Tata Steel 2013

Hello all. Besides trying to stay warm, I've been following Tata Steel 2013 very closely. Lots of interesting games and excellent coverage on ICC. I dare say Tata Steel 2013 is turning into a modern day Zurich 1953.
I liked Aronian's win in round 10 especially because there are some overtones to openings I play. According to Larry Christiansen, the English Opening is one of Aronian's favorites. I need to look up some games of his.
Aronian - Hao Round 10
What I like about this game is the plan Ra1-c1-c2. I play the Botvinnik structure quite a bit with White and tend to play Rb1 mostly. Now I know to look out for this other possibility.

As for my own play I've been experimenting with exchange sacrifices. What I find is that almost any tangible positional advantage can compensate for the exchange in many types of positions. An incomplete list would be:
- Bishop pair + pawn(s) or even just an advanced passed pawn not necessarily an extra pawn - Well posted knight ( on the 6th. On the 5th with other compensation ) - A generally closed position - Piece activity. All this is probably covered in many books but it's quite different to actually try out the ideas for oneself. I may be getting away with some questionable play but the best way to get a feeling for this is to lose a few games. So far I'm doing ok. I will post some examples from my ICC games when I get a chance. Overall I'm starting to become comfortable with my handling of exchange sacrifices. I now want to start understanding other material compensation. 1. Compensation for a pawn, 2. Compensation for a piece. 3. Compensation for the queen. I'm less interested in compensation for a rook for the moment.