Navara vs Aronian, Round 10, 39th Chess Olympiad 2010

2 October 2010, Khanty-Mansiysk – Here is a game from the 10th round of the 39th Chess Olympiad in Siberia, Russia where the Czech Republic met Armenia. GM David Navara of the Czech Republic played GM Levon Aronian of Armenia on board 1, table 6. Navara played white. Aronian is one of the best players in the chess world to play 1…e5.

The Closed Ruy Lopez transpired during the game.

Pix 1. Close Ruy Lopez up to 9.Bd2 by white.

Pix 2. Aronian plays rook lifts and in the middle of the board, contrary to popular belief that rooks should be played from a distance and from the sides of the board. Position after white played 31.Be2.

Pix 3. White makes a mistake with 49. Rxd6?? and White’s game falls apart.

Pix 4. Black forces the final victory with 50…Ne4!! With White forced to take the knight at e4 with his knight at e2, black can check with 51…Rxd1+, 52.Kxf1 b1Q+ 53.Kg2 Be5 –+ winning for black and white resigned. 0-1.

[Event "39th WCO"]
[Site "0:13.07-0:33.19"]
[Date "2010.10.01"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Navara, David"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2722"]
[BlackElo "2783"]
[[WhiteTeam "Czech Republic"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CZE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Bd2 b4 10. c3 O-O 11. Re1 Rb8 12. Bc4 Qc8 13. d4 Na5 14. Bf1 c5 15. cxb4
cxb4 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bh4 exd4 18. Nbd2 g5 19. e5 gxh4 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. Ne4 Bg7
22. Nxh4 Qd8 23. g3 Rb6 24. Bd3 Re8 25. Qf3 Re5 26. Qf4 Be6 27. Rad1 Rc6 28.
Nf3 Rf5 29. Qh4 Nb7 30. Qxd8+ Nxd8 31. Be2 Rd5 32. b3 Kf8 33. Ned2 d3 34. Bf1
Rc3 35. Re3 Nb7 36. Nc4 Rxb3 37. Nfd2 Rc3 38. Bg2 Bd4 39. Re4 Nc5 40. Rh4 Bf6
41. Bxd5 Bxd5 42. Rxh6 Kg7 43. Ne3 Be6 44. Rh5 b3 45. Nd5 Bxd5 46. Rxd5 b2 47.
Nb1 Rc1 48. Rf1 Nxa4 49. Rxd6 Nc3 50. Nd2 Ne4 0-1

With Aronian’s victory on board 1 against Navarra, team Armenia won their match against the Czech Republic with a 2.5-1.5 scoreline in favour of Armenia.