Round 3 Ivanchuk vs Aronian
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 Black plays the Berlin defend
4. O-O Nxe4 the main line
( 4... a6 is bad see our vote game 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nxe5 ) 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 now black can not castle but that is no problem because the white queen is gone
9. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3 h5 11. Bf4 Bd7 12. Rad1 Rd8 white is a little bit better but nothing serious for black
13. b3 Be7 14. Rfe1 better was Ne4 -> Ng5 to hold the pressure
14... Bb4 15. Bd2 Bc8 16. Ne2 Bxd2 17. Nxd2 Ne7 18. Nc4 better for white would be to put the night to e4 and play c2-c4
white would have comfortable position
but white still has a good play
18... Nd5 19. a3 Ke7 20. f3 h4 Black has basically gotten everything he wants out of a Berlin. He runs no risk of e6, the king side majority is not going anywhere, and he has made no weaknesses and his rooks are active. However he has only equalized, Ivanchuk tries to push forward but it backfires.
21. Kf2 Rh5 22. Rd2 Re8 ( 22... b5 is bad for black because of 23. Na5 Bd7 24. Nd4 ) 23. Nd4 Kf8 24. a4 a6 25. a5 Nb4 26. Ne2 white rearranges the pieces for the attack
black can do nothing but some waiting moves
but whites problem is, black has no weak points, nothing to attack
26... Nd5 27. Nd4 Ne7 28. Re4 Rh6 29. f4 white wants to attack but weakens his position
better was Ne2 and doubleing the rocks on d-col
29... Nd5 30. Kf3 Rg6 31. f5 Rh6 32. Re1 c5 33. Ne2 Ne7 now black can attack the white weak pawns on e5-f5
34. Nf4 white can not protect the pawn
( 34. f6 gxf6 35. Nf4 Nc6 ) 34... Nxf5 35. c3 white lost the pawn but did not gain any compensation
35... Ne7 36. Red1 Ng6 37. Nd3 Be6 38. Re1 Rh5 39. Kf2 ( 39. Nxc5 Bxc4 40. Nd7+ Kg8 41. bxc4 Nxe5+ 42. Rxe5 Rhxe5 43. Nxe5 Rxe5 44. Rd8+ Kh7 45. Rd7 Rc5 black wins the pawn ) 39... Rf5+ 40. Kg1 Bxc4 41. bxc4 Nxe5 42. Rde2 for Nx see annotation for move 39
42... f6 43. Re4 white is already lost now enjoy the rest
43... b6 44. axb6 cxb6 45. Rxh4 Ng6 A few moves have passed and Black has a better pawn structure, a passed a-pawn and he still has an extra pawn.
46. Rhe4 Rxe4 47. Rxe4 Kf7 48. Re2 Ne5 49. g4 Rf3 50. Nxe5+ fxe5 51. Kg2 Rxc3 52. Rf2+ Kg6 53. Rb2 a5 54. Rxb6+ Kg5 55. Rb5 a4 56. Rxc5 Kf4 57. Ra5 a3 And Ivanchuk resigned as he cannot stop all the
pawns. Aronian baited his opponent like a good Berlin player does, and Ivanchuk didn't know he should have bailed into achieving a draw until it was too late.