Ivanchuk's Counterattack

I'm going to cover one more Ivanchuk game before delving into a little of his career history and reviewing his 1991 candidates matches and his numerous appearances in the FIDE World Cup. Ultimately, I hope to do pieces on each of the participants in the upcoming (March 2013!) FIDE Candidates tournament, and Ivanchuk will be the first.

So far, we've seen Ivanchuk deliver some incredible blows in the midst of wild attacks. Now I'm going to examine a more recent game where the Ukrainian GM demonstrated an amazing instinct for counterattack--something quite a bit more challenging on the nerves!



Aronian-Ivanchuk
Bilbao Masters 2011
Round 4

1. Nf3 d5
2. c4 e6
3. d4 Nf6
4. Nc3 Nbd7
5. Bg5 Bb4
6. cxd5 exd5
7. Nd2!? c6



After just 7 moves, we have a strange, untheoretical position. The black bishop placement on b4 resembles a Ragozin Queen's Gambit Declined, but the Nbd7 is uncharacteristic of this variation. Meanwhile, Aronian's Nd2 move seems like a slightly odd attempt to profit from Ivanchuk's mixing of systems. The pawn exchange and subsequent c6-advance have brought about a Carlsbad exchange structure... The opening has clearly given rise to a position that will force the players to innovate. How refreshing!

8. e3 Nf8
9. Bd3 Be7
10. Qc2 Ne6
11. Bh4 g6



Ivanchuk preempted white's threats down the long diagonal preparatory to castling. The position here remains original and rather more dynamic than many traditional QGD variations.

12. h3 0-0
13. Nf3 a5

With his last move, Ivanchuk took space on the queenside and discouraged queenside castling for white. Here, white was obliged to settle on a plan. One option was to castle kingside and aim for central play with f3 and e4. Instead, Aronian decided to throw down the gauntlet and attack:

14. g4!?



14. ... b5
15. Ne5 Bb7
16. f4!? c5!?

Now the game steers toward insane complications as both players burned their bridges.



Ivanchuk welcomed the capture of his b5 pawn, perhaps planning to respond with 17. ... c4 or even cxd4, opening lines in the center with the idea of plunking a knight on e4. Aronian opted to eschew the pawn capture though, and launched a direct and violent assault on the black king.



17. f5! cxd4
18. fxe6 dxc3
19. 0-0



Castling here was more about connecting the rooks and bringing a rook to the f-file than about king safety, but white's king could hardly hope to find security on the other wing! Now, however, Ivanchuk immediately took aim by blasting open the center to clear the long diagonal for an all-out counterassault with the fascinating:

19. ... d4
20. Nxf7 Qd5
21. Bxf6

Aronian ignored black's looming check on h1, seemingly content that his king would be able to flee and his own attack would continue.

21. ... Qh1+
22. Kf2 Qxh3!



This move was killer. Rather than following up with checks, encouraging the white king to flee to the queenside, Ivanchuk simply threatened Qxe3#.

23. Ke1 cxb2

Clearing the dark-squared diagonal a5-e1. There will be no security for the white king on the queenside!

24. Qxb2 Bb4+
25. Kd1 Bf3+



The poor white king has come under a harrowing barrage! From this position, 26. Kc2 Rfc8+ 27. Kb1 Qxf1+!! 29. Bxf1 Be4+ wins for black, so Aronian had to shed an exchange.

26. Rxf3 Qxf3+
27. Be2 Qxf6

Ivanchuk finally recovers the piece he shed to initiate his offensive, and boy has it paid interest!

28. g5 Qg7
29. Qxd4



Here, Ivanchuk had to consider the possibility of 29. ... Qxd4 30. exd4 Bc3 with a complex ending that may well have held drawing chances for white. Certainly, it was preferable to keep the queens on the board, but Ivanchuk was down to 1 minute at this point to Aronian's 10 and there were still 10 moves left until the time control. Nevertheless, Ivanchuk decided to play on for the attack

29. ... Rxf7
30. exf7+ Qxf7
31. Rc1 Rb8
32. a4??



Amazingly, Aronian cracks in Ivanchuk's time pressure. After the more circumspect 33. Rc2, black's advantage would have been modest. With a4 though, white gives up the massive check on b3 and his position instantly crumbles.

32. ... Qb3+
33. Rc2 Qb1+
34. Rc1 Qb3+
35. Rc2

Ivanchuk repeated moves to creep closer to the control, now down to a mere seconds on the clock (not counting the increment).

35. ... Rc8
36. Bc4+



The only way to save the rook is to drop the bishop.

36. ... bxc4
37. Qd5+ Kf8

For a minute or so, Aronian hunted a perpetual.

38. Qd7 Re8

But there is nothing here. White is completely busted.

0-1

One more time we have seen Ivanchuk whip up an attack with great energy and wild creativity. In this case, he matched tactical acumen with great intuition, sensing the resources of his own defense while foreseeing the flimsiness of white's position.