1. d2d4  1... g8f6  2. c2c4  2... e7e6  3. b1c3  3... f8b4  4. g1f3  4... b7b6  5. d1b3  5... a7a5  6. g2g3  6... c8b7  7. f1g2  7... d7d6  8. e1g1  8... b8d7 It's no surprise that this move is a novelty. Players with Black are often terrified at the prospect of losing the bishop on b4 and capturing the knight on c3 as soon as it's no longer pinned. 9. b3c2 Aronian decides not to try to exploit the possible defects of Black's previous move. This can be tried with 9.Nb5 or 9.Na4; the latter seems to be the most promising. 9... e8g8 Playing with fire. 10. f1d1  10... d8e7  11. b2b3  11... c7c5 I don't like the plan of advancing the central pawns. I prefer the slower 12. c1b2 White prepares d4-d5. 12... d6d5 [%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] 13. c4d5  13... b4c3  14. d5d6 [%c_effect d6;square;d6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] A typical intermediate move in similar positions. Pattern recognition is very important in chess. 14... e7d6  15. c2c3  15... d6e7  16. d4c5  16... d7c5  17. f3e5  17... b7g2  18. g1g2 White has a clear advantage. The b2-bishop is strong and Black's queenside is weak, especially the pawn on b6. 18... e7b7  19. c3f3  19... f6e4  20. b2d4 [%c_effect d4;square;d4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] A good plan. White gains the chance to capture the knight on c5, which will be useful in many positions. 20... f7f5 [%c_effect f5;square;f5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This makes things worse. 21. e5c4 [%c_effect c4;square;c4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] 21... a5a4  22. b3b4  22... c5d7  23. g2g1 [%c_effect g1;square;g1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] White needed to avoid the move b6-b5. 23... d7f6 [%c_effect f6;square;f6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] 24. d4f6 [%c_effect f6;square;f6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Exchanging the bishop for a knight at the right time is the mark of a strong chess player. 24... f8f6  25. f3e3  25... a8c8  26. a1c1 [%c_effect c1;square;c1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] 26... b6b5  27. c4e5  27... f6f8 [%c_effect f8;square;f8;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] 28. f2f3  28... e4f6 