1. e2e4 A surprise. Matlakov is mainly a 1.d4 player. He rarely pushes his  king's pawn this early. 1... e7e5  2. g1f3  2... b8c6  3. f1c4  3... g8f6  4. d2d3  4... f8c5  5. c2c3  5... e8g8  6. e1g1  6... d7d5 Aronian likes this move against the Ruy Lopes as well. 7. e4d5  7... f6d5  8. f1e1  8... c8g4  9. b1d2  9... d5b6  10. h2h3  10... g4h5  11. c4b3  11... g8h8 A question of  style. Aronian likes initiative and therefore prefers to keep queens on  the board. 12. d2e4  12... c5e7  13. e4g3  13... h5f3  14. d1f3  14... f7f5  15. a2a4  15... a7a5 The pawn should not be let run all the way to a6. This will  weaken the light squares too much. 16. d3d4  16... f5f4  17. g3h5 Risky, but good. 17... g7g6  18. d4e5 Except that the follow-up is not the optimal one. 18... g6h5 