed a technical problem for

Ding, who had to fi nd a way to get decent

positions in the play -off s. He drew Black

in the fi rst rapidplay game (when they

cast lots) and was demolished, leaving

Aronian needing just a draw. Ding did get

an advantage this time but Aronian found

a way to muddy the waters and even won.

Levon Aronian v Ding Liren

Tbilisi 2017 (fi nal rapidplay game 1)

Queen’s Gambit Slav Moscow Variation

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Nc3 d5 4 d4 c6 5 Bg5

h6 6 Bxf6 Qxf6 In this line, Black gets the

two bishops but lags in development. 7 e3 is

more common now but Aronian’s 7 Qb3 has

also been played hundreds of times.

7 Qb3 Nd7 8 e4 dxe4 9 Nxe4 Qf4 10 Bd3

e5 11 0-0 Be7 12 Rae1 12 Rfe1 had been

played previously but this prepares Bb1

without shutting out the rook.

12... exd4 13 Bb1 0-0 14 Ng3 Computer

engines are happy with this position for

Black but in practice it’s tough for a human,

especially at rapidplay, since White has

several threats – Qc2, Nh5, Re4 – which are

amorphous but could become serious.

14... Bd8 14... Nc5 was reasonable and if

15 Qc2 d3 16 Qd1 Qf6 17 b4 Ne6 18 Qxd3 g6

Black looks OK.

15 Qd3 g6 16 h4 Nf6?! 16... Nc5 may be better.

17 h 5

Levon Aronian

(Black to play)

Ding Liren

(White)

912537468

546819273

738426519

471283956

829654137

365791842

194378625

653942781

287165394

SUDOKU SOLUTIONS

CHESS BY JONATHAN SPEELMAN

Ding Liren

(Black to play)

Levon Aronian

(White)

17... g5? A horrible weakening of the white

squares. Engines are still pretty happy after

17... Ba5 18 Re7 (18 hxg6 is also unclear) 18...

Bb4 19 Re2 Bg4 20 hxg6 Bxf3 21 gxf3 Rae8

22 Rxe8 Rxe8 23 gxf7+ Kxf7 24 Qg6+ Kf8

18 Ne5 Ba5 19 Ng6! Qd2 20 Ne7+ Kg7

21 Qb3 Qf4 22 Rd1 Bb6 23 Ngf5+ Bxf5

24 Nxf5+ Kh8 25 g3 Qg4 26 Nxh6 Qxh5?!

This is hopeless but 26... Qe6 27 Re1 should

also lose.

27 Kg2! d3 28 Qc3 Kg7 29 Nf5+ Kg6

30 Rh1 And Ding resigned.

Ding Liren v Levon Aronian

Tbilisi 2017 (fi nal rapidplay game 2)

Queen’s Gambit Declined

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 Bb4 5 cxd5

exd5 6 Bf4 Much less common than 6 Bg5 so

an excellent idea when he had to win.

6... c6 7 e3 Bf5 8 Be2 0-0 9 0-0 Be7 10 Nh4

Bg6 11 Nxg6 hxg6 12 Qb3 Qb6 13 Qc2 a5

14 g4 Nbd7 15 g5 Ne8 16 e4 dxe4 17 Nxe4

Qd8 18 h4 Nb6 19 Be5 Nd5 20 Bg4 Kh8

21 Rae 1

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8 Zog and the Flying Doctors Julia Donaldson

9 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

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10 Th e Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood

21... Nef6! This brilliant move completely

changes the position. Engines can see a

near refutation but in the circumstances, it

was a hammer blow.

22 gxf6 gxf6 23 Bh2?! 23 Qc1! was very

strong and if 23... Kh7 (or 23... Kg7 24 Bh2

and if 24... f5 25 Bxf5 gxf5 26 Ng3 f4 27

Nf5+ Kf6 28 Nxe7 Nxe7 29 Qxf4+) 24 Bg3

f5 25 Ng5+ Bxg5 26 hxg5 fxg4 27 Kg2 Kg8

28 Rh1 Qd7 29 Be5 f6 30 gxf6 Nxf6 31 Qh6

Qh7 32 Qxh7+ Nxh7 33 Rh6 should win.

23... f5 24 Bxf5 gxf5 25 Qd1? Rg8+ 26 Kh1

Rg4 27 Ng3 Rxh4 28 Nxf5 Rh7 With the

rook defending Black is quite safe.

29 Nxe7 Nxe7 30 Re5 Nf5 31 Rfe1? 31 Qg4

Qh4 32 Qxh4 Nxh4 33 Re3 is only a bit

better for Black but would nevertheless have

been pretty hopeless for Ding, given that he

had to try to win.

31... Qh4 32 Re8+ Kg7! 33 Rg1+ Kf6 And

Ding resigned.

SUDOKU CLASSIC KILLER

Fill in the blank cells using the numbers 1 to 9. Each number must appear
just once in every row, column and 3x3 box.

Normal Sudoku rules apply, except the numbers in the cells contained

within grey lines add up to the fi gures in the corner. No number can be

repeated within each shape formed by the grey lines.

14

21

10

18

9

29

13

7

24

6

10

21

12

10

15

12

27

27

8

15

37

13

12

10

20

5

Everyman No. 3701 winners

SOLUTION NO. 3702 ANSWERS

PITCHUPBODY

IHAAI IHS

CREASERESISTANT

KGTOOTMO

LOOPY CONFIRMED

ELHLEG

DEDUCTING LORRY

EAA I EA

TENORLONGRANGE

HGM G DA

RE I TERATECATER

OR L L RHOL

WE L L I N T E N T I O N E D

NSTEUNGO

REARTRANSOM

Louise Seaman, South Yorkshire
Walter Shaw, Wembley
Mr M Frankl, Windsor
Neil Drapkin, Gerrards Cross
Charlotte Pollard, Surrey

On this day

News of the World 1.

Yosemite 2.

Model T 3.

The establishment of the People’s Republic of China 4.

Manila 5.

Denmark 6.

Compact disc player 7.

ACROSS

*1 Pile of plant refuse, etc (11, 2 words)

11 Mud left in farm vehicle? (5)

12 Two French articles interwoven in parts of skeleton (5)

13 Clouds suggesting her sagginess, mama must get upset (8)

14 Sulks in pub? The opposite – it’s high point for Walter (6)

15 Property initially unlet, rickety? House lacks one (flat too) (6)

16 A bit of a snack? Exercise freak swallows one (6)

19 Cumbrian location, not the first for multinational (4)

20 Female name, one changing tons in fashion (8)

21 Disease realist treated with injection of iodine (8)

24 Excerpt from piano nocturne coming shortly (4)

26 One fully exposed and lacking a suit possibly? Clearly! (6)

28 Brussels regular had Parisian frolic (6)

30 Very old woman limping more grips end of them (6)

31 Obstruction translator encountered with bit of a poem? (8)

32 Periods I’m kept in class, backward (5)

33 Servants as of old feeling taken aback (5)

34 Meal just about set, wobbling crookedly (11)

DOWN

2 Dog released from lead, see, performing jump in snow (5)

3 Tree yielding sugary stuff girl put in food mixture (8)

4 King got in kitchen garment for king-in-waiting (6)

5 Special accommodation for pets, sparse (8)

6 Mound set up, millions interred (4)

7 German captivates this writer, a philosopher’s disciple (6)

8 Kite in fanciful film circling small street (6)

9 Catches from famous song writer cutting I’m on (5)

10 Street in fresh research offering emergency

shelters (11, 2 words)

11 Pasta, soft little ball fed to moggy, half of it (11)

17 Enter song off-key, behaviour worthy of censure? (8)

18 Embrocation, one chaps wrapped in cotton fibre (8)

22 Toiled first to last for lots of valuable things (6)

23 What about wild men’s snarl? (6)

24 Mark idiot led by a target for promotion as a whole (6)

25 Ghastly sheatfish etc released from sea I set free (5)

27 Sort of gally-bagger you may spot in cerise wellies (5)

29 It may bring hunter to a standstill, favouring fox at heart (4)

The Chambers Dictionary (2014) is recommended.

Across 13, Edwin in ’re; 15, R in dues + s,

e; 19, i.e. genus with no us = gen; 22, p in

(f)emale; 26, cap + a in ride; 30, anag. in

ding; 32, ref. The Merchant of Venice;

hidden in merchant + onion; 33, r amid I

in anag.; 34, try + st(all).

Down 1, ref. traditional s. tins; 3, ‘laud’;

5, Handel with s for d; 9, a log in anon;

10, rise in anag.; 17, pup PE try; 21, 0 in

dinges; 24, chip = type of basket; 28, P

in rat; hidden.

AZED 2,361 Solution & notes

Name

Address

Postcode

1234 5678 910

11 12

13

14 15

16 17 18

19 20

21 22 23 24

25 26 27

28 29 30

31

32 33

34

(^1) S (^2) PIL (^34) T (^5) H (^6) S (^7) S (^8) W (^9) A (^10) P (^11) T
AS^12 MARATHONER
(^13) REDWI NEC (^14) LARO
(^15) DURESSEC (^16) DL IG
ID^17 PD^18 KERATOSE
(^19) NOUSEL (^20) STAGED 21
(^22) EMP ALE (^2324) MH (^25) HOL I
(^26) CAPRIDAES (^27) NEN
(^28) RRE (^29) MA (^30) DUCT ING
(^31) ATTAR (^32) ANTONIO
(^33) PYRAMIDIONUE
(^34) TRYSTC (^35) SCL IMS
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