Aronian repeats a very popular weapon within King's Pawn games, and one of his personal favorites: the Italian Game!
The Classical
Arjun meets it by developing his own bishop in similar fashion, a principled approach known as the Classical Variation.
Aronian hints at a possible expansion in the center.
Arjun attacks the pawn
By doing so, he deters Aronian from pushing forward in the center.
Aronian goes for a quieter build-up of forces, as he pushes his pawn out just one square in order to guard his pawn.
A typical space-grabbing move, ensuring that he won't get squeezed on the queenside with an early push of pawns.
Arjun doesn't want to castle just yet
Sometimes early castling can backfire, as then the White side can go on the attack immediately. This approach is a little more flexible, waiting to see what Aronian does next before making any committal moves.
Aronian makes a useful and flexible move in turn, as he brings his rook to the central file and supports the pawn.
Aronian brings out his queenside knight, supporting the bishop but mainly focusing on a possible rerouting of this piece to the kingside.
Aronian declines the bishop trade, instead adding pressure against Arjun's knight. His choice of move suggests that he very much wants to try to get a fight in this game, as he steers away from simplifications.
The bishop drops back, so it's a little less vulnerable to fast attacks by either a pawn or Aronian's knight.
Aronian continues marching the knight towards the kingside, where it can hope to join the attack in the future.
Arjun goes for the same idea.
Aronian breaks in the center!
A pawn break is when one side's pawn makes contact with the other's. Here, Aronian wants to play like this in order to build on his main positional advantage: his superior central control.
The pawn was at risk of being captured, so Arjun supports it with his knight.
Aronian completes the typical three-step maneuver of the knight towards the kingside.
Arjun improves his central control
Now he covers the key light square in the heart of the board, while also pushing back the invading piece.
A quiet affair
For now, both sides have been engaging in typical maneuvers. There's no direct fight on the horizon, so we can expect that the game will continue in this somewhat quiet fashion for some time to come.
Arjun brings his bishop forward, targeting the knight in order to add to the pressure against Aronian's central pawn.
Finishing minor piece development, while adding support to the vulnerable pawn.
Arjun makes the trade, in order to create a semi-open file in the center. That's something he'll be hoping to make use of with his rook, as then Aronian's light-squared pawn would come under fire.
Aronian takes back, keeping his ideal pawn center.
The most direct way forward
Arjun pushes his pawn, challenging Aronian's center and inviting his opponent to make a big decision. If he pushes the pawn forward, that will signal that he wants a fight! But if Levon would instead prefer to take the match into tomorrow's tiebreaks, he could now push his right-hand pawn forward and invite a draw by 3-fold repetition.
If Arjun pushes his right-hand pawn (yellow) then after a trade of pieces there will be the knight jump marked in blue. Since the queen would then be defending the central pawn, there would be no other square to turn to but up one. And then the knight could go back and hit the queen once again, leading to an eventual draw by repetition if both players are happy with this result.
Play on!
Aronian does not go for the drawing line outlined in the previous note, instead pushing his pawn forward and grabbing space.
Arjun drops back
He has to move his knight away from the attack. But that's something he's quite happy to do, since soon he'll be ready to undermine Aronian's strong central pawn.
Arjun in control
Arjun Erigaisi has blitzed out all of his moves until now, while Aronian has spent half an hour on the clock. Given that the position is equal and perhaps more tricky to play for the White side, things are looking promising early for th Indian grandmaster.
I wouldn't be too happy having the White pieces here. Aronian's central pawn cannot be defended properly, and once there is a trade then Arjun's pieces are going to spring to life.
Aronian sees nothing better than to agree to the trade, but now Arjun's knight comes back to an ideal square.
Arjun's knight re-enters the game, with the trade of pawns having also left Aronian with a permanent concern: the isolated pawn in the center.
Aronian looks to pressure the queenside
He takes aim at the base of Arjun's queenside pawn chain, but that should not be a concern for the Indian grandmaster. Perhaps easiest is for him to lift his queen up to defend the pawn, a move that would allow him to connect his rooks.
A smart preparatory move, as he likely is intending to bring his queen forward to defend the pawn. Doing so immediately would have allowed Aronian to jump his knight into the center, so that's what he's cutting out with the trade.
Aronian takes back with the bishop, in order to keep his pawn chain healthy. Now Arjun can defend the base of his queenside pawn chain by lifting his queen forward.
Aronian struggling to find a good plan
The static pawn chain and somewhat weak piece placement of Aronian's makes it hard to suggest good moves for him. That's something he'll be feeling here very much, raising the question of what to do next.
Aronian brings the last of his pieces into the game, lending support to his somewhat fragile isolated pawn in the center.
Aronian mobilizes his only asset
The one slight edge that Aronian can claim in the position is that he has the bishop pair. Or, more significantly, that he has the unopposed light-squared bishop. This makes his piece especially effective, as he now seeks to maneuver it towards a stronger diagonal.
Arjun brings the last of his pieces into the game, pressuring Aronian's dark-squared bishop. That's not relevant for now, but it could matter in the future if Arjun can jump his knight forward.
Aronian follows up his previous move, by bringing the bishop onto the longest diagonal available to it.
The knight was under fire, so Arjun jumps it forward.
Slowly but surely, he's building up some attacking chances on the kingside. The threat now would be to bring his second knight onto enemy territory.
A good and natural move, cutting out Arjun's threatened knight jump. A second benefit is that soon Aronian can slot his bishop back, from where it will be more stable while eyeing up the right-hand knight.
A strong maneuver!
Arjun spots the right plan, rerouting his knight and preparing to bring it forward next. From that square, it will exert a tonne of pressure against Aronian's kingside pawns.
Aronian has to be careful here, as now he's allowing Arjun to jump his knight forward. And suddenly, it's not easy to suggest a good move for him to meet that pressure.
He goes wrong, as he forms a queen-bishop battery against Arjun's king. It's a very natural choice, but now Arjun can sacrifice his knight in order to win a couple of pawns and generate a very strong attack. So long as he doesn't hesitate, the Indian grandmaster is going to be in with a real shot at victory!
It's understandable to not go for it, since from a human perspective, if the attack peters out then you are going to be feeling very silly. Especially considering that Arjun will fancy himself as the favorite, should the match go to tiebreaks. Still, Arjun had 50 minutes on the clock so he might come to regret not having spent some more time to calculate the consequences of knight takes pawn!
The worst is over for Aronian, as he tucks his king in the corner away from any knight checks. The position returns to a more normal tempo, remaining balanced for now.
Arjun sets a nasty trap
He's looking to play knight takes pawn next, since at the end of the sequence he would be giving a check with his queen and then collect Aronian's hanging bishop in the center.
Aronian brings his queen to the defense
He adds support to the pawn, ensuring that Arjun can no longer sacrifice a knight in good circumstances.
Arjun keeps searching for ways to add to the piece pressure against Aronian's kingside. But there's no concrete threat now, so Aronian can think about simplifying the position by inviting some rook trades along the central file.
Aronian chases Arjun's knight away
He's looking to relieve the pressure against his king, by forcing Arjun to retreat with his right-hand knight.
An easy decision for Arjun. His knight was attacked and there was no good way to defend it.
Aronian drops back
He's got no interest in letting Arjun capture his bishop for just a knight, as that would leave him far too weak along the dark squares. Plus, now he's got some pressure against Arjun's undefended pawn on the queenside.
Arjun brings his bishop forward in order to defend the pawn.
Aronian offers up a knight exchange, banking on the fact that Arjun cannot take his undefended pawn in the center due to tactics.
Arjun agrees to the trade
He didn't have much of a choice, since a retreat of the piece would have been too passive. Plus, it would have allowed Aronian to jump forward with his knight.
Aronian has managed to trade off one set of pieces, but this doesn't necessarily play to his advantage. His king is still a little shaky with Arjun's bishop exerting pressure from a distance.
A useful waiting move, improving the king's position.
Aronian makes a huge mistake, handing Arjun immediate winning chances so long as he spots the tactic!
It might just be Aronian's lucky day! Earlier he allowed a knight sacrifice, which Arjun missed. And now, Arjun misses what would have been a winning tactic! The game returns to roughly balanced!
Aronian drops back, and is now safe from any tactics against his pawn.
Arjun doubles up rooks, as he looks to take control over the central file.
Aronian has managed to get yet another pair of pieces off the board, though for now he still remains the side under a little pressure. The reason is that the pawn structure favors him, while his pieces remain the more active ones.
Aronian's position looking dangerous
He has to be very careful now, since he has given Arjun the time to bring his queen forward in connection with his right-hand pawn. That's going to allow him to set up a sort of bind along the dark squares that will paralyze Aronian's pieces.
Looks like Arjun has spotted the right idea, as he looks to take over the initiative once again. It continues to be really hard to suggest a good plan for Aronian. And when you couple that with his < 10 minutes on the clock, it could spell trouble for him.
This is the issue for Aronian. Now he's not going to be in time to kick the queen away, since pushing his pawn forward would allow Arjun to win the then undefended pawn on the kingside.
Aronian overlooks a tactic for the third time in the game, and hands Arjun the best chance yet to kill the game on the spot. Will it be third time lucky for India's highest rated grandmaster?
There's nothing to be done here. Arjun has quickly spotted the tactic. The point is that if Aronian plays pawn takes knight, then after rook takes rook Aronian cannot play queen takes rook because of checkmate!
The blunder certainly didn't come out nowhere, as Arjun Erigaisi easily equalized out of the opening and put Aronian on the back foot for the majority of the game.
And that pressure proved a heavy burden for Levon, who never quite appeared to settle into a rhythm.
In fact, before Arjun got the chance to deliver the killer blow, Levon had already allowed a couple of tactical opportunities that were overlooked by the Indian grandmaster.
The first of these came on move 26, while his next mistake on move 33 would have already allowed Arjun to establish a winning position. Arjun didn't take these chances, but he did manage to keep up the pressure. And with minutes ticking on the clock, you got the feeling like it was only a matter of time before Arjun would get another chance to strike.
Heartbreak for Levon Aronian, as he goes home after what has been a quite successful outing for him in Goa, India.
Congratulations to Arjun Erigaisi, who becomes the first Indian to book his ticket into Monday's quarterfinals!
How far will Aronian push?
Levon Aronian, the oldest player still standing in the 2025 World Cup, has been displaying excellent chess throughout this grueling knockout format.
Yesterday, he continued his good form as he held a draw with precise play against the highest rated player left in the field, Arjun Erigaisi.
Today, he has an excellent chance to push past his formidable rival, as he will be commanding the White pieces and needs a win to progress to the next round while avoiding the treacherous waters of the rapid & blitz tiebreaks.
Arjun, on the other hand, will not be too worried about how things are shaping up for now. He's known for his composure at the board, and indeed his generally calm demeanor off it. And one thing that he may be feeling quite relaxed about is the possibility of a tie-break playoff. This is a format that he's been quite convincing in throughout his career, and in round 4 he showed his skills by beating Peter Leko 2-0 in the first set of tiebreaker rapid games.
It's anyone's match for the taking today, let's see if we get action on the board, or if it's a quieter drift towards a draw and a third day of games tomorrow!