Caruana Maintains Lead While Kramnik Steals Show

Today at the Candidates Tournament in Berlin, tournament leader Fabiano Caruana faced nearest rival, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Caruana calmly defended to draw the game, maintaining his slim edge with four rounds to go.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Berlin Candidates"]
[Date "2018.03.22"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2809"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Rb8 7. e3 Be7 8. Nfd2
e5 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. dxe5 Ng4 11. Nxc4 Be6 12. Nbd2 h5 13. f3 Qd3 14. fxg4 Bxc4
15. Nxc4 Qxc4 16. gxh5 Qe6 17. Qf3 Rb5 18. Qf5 Rxe5 19. Qxe6 Rxe6 20. Rf5 Rd6
21. Kg2 Rd1 22. b3 g6 23. Re5 c5 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. e4 Rh7 26. h4 Rf7 27. Kh3
Rff1 28. Bg5 Rxa1 29. Rxe7+ Kf8 30. Rxc7 Rxa2 31. Be7+ Kg8 32. Rc8+ Kg7 33.
Bxc5 Re2 34. e5 Rd1 35. Re8 Rd5 36. Bd6 Re3 37. Re7+ Kg8 38. Re8+ Kf7 39. Re7+
Kg8 40. b4 Rdd3 41. Kg4 Rxg3+ 42. Kf4 Rgf3+ 43. Ke4 Rfe3+ 44. Kf4 Rf3+ 45. Kg5
Rf7 46. e6 Rd5+ 47. Kxg6 Rxd6 48. Rxf7 Rxe6+ 49. Rf6 Re4 50. b5 Rxh4 51. Ra6
Rh7 52. b6 Rg7+ 53. Kh6 Rh7+ 54. Kg5 Rg7+ 55. Kf5 axb6 56. Rxb6 Rf7+ 57. Rf6
Rxf6+ 58. Kxf6 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

But today, many eyes were on wildcard Vladimir Kramnik's wild battle against Levon Aronian. https://www.instagram.com/p/BgpaKS3g_oa/?taken-by=us_chess White to Move Show Solution GM Eugene Perelshteyn pointed out a predecessor to this tactic: https://twitter.com/EugenePerel/status/976912920771792898 Aronian could have played 36...Rg7 at the fatal moment, with continuing complications.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Berlin Candidates"]
[Date "2018.03.22"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2800"]
[BlackElo "2794"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. Nd5 Nxd5 7. Bxd5 d6 8.
Be3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 O-O 10. O-O Nb8 11. b4 Nd7 12. Qd2 c6 13. Bb3 a5 14. a3 Nf6
15. h3 h6 16. Rab1 b5 17. Qc3 Bd7 18. Rf2 Qb6 19. Re1 Rfe8 20. Nh4 c5 21. Ref1
cxb4 22. Qe1 d5 23. axb4 dxe4 24. bxa5 Rxa5 25. Ng6 Be6 26. Nxe5 exd3 27. Rxf6
gxf6 28. Rxf6 d2 29. Qg3+ Kf8 30. Rf1 Ra7 31. Ng6+ Kg7 32. Nf4+ Kh8 33. Nh5 f6
34. Nxf6 Rf8 35. Qf4 Rh7 36. Qe5 Qc7 37. Ne8+ 1-0[/pgn]

https://twitter.com/chess24com/status/976875154117668864 Before the event, GM Ian Rogers wrote the "Couch Potato's Guide", covering a wide variety of viewing options for US Chess readers. One such viewing option began with round ten, Today In Chess, hosted at the Saint Louis Chess Club by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley and US Chess editor WGM Jen Shahade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n-Cvq_2c20&app=desktop The show continues to air over the final four rounds at 12 CT on the STL Chess Club YouTube channel, as well as on chess24. As American fans watch with bated breath, vote in the poll below. What are Caruana's odds to earn the right to challenge Carlsen? https://twitter.com/STLChessClub/status/976896982341115905