Nakamura Kicking Ass in Spain

GM Hikaru Nakamura (Smallville) is off to an amazing start in Barcelona, Spain with 3.5/4, including 2 wins with the black pieces! I am amazed he hasn’t been invited to any major tournaments (like Corus, Linares, etc), since he is such a crowd pleaser. He plays to the bitter end and only rarely accepts quick draws. His only flaw is that he doesn’t always take chess seriously (USCL is a good example), but the few times he’s played in strong round robins he has always overachieved. Anyways, I was a little bored tonight so decided to analyze 2 of his wins.. Enjoy!

Krasenkow,Michal (2668) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2648) [A14]
(2), 19.10.2007 [Bournival,Braden]

This is the most impressive game I’ve seen all year, and I’m not just saying that because I’m friends with Hikaru. I’m sure this game will one day end up in a book titled “Nakamura’s 50 best games” 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.b3 a5 7.Nc3 c6 8.d4 Nbd7 9.Qc2 This opening doesn’t seem very ambitious for white since the g2 bishop is hitting a granite wall on d5. 9…b6 10.e4 Ba6 11.Nd2 c5

This is a novelty according to my database, but seems very logical. White’s minor pieces are not coordinated so it makes sense to rip the position open. 12.exd5 cxd4 13.Nb5 exd5 [13…Bxb5 14.dxe6 fxe6 15.Bxa8 Qxa8 16.cxb5 Ne5 Gives black excellent compensation for the exchange, but this seems unnecessary since black is at least = after the text move.] 14.Nxd4 Rc8 15.Re1 b5 This puts more pressure on the c4 pawn, and is very typical of Hikaru’s style. He seems to find the sharpest moves to put pressure on his opponents. 16.Bb2 Re8 [16…bxc4 Nakamura likely rejected this since play seems to peter out to a draw, for instance: 17.bxc4 Bxc4 18.Nxc4 Rxc4 19.Qd1 Bc5 20.Nb3 a4 21.Nxc5 Nxc5 22.Bxf6 Qxf6 23.Bxd5 Rd4 24.Qf3=] 17.Qd1?! [17.Rac1 In hindsight, this seems like a better try. It is white who needs to play accurately to keep the balance here since all of black’s pieces are very active.] 17…bxc4 18.bxc4 Qb6 19.Rb1 dxc4 I have a feeling it was at this point that Hikaru spotted this amazing sacrifice, since he can’t allow Nc6 without seeing this possibility 20.Nc6 Rxc6! 21.Bxf6

Qxf2+!! This unbelievable queen sacrifice is completely winning. You will see this position in many tactic books for years to come. 22.Kxf2 Bc5+ 23.Kf3 This loses very quickly, but you can’t blame Krasenkow for missing the best defense (23. Bd4!), he must have been absolutely stunned at this point. [23.Bd4! This is a better chance, although white is still lost. The idea of Bd4 is to prevent the bishop from checking on the h4-d8 diagonal when the king runs to h4, for instance: 23…Bxd4+ 24.Kf3 Rf6+ 25.Kg4 Ne5+ 26.Kg5 (26.Rxe5 Bc8+ 27.Kh4 Rxe5 And black will mate shortly.) 26…Rg6+ 27.Kh4 With the bishop on c5, Be7+ would mate after Kh5 Rh6++, but here black doesn’t have this check 27…Rh6+ 28.Kg5 Bc8! And black has a raging attack, which must be winning, but there is still some work to do.] 23…Rxf6+ 24.Kg4 Ne5+ 25.Kg5 [25.Rxe5 Bc8+ 26.Rf5 Bxf5+ 27.Kh4 Rh6+ 28.Kg5 Bd7-+] 25…Rg6+ 26.Kh5 f6 [26…Bc8 This also wins.] 27.Rxe5 Rxe5+ 28.Kh4 Bc8 Black can not stop Rh6++ 0-1

Vaganian,Rafael (2600) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2648) [E97]
(4), 21.10.2007 [Bournival,Braden]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.a3 c5 This move is somewhat unusual, and has never really been tried on this high a level. Usually black plays 10… Nd7 or 10… Bd7 11.Rb1 Ne8 12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 b6 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.Nb3 f5 16.f3 [16.Bg5!? Bf6 17.Bd2 Is a possible refinement, since the f6 square is often used for pieces other than the bishop.] 16…f4 17.Bd2 Bd7 18.Ra1 g5 19.Nb5 Rxa1 20.Qxa1 Nc8

This position must be better for white, black’s attack hasn’t really started yet on the kingside and white has a bunch of open lines on the queenside to work with. Vaganian’s play from here on out seems somewhat mysterious. 21.g4? White is playing on the wrong side of the board. [21.Qa6 White will follow up with moves such as Na5-c6, Qb7, Ra1, and he seems to have a very strong position. Black may get some counterplay on the kingside, but it’s virtually impossible to stop all counterplay in the King’s Indian.] 21…fxg3 22.hxg3 Qf6 23.Qc1 Qg6! 24.Nc3=/+ This is a sign that things have gone very wrong for white, black has firmly seized the initiative. [24.Bxg5? Bf6! 25.Bxf6 Qxg3+ 26.Kh1 Qh3+ 27.Kg1 Rxf6-/+] 24…h6 25.Na1 White hopes to bring the knight over to the kingside with Nc2-e3, but this is very slow. [25.g4!? Is an interesting attempt to close up the kingside, but black should definitely be better here.] 25…Nf6 26.Nc2 g4 27.Qe1 gxf3 28.Bxf3 Nb6 29.Ne3 Bh3 [29…h5 With the idea of Bh6 might have been a better way to keep playing for a win.] 30.Bg2 Bxg2 31.Nf5?

This move loses [White could hold the balance with: 31.Kxg2 Nxe4 32.Nf5 Rxf5 33.Qxe4 Rf6 34.Rxf6 Qxf6 35.Nb5=] 31…Rf7! 32.Kxg2 Nxc4 33.Qe2 Nxd2 34.Qxd2 Nxe4!-+ Black wins a pawn and with it the game. White may have hoped that his knight vs bad bishop would save the day, but the C pawn is just too fast. 35.Nxe4 Rxf5 36.Rxf5 Qxf5 37.Nxd6 Qg6 38.Nb5 Qe4+ 39.Kh2 Qb4!

Black gains some valuable time since white must protect his knight. 40.Qe2 c4 41.Nc7 c3 42.Qa6 c2 43.Qc8+ Qf8 44.Ne8 c1Q [This move is completely winning, but the computer points out that black can allow 2 discovered checks and win with: 44…Qf2+ 45.Kh3 Qf1+ 46.Kh2 c1Q 47.Nf6+ Kf7 48.Qe6+ Kg6 49.Ne4+ Kh7 And white has no more checks, but Hikaru naturally avoids this, opting for the easy win a piece up.] 45.Qxc1 Qxe8 46.d6 Qe6 47.Qc7 Bf6 48.d7 Qd5 49.Qc8+ Kg7 50.Qe8 e4 51.Kh3 Bg5 52.Kg4 e3 53.Kh3 Qh1+ 54.Kg4 Qd1+ 0-1