1. d2d4  1... g8f6  2. g1f3  2... e7e6  3. c1f4  3... b7b6  4. e2e3  4... c8b7  5. f1d3  5... f8e7  6. h2h3 In a must-win  situation, Aronian chooses to keep as many pieces on the board as he can. 6... c7c5  7. c2c3  7... c5d4  8. e3d4  8... e8g8  9. e1g1  9... d7d6  10. f1e1  10... b8d7  11. a2a4 White's plan is to gain as  much space on the queenside and ideally provoke weaknesses there. 11... a7a6  12. f4g3 A novelty. 12... f8e8  13. b1a3  13... e7f8  14. a3c4  14... d8c7  15. f3d2  15... b6b5 This move will likely be played sooner or later. 16. c4a3 Putting more pressure on Black. 16... b5a4  17. d1a4  17... b7c6  18. a4c2  18... c7b7 Carlsen played this obvious move  very quickly, but it is a blunder. 19. a3c4 Blitzed instantly. After this the world champion started  shaking his head in disbelief... 19... b7c7 ...and accepted the loss of two important tempi as calmly as he could under the circumstances. 20. c4a5  20... a8a7  21. a5c6 capturing the excellent bishop at once. 21... c7c6  22. b2b4  22... e8c8  23. c3c4  23... e6e5 Carlsen fights fiercely for his life. This is the only way  to demonstrate some activity and to bring the pieces into the game. 24. d4e5  24... d7e5  25. d3f1 White's better pawn structure and bishop pair allow him the luxury to play without any rush. The move in the game prepares the  queenside break. 25... a7b7  26. c2b3  26... c8b8  27. b4b5  27... a6b5  28. c4b5 An outside passer has been  added to White's assets. His advantage is growing. 28... c6b6  29. d2c4  29... e5c4  30. f1c4 Now the last thing Aronian needs to do is to clear the path for his passer. He can remove some of the blockaders with his rooks, but  ideally, he needs his dark-squared bishop transferred on the g1-a7  diagonal. 30... b8c8  31. a1a6  31... b6c5 Active defense again. 32. c4d3  32... d6d5  33. g3f4 Aronian is almost there, but Carlsen has... 33... f6e4  34. f4e3  34... d5d4  35. e3f4  35... e4c3 ...finally bringing the knight into an optimal position and blocking the c-file. In the meanwhile, the g1-a7  diagonal has been locked and White's task became definitely more  difficult. Have I also mentioned that Aronian was running very low on  time? 36. e1e5  36... c5b4 One more achievement for the world champion: the  queens are swapped. 37. b3b4  37... f8b4  38. g2g4 But White is still in  control. With his last move, Aronian searches for a second weakness on the kingside, and his majesty looks like a promising candidate for that role! 38... g7g6  39. g1g2 An automatic, improving move in time trouble. 39... c8b8 It is dangerous standing against the bishop, but dealing  with the passer on b5 is much more important. 40. e5e1  40... b8d8  41. f4g5  41... d8b8  42. g5f4  42... b8d8  43. e1e5  43... d8b8  44. a6c6 Taking under control the c7-spot. 44... c3b5 Ufff, finally one major pain is removed. However, the black  pieces are still in trouble 45. e5d5  45... b5a7 But Carlsen skillfully  maneuvers in a tight space. 46. c6c1  46... b8e8  47. c1b1  47... b7b6 With only a few  seconds left on their clocks, both players intuitively find the best  moves. 48. f4c7 Now Carlsen almost escapes. 48... b6c6  49. d5d7  49... e8e7 