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It looks like Aronian will not be challenging Magnus Carlsen ⎸2018 Candidates, Round 9

332 views · Published 21 March 2018 · 9:06 · Indexed 1 October 2026

Channel: Hanging Pawns · 2018 · Entertainment

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Levon Aronian vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Catalan, Open E03
2018 Chess Candidates Tournament, Round 9

The Catalan Opening is becoming by far the most popular variation lately, ever since Alpha Zero proved it was rock-solid and that it gives most advantage to white out of the opening. That made most players at top level at least study it a lot more, if not employ it immediately themselves.

So far it has been played several times at the Candidates Tournament, and most opening-middlegame transitions have been similar, with players following main line theory. This made me think that the Catalan has become an opening which players with white use when they want to reduce losing chances, more so than when they are pushing for a win! The reason for that is that every top GM must know it by heart and be well prepared for it, hence the games have an incredibly high possibility of ending in a draw.


2018 Chess Candidates, standings after round 9:

Fabiano Caruana 6/9 
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov        5.5/9 
Alexander Grischuk          5/9 
Sergey Karjakin           4.5/9 
Ding Liren       4.5/9 
Levon Aronian       3.5/9 
Wesley So       3.5/9 
Vladimir Kramnik 3.5/9

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