FTX Road to Miami QF: Levon Aronian eliminates Arjun Erigaisi

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/07/2022

Arjun Erigaisi started the Quarterfinals with a win. He drew the next game and then lost the next two to get eliminated by Aronian. Unlike last year, things did not spill into tie-breaks and there were more decisive games. Arjun had a decent chance to draw both games which he lost, however neither was easy to save. Both players have a lot of respect towards each other. Their next chapter might be written sooner than one can expect. Aronian will face Duda in a battle among the World Cup winners. Wei Yi will be up against Richard Rapport in the other Semifinals, which starts tonight from 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes

Rapport and Wei Yi win tie-breaks

Both Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Levon Aronian won their respective Quarterfinal matches without the need of tie-breaks. Wei Yi and Richard Rapport on the other hand had to win the Blitz tie-breaks to advance to the Semifinals. Thus, the Semifinalists are going to face an opponent who had taken a similar path in the Knockout stage.

Levon Aronian eliminated Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Arjun Erigaisi - Aronian: 1.5-2.5

Arjun Erigaisi started the Quarterfinals on a winning note. A complex position arose from Queen's Gambit Accepted.

Arjun - Aronian, Game 1

Position after 39.Kxe2

The correct way to continue for Black was 39...b4 40.Bg7 b3 41.h5 Nd3 and so on. However, it was not easy to determine the correct order. The game continued 39...Nd3 which allowed White to get back in the game 40.Rf1 Nxb2 41.Bxf6 and eventually White went on to win the game after mutual errors. Arjun took 1-0 lead. The second game ended in a draw. Arjun maintained his lead 1.5-0.5

Arjun - Aronian, Game 3

Position after 36...Kb1

White could have still saved the game by advancing the pawn mass on the kingside. For e.g. 37.f4 b2 38.Kf3 Kc2 39.Ra2 Kd3 40.Rxb2 Rxb2 41.f5 and it is difficult for Black to win this. However, 37.g6 hxg6 38.Rxg6 b2 39.Rh6 Kc2 40.Rh1 Rd7 turned completely lost for White as the b2-pawn cannot be captured.

Aronian - Arjun, Game 4

Position after 40.Kh2

It was a difficult queen ending for Black, especially considering the fact that he has a back-rank weakness. 40...e2 41.Qxe2 Qa1 was the only way for the queen to get out of the back rank. 40...Qb8 41.Qe4 Qc8 42.Kg2 e2 43.Qxe2 now it is too little too late for the black queen to get out of the back rank as it is unable to make a difference.