World Cup Final Still Even; Ding White In Game 4
Game two and three of the FIDE World Cup final also ended in draws. If Levon Aronian holds the draw as Black vs Ding Liren tomorrow, we'll see a tiebreak on Wednesday.
Ding might have two small advantages in what will be the last classical game of this year's World Cup. Not only does he have the white pieces, but there's also the psychological advantage that he escaped from a losing position in game two. However, Aronian had no problems with Black in that game, which might give confidence for game four.
| Fed | Player | Fed | Player | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Arm. | Score |
| Aronian (2802) | Ding Liren (2771) | ½-½, ½-½, ½-½ | 1½-1½ |
"A bitter taste for Levon Aronian supporters," said commentator Evgeny Miroshnichenko as the Armenian star player was leaving the playing hall. He had Ding Liren on the ropes, deep, deep in the endgame, but failed to win.
He was well prepared for Ding's Catalan, and reached a slightly better ending after the Chinese GM played some inaccurate moves. Initially Ding defended well, but after a "careless" move (as he called it) Aronian got a distant passed pawn.
You might recognize Reykjavik Open organizer Gunnar Bjornsson in the audience, second from the left. | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich, official website.
On move 55 Ding felt he was lost. He took a deep think and played his 56th with just three seconds left on his clock. Also with not much time on his clock, Aronian missed difficult but also less difficult wins. A draw was agreed on move 75.
"Of course we know it must be winning but I didn't find a clear win for him," said Ding.
Annotations by GM Dejan Bojkov.
A narrow escape for Ding Liren. | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich, official website.
As if inspired by the Catalan independence movement, Aronian chose to play the same opening the next day. In this particular variation White wins the bishop pair, but it's Black's passive queen's bishop that gets traded and he gets strong central influence in return.
Aronian had to give up a bishop soon as well, and very quickly a position with only queens and opposite-colored bishops appeared. The game lasted a bit more than two hours—so quickly that the official broadcast was still playing a commercial and missed the end of the game.
Annotations by GM Dejan Bojkov.
Will we see another quick draw tomorrow and then a tiebreak? | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich, official website.
Games from TWIC.
The World Cup takes place September 3-27 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Each round consists of two classical games (four in the final), and possibly a rapid and blitz tiebreak on the third day. The total prize fund is $1.6 million, including a first prize of $120,000. The top two finishers will qualify for the 2018 Candidates' Tournament.
Chess.com relays the games at Chess.com/Live. You can watch also live commentary on Chess.com/TV provided by the Chessbrahs, which includes some of the best commentators on the planet: GM Eric Hansen, GM Robin van Kampen, GM Yasser Seirawan and IM Aman Hambleton.
Previous reports:
- Aronian Can't Crack Ding In World Cup Finals Game 1
- Aronian, Ding To Final, Candidates As Queens Beat Rooks
- Aronian-MVL, Ding-So Go To Tiebreaks
- World Cup Semifinals: Was So Winning?
- Vachier-Lagrave Knocks Out Svidler At World Cup
- Win With White; Draw With Black; Aronian, So, Ding Advance
- Ivanchuk Implodes On 1st Day Quarterfinals
- Fedoseev, MVL, Rapport, So, Svidler To Quarterfinals
- Aronian, Ding Liren, Ivanchuk Through To Quarterfinals
- Ivanchuk, Fedoseev Start Round 4 With Wins
- Caruana, Li Chao, Nepomniachtchi Leave World Cup
- World Cup Shock: Carlsen, Kramnik, Nakamura Out
- Bu Brilliancy Beats Carlsen At World Cup
- Dress Code Incident At World Cup: Kovalyov Forfeits
- Harikrishna, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Wei Yi, Wojtaszek Exit World Cup
- Favorites Falter: Adams, Anand, Karjakin Knocked Out
- Anand Starts With Loss In World Cup Round 2
- Amin, Howell, Fressinet, Nisipeanu Exit World Cup
- Lenderman Knocks Out Eljanov At World Cup
- Eljanov, Fedoseev, Harikrishna, Wei Yi Upset At World Cup
- Carlsen Draws White For 1st Game World Cup
- FIDE World Cup To Start This Weekend
- Carlsen At The World Cup: 'I Want To Exploit This Loophole'
- Magnus Carlsen To Play FIDE World Cup
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