Position after 20.Bb3
GM Shirov (2699) – GM Aronian (2759) [C88]
FIDE candidates Matches Elista, Kalmykia Russia, 12.06.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.d3 d6 9.c3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 Nc6 12.Nf1 Re8 13.a3 h6 14.b4 Be6 15.Ng3 d5 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Be3 Rac8 18.Nd2 Nb8 19.Nge4 Nbd7 20.Bb3 =+ Qxd3 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.Qf3 cxb4 23.axb4 Nxe4 24.Nxe4 Nf6 25.Nxf6 Bxf6 26.Rxa6 (It does not look like Shirov will win this game and that means that Aronian will advance to Mexico City.)
26…Qxc3 27.Rb1
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Shirov is trying hard.
Not very hard in my opinion. How much fide rating did Gata lose, I can’t find on the website?
if so, why did aronian accept the draw?
ah yes, of course. stupid me. i forgot that the score was 3.0-2.0.
anon 10:07:00 Gata Kamsky will gain 15 rating points from his match win over Bacrot, but lose 8 rating points for his match loss to Gelfand, resulting in an overall gain of 7 points.
(incidentally Gelfand will only gain 3 points overall, while Aronian will even lose 5 points)
But the rating loss/gain is pretty unimportant in the context of a World Championship.