Gates’ exit

In Virgil’s Aeneid the hero Aeneas escapes from Hades via one of two gates, one made of ivory and the other of horn. It is widely believed that he selected the wrong gate. As Homer had already established, the gate of ivory, which Aeneas chose, portends false visions, while the gate of horn heralds true prognostications. Last week Bill Gates flew into London to contest a game against the new world champion Magnus Carlsen. Although the game only lasted nine moves, Bill certainly chose the wrong gate to exit the game.
 
Gates-Carlsen: London 2014; Nimzowitsch Defence
 
1 e4 Nc6 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bd3 d5 4 exd5 Qxd5 5 Nc3 Qh5 6 0-0 Bg4 7 h3 Ne5 This sacrifice is not sound. Instead 7 … Bxf3 8 Qxf3 Qxf3 9 gxf3 0-0-0 gives Black a great advantage in pawn structure. 8 hxg4 Nfxg4 (see diagram 1) 9 Nxe5?? Here 9 Re1 would actually give White a winning position since after 9 … Nxf3+ 10 Qxf3 Qh2+ 11 Kf1, White’s king easily escapes the danger zone. 9 … Qh2 checkmate
 
Meanwhile, in the elite world of professional chess, Levon Aronian, the Armenian grandmaster and world no. 2, has captured first prize in the powerful Tata Steel tournament at Wijk aan Zee in Holland. Leading scores were as follows: Aronian 8/11, Giri and Karjakin 6½, Caruana, Dominguez Perez and So 6.
 
Aronian’s main skill at Wijk aan Zee was in converting almost imperceptible advantages in the endgame. In this sense he seemed to be taking a leaf from Carlsen’s book. It will be recalled that in their recent World Championship clash, Carlsen notched up two endgame wins against Anand from positions that had seemed completely drawn.
 
Naiditsch-Aronian: Tata Steel Masters, Wijk aan Zee 2014
 
Here Black is a pawn up but his c-pawns are doubled and isolated. Meanwhile the promotion square c1 is under heavy guard.