CHENNAI: There was a surprise visitor on the beaches of Goa a week out from the chess World Cup. It was Levon Aronian, the owner of two World Cups. Even as some of the world's best had checked into the venue after the Opening Ceremony, Aronian, one of the highest-rated players of all time, had quietly arrived with his wife in India's western coast days. He was there even before some of the FIDE guys had arrived.
Viswanathan Anand, when name-checking his favourites for the World Cup during a press conference in the first week of November, had cheekily attributed to this fact. "Levon Aronian," FIDE's deputy head had noted, "has already been on the beach here for a week and he has clearly taken it very seriously."
On Tuesday, the 43-year-old, the second-oldest GM remaining in the tournament, took a giant step towards advancing into the pre-quarterfinals with a commanding win over Radoslaw Wojtaszek, a one-time second of Anand.
Playing with white, Aronian, nicknamed the Armenian Lion, opened with the king's pawn, before developing his queen and the f bishop. Even though the US GM hadn't managed to gain an advantage out of the opening, he had managed to blitz his first 12 moves. So, while the Pole had nearly bled 30 minutes, Aronian, very much in prep, had lost only 90 seconds. And as soon as his opponent castled king side, Aronian sensed an opening. So he castled queen side to opt for a more dynamic middle game.
After trading queens, he had built a small initiative per the engines (+1.1). In the middle game, both his c and d pawns were marauding up the board. What didn't help Wojtaszek was there were a few inaccuracies. So he resigned after 36 moves.
Significance with Goa
As long as the World No 22 avoids defeat on Wednesday, he will advance to the last 16 to keep the dream alive but what's working for the Super GM is that he's at peace with himself. "I have no real ambition," he had said to a select group of Indian journalists before the tournament began. "I'm just excited and very grateful for this opportunity to play chess."
What the 2728-rated player meant by that was simple. "My only ambition is to play my best chess. I don't have to show or prove to anybody that I'm capable of playing good chess; I know that for myself. I will be happy to win the event. I will be happy to play the World Championship match. I will also be happy to become the defender of the galaxy against the aliens (laughs)."
Even if the World Cup has seen its fair amount of top seeds fall by the wayside over the last 10 days, Aronian has quietly made a case for himself. What's also worked for him is Goa is a pretty significant staging post in his life. When he featured here at the age-group World Championships a few decades ago, Aronian, who used to represent Armenia then, felt it would be his tournament as 'I thought I had to go and study,' he reminisced. "I suddenly won the tournament." Goa has influenced him in other ways too. "I met a couple of people here during that tournament. I went to a little temple and saw them. I don't know if they were working there. He influenced my philosophy in some way." It made him give up meat. "Goa has changed my life."
If he can keep up his recent form — 'I have had a very good year' — this sea state will change his life again.
Select results (Round 4, Game 1): Peter Kelo drew Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa drew Daniil Dubov, Matthias Bluebaum drew Alexander Donchenko, Andrey Esipenko drew Vincent Keymer, Jose Martinez bt Alexey Sarana, P Harikrishna drew Nils Gradelius, Karthik Venkataraman drew Liem Le.