All Images Courtesy Of Derrick Bartotto.
There were two decisive games in the 7th round of the Candidates 2018 tournament in Berlin. The most important was yet another win from Fabiano Caruana. At the expense of Levon Aronian, this victory once again places Fabiano in the lead by a half point. Aronian was one of the favorites at the start of this tourney, but has been pummeled to the point that he now shares last pace with Wesley So. The March rating listing placed Wesley at number four in the World; Levon as number five. Those rankings will obviously change as a result of this tough tournament.
[Event “FIDE Berlin Candidates 2018”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2018.03.18”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Aronian, Levon (ARM)”]
[Black “Caruana, Fabiano (USA)”]
[Result “0-1”]
[PlyCount “74”]
[EventDate “2018.03.10”]
[SourceDate “2018.03.18”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Bxc4 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. e5 Qd8 11. Ne4 O-O 12. Qe2 Be7 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. Bd3 Nd7 15. Rc1 Qa5 16. g4 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Qxe5 18. f4 Qa5 19. g5 Qd8 20. h4 Bd7 21. gxh6 g6 22. h5 Kh8 23. Kh2 Bc6 24. Rf3 Bd6 25. Qf2 Bc7 26. Kh3 Qe7 27. Ng5 e5 28. Rxc6 bxc6 29. Nxf7+ Rxf7 30. hxg6 Rf6 31. g7+ Kg8 32. Bc4+ Kh7 33. Qh4 e4 34. Rg3 Bxf4 35. g8=Q+ Rxg8 36. Bxg8+ Kh8 37. Rg7 Qf8 0-1
Final Position
[Event “FIDE Berlin Candidates 2018”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2018.03.18”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Karjakin, Sergey (RUS)”]
[Black “So, Wesley (USA)”]
[Result “1-0”]
[PlyCount “80”]
[EventDate “2018.03.10”]
[SourceDate “2018.03.18”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 6. Bd2 c5 7. a3 cxd4 8. axb4 dxc3 9. Bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qxd1+ 11. Kxd1 Bd7 12. Ke2 Rc8 13. Bd3 Nd5 14. Ne5 Be8 15. Bd2 f6 16. Nc4 Rd8 17. Rhc1 Nc6 18. Be4 Ndxb4 19. Bxb4 Nxb4 20. Bxb7 Rab8 21. Rxa7 Rd7 22. Na5 Nd3 23. Rd1 Nxb2 24. Rxd7 Bxd7 25. Bc6 Bxc6 26. Nxc6 Re8 27. e4 Nc4 28. Kd3 Nd6 29. f4 Kf8 30. e5 fxe5 31. fxe5 Nf5 32. g4 Nh4 33. Kc4 Nf3 34. Ra2 Rc8 35. Kb5 Ke8 36. Kb6 g5 37. h3 Nxe5 38. Nxe5 Rc3 39. Rh2 Ke7 40. Kb5 Re3 1-0
Final Position
| # | Name | Pts | SB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caruana, Fabiano | 5 | 15.75 |
| 2 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 4.5 | 15 |
| 3 | Ding, Liren | 3.5 | 12.25 |
| Grischuk, Alexander | 3.5 | 11.75 | |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | 3.5 | 10.5 | |
| 6 | Karjakin, Sergey | 3 | 10.25 |
| 7 | Aronian, Levon | 2.5 | 8.75 |
| So, Wesley | 2.5 | 8.25 |
