Fighting Chess with Hikaru Nakamura - Progress in Chess - Karsten Müller, Raymund Stolze - Ed. Olms - 2012.OCR OPT R

This the very first book to focus exclusively on Hikaru Nakamura. the greatest American chess player since the legendary Robert James Fischer. The book features a prologue penned by Lubosh Kavalek, who was none other than Bobby's insider and supporter at the "match of the century" against Boris Spassky in 1972. That up to now there have been no books on Hikaru Nakamura is nothing less than astonishing, given the fact that he is firmly established in the United States as the legitimate successor to the eleventh world champion. the great Robert James Fischer. At the very least, this has been the case since his sensational triumph at the traditional Wijk aan Zee chess festival -on 30 January 2011 in Holland, where he finished ahead of reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand. · In this . book, grandmaster Karsten Muller from Hamburg and chess journalist Raymond Stolze from Berlin document the 24-year-old's fascin.a"ting journey to the top of world chess. Interestingly, Hikaru was not a typical child prodigy, and at his first Junior World Championships didn't even make it onto the winners· podium . But he won a World Cup medal aged just 13 and since then he has been creating true miracles.

Also available:

MtlCHAJ.CHISHIN

STETSKO

Adrian Mikhalchishin and Oleg Stetsko Fighting Chess with Magnus Carlsen

His Best Games annotated by Adrian Mikhalchishin and Oleg Stetsko. Translated and edited by Ken Neat. 280 pp with many diagrams. ISBN 978-3-283-01020-1 Boris Gelfand My Most Memorable Games

261 pages with numerous diagrams. ISBN 978 - 3-283-00453-8 Anatoly Karpov My Best Games

With a Foreword by Igor Zaitsev. 295 pages with many diagrams. ISBN 978-3-283-01002-7

Victor Korchnoi My best Games

In ten chapters, the authors focus on the main reasons for the success of Nakamura, who, like archrival Magnus Carlsen, was coached for nearly a year by Garry Kasparov. In addition to an exclusive interview, of special interest are contributions by prominent chess greats, such as three-time U.S. national champion Lubosh Kavalek. Kavalek has been following Hikaru's ascent to the summit of chess at close range. Which is why he is ideally placed to deliver a reliable verdict on this exceptional player. Many chess fans admire Hikaru Nakamura's furious attacking talent, and w ish him all the best for a successful career.

Updated and revised anniversary edition . Two volumes in one. Translated and edited by Ken Neat. 435 pages with numerous diagrams. ISBN 978-3-283-01019-5 Victor Korchnoi Chess is my Life

With a Preface by Garry Kasparov and a Foreword by Sergey Ivanov. Including a CD-Rom with his complete games (in ChessBase format) . 226 pages with numerous photos and diagrams. ISBN 978-3-283-00406-4

www.hikarunakamura.com

EDITION

OLMS

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EDITION

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Muller/Stolze

•

Fighting Chess with Hikaru Nakamura

ProgressiifCfiess

Volume 32 of the ongoing series

Editorial board GM Victor Korchnoi GM Helmut Pfleger GM Nigel Short GM Rudolf Teschner

2012 EDITION OLMS

m

Karsten Muller Raymund Stolze

FIGHTING CHESS WITH

HIKARU NAKAMURA

An American Chess Career in the Footsteps of Bobby Fischer Prologue by Lubosh Kavalek

Translated by Ian Adams and edited by Ken Neat

2012 EDITION OLMS

m

4

@

The authors: Karsten Muller (born 1970), has played for Hamburg SK in the Bundesliga since 1988 and has twice taken third place in the German individual championships (1996 and 1997). A doctor of mathematics, he is an internationally recognised endgame expert, who not only writes mainly English language books on this subject but who also authors training DV Ds for ChessBase and is responsible for the endgame columns in ChessBase Magazine as well as the internet site ChessCafe.com. In addition he is much appreciated as a successful coach of up-and-coming young players. For that reason in 2007 he was awarded the title of "Trainer of the Year" by the German Chess Federation. Raymund Stolze

(born 1945) wrote his first chess book Umkiimpfte Krone - Die Due/le der Schachwelt

meister von Steinitz bis Kasparow (The fight for the throne - duels of chess world champions from Steinitz to Kasparov), in the mid-1980s and it became a best-seller and went through several editions. A qualified economist, he himself was a very successful chess player. T hus, for example, in 1963 he was junior champion of East Berlin. A former editor-in-chief of the renowned Sportverlag Berlin, who developed and published a three-volume series of manuals with Alexander Koblencs, the former trainer of World Champion Mikhail Tai, si nce 2003 he has been responsible for the chess book section of EDITION OLMS.

Bibliographical Information published by T he Deutsche Nationalbibliothek T he Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliografic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Picture credits: Ray Morris Hill, London

Copyright © 2012 Edition Olms AG Willikonerstr. 10 · CH-8618 Oetwil a. S./ZOrich, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.edition-olms.com All rights reserved. T his work is protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. Printed in Germany Printed on acid-free and ageing-resistant paper Editor: Ken Neat Translator: Ian Adams Typeset: Arno N ickel· Edition Marco, D-14059 Berlin Printed by: Druckerei Friedr. Schmucker GmbH, D-49624 Loningen Cover: N iklas WeiB, D-79104 Freiburg ISBN13: 978-3-283-01023-2

ct:J

5

Contents About this book ................. . ....................................................................................................... 7 Prologue (Lubosh Kavalek) - Hikaru's rise to the heights

. .

................ .. ..............................

(1] N. -0. Adu (Washington 1 999) 11

(2]

Ni Hua-N. (Seattle 200 1 ) 13

(3] N. -N. De Firmian (San Francisco 2002) 15 (5] N.-1. Smirin ( Foxwoods 2005) 19 (7] N.-V. Epishin (Gibraltar 200 7) 25

(4] [6]

N. -S. Karjakin (Cuernavaca 2004) 18 B. Macieja-N. (Turin 2006) 21

[8] A. Samsonkin-N. (Toronto 2009) 27 (1 O] N. -M. Carlsen (Oslo 2009) 30

[9] N. -M. Barron (Toronto 2009) 28

O Chapter 1

..... . . . ................................... . . . . . . . . . ................................................... . . . ..... . ...........

Wijk aan Zee, 15th.January

2011,

Round

10

1

33

(1 1 ] N.-A. Grischuk 33

Apprenticeship or the American way to success

.

. .

.... .................. ........ . . . . . .. . . . . .

.

...

.. . . ..

.

. . ... ...

(1 3] N.

(1 4] N.- D. Stellwagen (Oropesa d.M. 2000) 48

(1 5] N.-B. Predojevic (Oropesa d.M. 200 1 ) 50

-

. 36

F. Tahi rov (Oropesa d.M. 1 999) 45

(1 2] N. - E. Tomashevsky (Oropesa d.M. 1 999) 43

ZWISCHENZOGE (Bettina Trabert) - Reminiscences of a chess game ............................ 53

O Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................... 56 Wijk aan Zee, 16th January Wijk aan Zee,

2011, 17th January 2011,

2 Round 3

Round

(1 6] L. Aronian- N. 56 (1 7] N.-A. Shirov 58

The magic of openings ... . . . . ................................. ......................................... . . . ........ ................ 62

A)

B) His score in the openings 64

Developing a repertoire 62

(1 8] N.-M.Adams (London 201 0) 65

(1 9] N. -V. Kramnik ( Dortmund 201 1 ) 67

[20] V. Anand-N. (Sao Paulo/Bilbao 201 1 ) 70 [22] V. lvanchuk- N. ( Reggio Emilia 201 2) 72

(2 1 ] V.Anand-N. (London 201 0) 71 (23] J. Smeets- N. (Wijk aan Zee 201 0) 74

[24] S. Karjakin- N. (Bazna 201 1 ) 75 C)

Best novelties 76

(26] N.-D. Howell (London 201 0) 77

[25] N. V itiugov- N. ( Reggio Emilia 201 1 ) 76

ZWISCHENZOGE (Kris Littlejohn) - As Hikaru Nakamura's second ....................... . . ......... 80

O Chapter 3 Wijk aan Zee,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .

18th

January

2011,

Round 4

. . . . . . 84

(2 7] A. Giri - N. 84

Flying high with endgame skills ............................................................ . .. . .. . . ... . . . . . . .... ............ 87

A)

Pawn endings 89

O Chapter IV Wljk aan Zee,

. . . . .. . .

C) Calculation 95

B) Rook endings 90

ZWISCHENZOGE - Endgame test

...

.

........................ . . . . . .........

................................................ 97

......... ........................................................................................................ 98

20th January 2011,

Round 5

(28] N. - A. Ponomariov 98

The tactical pro ...................................................................................................................... 100 ZWISCHENZOGE - Tactics test

.

.

. ........................................................... ...... . . .... 105

... ..... ........ ..

6~

D Chapter 5 Wijk aan Zee,

. . ... .... .. . . ... ... .... .. ........ ... . ... .. . . . .. .... .... .... .... .. .... .... ... .. .... ... . . .. .. . . . .. . ... .. .... . 106

21st

January

2011,

Round

6

[29] E. L'Ami - N. 106

No victory without a struggle - In Bobby Fischer's footsteps

.

.. ...

..................... ............. .. 109

[31 ) A. Bisguier-N. (New Jersey 1 998) 112

[30) N.-J. Bonin (New York 1 99 7) 110 [32) N.-1. lbragimov (San Diego 2004) 114

D Chapter 6 Wijk aan Zee,

. . . ... .... ...... . ... ... ... .... .... ... ... . ... .... . . .. .... .. .. .. ... .... .... . . . .. .. . . . . .. . ... .. ... ..... ... . ... 125

22nd January 2011,

Round 7

[33) N.-J.Smeets 126

Hikaru Nakamura in an exclusive interview ......... ........... ............... ............... ...... ................ 129

D Chapter 7

. . . . . . .... ....... ... . . . . . . .... ..... ... .. .... .... . .. . . ... . .. ... ... .... ... . . . . . . .. . . . . .. ... . ... ... .... ... .... 140

23rd

Wijk aan Zee,

The sky's the limit

January 2011, Round 8 . .

. .. .

.

. .

......... ......... .. ...

.

[34] M. Carlsen - N. 141 .

.

.

. .

. . . ....... ................ . . . . . . . ................................ ... .... .. ..

144

[36) N.-A. Giri (Reggio Emilia 201 2) 151

[35) N.-A. Morozevich (Reggio Emilia 201 2) 150 [37) L. Aronian-N. (Wijk aan Zee 201 2) 154

D Chapter 8

.. .... ... ... . ... . . . . . . ... .... .... ... ... . ... . . . . . . .... .... .... .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . ... ... ........ ... .... . .. ... . .. 157

25th January 2011, Round 9 Wijk aan Zee, 26th January 2011, Round 10

[39) N.-M.Vachier-Lagrave 160

The Gambler

..

Wijk aan Zee,

.

[38) N.-V.Anand 158

.

. . 164

.

................ .......... .......... .................. . ............... . . .......................................... . .

ZWISCHENZUGE -

D Chapter 9 Wijk aan Zee, Wijk aan Zee, Wijk aan Zee,

1 :58 - Nakamura plays blitz .

.

.

.................................................. ........ ....

173

..... .. .. . . . .. . ... ... .... .. ...... .. ... .... .... ... . ... ... . . . . . .. .. ..... ... ... ... ... . . . . .. . . ... ... .... ... .. .. 176

28th January 2011, 29th January 2011, 30th January 2011,

11 12 Round 13

Round

[40) l.Nepomniachtchi -N. 177

Round

[4 1 ) N.-V.Kramnik 181 [42) Wang Hao-N. 183

His great love the King's Indian - a short repertoire a la Nakamura

D Chapter 1 0

................................

186

Hikaru Nakamura's best games ................ . .. ... . . . .. .......................... . ... . ..... 198

[44) B. Gelfand-N. (Bursa 201 0) 201 [46) V. Kramnik-N. (London 201 0) 206

[43) M. Krasenkow-N. (Barcelona 200 7) 198 [45) A. Beliavsky-N. (Amsterdam 2009) 203 [4 7] V.Anand-N. (London 201 1 ) 209 Epilogue

................................................................. . ................ ................................................

215

Appendix

Solutions .

.

. . ........ .................. . . . . . . . .... . .................. . .

.

.

.

.................. . ... ................... . .. . .

Index of openings . ..

Bibliography

.

.

.

.

.

................ ............ ....................

Rating development and world ranking of Hikaru Nakamura Index of games

..

. . ...................... ................... . .................

Important Tournaments, Matches and Team Competitions

........... . .

.

. . . . ...... .................................... ........

.

..

223

.................................. 227

.

.

.... ........... ................. .............................. ....

......... . . . . . . ...................... . . . . . . ................... ....

219

.

........................... ........ . . . . . . . . . . . .....

228 229

... . . .................................................. 230

ltJ

7

About this book "To be really good in chess you must love the game."

Robert James Fischer

3rd

September 1972 is a truly historic date

fascinating way in which the now 24-year-old

in the history of chess. For the first time

has reached the very top of the chess world.

there is an American chess world champion

The start

- Robert James Fischer. In the match of the

discovery with Hikaru Nakamura, who at the

and finish of this

journey of

century in Reykjavik in Iceland the 29-year

age of two moved with his brother Asuka and

old never gave the Russian title defender

their mother from Japan to the USA, is his

Boris Spassky the slightest chance in his

magnificent victory in the traditional chess

12¥2-8¥2 victory. T he challenger was even

festival in the Netherlands in Wijk aan Zee in

able to afford a loss in a game for which he

2011. In it he sensationally stole the show

did not appear, because his "chess tech

from the then top four players in the FIDE

nique bordered on the miraculous. He plays

world ranking list, Magnus Carlsen, Viswa

quite a simple game of chess, and of course

nathan Anand, Levon Aronian and Vladimir

he plays to win", was the enthusiastic com

Kramnik.

ment of the ex-world champion and then president of FIDE Max Euwe. Four decades after the Icelandic saga of 1972 the same is being said increasingly

It must be made absolutely clear, dear reader, that you should not be expecting a biography, because Hikaru Nakamura him self will certainly want to write that one day.

often about Christopher Hikaru Nakamura.

When in the spring of 2011 we began our

After his triumph in Wijk aan Zee, that Mecca

research for this project, we placed our trust

of chess, at the Tata Steel Tournament 2011

in the stable chess development of our

he is well on his way to storming the ap

"hero" - at that point, he was in any case in

proaches to the chess summit.

the world top ten for the first time. On the

Who is this new American hope, who

other hand, we could not have been pre

came to chess almost by chance at the age

dicted the totally amazing events which

of seven, and how has this youngster now

would follow, for example his training col

managed to be counted amongst the very

laboration with Garry Kasparov, which was

best players in the world?

first reported in the autumn of the same year

It comes as a great surprise that as yet

by the editor-in-chief of New in Chess Dirk

there is not a single book about this legi

Jan ten Geuzendam, who published an in

timate successor to the legendary Robert

terview by Macauley Peterson with Nakamura

James Fischer. So what we are presenting

about the first nine months of his coopera

you with is an exciting chronicle of an extra

tion with the 13th world champion.1

ordinary sporting career, documenting the

1

Our own most important goal was to be as

See New in Chess 7/201 1 , ''The Spirit of Saint Louis'', pp. 1 0- 1 7

8 �

About this book

At Wljk aan Zee in 20 11 Hikaru Nakamura stole the show from the established world elite. He is considered the greatest American chess hope since Bobby Fischer.

9

About this book

is

Meeting. The problem of course was how to

easier said than done. For this reason, for

get an appointment during the tournament.

example, at a very early stage we requested

And what if things were not working out for

authentic

as

possible.

However,

this

Lubomir

Nakamura as well as he imagined, as in fact

extremely well

happened? The solution was head press

acquainted with the American chess scene

officer Georgios Souleidis, who not only

a prologue for this book from Kavalek,

who

has

been

since the 1970s and who has of course

went through our catalogue of questions

followed the rise of Nakamura with more

during the conversation with Hikaru, but very

than just a journalistic interest. Once you

professionally handled this dream interview.

haye read it, you will certainly agree that our

In addition, he also made contact with Kris

choice of Lubosh, who was once promoted

Littlejohn, whom we have to thank for the

overnight

interesting viewpoints of an extraordinary

from

World

Championship

re

porter in Reykjavik to the second of Bobby Fischer during the analysis of the adjourned

second. It is a pleasure to mention some of the

13th game, was an absolute piece of good

other

fortune.2 And of course we are extremely

prompt answers and suggestions our project

grateful to him, who like Hikaru is a three

could never have achieved the quality we

time

US champion, for his commitment and

cooperation. During

comrades-in-arms,

without

whose

were aiming for. To represent them, let us mention here the four times unofficial 'bullet'

discovered

world champion Roland Schmaltz and Mar

quite by chance that Bettina Trabert was the

our researches

we

tin Fischer, who gave us considerable help

first German to meet Hikaru, on 17th April

with the chapter 'The gambler''. The Buda

1997 on Hawaii, when he was then a small

pest

nine-year-old boy taking the first steps on his

helped us with some detailed facts about

career in chess. Her score sheet that we

Nakamura's tournament results in Hungary.

publish therefore becomes a document of inestimable value. It was also quite clear that we were very

tournament

organiser

Laszlo

Nagy

Our very special thanks are due to the publisher Manfred Olms, who after the first book we wrote together, Zaubern

wie Schach

keen to have an interview with Hikaru Naka

weltmeister Michail Tai,

mura for this book. But the all-important

dence in this project, and we hope that we

had complete confi

questions were: when and where? And once

will once more prove him correct. We are

again chance came to our aid, since in July

however firmly convinced of this, not least

2011 our much sought-after interviewee was

because our editors, Arno Nickel and Ken

in Dortmund for the Sparkassen Chess

Neat, are extremely thorough. Hamburg and Honow/Berlin

Dr. Karsten MOiier 2

Raymund Stolze

For the cooperation between Lubomir Kavalek and Robert James Fischer, see in KARL 1/2012 the article ,,Eine tschechoslowakisch-amerikanische Biografie", pp.39 and 40.

10

Hikaru's rise to the heights Bv LusosH l
I champion H i karu Naka m u ra crossed the n the early summer of 2009 the U S

Atlantic and won his fi rst i mportant inter national all-play-all tou rnament i n San Sebastian. Almost a hundred years previ ously, in 1 9 1 1 , the Cuban Jose Raul Capa blanca had undertaken the same journey in o rder to set his chess career on its real upward path i n the same coastal town in the Basq ue country. The similarities are amazi ng. Both of them were invited late o n , both made a fast and furious start with five points out of six games and both scored a mere 50% in the fi nal week. Whereas Capablanca was suffering from a high tempe rature , in the last th ree rou nds Naka m u ra was si mply unable to avoid d raws. Thus R uslan Pono mariov caught up with him , but Nakam u ra was able to decide the bl itz chess play-off in his favou r by 2-0. The 2009 Donostia 1 Chess Festival also went down in history as the worst tou rnament resu lt for ex world champion Anatoly Karpov. He ended up i n last place .

Capablanca had been i nvited to the 1 9 1 1 tou rnament despite the objections of Ossip Bernste i n . 2 But the C u ban not only defeated h i m i n the very fi rst round but did so in such a brill iant manner that the game received a special prize from Baron Roth sch ild for the most beautiful one in the tou rnament. Capablanca came in first i n a field consisti ng of the best players i n the world. The only one missing was the G e r man world champion . Ten years later he would defeat Emanuel Lasker i n the World Championship match in H avana and earn for h i mself the m uch coveted world crow n . Will H i raku Naka m u ra repeat t h i s mas ter stroke of Capablanca and becom e world champion i n 201 9 o r even earl ier? If he does, that would nat u rally be the c rowning fi nish to an incredible story. But in any case why should anyone consider Naka m u ra to be the king of the world of chess? Who is this self-confident, easy-goi n g , upstanding young man who conveys the i mpression that chess is not very important for him , but who neverthe-

1

Donostia is the Basque name for San Sebastian.

2

Originally the only players invited were those who had won an international master level tou rnament in the previous decade or who had at least occupied fou rth place on two occasions. The organisers made an exception only for the Cuban. The participants included e.g. Akiba Rubinstein, Frank Marshall, Aaron N imzowitsch, Carl Schlachter and Siegbert Tarrasch.

ctJ

Hikaru's rise to the heights

less loves and lives this game which he learned when he was still a small boy? Is he the nimble a rtist, the q uickest chess player in the world? Is he the agg ressive player we saw in his youth, who would mercilessly h u nt down his opponent's king? Or is he the man with the first-rate backhand , the patient tige r with the sharp claws who beats off attacks and lie s in wait for the fatal strike? O r is he the warrior who is in there for the long run with a marked will to win , who relentlessly transforms slight endgame advantages into victory? I s he a gambler o r is he striving for steadiness? Perhaps he e mbodies all of that and even m uch more . . . For his g reat p rog ress in his early years Hiraku can than k above all his step-father Sunil Weeramantry, a chess master from Sri Lanka, who lived with his family in Switzerland, before he moved to the States. It would be hard to overstate Sunil's role. After I left my native country (Czechoslo vakia) in August 1 968, I was invited by Alois Nagler, the president of the Swiss Chess Federation , to take charge of the Swiss national team at the Chess Olym piad in Lugano. I did this job for the first week before the task was taken on by the legendary Estonian g randmaste r Paul Keres. After the end of the Olympiad I was asked to look after some of the best young Swiss players . Su nil was also on that list, but we never met. His family lived in Geneva, where his father Lucien worked in the I nternational Com mission of J u rists ( I CJ ) , a h u man rights o rganisation . Su nil later became one of the best school chess trainers in the USA. His playing style is reflected in the motto : "Never retreat!" He

11

loved to storm inexorably forward and to sweep his opponents off the board with rousing attacks. It is no wonder that the young Hikaru appears to have in herited this agg ressive style of Su nil's. Naka m u ra improved q uickly: in 1 999 at the ju nior world championships for u nder1 2s he was one of the players with the hig hest Elo rating and at the age of ten he had al ready earned the title of USC F M aste r. Shortly after tu rning twelve he defeated Oladapo Ad u , a Nigerian interna tional master who lives in the USA, in effi cient and elegant style. I n a sharp Najdorf Sicilian Hikaru b roke through with a b reath-taking knight and queen sacrifice. It was about this tim e too that the phase began in which he would gain 200 Elo points within the subsequent two years . . .

GAM E l H . Nakamura 0. Adu Eastern Open , Washington, D . C . 1 999 Sicilian Defence [882] -

1 .e4 cs 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tt:Jxd4 e6 s.tt:Jc3 a6 6.f4 tt:Jc6 7 . .te3 tt:Jf6 8.'t!Vf3 "ikc7 9.0-0-0 ..td7 1 0.g4 ! ? Hiraku attacks immediately. G arry Kaspa rov also suggested the preparatory 1 O. l:. g 1 . 1 o ... tt:Jxd4 1 1 . .txd4 .tc6 Black takes fright at the idea of 1 1 . . . eS!? 1 2 .fxeS dxe5 1 3 .'ifg3 ..td6 1 4 . .te3 .tc6 , which is u nclear according to Kasparov. 1 2 . ..txf& ! ? Hikaru i s planning t o work u p p ressu re against the e6-pawn. White's game is developing wel l . 1 2 . . . gxf6 1 3.f5 ..te7

12

�

Prologue

If 1 3 . . . 'ii'e 7? 1 4 .Ji.c4 b5 1 5 .Ji.d5 ! , then Black either loses after 1 5 . . . exd5 1 6 . exd5 o r comes under intense p ressu re after 1 5 . . . Ji.xd5 1 6 . exd5 e5 1 7.4Je4.

1 4.Ji.c4! This p uts the bishop on the correct diagonal .

p rotect e7, c6 and b8 sim u ltaneously.

28. 'ifxe5 f6 After 28 . . . 'iii>f B 29.h4 :xg4 30.l:tg 1 l:lxg 1 31 . .l:.xg 1 Ji.xh4 32.'ii'g 7+ 'it> e7 33.l:.d 1 ! White wins, for example: 33 . . . Ji.ea 34.'ife5+ 'iii> f8 35.'it'd6+ 'iie 7 36. 'ti' h6+ 'it>g8 37.litg 1 +, and he wil l go on to delive r mate .

1 4 ... b5 1 5.Ji.b3 b4 1 6.4Je2 e5 1 7.4Jg3 P reventing any cou nterplay for Black on the kingside. 17 ... as 1 e. 'it>b1 a4 1 9.Ji.c4 :ca 20.b3 'ii'b 7 21 .'ii'e 2 :be 22.l:the1 l:tgS 23.h3 'ii'd 7 24.'ii'd 2 .i::tg 5

P revents 30.'ii'f 7 mate . 30.eS! An obvious pawn b reakth rou g h , but White also had to see the p retty q ueen sacrifice which was lin ked to it.

This p revents 25.'ii' h 6.

30 Ji.d7

29. 'iie 6 .l:t.g7

•..

25.tiJhS 'it'b7 ? ! Black h a s p roblems in a n y case, but this queen move allows a p retty combinatio n .

26.4Jxf6+! This knight sacrifice rips the black position apart completely. Suddenly his king be comes open to attack.

26 ... Ji.xf6 27.'ii'x d6 Ji.e7 After 27 . . . Ji.g7 28 . h4 litxg4 29.f6 Ji.ha White has at his disposal the b rilliant stroke of genius 30.Ji.a6 ! ! - the black queen is overloaded and can no longer

31 . 'iixf6 ! ! Ji.xf6 Willy-nilly Black m ust accept this sacrifice. The passive 3 1 . . . Ji.fB leads to a nice mate : 32.e6 Ji.cs 33. 'iff7+! .l:.xf7 34. exf7#. 32.exf6+ 'iii>f 8 33.fxg7+ 'it>xg7 34.:e7+ 'it>f6

If Black hides in the corner with 34 . . . 'it> hB, then he has no cou nterplay and after 35 . .l:.exd7 'ifc6 36 . .l:. 7d6 'ifc7 37.f6 he m ust look on helplessly as White deci sively advances his kingside pawns.

35 . .l:.exd7

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Of cou rse White m ust avoid 35 ..l:t dxd7?? 'ii h 1 + 36 . 'it> b2 a3 mate .

35 ... 'iie4? ! This hastens the e n d , but other q ueen moves do nothing to save Black in the long term , for example: 35 ...'iif3 36.h4 'i'c3 37.l:t7d3 'li'e5 38 .g5+ 'it>g7 39.�d7+ 'it>f8 40.f6, and White has woven a mating net. 36.g5+! 'it>xg5 Black loses his queen after 36 . . . 'it> xf5 37 . ..td3 o r 36 . . . 'it> e5 37.lie7+.

37.�g 1 + Wh ite wins the q ueen after both 37 . . . 'it>f6 38 . .l:. f7+ 'it> e5 39 . .i:!.e7+ and 37 .. . 'it>f4 38.l:tg4+.

B lack resigned. In March 200 1 the 1 3-year-old Hikaru played on the j u nior board for the USA in their s u mmit encounter with China. The script for the 2 1 - 1 9 victory for China was provided more than 2500 years ago by the philosopher Sun Tsu : "The opportu nity to defeat o u r opponent is p rovided by the opponent himself." 3 The US team th rew Hikaru to the lions, in the form of the far more experienced and fou r years older Ni H ua. The Chinese player profited above all from the age difference and was the one to take the most points from the US team. H e defeated Hikaru three times and only conceded one d raw. The match was staged on the 1 7th floor of the elegant Harbor C l u b with its splen did view over the skyline of Seattle, which su rprisingly was still completely intact after a major earthq uake on 28th Febru a ry. This was the first time I had seen

3

13

Hikaru in action . After I had seen how he was battling unsuccessfully in a tricky variation of the English Attack in the Scheveningen System of the Sicilia n , I wondered why a 1 3-year-old boy was following such a long and complicated book variation. "Has he a trainer?" I asked his step father. "No, he works on his own , " replied Su nil . "He j u st has the computer." Later too Hikaru Nakam u ra worked more or less alone at perfecting his chess, because he found it difficult to find anyone whom he could trust completely. The variation was obviously still too complicated for Hikaru. Ni H ua steered an almost error-free course th rough various swamps.

GAME 2 N i Hua - H . Nakamura Match USA - China, Seattle 200 1 Sicilian Defence [880] 1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tt:Jxd4 tt:Jf6 5.tt:Jc3 a6 6 . ..te3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 h6 9.'li'd2 ..tb7 1 0.0-0-0 tlJbd7 1 1 .h4 b4 1 2.tt:Ja4 'i'a5 1 3. b3 tt:Jcs 1 4.a3 tt:Jxa4 1 5.axb4 'i'c7 1 6. bxa4 d5 1 7.e5 tt:Jd7 1 8.f4 tlJb6 1 9.f5 ! ? (see next diagram)

This is Alexander G rischuk's courageous attempt to open ways through to the black king at any p rice . The alternatives 1 9 . a5 or 1 9 . l:. h3 seem to be less dangerous for Black.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Penguin Classics, 2008 and other editions.

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14

Prologue

26.i.xe4 dxe4

1 9 ... tt:'lxa4 I n 2000 in the ju nior world under- 1 4 championship in Spain , Nakamu ra was successful with 1 9 . . . tt:'lc4 , but his I celandic opponent Dag u r Arngrimsson did not reply 20.'ife 1 !, which theory considers to be the best, but played 20. i.xc4. The game continued 20 . . . dxc4 2 1 . .l:thf1 c3 22.'iff2 i.xb4 23.fxe6 0-0-0 24.e7 i.xe7 25.'i!Vxf7 i.d5 26.'iff5+ b8 27.tt:'lb3 'ifb7 28.%:lxd5 'ikxd5 29 .'it'g6 l::t hf8 30.'ifxa6 .l:.xf 1 + 3 1 .'ikxf1 l:.f8, and White resigned. 20.fxe& tt:'lc3 2 1 .exf7 + xf7 22.i.d3 i.xb4 23.'iff2+ The usual move is 23. l:. df1 +, after which the black king can try to su rvive in the mid d l e afte r 23 . . . ea, for exa m p l e 24. i.g6+ d8 intending 25.tt:'le6+ g8 24.l:r.df1 i.a3+ 25.d2 tt:'le4+ I n the game G risch u k-l b ragimov, Batumi 1 999, Black played 25 . . . i.b4, and after 26.'ii'f 5 tt:'le4+ 27.d 1 l:.f8 28. 'ili'e6+ h7 29.g5! White had a powerful attack, which he tu rned into a win : 29 . . . l:. hg8 30.gxh6 g6 3 1 . h 5 i.ca 32 . hxg6+ .l:.xg6 33.'ifxg6+ xg6 34 . .l:.fg 1 + h7 35.l:r.g7+, and Black resigned. ••.

27.gS! ? A n idea of Alexei Shirov. The plan is either to open the kingside with 28.gxh6 o r to lock in the black king as wel l as his rook by means of 28.g6. It is an attempt to improve on the game Anand-Gelfand, Shenyang 2000, in which a d raw was ag reed after 27.'iVf5 i.b4+ 28.d 1 'ii'c 4 29.tt:'le6 (29.e6? is m et by 29 . . . l:. f8 ! ) 29 . . . 'ii'd 5+ 30.�e2 'i!kc4+ 3 1 .d 1 'i!Vd5+ 32 . e2 'i!Vc4+. 27 ... l:.c8?! An u nfortu nate novelty at that time. I n the game Shirov-Anand , Syd ney 2000, Black defended as fol lows : 27 . . . i.d5 !? 28.gxh6 i.b2. But now White did not t ry the dangerous-looking 29.d 1 on account of 42 . . . e3) 42 . . . 'ifg3+, especially since 40.d 1 ? fails to 40 . . . e3! 4 1 .:h2 'ii'd 4+

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42.cj;e 1 'it'f4 with a win for Black. This rapid game was played d u ring the Su m m e r Olympic G ames - chess was then a demonstration sport - and ended in a d raw as follows: 29 . .l:r.b 1 i.. c 3+ 30.cj;c1 i.xd4 3 1 . i.. x d4 e3 32 .'iie 3 i.. x h1 33 . .l:.b6 .l:!.c8 34.'it'b3+ 'ft'c4 35. hxg7 .l:.xh4 36 . .l:.bB 'i'xb3 37 . .l:txcB+ @xg7 38 . cxb3 .l:.xd4 39 . .l:.c7+.

28.'iifS 'it'c3+ After the tricky 28 . . . 'ifc4 White must not go in for 29.gxh6 .l:!. d8 or 29.e6 .l:tf8 . His best try consists of shutting the rook in by means of 29. g6! , for example 29 . . . 1:.t.dB 30.'iif7+ 'ii'xf7 31 . .laxf7, and White has, as it were , an extra rook in play; or 29 . . . .llfB 30.'ii' e 6+ 'iYxe6 31 . .laxfB+ @xf8 32.ll'lxe6+ @e7 33.ll'lxg7 with a big advantage . If Black replies t o 29.g6! with 29 . . . i.d5, then 30. 'i¥d7 does the job , for example: 30 ... 'iYc3+ 31 .@d 1 'ft'a 1 + 32 . 'it> e2 i.. c 4+ 33.@f2 .l:.f8+ 34 . @g3, and now neithe r 3 4 . . . 'iic 3 35.l:.xf8+ i.. xf8 36.Wf4 'it'b4 37.ll'lc6 �a3 38 . .l:.a 1 "ifxa 1 39 .ll'le7+ i.xe7 40."ifcB+ i.. f 8 4 1 .ii'xc4 mate nor 34 . . . .l:!. xf1 35. "ifcB+ i.. f8 36.'iYxc4+ is of any help.

The l ittle combination 42 . . . l:.xd4+ 43.cj;xd4 i.. b 2+ 44.Wd5 i.xg7 does not work, because the black king-bishop team will be overrun by the three white pawns after 45.c5 a5 46.c6, e . g . 46 . . . WdB 47. 'it> c5 a4 48 .@b6 i.. e 5 49 .Wb7 cJ;e7 50.c7 !Jlxc7 5 1 .g7 and wins .

43.cS a4 44.@es l::t g a 4S.ll'lts+ cJ;da 46.g7 Black can no longer stop the white king from invading . B lack resigned. Although he lost this game, Naka m u ra demonstrated a positive side to his char acter: he appears to be fearless . H e p l u nged head over heels into incalculable complications and experimented with "all o r nothing openings", as though he was wanti ng to tel l us that in chess perhaps really everything is playable. G randmaster Nick De Fi rmian has played the Modern Benoni all his life , but Naka m u ra led him into the wild jungle of a variation which had first appeared i n the early 1 960s and only popped u p again many decades later.

29.@d1 i.dS 30.e6 ! �a1 + 31 .@e2 il.c4+ 32.@f2 "it'xf1 + 33.l:.xf1 .:!.fa 34.g6!

GAME 3

Black will now find it very difficult to free his king and his rook on h8. Of cou rse , 34 ."Yi'xfB+ was also playable.

H . Nakamura - N. De Firmian l m re Konig Memorial Tou rnament, San Francisco 2002 Modern Benoni Defence [A 66}

34 ... .laxfS+ 35.ll'lxfS i.xf1 Taking the exchange loses , but White should also win after 35 . . . i.xe6 36.Wg3 @f8 ! 37.i.d4 i.xf5 38 . .l:!. xf5+ @e8 39 . .l:.f7 ! .

36.'it>xf1 cj;fa 37.i.. d 4 .i::!.g a 3a.c4 'lt>ea 39.@e2 l:.fa 40.ll'lxg7+ @e7 41 .@e3 .l:!.da 42.Wxe4 aS

15

1 .d4 ll'lf6 2.c4 e6 3.tLlc3 cs 4.dS exdS S.cxdS d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 i.g7 a.es The very sharp Mikenas Variation in the Benoni, in which White immediately tries to exploit his advantage in space.

@

16

Prologue

e . . . l'llfd7 9.l'lle4 ! ?

This forces the black king out o f his house. However, whether this is worth a pawn is questionable. Vladas Mikenas played 9 . l'llb 5 with the same idea. 9 ... dxes 1 o. l'lld &+ We7

1 0 . . . Wf8 is worse , because it hinde rs the rook, for example: 1 1 .l'llf3 exf4 1 2 . .i.xf4 l'llt 6 1 3 . .i.c4 'ii'e 7+ 1 4.l'll e s .i.g4 1 5 .Wb3 l'llf d7 1 6 . 0-0 [ 1 -0), Moh ring-J Ottler, Corre spondence , DOR 1 962 . 1 1 .l'llx c8+! Almost 50 years ago, when the variation became popular, I mishandled it in the worst possible way against Jindrich Trapl in the Czechoslovakian Championship in P rague in 1 963: 1 1 .fxeS? l'llx e5 1 2 . l'llx c8+ Wxc8 1 3.d6+ Wf8 1 4 .l'llf 3 Wes 1 5 .l'llxes .i.xe5 1 6 . .i.e2 Wg7 1 7 . 0-0 l'llc 6 1 8 . .i.g4 'ii' x d6 , and Black is clearly better. I was l ucky, however, since 1 9 .'ii' b 3 was an swered by 1 9 . . . Wc7? ( 1 9 . . . l:. hf8 20.'ii'x b7 l:tab8 is the correct way) 20.:xt7 +! Wxf7 2 1 . .i.h6+ Wxh6 (after 2 1 . . . Wg8 the m ove 22 . .i.e6 is decisive) 22.Wxf7, and I won in 39 moves. 1 1 'ii' x ce 1 2.l'llf3 :ea •••

John N u n n p roposes 1 2 . . . e4. 1 3.fxes Wf8 ? ! Playing with fire . F o r some years now 1 3 . . . l'llx eS !? 1 4 . .i.bS lDbd7 1 5 . lDxeS Wf8 1 6. 0-0 l:. xes 1 7 . .i.f4 c4 ! 1 8 .'ii'd 4 :ts has been considered equal , but De Firmian wants more . 1 4.e& ! fxe6 1 5.dxe6 !

Anatoly Vaisse r's idea opens the position and increases the scope of the light squared bishop.

1 5 ... .:txe&+ 1 6 . .i.e2 Wee De Firmian decides to sacrifice the ex change, instead of sprinting into the corner with his king. After 1 6 . . . Wg8 1 7. 0-0 White has a strong initiative , for example: 1 7 . . . c4 1 8 . lDgs ( 1 8 .Wds lDb6) 1 8 .. J::tes 1 9 . .i.g4 'ii'cs+ 20.Wh 1 tDta 2 1 .lDf7 : ea (but not 21 . . . :e7 on account of 22.'ii' d 8!) 22. lDh6+ Wh8 23.'iff3 l:r.e7 (23 . . . l'llc 6 24.'ii'f 7! ; 23 . . . 'ii'e 7 24 . .i.gS!) 24.'ii'xf8+! ! Ji.xf8 25 . .l:. xta+ Wg7 26. : ga+ Wf6 27 . .i.d2 with an extremely dangerous attack. After 1 7 . . . lDb6 1 8 .lDgS :e7 1 9 . .i.g4 .i.d4+ 20.Wh 1 'ii'e a 2 1 .'ii' b 3+ c4 22.'ii' h 3 too , Suat Atalik and Alexei Yermolinsky p refer White , for example: 22 . . . hS 23 . .i.e6+ Wh8


(23 . . . @g7 24 . .t f7! ) 24 . .t e3 .t xb2 25.�ab 1 .t g7 26.ii.xb6 axb6 27.ii.f7 'i!i'd7 (27 . . . 'ilfc6 28. lhb6! 'ifxb6 29.'i!Vc8+ winning) 28 . .:r.bd 1 'ii'x h3 29. : da+ and then mate .

1 7.0-0 l:txe2 1 8.lLid4+ @g8 1 9.lLixe2 lLic6 20 . .td2 20.'ii b 3+ ! @ha 2 1 .'i!Vxb7 :ba 22. 'ii'x c6 'i'xe2 23.ii.f4 would have been more ac�u rate, when Wh ite will have no prob lems winning. 20... lLib6 21 ..tc3 l:r.d8 22.'ilfe1 lLie5 It was bette r to close the long diagonal with 22 . . . lLi d4! ? . 23. 'ifh4 lLid5 This runs i nto a pin, but 23 . . . lLi a4 24 . .l:!ad 1 ! is even worse .

24.l:.ad1 l:.d7 25 . .txe5 'ii' x e5 26.lLic3 ! lLif6 After 26 . . . 'ife3+ 27.@h 1 .txc3 28. bxc3 Black cannot play 28 . . . 'ikxc3 because Wh ite wins as fol lows : 29.'ifg4 lLi f6 30.'if e6+ .:t.f7 3 1 . l:.d7! .

27.l:.xd7 lLixd7 28.'fidB+ lLifB 29.lLid5 'ii'd 4+ 30.©h 1 h5 31 .lLif6+ @h8? After 3 1 . . . .t xf6 32 . 'ii' xf6 'ifxf6 33 . .l:. xf6 @g7 34.l::td 6 the rook will soon clear up the queenside pawns . However, Wh ite now even picks up a piece . 32.lLid7! 'ii'c4 33 . .l:.xfB+ @h7 34.h4 .txf8 35.lLixfB+ @gB 36.lLid7+ ©h7 37.'iWe7+ Black resigned. Too m uch was made of the fact that Hikaru beat Bobby Fische r's record as the youngest U S g randmaster i n h istory. Naka m u ra surpassed h i m by th ree months at the age of 1 5 i n 2003. Bobby was also 1 5 when he was awarded the title, but his fifth place at the l nterzonal Tou rnament i n Portoroz meant a t t h e s a m e t i m e his

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q ual ification for the Candidates Tou rna ment of 1 959 and catapu lted h i m amongst the n i n e best chess players i n the world. Nobody has ever come even close to this leap i n performance . Naka m u ra did not manage the leap i nto the top 1 O of the F I D E world ranking list u ntil January 201 1 at the age of 23. Towards the end of 2004 things changed i n Naka m u ra's l ife . That was the year in which he not only cleared the Elo h u rdle of 2600 poi nts for the fi rst time, but some thing else happened which this time came to the attention of the wider public. On my arrival from E u rope at the John F. Kennedy Ai rport i n the middle of Decem ber 2004 the customs official , afte r notic ing that I earned my l iving from chess, said to me: "The kid won it!" P reviously the only person they tal ked about l i ke that was Bobby Fischer. But this time it was about H i karu Nakam u ra, the new champion of the U SA. At 1 6 he was the you ngest to win the title si nce Fischer had done so at 1 4. Nevertheless, there are two further records held by Fischer which no one has b roken till this day: Bobby contested eight U S Championships and won all of them , and in 1 963 he even tri u m phed with the perfect score of 1 1 -0 ahead of such lumi naries of American chess as Reshevsky, Evans, the Byrne b rothe rs, Benko and Bisguier. On 9th December 2004 Naka m u ra turned 1 7 and started a match i n Cuer navaca, M exico, agai nst the 1 4-year-old U krai nian child prodigy Sergey Karjaki n . This t i m e t h e age difference was i n his favour and N akam u ra won convi ncingly by 4%-1 % . I n the i r fi rst encounte r - a Scotch Game - H i karu demonstrated subtle positional ideas such as timely exchanges,

18

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Prologue

central outposts and a blockade on the weak squares.

The powerful centralised black bishop on d5 m ust be exchanged.

1 7 i.f4 1 8.litc3 i.e5 1 9.i;:tc2 'i'd6 20.i.xf6 i.xf6 2 1 .i.xd5 cxd5 The situation is approximately leve l . Wh ite can blockade the d-pawn, but it is not easy to make any p rog ress on the q ueenside. 22.lbcs i.e5 23.g3 :bes 24.lbd3 i.c3 The bishop controls a lot of important squares and neutral ises the blockade by the knight. •••

GAME4 H. Nakamura

S. Karjakin Challenge match , 1 s1 game, Cuernavaca, M exico 2004 Scotch Game [C4 7] -

1 .e4 e5 2.lbf3 lbc6 3.d4 exd4 4.lbxd4 lbf6 5.lbc3 i. b4 6.lbxc6 bxc6 7.i.d3 d5 8.exd5 0-0 9.0-0 cxd5 1 O.i.g5 c6 1 1 .lba4 ! ? I n conj unction with c2-c4 t h i s g ives Wh ite the more pleasant game. Although the advantage is not g reat, Black does not have an easy game.

25.lbf4 d4 26.'ii'd 3 i.a5 ? ! Black slowly concedes space . After 26 . . . :cs 27. lb e2 'i'f6 28.l:tfc 1 .l:.ec8 White cannot penetrate the black position .

1 1 ...h6 1 2.i.h4 lite8 1 3.c4 i.d6 1 4.ltc1 ! ? A useful move , waiting t o see what Black is i ntending to do with the c8-bishop. 1 4 ....l:r.bS 1 5.b3 i.e6 1 6.cxd5 i.xd5 After 1 6 . . . cxdS 1 7. lb cs :b4 1 8. i. g3 Wh ite fights for the dark squares, which secu res h i m a slight i n itiative.

2 7 .l:tc4! :xc4 28. bxc4! This exchange creates not only a danger ous passed pawn but also an outpost sq uare on d5. The wh ite pieces dominate the light sq uares, whereas the black d4pawn merely resembles a useless piece of wood . 28 ..'ifes 29.:tb1 i.c3 It was well worth considering the more active 29 . . . 'ife4 with the subsequent ex change of queens, which it is hard for Wh ite to avoid. •

.

1 7.i.c4!

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19

30J:tb7 :e7 3 1 ..l:. bS Naka m u ra begins pushing back the black forces .

confidence when it came to playing sharp opening l i nes agai nst strong opponents .

31 ... 'iVd& 32.lll d S :es 33.l:!.b7! White not only attacks the a7-pawn, but also casts an eye on f7. After he has forced Black into passivity, he will bri n g i nto t h e battle his main tru m p - t h e c pawn . O n t h e othe r h a n d , 33. lll x c3 dxc3 34. 'i'xc3 'ifd 1 + 35 . �g2 :e 1 is wrong, as Black obtains play against the wh ite king. 33 :es After 33 . . . a6 34. 'ii'f 5 'ii'f8 35.c5! the c pawn starts its tri u mphal march, for exam ple: 35 . . . 'ii'e a 36 .c6.

GAMES

.•.

34.'ii'f3 :ta 35 ..l:.xa7 .1'.b4 36.'ii'fS .1'.c5 37.l:.c7 .1'.a3 38.cS .1'.xc5 39.J::tx cS g6 40.lll f 6+ �g7 41 .llle4 B lack resigned.

Garry Kasparov's reti rement from pro fessional chess i n March 2005 i n Linares came as a shock to many players . When he heard about it, H i karu Naka m u ra said that chess was now dead . But the 1 6-year old US champion m ust have q u ickly changed his mind. In April at the traditional Foxwoods Open , a n i ne-round Swiss tou rnament in the Casino Eldorado in Connecticut, his pieces positively came to life and he won his fi rst five games. I n round fou r Nakam u ra defeated the top-rated g randmaster l lya S m i ri n from Israel in a d ramatic game. H i karu req u i red only 22 moves to decide i n his favou r a theoretical duel in one of the sharpest variations of the Austrian Attack agai nst the P i rc Defence . This victory over S m i ri n , o n e o f t h e best p repared o f g randmasters , m ust have enormously boosted H i karu's

H. Nakamura

-

I. Smiri n

Foxwoods O p e n 2005 Pirc Defence [809]

1 .e4 g6 2.d4 .1'.g7 3.lll c 3 d6 4.f4 lllf6 5.lll f3 0-0 6.e5 lll f d7 7.h4! An idea of the legendary David B ronstein, who explained it i n one word : "Attack!" Wh ite does not worry about his centre being destroyed, as long as he can open the h-fi le for his major pieces. 7 ... c5 8.h5! cxd4

9.hxg6 ! ? Some theoreticians consider this knight sacrifice to be a mistake, but Naka m u ra has not been put off by that. I n the stem game at the Chess Olympiad in M u nich 1 958 against the Argenti nian Florentino Palmiotto , B ronstein now played 9.'i!fxd4 in the hope of being able to swi ng over to the h-fi le with his q ueen after 9 . . . dxe5

w

20

Prologue

1 0 . 'ii'f2 . The safest m ove here is 1 0 . . . e4. 4 Otherwise the white attack can rapidly b reak th rou g h , as for example i n the game Stei n-Liberzo n , Yerevan 1 96S: 1 O . . . e6 1 1 . hxg6 fxg6 1 2 . 'ii'g 3 exf4 1 3 . .t xf4 'Was 1 4 . .td2 t°t:)f6 1 S . .t c4 t°t:)c6 1 6 . 0-0-0 'ikcs 1 7.'ilfh4 t°t:)hS 1 a .t°t:)e4 'ii' b 6 1 9 . c3 t°t:)aS 20 . .t e2 h6 2 1 .g4 t°t:)f4 22 . .t xf4 .l:. xf4 23 . .l:.da+ l:r.fa 24.t°t:)f6+ @ha 2s. 'ii' x h6+! , and Black resigned i n view of 2S . . . .t xh6+ 26. l:. xh6+ @g7 27 .l:r.h?+ @xf6 2a.:txfa mate .

9 dxc3 1 O.gxf7 + l:!xf7 1 1 ..tc4! ..•

Agai nst Stuart Conquest in Reykjavi k 1 996 B ronstei n chose the less p recise 1 1 .t°t:)gS? and had to lay down his arms after 11 . . .cxb2 1 2 . .txb2 'Was+ 1 3.c3 t°t:)xeS! 1 4. 'it'b3 'ilfcs 1 s . .t e2 'ii'e 3 1 6 . .t c 1 'ii' g 3+ 1 7. 'it> d 1 .t g4 1 a . .l:.e 1 'ikd3+ 1 9 . .t d2 t°t:)c4.

1 1 ...t°t:)fS The alternative 1 1 . . . e6 appears better, since now both 1 2 . .t xe6 and 1 2 .t°t:)gS can be m et with 1 2 . . . t°t:)xeS ! .

1 2.t°t:)gS! H i karu goes for broke. Wh ite can al ready force a d raw here with 1 2 . .txf?+, as was demonstrated in the game Nadyrhanov Tsesh kovsky, Krasnodar 1 999: 1 2 . . . @xf? 1 3.t°t:)gS+ @ga ( 1 3 . . . @ea 1 4. 'ii' h s+ 'it'd? 1 4.'iff?! is worse for Black) 1 4 . 'ii' h S h6 1 s . 'ii'f 7+ @ha 1 6 . 'ii'b 3 'ii' a s 1 1.t't:)f?+ @h7 1 a.t°t:)gS+ @ha 1 9 .t°t:)f?+ @h7 20.t°t:)gS+, and Wh ite g ives perpetual check.

1 2 . e& 1 3.t°t:)xf7 . .

4

1 3 ...cxb2?! An unsuccessful attem pt to i m p rove on the main defence 1 3 ... @xf? 1 4. 'i' hS+ @ga 1 S . i. d3. Now 1 S . . . t°t:)bd7? is met by the decisive 1 6 . .t xh?+, and after 1 6 . . . t°t:)xh? 1 7. 'ii'x h7+ @fa 1 a . 'ii' h a+! .t xha 1 9 . l:. xha+ @e7 20.exd6+ Wh ite wins. Black must play 1 S . . . h 6 ! ? - i ntendi n g 1 6.l:ith3 dxes 1 7. l:tg3 e4 1 a.ts 1i'c7 ! . With his attack on the rook Black gains an important tempo for the defence, for example 1 9.'ilfh4 exd3 20 . .t xh6 'i!fes+, and Black wins. So what had Naka m u ra p robably planned agai nst 1 S . . . h6 ? I would g uess 1 6 .l:th4! ? , si nce after 1 6 . . . dxeS 1 7 . .l:.g4 i t is d ifficult for Black to o rganise his defence . Thus, for example, Wh ite remains i n the d riving seat after both 1 7 . . . t°t:)c6 and 1 7 . . . 'ilfc? 1 a .txeS, and 1 7 . . . e4 is m et by 1 a .fS! exfS (after 1 a . . . exd3 1 9 . .l:.xg?+ @xg7 20 . .t xh6+ Wh ite wins) 1 9 . .l:. xg?+! @xg7 20 . .t xh6+

Instead of 1O...e4 Palmiotto played 10. .. exf4, which cannot be recommended: 11.hxg6 hxg6 12...txf4 tt:lf6 13.Wh4 Was 14.tt:lgs i.g4 1S. ..td3 tt:lbd7 16.0--0 i.hS 17. .:ae1 es 18 ...td2 Wes+ 19.i.e3 Wc6 20...tbS Wc7 21. ..te2 ..txe2 22.l::txe2 lUc8 23.tt:lce4 'iti>f8 24.�6 tt:lxf6 2S.:Xf6 ..txf6 26.tt:lh7+ �e7 27.'ii'xf6+ <.t>e8 28.l:td2 as 29.Wg7, and Black resigned.

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'it> g8 2 1 .0-0-0! (th is is t h e point ! ) 2 1 . . . ii.e6 (if 21 . . . exd3 22 . .i:i.xd3 , and Black can resign) 22 .ii.c4! cxb2+ 23. 'it> b 1 1i'f6 (after 23 . . . 'ifxd 1 + comes 24.'i!Vxd 1 ii.xc4 25.'ifd4 wi n n i n g because of the th reat of 26. 'ii'g 7 mate) 24.ii.xe6+ ll:i xe6 25.'ife8+ lllf8 (or 25 . . . 'it> h7 26.�h 1 ! ) 26.ii.xf8 "iff7 27. 'ii'c 8 llld 7 28.'iixa8 lll xf8 29.'ifxa7 , and Wh ite should win ..

1 4.ii.xb2 'ii'a 5+ S m i rin tries to p revent queenside castl i n g , s i n c e after 1 4 . . . 'it>xf7 1 5. 'ii h 5+ 'it>g8 White has 1 6 .0-0-0 with decisive p ressure. 1 5. �f 1 'it>xf7 1 6. 'iVh5+ 'it>g8 White wins after both 1 6 . . . 'it> e7 1 7. exd6+ and also 1 6 . . . lll g 6 1 7.f5 ! . 1 7.ii.d3 'iib 4 1 8J:tb1 !

21

frees the ii.b2 and at the same time cuts the black q ueen off from the kingside.

1 9 ... 'ifd2 1 9 . . . h6 is m et by 20.l:th3 and then 2 1 . .li:r.g3, after which White's attack can no longer be stopped and after 1 9 . . . lll c 6 he wins with 20.l::t h 3 lll e 7 2 1 .exd6 ii.xb2 22.ii.xh7+ 'it> g7 23.l:lg3+.

20 . .txh7+ ll:ixh7 21 .'ifxh7+ ..t>ta 22.l::t.h 4 There is nothing more that can be done agai nst 23.l::t.g 4. B lack resigned. I n 2006 H i raku Naka m u ra played for the fi rst time i n the U S Olympiad tea m . His incredible finish with th ree out of three secu red for his team the b ronze medals in Tu ri n behind Armenia and China. I n his victory over the former E u ropean champion Bartlomiej Macieja from Poland his choice was a sharp pawn sacrifice in the Classical Variation of the French Defence, introduced into tournament praxis i n the p revious year by the Russian wizard Alexander Morozevic h . The 1 8-year-old former US champion cranked u p the p ressu re with every move , until it became u nbearable for the Polish player. A well timed cou nter-attack was becoming N aka m u ra's trademark.

1 8 ... ii.d7 Taking the pawn with 1 8 . . . "ifxf4+ loses , because it opens u p lines against the black king, for example: 1 9. 'it> e2 h6 20.l::t bf1 'ii'g 5 2 1 .1i'f7+ �h8 22.ii.c1 'ifxe5+ 23. 'it> d 1 , and all five wh ite pieces are taki ng aim at the black king , meaning that its fate is sealed . 1 9.c4 Very strong play! White p rotects the l:.b 1 ,

GAME 6 B. Macieja H. Nakamura Chess Olympiad, Tu rin 2006 -

French Defence [C1 1 ] 1 .e4 e6 2.d4 d 5 3.lll c 3 lllf6 4.e5 lll f d7 5.f4 cs 6.lllf3 lll c 6 7 . .te3 a6 8.'ii'd 2 b5 9.a3 g5?!

22

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Prologue

Morozevich's fantastic idea, which he conj u red u p over the board in a bli ndfold game the year before agai nst Anand at the M elody Amber Tou rnament in Monaco. Black sacrifices a pawn i n o rder to control the dark squares.

the centre, since 1 4. 0-0-0 fails to 1 4 . . . i.. e 3.

1 4.tl'id 1 f6 ! Nakamu ra opens the position for his bishops and rooks by u nderm i n i n g the centre. 1 5.exf6 tl'ixf6 16.i.d3 0-0 1 7.:tf1 l:!.a7 ! T h e rook not o n l y defends along t h e 7th rank, but at the same time strengthens the black offensive. 1 8.tl'if3

1 o.tl'ixg5? ! M acieja takes the pawn and prepares to defend. Su rrendering the centre by means of 1 0 .fxg5 cxd4 1 1 .tl'ixd4 tl'icxe5 has, on the other hand, resu lted i n some excellent successes for Wh ite after 1 2 . i.. d 3! . For example , the game T. Kosintseva-Satons kih at the women's Chess Olympiad in Turin in 2006 ended with some real fireworks: 1 2 . . . tl'ixd3+ 1 3.cxd3 lll e 5 1 4.0-0 i. g7 1 5 .tl'ice2 tl'ig4 1 6 .tl'ig3 'ii'd 6 1 7.z::!.a e1 0-0 1 8 . 'it> h 1 tl'ixe3 1 9 .'iix e3 'ii'b 6 20 .l:tf6 ! i.. xf6 2 1 . gxf6 'it> h8 22 . 'ii' h 6 .l:.g8 23.tl'if3 i.. b7 24.tl'ig5 .l::tx g5 25.'ii x g5 llg8 26. 'ii'e 5 b4 27.d4 bxa3 28. bxa3 i.. c 6 29.'iid 6 'ii'a 5 30.�xe6! fxe6 3 1 . 'ii'e 5 'ii'x a3 32.f7+ .:!.g7 33. 'ii' b 8+ , and Black resigned .

1 o ... cxd4 1 1 .i.xd4 tl'ixd4 1 2.1i'xd4 i.c5 1 3.'ii'd 2 'ii' b 6 ! ? Black secu res h i s domination o n the dark squares and keeps the wh ite king stuck in

1 8 ... tl'ig4! Black decides the struggle for the e3square . In addition the knight s upports the opening of the position by means of 1 9 . . . e5 ! . 1 9.g3 e5! 20.fxe5 Afte r 20.tl'ixe5 l:r.e7 2 1 .'ife2 tl'ixe5 22.fxe5 llxf1 + 23.'it>xf1 i.. h3+ 24. 'it> e 1 i.. d 4 all the black pieces are participati ng in the attack.

20 tl'ie3 ..•

20 . . . l:!.e7 is m et by 2 1 . i. e2 and an attack on the d5-paw n .

21 .tl'ixe3 i.xe3 22.'ii'g 2 After 22.'iie 2 i. h3 23 . .l:.h 1 : af7 Black wins. 22 . . . !taf7 23.g4 'it>h8 24.!ld 1


White could have tried to sound the cou nter-attack with 24.g5, although Black then also retains the u pper hand by 24 . . . d4 25.g6 hxg6 26.ti:)d2 .l:r.xf1 + 27.ti:)xf1 'ifa5+ 28. b4 'ii'c 7 29 .ti:)xe3 'ifc3+ 30.'ifd2 'ifxa 1 + 31 .ti:)d 1 �g7.

24 d4 25.ti:)d2 ••.

After 25.�e2 with 25 . . . l::tf4 Black can easily b reak the blockade: 26.h3 i. b7 27 . i. f5 'ifc6 ! , and the th reat is 28 . . . l:r.4xf5 29.gxf5 'ifxc2+ .

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23

33 ... 'ifxe5+ 34.�2 'iff4+ 35.�e1 'ifc1 + 36.�f2 i.d1 ! Clearing u p the white queenside with 36 . . . 'ii'x b2 is also good . 37.ti:)g3 'ii'd 2+ Wh ite also loses after 37 . . . 'ii'e 3+ 38.�f1 i. g4 with the th reat of 39 . . . i. h3 mate .

38.ti:)e2 i.xc2 39.i.xc2 'ii'x c2 40.l::tc 1 'iff5+ After 4 1 .�e1 'ii' e 4 the passed d-pawn decides matters .

Wh ite resigned .

25 . . . i.f2+ This wins the q ueen . However, it was even stronger to increase the p ress u re with 25 . . . 'ii' h 6 ! 26.l:lxf7 l:itxf7 27.ti:)f3 'iff4 28 . i. e2 i. xg4 .

26.l:.xf2 l:txf2 27. 'ifxf2 27 .'ii' g 3 is met by 27 . . . 'ii' h 6.

27 l:.xf2 28.�xf2 'ii' h 6 29.ti:)f1 ?! ..•

Wh ite should t ry to set up a fortress with 29.ti:)f3 i. xg4 30. l:.f 1 , i n order to render a breakth rough by Black more difficult.

29 ... 'ifh4+ 30.ti:)g3 i.xg4 31.l::t h 1 'ii'g 5 32.ti:)f1 'iif4+ 33.�e1 After 33. 'it> g 1 i. h3 34 . b4 (if 34 .ti:)g3 then 34 . . . 'ife3 mates) 34 . . . 'iff3! Black wins.

Naka m u ra kept on i m p roving his posi tion i n the team. In D resden i n November 2008 , when his team once again took the b ronze medals, he was playi ng on board two , and two years later i n Khanty Mansiysk he finally made the move to top board . One can be s u re of doing someth ing right when one is compared with g reat players. So there were echoes of Aaron N i mzowitsch whe n , in 2007, H i karu de feated the R ussian g randmaster Vlad i m i r Epishin i n G i b raltar. I n his iconoclastic manual My System, published in 1 925, Aaron N i m zowitsch p resents his game against Semyon Alapin as a wonderful example of a failed pawn g rab. This brilliant game, played a hun d red years ago , m ust have left a lasting i m p ression on H i karu Nakamu ra. I n order to overcom e Epish i n , the former U S champion sacrificed t h e same pawn as Nimzowitsch. This victory was not only Naka m u ra's best performance i n the G i btelecom Masters , but it also helped him to reach second place. It is always a risky matter to snatch pawns, especial ly in the openi n g . Val uable

24

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Prologue

time is lost and noth i n g is done for the development of you r own pieces. N imzow itsch p u n ishes Alapin for his g reed with a powerfu l , sto rm i n g attack. But where and when was this friendly game played? According to some sou rces it was in the town of Alapin's birth Vilnius (Lithuan ia) i n 1 9 1 2; others suggest Nim zowitsch's home town Riga (Latvia) and 1 9 1 3 . It is also possible that it formed part of thei r post-mortem analysis i n St. Pe tersbu rg i n 1 9 1 4.

9 . 4Jb5 is best met by 8 . . . 4Jc6 9 .4Jb5 "ife5 , with good play.

9.i.. e 2 ! it'xg2? This pawn g rab will soon have fatal conseq uences.

1 o.ii.f3 "YWg6 1 1 .ii'd2 es If Black manages to d rive the knight away from d4, then he can catch up in develop ment, for example after 1 2 .4Jb3 4Jc6 , but N i mzowitsch has no i ntention of cooperat ing.

A. N i mzowitsch S. Alapin Russian Championsh i p , Vilnius 1 9 1 2 5 French Defence [C1 1 } -

1 .e4 e 6 2.d4 d S 3.4Jc3 4Jf6 4.exdS lLlxdS s.4Jf3 cs This variation was also tested i n the St . Petersbu rg tou rnament of 1 9 1 4 , when Alapin played 5 . . . 4Jxc3 6.bxc3 ile7 against N i mzowitsch and lost in 39 moves. N i mzowitsch , for his part, played 5 ... b6 with Black and defeated Alekh i n e i n 75 moves . 6.lLlxdS �xdS This exposes the queen. Black rejects 6 . . . exd5 7 .il.. b 5+ ! ii.d7 8.il..x d7+ 4Jxd7 9 . 0-0 with advantage to Wh ite after both 9 . . . i.. e7 1 0. dxc5 4Jxc5 1 1 . i. e3 and 9 . . . c4 1 0 . .l::t.e 1 + ile7 1 1 ."ife2, si nce he has p roblems with castl i n g .

7.i.. e3 This combi nes development and attack. Wh ite is th reatening 8 . dxc5 . 7 ... cxd4 8.4Jxd4 a6? ! A waste o f t i m e ! The phantom th reat of 5

1 2.0-0-0! A b ri l l i ant knight sacrifice, which th rows all the wh ite forces i nto the attack. 1 2 ... exd4 1 3 . .txd4 Wh ite's lead in development is now too g reat. 1 3 ... 4Jc6 1 4.i.. f6 ! ! A fantastic i ntroduction to the final attack. The th reat of 1 5 .ii'd8+ forces Black to take the bishop.

1 4 ... ii'xf6 1 S . .&t.he1 + ile7 1 5 . . . ile6 runs i nto 1 6. 'ii'd 7 mate . 1 6. ii.xc6+ �f8

In this we are following MegaBase 2012 published by ChessBase.


After 1 6 . . . bxc6 then 1 7."ii'd 8 mates, and the attempt to control the back ran k with 1 6 . . . i. d7 1 7 . 'ii'x d7+ 'it> f8 fails to 1 8. 'ii'd 8+! .lir.xd8 1 9 . .l:. xd8+ .i.xd8 20.llea mate .

1 7.'ii' d S+ ! .txd8 1 8 . .l:.e8 mate. N akam u ra was able to prepare his pawn sacrifice in the Paulsen Sicil ian before the game. All he had to do was find Vlad i m i r Epishin's 2005 game i n a database. 6 The Russian took the pawn , and although afterwards he did not fall victim to a furious mati ng attack as Alapin had done, he had problems with his exposed queen.

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25

9.ltic3! In the spirit of N i m zowitsch! Black is far behind in development - a well-known phenomenon in the Paulsen Sicil ian even if no pawn has been take n . 9 . . .'ii'x g2? Like Alap i n , Epishin takes the pawn and then gets i nto difficulties. 1 o ..te4 "ii' h 3 1 1 . 'ii'd 4! Development with gain of tempo.

11 ... ltif6 After 1 1 . . . .i.f6 1 2 . 'ii' a4+ .i.d7 1 3. 'ii'b 4 Black can not defend his q ueenside.

GAM E 7 H. Nakamura

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V. Epish i n

G i btelecom Maste rs , G i b raltar 2007 Sicilian Defence [842]

1 .e4 c5 2.ltif3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.ltixd4 a6 5 . .i.d3 .tcs 6.ltib3 i.e7 7.i.e3 d5?! 8.exd5 'ii'x d5 This was Epishi n's move from the previ ous game which Nakamura had prepared for so wel l . 1 2.0-0-0 Wh ite completes his development and his pieces are radiating energy. Black has to worry about not only his queen , but also his ki n g . 1 2 ... ltibd7? ! Black misses the chance to simplify by 1 2 . . . ltixe4 1 3.ltixe4 (or 1 3 . 'ii'x e4) 1 3 . . . 0-0 with acceptable play.

1 3.:hg1 g6? This loses i m mediately, but Black is in a s

S. Barrientos Chavarriaga

-

V. Epishin, Solsona Open, 2005 (drawn after 27 moves).

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26

Prologue

bad way i n any case. If his king hides on the kingside with 1 3 . . . 0-0, then 1 4 .l:r.g3 'ii' h 4 1 5 . .l:.dg 1 enables Wh ite to mount a dangerous attack, for example: 1 5 . . . g6 1 6 . .t xg6! 'ii'x d4 1 7 . .txh7+! �h8 1 8 . .t xd4, and White should wi n .

1 9 . . . ltJxe4 20 . .txe4 Th reatening 21 . .t xb7! .t xb7 22.'ii'x d7+ and wins. 20 ... 'ii' h 4 20 . . . 'ii' h 5 2 1 . .t xb7 'ii'x d 1 + 22.�xd 1 .t xb7 23.�c1 . 21.lDcS! Wh ite now wins material . 21 b5 22.'ii'd 4 Everything is hanging . . . 2 2. . . .tf6 23.'ii'd 5 lDxc5 After 23 . . . .l:.a7 White s i mply plays 24. l:. h 1 and wins. .•.

24 .txc5 And of cou rse Epishin had no desire to see the mate which was looming. B lack resigned. •

1 4.l:lg3 'ii' h 5 1 5 . .tg5! D rawing the net more tightly around the black queen . 1 5 h6 1 6 . .tf3 ! Forcing the black q ueen to take another pawn . 1 6 ... 'ii'x h2 ••.

The queen sacrifice 1 6 . . . 'ifxg5+ 1 7 Jbg5 hxg5 is not sufficient to hold the game in view of 1 8 .lDe4.

17.ile3! This th reatens 1 8 .l:th 1 winning the q ueen . On the othe r hand, the i m m ediate 1 7 .lith1 'ii' x h 1 + 1 8 . .txh 1 hxg5 would allow Black u n necessary counterplay. 1 7 es .•.

1 7 . . . �fB is m et by 1 8.lith 1 .

1 8. 'ifa4 e4 1 9.ltJxe4 But not 1 9 . l:. h 1 on accou nt of 1 9 . . . 'ii'x g3 20.fxg3 exf3.

After becoming a g randmaster at 1 5 and winning the US championship at 1 6, Naka m u ra was considered the best Amer ican p rodigy since Bobby Fischer. After he beat the U krai nian g randmaster Sergey Karjakin i n 2004, he was on cloud nine. His rise was steady, but not spectacular. In October 2008 H i karu c rossed the 2700 threshold . Karjaki n , meanti me, won the prestigious Corus tournament at the D utch coastal town of Wijk an Zee in January 2009 ahead of Levon Aron ian and was then i nvited to other el ite tournaments . Naka m u ra, who was two years older, travelled around North America, playing i n open tournaments instead o f chal lenging the best i n top-class events . I n April 2009 Nakamu ra took part i n the Foxwoods Open and the Toronto Open, stu mbling i n both events . Somehow, N akamu ra carelessly i nvited a fu rious attack by the Canadian IM Artiom Sam son kin in the Scheveningen Sicilian.


GAME S A. Samsonkin H. Nakamura Toronto Open 2009 Sicilian Defence [843] -

1 .e4 cs 2.tl'if3 e6 3.tl'ic3 a& 4.d4 cxd4 5.tl'ixd4 'ilfc7 6.i.d3 i.. e 7 7.0-0 tl'if& 8.a4 b6 Wh ite wou ld l i ke to stop the advance of the black pawns on the queenside. Black could have driven away the central knight fi rst with 8 . . . tl'ic6, so as after 9 . tl'ib3 to be able to play 9 . . . b6 and thus p revent 1 O . a5 . 9.'ilfe2 d & Afte r a transposition o f moves t h e game has now reached the Scheveningen Varia tion of the Sicilian Defence . 1 O.f4 i.b7 1 1 .i.d2 tl'ibd7 1 2.l:tae1 tl'ic5 The flexibil ity of the Sicilian Defence is really i m p ressive . Wh ite has done every thing correctly and p repared the advance of his e-pawn. N evertheless things are not going so wel l . For example 1 3.e5!? dxe5 1 4.fxe5 tl'ixd3 1 5 . cxd3 i.c5 is advanta geous for Black.

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27

Wh ite chooses anothe r plan , consolidates his centre and opens the c-fi le.

13 tl'ixd3 1 4.cxd3 tl'id7 .•.

Black is hoping to be able to beat off all attem pts at an attack. The central ad vance 1 4 . . . d5? would in any case backfire: 1 5 .e5 tl'id7 1 6 .f5 ! , and Black is i n difficul ties after both 1 6 . . . 'ilfxe5 1 7.'iff2 'iff6 1 8.tl'ixe6 ! fxe6 1 9.l:txe6 'ili'f7 20.i.g5 tl'if6 21 . .l:.fe 1 and also 1 6 . . . tl'ixe5 1 7.fxe6! .

1 5 . .l:.c1 'ifd8 1 6.f5 ! e5? A blunder. Black should have tried 1 6 . . . i.f6 1 7. i.e3 e5, although after 1 8.tl'ib3 0-0 1 9.tl'id2, followed by 20.tl'ic4 , he is p retty m uch on the defensive .

1 7.tl'ie&! The knight sacrifice wins material by force and forces Black to his knees. 1 7 fxe6 1 8.'ifh5+ g6 On 1 8 . . . 'iii> f B 1 9 .fxe6+ it is mate after 20.'iff7. ••.

1 9.fxg& tl'if6 20.g7+ 'it>d7 After 20 . . . tl'ixh5 2 1 . gxhB'if+ 'it> d7 22 .'ilfxh7 White wins. 21 .'ili'f7!

1 3.b4 ! ?

This double attack, th reatening to win

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28

Prologue

either the knight or the rook, is stronger than 2 1 .gxha'ii' .

21

•.•

'i!i'ea

2 1 . . . 1itga is m et by 22 . l:t xf6 .

22.gxhSlD This under-promotion is not the only way to w i n . After 22 . l:. xf6 'ii'xf7 23.l:txf7 .l:.hga 24 . 1'. gs :.aea 25.lDd1 .taa 26.lDe3 Black hardly has a move left, for example: 26 . . . @da 27 . .txe7+ .l:txe7 2a.l:tc7! , and Wh ite wins. 22 ... 'ii'x h8 23.lDe2 The spectacular 23.lDbS ! ? was also possi ble, for example 23 ... axbS 24 .l::. c 7+ ! '.t>xc7 25 . 'ii'x e7 + lDd7 26 . .l:. c 1 + 'itt b a (26 . . . .i c6 2a.axb5! ) 27.'i!Vxd6+ '.t>a7 2a.axb5 with the th reat of 29 . .l::t a 1 + . 23 bS ..•

Afte r 23 . . . l:tta 24 . .li:!.c7+ '.t>xc7 25.'ii'x e7+ '.t>ba 26.'ii'x d6+ , followed by 27 . .ie3, Wh ite also wins.

GAME 9 H. Nakamura

M . Barron Toronto Open 2009 Dutch Defence [ABS] -

1 .d4 f5 2.c4 lDf6 3.lDc3 g6 4.h4!? Bent Larsen , who very m uch l i ked to advance his rook pawns, would have strongly approved of this pile-d river of an attack.

4 . . . .tg7 5.h5! lDxh5 6.e4! Wh ite is p repared to sacrifice the ex change so as to h u nt down the black ki n g , b u t he can not do so a t o n c e si nce after 6 . l:. xh5 gxh5 7 . e4 0-0! Black would be well placed . 6 ... fxe4

24 . .igS 'ii'g 8 25 . .l:txf6 'ii'x g5 26.'i!i'xe6+ '>t>d8 27 . .li:!.c7! 'ii'e 3+ 28. '>t>f1 'itt x c7 29.'ii'x e7+ '>t>b6 30."i'xd6+ '>t>a7 31 .'ii'c 7! With the th reat of 32 . .l:txa6+! @xa6 33.'ii'as mate , against which Black has no satis factory defence . B lack resigned. I n the final round i n Toronto Nakamu ra came back i nto the tou rnament by defeat ing M ichael Barron of Canada with a sharp exchange sacrifice i n the Len ingrad Sys tem of the D utch Defence.

Defending with 6 . . . e6 leads to disaster on account of 7 . exf5 exf5 a . I:r.xh5! gxh5 9 .'ii'x h5+ @ta 1 0.lDdS! with the th reat of 1 1 .'ii'xts+ @ga 1 2 . .t gs Wea+ 1 3.lDe7+ . I n the game Krush-Esserman , played i n the Berkeley M asters 2ooa, Wh ite had good compensation for the pawn after 6 . . . lDf6 7.exf5 gxf5 a . .t gs e6 9.'ii' d 2 'ii'e 7 1 0.0-0-0


d6 1 1 .lZ'ldS! and won in 23 moves: 1 1 . . . 'ii'f 7 1 2 .lZ'lxf6+ i.xf6 1 3 .i.e2 0-0 1 4. i.xf6 'i'xf6 1 5.lZ'lf3 'i' g7 1 6 . l:. h3 l:. f6 1 7. l:ldh 1 f4 1 8.g4 fxg3 1 9 .I:txg3 l:. g6 20.i.d3 .!:txg3 21 .fxg3 lZ'lc6 22. l:. xh7 'ii'f6 � 3.l:th6 1 -0 .

7.l:.xh5! g x h 5 8.li'xh5+ @f8 9.i.h6 This swaps off the only active black piece.

9 ... i.xh6? ! This simplifies Wh ite's task but Black hi mself has difficult days in front of h i m after 9 . . . d6 1 o. l2Jxe4.

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29

1 6 ... 'it>f7 1 7.d5 lZ'lb4 After 1 7 . . . lZ'ld4 1 8.'i!Ve5 'ifg7 1 9. 'i'f4+ �g8 20. : e3! White breaks th roug h , e . g . 20 . . . es 2 1 .dxe6 lZ'lxe6 22.'ii'fS 'ii'f 7 23 .lZ'lf6+ �f8 24. : f3! with the th reat of 25.lZ'lxd7+ . 1 8.lZ'lf3 d6 1 9.lZ'legS+ �g8 20. 'i' dB+ �g7 21 .l:.xe7+ �h6 22.lZ'lf7+ ! �h5 22 . . . 'ii'xf7 23.'ii'x d6+ 'i'g6 24 .'iff4+ �hS 25.'ii' h 4 mate .

23.lleS+ ! dxe5 Seeing 24.'ifh4# coming, Black resigned.

1 0.'ifxh6+ �g8 1 1 .'ii' g 5+ �f7

1 2.lZ'lxe4 Naka m u ra's novelty, which clears the way for the othe r pieces. 1 2 ... 'ii' g B After 1 2 . . . d6 1 3 . i.e2 'i' g8 1 4.i.hS+ �f8 1 5 . 'ii f 4+ �g7 1 6.'ii' h 4 �f8 1 7.lZ'lf3 the white pieces are ready to attack.

1 3.'i'f4+ �ea 1 4.'ii'x c7 lZ'lc6 1 4 . . . lZ'la6 1 5 . 'i'e5 �d8 1 6.lZ'lg5 �ea is met by 1 7.cS! lZ'lb4 1 8 . i.c4! lZ'lc6 ! 1 9 . i.f7+ @f8 20. 'ti'f4 'ii'g 7 2 1 .0-0-0 'ii'f6 22.'ii g 3 with the th reat of 23 .lZ'lxh7+. 1 5.0-0-0 li'g6 1 6.lae1 ! Th reatening 1 7.lZ'ld6+.

Wandering from one open tournament to another was not the way to go and, fortunately, H i karu rapidly changed cou rse. H e won the 2009 U S championship in May i n Saint Louis and his victory i n San Sebastian in J uly b rought him onto the big chess stage. He at last began receiving i nvitations to el ite tou rnaments . Before that happened , H i karu won the Chess 960 (a variation of Fische r- random) world championsh ip in Mainz in August, and he used his bl itz skills to defeat his j u n io r by three years Magnus Carlsen 3-1 in the final of the B N bank Bl itz tournament in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Naka m u ra is really very fast, havi ng honed his bl itz skills on the I nternet. The q u icker the pace on the chessboard , the more he seems to enjoy playi n g . H e is inventive and can set m u lti-move traps in seconds. Carlsen began the match wel l . H e won the fi rst game and was well on his way to victory in the next, but blundered badly in a winning pawn endgame and even lost. This tu rned the match around. N akam u ra won the third game, perhaps the best played one in the whole matc h , and

30

�

Prologue

Carlsen was unable to decide the final game i n his favou r. The pawn sacrifice i n the G rO nfeld Defence i n the th i rd game had been analysed and played by fou r members of the US team that went to the Olympiad in D resden the p revious year. The position is difficult for a reg ular tou rnament game, but Wh ite's attacking chances g ive h i m good chances i n a blitz game.

GAME 1 0

with 1 3 . . . .t a6. The alternative 1 2 . . . tbd7 has lost its shine. In the game Akobian H i lton , U S Open 2009, Black chose 1 2 . . . 'iVd6? ! , and White won with a robust attack: 1 3 . .i h6 .tg7 1 4 .e5 .t xe5 1 5 .tbxe5 'ifxe5 1 6 . .l:.e 1 'ii'd 6 1 7.'ife2 :tea 1 8.'ii' b 2 f6 1 9 .l:te6 'ii'x e6 20.dxe6 tbc6 2 1 . l:. d 1 l:tad8 22. : d? .t ea 23.'ifxf6 ! ! exf6 24.e7+, and Black resigned. 1 3.e5 ! ? Alexander On isch uk a n d Yu ry S h u lman p referred to exchange the dark-sq uared bishops with 1 3 . .i b2.

1 3 .ta6 1 4.'ifd3 .txc4 1 5.'ii'x c4 tbd7 ..•

H. Nakamura

M . Carlsen B N bank-Bl itz Chess, Oslo 2009 Grunfeld Defence [085] -

1 .d4 tbf6 2.c4 g6 3.tbc3 d5 4.cxd5 tbxd5 5.e4 tbxc3 6.bxc3 .tg7 7.tbf3 c5 a.:b1 0-0 9 . .ie2 b6 1 o.o-o .ib7 1 1 .d5 This pawn sacrifice is an American speci ality. White gains space and obtains attacking chances on the kingside.

The othe r blockade with 1 5 . . . 'ii'd 7 1 6 . .i b2 e6 1 7 .d6 tbc6 c reates a better i m p ression .

1 s.:e1 a& 1 7.'ii' h 4 e6 1 7 . . . f6 is m et by 1 8.d6.

1 8 . .tgs 'f/c7 1 9.d& ! 'ifc& 20 . .th& f6 21 .exf& I:t.xf6 22.tbg5 tbf8 Although Black has defended as wel l as possible here, he is sti l l not out of the woods.

1 1 ....txc3 1 2 ..tc4 .tg7

The most popular m ove , prepari ng an exchange of the light-sq uared bishops

23.d7! ? I n a bl itz game this advance i s very hard to meet. It is an amusing attempt to ex change the d-pawn for the b6-pawn .


However, it allows Black chances to equalise.

23 ... i.xh6 24.'ii' x h6 'ii'x d7? This g ives Naka m u ra too much play. After 24 . . . e5! 25. l:. xe5 'ifxd7 1 6. :be1 'ii'd 4! the black position is ok. 25.lDe4 l::tf7 26.:xb6 Despite his extra paw n , Carlsen's position is full of holes and weak pawn islands . I n add ition, i t is the more d ifficult o n e t o play in a bl itz game. 26... c4 27.'ii'e3 'ii'd 3 28.'ii'c 1 %1d8 29 . .:xa6 'ii'd 4? 29 . . . :c? was a more resil ient defence. 30.:c& This wins a pawn while retaining the better pawn structure . Black is doomed to defeat. 30 ... 'ifa7 31 .'ii'x c4 .:d4 32.'ii'c 2 :a4 33.l:te2 'ii'd 4 34.h3 'ilfa1 + 35.�h2 'ife5+ 36.lDg3 'ilff4 37.�ce �g7 38.'ii' c 3+ �h6 39.f3 g5? 40 . .:xf8 ! After 40 . . . %1xf8 the move 4 1 . .:xe6+ wins. Black resig ned. The year 201 0 was knocking at the door and Naka m u ra would soon be seen among the world's best players i n el ite tou rnaments such as London , Wijk aan Zee , Dortm und, Moscow, Bilbao and Sao Paulo. I n January 201 1 he made it i nto the select company of the world's Top Ten rated players and i n Wij k aan Zee he scored his g reatest tournament victory thus far. N akam u ra fin ished ahead of the world's fou r top-rated players . His spec tacular win was i m mediately compared to Fischer's successes. In a contribution to the New York Times, Garry Kasparov wrote : "I think you can go back to Pil lsbu ry at Hasti ngs 1 895 for an American tou rna-

ttJ

31

ment victory on a par with Nakam u ra's" , and he added: "Fischer never won a tournament ahead of the world champion . He was second in Santa Monica." Kasparov obviously m eant "a reigning world champion", but it is not clear that he was right. H e was referri ng to the Second Piatigorsky Cup played i n Santa Mon ica i n 1 966 a n d won b y Boris Spassky. The reigning world champion Tig ran Petrosian shared sixth place with anothe r American , Sammy Reshevsky. It was a double round-robin tou rnament o r, if you wish , two single tou rnaments. I n the fi rst half Bobby scored 3Y2/9 and "avoided" the last place by a half point. In the second set of games Fischer p rod uced one of his finest single tournament results , 7Y2/9 , and fin ished j u st a half point behind Spassky. It was the only tou rnament in which Fische r was able to compete agai nst a reigning world champion. Things were different at chess olympiads, where he m et th ree of them , d rawing with M i khail Tai i n 1 960 and with M i khail Botvin n i k i n 1 962, and losing to Spassky i n 1 970. Without Kasparov's "special condition", Fischer had many other better resu lts . The 1 962 Stockholm l nterzonal comes i mmediately to mind, in which he scored an i ncredible 1 7Y2 poi nts out of a possible 2 1 and fin ished 2Y2 poi nts ahead of the Russians Efi m Geller and Tig ran Petrosian . Although Pillsbu ry's and Naka m u ra's victories were form idable, they were u na ble to dominate the world's best players . On the contra ry: Harry N elson Pillsbury won the 1 895 Hasti ngs tournament with 1 6Y2 out of 2 1 , ahead of M i khail Chigorin on 1 6 and the World Champion Emanuel Lasker on 1 5Y2 . I n so doi ng, he lost to both of the m , but beat the fou r tailenders.

32

�

Prologue

Lately, N akam u ra has been going th rough tou rnament roller-coasters, match ing good resu lts with setbacks. H e may sti ll follow i n Capablanca's footsteps and becom e the world champion , but he has to stabil ise his play. . .

Nakam u ra played s i m i larly in Wij k aan Zee, beating the last fou r, but scoring m i n u s one against the top fou r players in the world ran king list (a defeat agai nst Carlsen and d raws with Anan d , Aronian and Kramnik).

*

Lubom ir (Lubosh) Kavalek was born in Prag ue in 1 943. At the age of 1 9 he became the youngest national champion of Czechoslovakia (as it then was) and he repeated this success in 1 968. After the suppression of the Prague Spring in August of the same year, he left his native land . At fi rst he lived i n West Germany, where he became a member of the Solingen SG and won numerous Ger man team championsh ip medals as wel l as that for the European Teams Cup in 1 976. In 1 970 he emigrated to the USA and was its national champion on three occasions ( 1 972, 1 973 and 1 978) . Kavalek took part in nine chess olympiads (twice for Czecho slovakia, seven times for the U SA) and in so doing he won one gold and five bronze medals with the American team. In 1 974 and 1 980 the US grandmaster made it into

*

*

the top 1 0 of the F I D E world ranking l ist. He has also known great success as a trainer, a second and a tou rnament organ iser. He was by the side of Robert H ubner in the latter's candidates match in 1 983 against Vasily Smyslov and of N igel Short on his way to the World Championsh ip candidates final i n 1 992 agai nst Anatoly Karpov. In 1 979 he was one of the initia tors of the Challenge Cup i n Montreal , the fi rst ever category XV F I D E tou rnament (Elo average 2624) . I n addition , in the 1 980s Kavalek partici pated in the founding of the World Cup. Nowadays Lu bosh's main professional activity is that of a jour nalist. After 23 years with the Washington Post his legendary chess col umn was stopped in 201 0 on grounds of cost. At the moment he is working for the i nternet newspaper The Huffington Post.

lD

33

C HAPTE R 1

Wij k aan Zee Saturday, 1 5th January 201 1 , Round 1

I Zee , which lies approx. 20 kilometres from Amsterdam - this Satu rday in January sees n the Dorpshuis de Moriaan - the biggest sporting arena in the D utch town of Wij k aan

the start of the 73rd ann ual chess tournament which is being supported for the fi rst time in its history by the I ndian steel fi rm Tata Steel and which now also bears the name of the latter concern . For D utch chess fans "De Moriaan" can be compared to "De Kuip" i n Rotterdam f o r t h e i r football fans , a n d so t h e i nterest i n the A-g roup o f t h e Tata Steel Chess Tou rnament is particularly high. With its Elo average of 2740 it is a category XX event, and if proof were needed of the class of the event then there is the fact that the organisers have secu red the participation of the top fou r in the F I D E ranking list i n the form of Magnus Carlsen , World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian and Vlad i m i r Kramnik. Also in the field of 1 4 g randmasters is 23-year-old H i karu Naka m u ra, who with his Elo rating of 275 1 occupies 1 0th place i n the list of the best players i n the world. The year before the young American had made a cou rageous entry i nto this chess Mecca and taken fifth place. In round 1 of the 73rd tou rnament he was about to face the stiffest of exami nations at the hands of Alexander G risch u k (Elo 2773) . . .

GAM E 1 1 H. Nakamura A. Grischuk Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 1 Queen 's Gambit [038] -

Provoke sacrifices, take material and win!

There is a back story to this encounter. For years the two opponents had been in volved in a desperate blitz duel on the Internet Chess Club. Finally they met in a serious tou rnament game at the 5th Tai Memorial in November 201 0, where Naka1

m u ra had a totally winning position which he let slip into a draw. Of cou rse it had become for him a matter of honour and he announced that he would "smash G rischuk like a baby in the forthcoming word blitz championship", 1 but he did not manage to do so. But this time the American was to gain more or less a "victory on demand" following the motto "provoke sacrifices, take material and win"! 1 .d4 ll:if6 2.c4 e6 3.lll c3 .tb4 4.lllf3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6 ..tg5 lll b d7 7.e3 c5 8.dxc5 'ili'a5 9.l:tc1 .txc3+ Si nce Black should continue to exert pressure against c3 at this point, 9 . . . lll e4 is

According to D i rk Poldauf in SCHACH 3/201 1 , pp. 8ff.

34

�

Chapter 1

more the move which is indicated , although after it too White has good chances, for example after 1 0. 'ii'x d5 tt:Jxc3 1 1 . bxc3 ..txc3+ 1 2. � d 1 , as Vladimir Kramnik dem onstrated against Ruslan Ponomariov in the 2009 Tai Memorial .

1 O.bxc3 0-0 1 1 .l2Jd4 'ti'xc5? ! 1 1 . . . tt:Je4 looks more convincing: 1 2 . i..f4 l:te8 1 3.f3 tt:Jexc5 1 4. �f2 tt:Je5 with equal ity, Rogozenco-Sjugirov, Aix-les-Bains 201 1 . I n his annotations SCHA CH editor Dirk Poldauf quotes the game Potkin-Toma shevsky from the Russian Championship of 201 0, of which G rischuk had been an eye-witness, "when Black swallowed up a pawn with 1 1 . . . 'ii'xa2 1 2 . i.. e2 'i'a3 1 3.l2Jb5 'Wxc5 and did not choke on it, but rather went on to win the game with 1 4. i..f4 tt:Jea 1 5 .0-0 l2Jb6 1 6.'l!Vd4 'ti'xd4 1 7.cxd4 i.. x d7 1 8.l:tb1 ..txb5 1 9 . .l:.xb5 l2Jf6 etc.'72

1 4 h6 •.•

Now White gets a specific target for a possible pawn storm on the kingside, although the move cannot be criticised on objective grounds.

1 5.f3 tt:Jf6 1 6.g4 With this Nakamura reveals his cards. His king wi ll go to f2, so as to be able to qu ickly commit the major pieces to the attack after the opening of lines.

16 J1e8 1 7.� tt:Jc4 1 8.h4 ••

1 2.i.. d 3 tt:Je4 1 3.i..f4 l2Jb6

1 8 i.. xg4?! ..•

With only 25 minutes left on the clock, G rischuk decides on a very radical step. He sacrifices a piece and specu lates on the draughty position of Nakamu ra's king. But the Russian will not obtain enough com pensation . On the contrary, the white major pieces will be able to take advantage of the open files.

1 4.'i'c2 ! ? I nstead o f simply castl ing, Nakamu ra chooses a more flexible plan, which sets Black more problems. 2

Ibid, p. 9

After 1 8 . . . h5 1 9.g5 l2Jd7 20 . ..txc4 dxc4 21 .'ii'a4, on the other hand, Wh ite has only a minimal advantage.

1 9.i.. xc4 dxc4 20.fxg4 tt:Jxg4+ 21 .�3

Wijk aan Zee

ltJeS+ 22.i.. xeS :txeS 23. �2 :tae8 24.l:th3 bS 25.:tg1 .l:.e4 26.'ifd 1 Nakamura brings a l l h i s forces i nto position for the attack.

26 b4 27.'ii'f3? ! •••

27.l:tf3 was more precise, because there is absolutely no way for Black to avoid the attack, for example: 27 . . .:txh4 28.:txg7+ c;t>xg7 29. lLif5+ c;t>ha 30. lLi xh4 bxc3 (after 30 . . . 'ife5 31 .cxb4 'ii' h 2+ 32. lLig2 .l::t g 8 33.'ifg 1 too, White's advantage is clear) 31 . lLif5+- .

27 :txe3?! •.•

The prophylactic 27 ... c;t>ha! ? was well worth considering, though in the long ru n Wh ite should be able to impose himself after 28.'ifg3 .:!.g8 (28 . . . g6 29.'ii'f3 'ii'd 6 30.:tg4 :Xg4 31 .'ii'xg4 bxc3 32.'ii'f 4, and White is also better) 29. 'fig2 'fies 30.'ii'g 5±. But now Nakamura finds the decisive counter! 28.:txg7+! ! c;t>xg7 29.'ii'g4+ �8 30 .:!.xe3 :Xe3 •

ltJ

35

31 .c;t>xe3 bxc3 32.c;t>e2?! 32 .'ii'f5 'ife7+ 33.c;t>f3 'ii'e 1 34.Wca+ c;t>g? 35.'ii'xc4 was more accu rate .

32 ... 'fieS+ 33.c;t>d1 ? ! The more active 33.c;t>f3!? 'ifd5+ 34.'ife4 centralises the white forces better.

33 ... 1i'h2? The diagonal retreat 33 . . .'ifb8! enables a deeper invasion of white camp, so that the win after 34.'ii'e 4 'ifb2 35.'ifc2 'ii'a 1 + 36.c;t>e2 'ii'b2 37. c;t>e3 is not yet totally cut and dried.

34.lLie2 'fid6+ ?! Once again 34 . . . 'fibB was indicated , but here Wh ite al ready has quite a large advantage; for example: 35. lLixc3 'it'd8+ 36 .c;t>c1 'ii'd 3 37. lLi b1 h5 38.'ii'f4.

35.'ii'd 4 'it'xd4+ 35 . . . 'it>e7 is met by 36.c;t>c2, so that Nakamu ra can captu re on c3 in the most favourable fashion .

36.lLixd4 c;t>g7 37.lLic6 a6 38.lLib8 as 39.a4 c;t>t& After 39 . . . f5 40. lLic6 f4 4 1 . lLixa5 the white knight gets back in good time: 41 .. .f3 42 . lLixc4 f2 43. lLi e3, and Black is lost.

40.lLic6 c;t>e& 41 .lLixaS c;t>ds 42. c;t>c2 B lack resigned.

Grischuk correctly seeks his salvation in a technical endgame. After 30 . . . bxc3? 31 . .:r. g3 the extra attacking potential would no doubt help Nakamura, who then has a formidable position .

"It was a beautiful game, conducted with a steady hand by Nakamu ra," said grand master Ivan Sokolov, who commented on the day's games for an audience of several hundreds of chess fans in a marq uee on the vil lage commons. "Grisch u k was cramped for space and saw no other way out than to sac a piece for two pawns after only 1 8 moves. It was an effort to obtain active play but he never got a chance. It

36

@

Chapter 1

isn't often that G rischuk gets clobbered in such a way."3 So Nakamura had managed to get the custom-made start he had hoped for, but in round 2 he was to come up against the Armenian Levon Aronian, now number 3 in

the world ranking list, who had shared victory in the afore-mentioned Tai Memorial (with Sergey Karjakin). H i karu went through the said tou rnament without defeat (+ 1 =8 --0), but won only a single game against the exhausted U krainian Pavel Eljanov.

Apprenticeship or the America n way to success Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get. Forrest Gump

Yquotation

ou will certainly be asking just what this from Forrest Gump, that wonderful 1 994 fi l m by Robert Zemickis based on the novel of the same name by Wiston G room about a totally un usual h uman bei ng, has to do with H i karu Nakam u ra? Well above all else coincidences have played a deciding role in the life of one who is at present the best American chess player since Robert James Fischer. There is also someth ing coincidental about the fact that Forrest Gump, who in the film sits on a bench at a bus stop and tells his moving l ife story to some people who just happen to be waiting there . In the original book he plays chess i n the evenings after his work in the cotton fields and in doing so demonstrates an incredible talent. . .

3

H i karu Nakamu ra came into this world on a Wednesday in H i rakata City i n the Japanese region of Osaka. It was 9th December 1 987. His birth completed the l ittle fami ly, which i ncluded his older brother Asuka (born 4th February 1 986) . The surname gives it away: his father is Japanese, and his mother Carolyn, Ameri can . When H i karu was two his family emi g rated to California. With h i ndsight that is the fi rst far-reaching coi ncidence. In the land of the rising sun the domi nating board game is Go and it was not only at that time that chess was a peripheral sport. When one compares the top ten players of different nationalities, Japan with its more than modest Elo average of 2203 occupies 92nd place out of 1 37 chess federations,

As will be the case in futu re quotations in the diary notes for the Tata Steel Chess Tou rnament 201 1 , the source here is the appropriate report on each round on the internet site www. tatasteelchess. com.


and at the chess Olympiad of 201 0 in Khanty-Mansiysk it logically occupied 9 5th place in the open category among 1 48 participating teams . This is of cou rse not surprising since the country does not have a single g randmaster and only one player has the I M title. The best active player born in 1 987 occupied 22n d place in the national ran king l ist with an Elo rating of 2025. According to such facts, H i karu would presumably never have been able to make a name for hi mself in the world of chess if he had remained in the land of his birth, because the circumstances there are totally unsuitable for that to happen, although this is very surprising in view of the boom in chess in China since the 1 990s . And even the fact that between 2000 and 2005 Bobby Fischer mainly lived in Japan has done nothing to change that. So now we have the land of unlimited opportunities, where basketbal l , American footbal l , ice-hockey, baseball, boxing and tennis set the standard for all things in sport. Chess is possible, but not necessar ily so. In any case the conditions to enable talented up-and-coming young players to reach the top of the world game were pretty modest. The former idol of the "Cold War" days with the Soviets, Bobby Fischer, had long since left the country, was now much older and had been excluded from the US Chess Federation on account of his comments on the terrorist attack of 1 1 th September 200 1 . At the chess Olympiads in 2000 in Istanbul and in 2002 in Bled, 25th and 4 1 st places represented an all-time low. Not till Calvia in 2004 did the U S team rise l i ke a phoenix from the ashes. However, their 4th place was achieved with players whose origins all lie in the former Soviet U n ion: Alexander Onisch uk (born

ttJ

37

1 975, U kraine) , Alexander Shabalov ( 1 967, Latvia) , Alexander Goldin ( 1 964, Russia) , G regory Kaidanov ( 1 959, U kraine) , Igor Novi kov ( 1 962 , U kraine) and Boris Gulko (born in 1 947 in E rfurt, but Russian ) . Gata Kamsky ( 1 974), their best player had however withdrawn from professional chess in 1 996 in order to take up a stable profession . He successfully studied law in Brooklyn and had almost been forgotten about on the international scene when at the end of 2004 he began a brill iant comeback to professional chess. Possible work as a lawyer has of cou rse been a good safety net for him . . . For the Nakamu ra brothers, o n the other hand, chance would determine thei r fate . One such was certai nly that their mother Carolyn found a new partner in Sunil Weeramantry. The FIDE master from Sri Lanka was purely by chance a chess teacher, and moreover one of the best in the U SA. Thus back in 1 979 he developed for Hunter College Campus School in New York a chess prog ram , in which chess is an obligatory subject for all pupils from the kindergarten through to the sixth g rade. It is understandable that such a step-father can inspire children . And so it came as no su rprise that fi rst of all Asu ka began to take a serious interest in the wonderful world of chess after being introduced to the fundamentals of the royal game in the spring of 1 992 by a kindergarten friend . And successfu lly so, si nce in the same year Asuka won the fi rst national champi onsh ip for kindergarten children in Knox ville, Tennessee and to this day he holds the record of 4 1 victories in a row at the national school chess championships. At the age of six, H i karu was not yet taking part in competitive chess . The fact

38

w

Chapter 1

that he even began to play is yet another act of chance . In August 1 995 his brother and thei r step-father took part i n the US Open (in the section for those below U SCF-Elo 2400) , which was won by Sunil and in which Asuka took 7th place out of 28 participants . H i karu had accompan ied the two of them to Concord . As is generally the case there is a common room where analysis took place. And that was precisely where the g reat adventu re of chess started for h i m , because he played his fi rst friendly games. And the effect was long-lasting. At the Junior Chess Congress East of the National School Chess Fou ndation, which took place from 24th to 31 st January 1 995 in Stanford , he made his debut in Section 4 and took 30 th place out of 62 boys with 3 poi nts from six games and received his fi rst national rating of 684. At that time Asuka, who won Section 3 with 6 out of 6, had a rating of 1 84 1 . The two seemed to be worlds apart, and at the same time it was not certain that H i karu would actually stick with chess. There would be another coincidence, si nce i n his brother's school chess team they were short of a fourth player, and thus in May 1 995 at the age of seven years and five months H i karu would finally make up his mind for chess. From then on he played in a lot of tournaments for young players without, however, any pressu re on the part of Sunil Weeramantry. Quite the contrary, he left the boy complete freedom in the way he played , al lowing h i m to try out whatever he wanted . In the case of H i karu this seems to have been the correct motivation , especially since he was stil l clearly behind h i s brother in his level of performance . At that time Asu ka was more successfu l , since he represented the USA

in the Under- 1 0 class at the J u nior World Championships in Spain i n 1 996. But the development of thei r ratings, which is a totally objective measu re of levels, shows that the distance between them was shortening. The older brother had a USCF rating of 2048 on 1 st January 1 997, while H i karu was on 1 659. I n April of the same year the Nakamu ra brothers attracted great attention at the Super Nationals Scholastic Chess Cham pionships i n Knoxville Ten nessee , in which 1 3 sections saw more than 4200 players in the starting blocks . Both Asu ka (6¥2/7) and H i karu (7/7) won their sections - some thing never seen before. As for H i karu , he had become so strong in the Under- 1 0 class, that the federation could do noth ing other than nominate him for the J u n ior World Championsh ips in Cannes. His result (29 th place) is i n no way a disappoi ntment; what catches the eye above all is his uncompromising style: six wins, five defeats - he does not know the mean ing of the word "d raw". But let us simply take a look at th ree examples of the fi rst i nternational appearance of the young American i n his World Championship premiere . . . Against the Mongolian player Ganzorig E rdene (born 1 988) , who is nowadays one of the top 1 O playe rs i n his country (Elo 23 1 6) , the fol lowing position was reached after so ... 'it>cs.

CD


H. Nakamura

-

G. Erdene

Junior World U nder- 1 0 Championship, Cannes 1 997

8

39

�b3 64.'i!Vc3+ 'iti>a2 6S.'iix b4 �xb1 66.'ifxbS �c2 67.'fic4+ �d2 68.'iib 3 �c1 69.'ifc3+ �b1 70.'iii>e2 'iii>a2 71 .'iia S+ �b1 72.�d3 �c1 73.'fie1 mate. Against the Serb Stefan Dj u kic's Sici lian Defence H i karu chose the set-up which was typical of this early phase for h i m : 1 .e4 cs 2.tt:Jc3 e6 3.f4 and he coolly sacrificed a knight on move 24 for an attack on the king with 24.l2Jf6+. Things continued 24 gxf6 2S.'ii'h 6, and now it was up to Black to show by stubborn resistance that there was stil l perhaps half a point in it for him . . .

7 6 5

•..

2

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

How did the ni ne-year-old American now cold-bloodedly fend off the attack by his adversary?

H . Nakamura

S . Dj ukic Junior World U nder- 1 0 Championship, Cannes 1 997 -

S1 .l2Jd2! Nakamu ra finds the best move and the king remains in the firing range of the battery! 51 . 'iii>d 1 should also win in any case . S1 ... b2 51 . . . .l::t c3+ 52. 'iii> d 1 'iti>b4 53. 'ifd6+ �as 54. 'ilfd4 .l:.d3 55. 'ifxf4 b2 56.�c2 does not improve Black's situation either. S2.'fieS+ 'iii>c6 S3.'ife8+? The time had come to get out of the X-ray attack from the bishop with 53.�f2. S3 �cs S4. 'ii'x g6 llc3+? He m isses the study- l i ke d raw with 54 . . . l:. c2+ 55. 'iii> e 1 l:k1 + 56. 'iii> f2 b 1 'ii' 57.tt:Jxb 1 l:.f1 + sa. 'iii> g 2 f3+ 59.�h2 l:.f2+ 60.�h 1 .:r.f1 + 6 1 . 'iii> h 2 l::tf 2+, but who can criticise the n ine-year-old Mongolian boy for that? SS.'iii>f2 .td3 S6.'ifgS+ 'iti>b4 S7.'ii'xf4+ �a3 sa.'ii'd 4 l:.b3 S9.'i!fa7+ �b4 60.'ii'b6+ .tbs 61 .'ii'd 4+ 'iii>a3 62.'i!fcS+ l:.b4 63.l2Jb1 + •.•

2S ... 'ii'a 3? The text move is unfortunately a mistake, whereas the counter-attack with 25 . . . .l:!.b2! 26.g3 (26.'ii'h 3? .tea 27. 'ifg3+ �ha 2a.ext6 .:.xg2+ 29.'ii'xg2 'i!Vxg2+ 30.�xg2 i.xf5 31 . .:r. xf5 a4 even backfires) 26 . . . .l:.g2+ 27. 'iii> h 1 'ifd2 2a . .:. 1 f4 :xh2+ 29.'ii'x h2 'ii'x h2+ 30. 'iii> x h2 .t ea 31 . l:!. xf6 .t e6 with

40

�

Chapter 1

good drawing chances was forced , be cause Black's light-squared bishop is still holding its own house together.

H. Nakamura

D. Baramidze Junior World U nder- 1 0 Championship, Cannes 1 997 -

26.exf6 1i'f8 27.l:tgS+ 'it'h8 28.l:tg7 Black resigned. Stefan Dju kic is sti l l playi ng chess, moreover, though as an amateur, because with an Elo rating of 2256 he ran ks as nu mber 307 among the active players in his country. A year after the 1 997 J u n ior World Championship in Can nes, David Bara midze (born 1 988) emigrated to Germany with his fami ly. As far as his fu rther chess development is concerned, he was cer tainly fortunate to be supported at fi rst by the Dortmund-Brackel club and for a time to be looked after personally by G rand master M ichael Bezold, who from 2000 till 2002 was j u n ior trainer for the German Chess Federation . Although David re mained in the top 20 F I D E juniors world ran kings ( U nder-20) until December 2006, he never qu ite managed the leap to the very top. Th us his second place i n the 2004 J u nior World Championship i n the U nder- 1 6 class remains for the moment his g reatest sporti ng success. In Cannes in 1 997 two fearless attacking players met i n a Sici lian. I n the position which arose after Nakamu ra's 23 . .i.d7 it was now up to David to show that his attack was the faster one! And as we shall see , the young Georgian who went on to take 4 th place in the final table managed to do just that.

23 ... .i.xgS ! A white attacking piece is simply removed and in addition the exchange is sacrificed, but it will be regained with interest. 23 . . . g3+ 24.'it'xg3 .:lc7 also sees Black with the upper hand. 24.Si.xca lll xc8! Clearing the way for the q ueen . 25.hxg4 After 25.fxg5? Black has the counter 25 . . . 'iid 6+ 26.Slf4 l:!.xf4, winning. 25 ... 'iid 6 25 . . . .i. xf4+ wins on the spot, e.g. 26 . .i. xf4 l:!.xf4 27.llxf4 1i'xb2+ 28.'it'g3 'ii'g 2+ 29.'it'h4 'ii'h 2+ 30. 'it'g5 h6+ 31 .'it'xg6 1i'xf4 and then mate. 26.'it'g3 .i.h6 27.1i'e1 'ii'a6 28.'ii'e2 llld 6 29.'ili'eS? This is too optimistic, but Black also wins after 29.l:.fe1 g5 30.fxg5 .l:!.f3+ 31 .'it'h4 .i. g7 32.l!ac1 'i!i'xd3. 29 ... 'ii'x d3+ 30.'it'h4 'ifxd2 31 .'ifxdS+ �U7 32.gs 'ifh2+ 33.'it'g4 lllts 34.'ifda+ Si.ta 35.'it'f3 'ii'g 3+ 36.'it'e4 l:te7+ 37.'it'd5 lll e3+


38.'it>xd4 tt'lf5+ 39.'it>c4 l:te4+ 40.'it>bS -1Jd4+ 41 .'it>c4 tt'lc6+ White resigned. On the USCF ratings list of December 1 997 H i karu had further closed the gap on Asuka and it now stood at 201 9-21 44, though the brothers hardly saw it as a duel , especially since they had not yet faced each other in a game. Wel l , at the age of 1 O Hikaru could hard ly be characterised i n the truest sense of the word as a child prodigy who astonishes the world of chess with his spectacular performances. I n his article "Die Suche nach dem goldenen Ki nd"4 ("The search for the golden child") the former consultant for competitive sport among young Ger man chess players Heinz Brunthaler con siders this phenomenon . "An investigation of the career paths of world class players of the past and the present points to th ree types of prodigy: - gen uine prodigies, who at an early age played chess very well without special training and support; - presu med prodigies, who are considered very talented but who have done an enormous amount of work on their own which has brought them to the top; - children who have achieved top per formances as a result of early intensive trai ning. Astonishingly, among the p resumed prodigies is Bobby Fischer, whose talent was originally not so overwhelming, but who over a number of years devou red all he could find about chess and devoted

ClJ

41

himself to the game with fantastic enthusi asm ." I n the spring of 2001 , when this article was publ ished , it is q uite understandable that the author had not yet become aware of the boy in America, although his talent could no longer be overlooked , as the fou r years which followed the J u n ior World Championsh ip in Cannes 1 997 were to prove. Just like Bobby Fischer, Hikaru owes his enormous leap in performance to the fact that he played chess independently, with out the hard and guiding hand of a trainer. "When I started playing chess, I did not have any specific person as a model. Be that as it may, in 1 995, shortly after I started to play chess, I watched the World Championsh ip match between Kasparov and Anand which took place in the World Trade Center. Approximately around this time I began to emulate Kasparov", re called H i karu in an i nterview, which he gave to the Chess Chronicle at the age of 1 7. 5 And in New in Chess Magazine he wou ld name as the best chess player of all time Garry Kasparov. 6 At that time he could not have suspected that in 201 1 he wou ld train regularly with his idol for al most a year. . . At the start his step-father was certainly a help, but as a coach the latter did not attempt, either with Asuka or with H i karu , to bring about successes at the highest level, as Laszlo Polgar had undoubtedly managed in Hungary with his th ree daugh ters Zsusza, Zsofia and J udit. In his years of apprenticeship the "H-bomb", as Naka-

4

Heinz Brunthaler in: the culturally inclined chess magazine KA RL, issue 4/2001, pp. 26-27

5

The interview with Nakamura was conducted at the end of 2005 by Abdul Karim from Chess Chronicle.

s

The column "Just Checking" in: New in Chess Magazine 8/2007, p. 106

42

@

Chapter 1

m u ra would later be called , was above all cast upon his own resources. There was no talent spotting and encouraging such as had been usual earlier in the Soviet Union, with its development centres for the young in the pioneer palaces run by top class trainers or specialist chess schools fo r example the one run by World Champion M i khail Botvi nnik in Moscow, which had as its most promi nent students world champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. And there was just as little opportunity to attend a school for el ite sport stars, such as that afforded to the th ree years younger Norwegian Magnus Carlsen. I n the USA things are done in a different way, which can also lead to success , though that is not necessarily the case, because things can also later g rind to a halt at a very high level. Quite certainly the National Scholastic Chess Foundation - in which Sunil Weeramantry has the role of executive di rector - is someth ing like an engine for up-and-coming talent. From their very start the Nakam u ra brothers played under its aegis in numerous indi vidual and team competitions, but they never received any special support. "J ust do it!" is the challenge - and Hikaru rose to it, because he wanted to do so! One great moment for him was 26th February 1 998, when at the age of 1 0 years and 79 days he received from the U S Chess Federation the title of national master, the youngest American chess player to have then done so. His record stood until 2008, al most a decade, when N icholas Nip ( 1 0.3. 1 998) improved on it on by becoming a USCF Master at the age of nine years and eleven months, but si nce then no more has been heard of him in terms of top chess performances . . .

Hikaru , o n the other hand , conti nued his apprenticeship, playing in tou rnament af ter tou rnament and representing the U SA another fou r times in the J u n ior World Championships. His fi rst appearance in the new U nder- 1 2 age g rouping in Oropesa del Mar in Spai n in 1 998 - where Teimour Radjabov won the title - saw a pretty modest performance , finishing in 54th place with 51h out of 1 1 games. But in the following year at the 1 4th championships, things improved , si nce he reached 1 3th place at the same venue - it would remain the same for the next two years . And it should not be overlooked that his feeling for tactics would come to the fore just at the right moment, as for example agai nst the I ndian player Sunil Rangarajan, where Hikaru with Black brought about a techni cally winning position with a little combina tion . The motif is White's back rank weakness!

S. Rangarajan H . Nakamura Junior World Under- 1 2 Championship, Oropesa del Mar 1 999 -

a

42 .. ..txa6 !

b

C

.

42 . . . lLie2+? 43 . .txe2 l:.c1 + 44 . .te 1 llxe 1 + 45. �f2 l:!c1 46.g4 is by no means as con-

ltJ


vincing as the game continuation , and after 42 . . . l:. c1 ?? 43 . .i. e3 the white position would be preferable.

43.1'.xa6 %:lc1 + 44 .i.e1 44 . .i.f1 ?? loses at once on account of 44 ... tt'le2+ 45.'it'h1 l:txf1 + 46. 1'. g 1 %:txg 1 mate. •

44 ... .l:.xe1 + 45.'it>f2 %:la1 46.%:lb7+ 'it>fe 47 .l::t x a7? Now White becomes too greedy. The active 47.il.c4 l:. c1 48. 1'.f1 %:lc2+ 49.'it'g 1 a5 50.l:ta7 l:.c5 puts up more resistance .

43

success so far for Tomashevsky, who is in the top 20 players in the FIDE world rating list, was i n 2009 in Buvda (Montenegro) when he won the title of European Champion.

GAME 1 2

•

47 ... %:la2+ 48.'it'f1 tt'lxg2 49 .l:.aS+ There is no salvation after 49.l:tf7+ 'it'xf7 50.il.c4+ ri;e7 5 1 . 1'. xa2 lllf4. •

49 ... ri;e7 50.%:la7+ 'it'd& 51 .laf7 tt'le3+ 52.'it'g1 ri;e6 53.l::t a7 l::tg2+ 54.'it'h1 .l:!.c2 One try here might be 54 . . . l:tf2 ! ? . 55.'it'g1 h 5 5 6. .i.d3?! �g2+ 57.'it'h1 %:ld2 58.l:.a6+ 'it'e7 59 . .l:.a7+ 'it'd& 60.l:!.a6+ 'it'cs White resigned. A glance at Nakamu ra's opponents shows that almost all of them are now grandmas ters, e.g. Viktor Laznicka (Czech Republic), Daniel Stellwagen (The Netherlands) Far had Tahirov (Azerbaijan), Evgeny Romanov (Russia) , the U nder- 1 2 world champion Wang Yue (Chi na) and Sudanto Megaranto (Philippines) . In the closing rounds 1 O and 1 1 H i karu lost to the two players from Asia, which cost him a medal . He drew with Evgeny Tomashevsky, who however had a lot of luck in the following game. The Russian, who in the final table led a group of players in sixth place on 7% points, developed steadily in the years which followed . Thus in 2003 he won the bronze medal in the U nder- 1 6 world champion ship, and in the following year was runner up in the U nder- 1 8. The greatest individual

H. Nakamura E. Tomashevsky Junior World Under- 1 2 Championsh ip, Oropesa del Mar 1 999 Trompowsky Attack [DOO] -

1 .d4 tt'lf6 2 . .i.gS d5 3 . .i.xf6 gxf6 4.e3 c6 5.c4 e6 6.tt'lc3 f5 7 . .i.d3 .i.d6 8.l:t.c1 a6 9.cxd5 cxd5 1 0.g4 ! ? Perhaps objectively speaking not t h e best in the long ru n but very aggressive. It is very hard to rein in Wh ite's initiative over the board. 1 0 ... f4 1 1 .e4 dxe4 1 2.tt'lxe4 tt'lc6 1 3.tt'lf3 ile7 1 4.0-0 %:tg8 1 5.'it'h1 .i.d7? This is too slow. Black had to take the pawn with 1 5 . . . .l:.xg4. 1 6.'ii'd2 'ii'b 8 Now it is too late for 1 6 . . . l:txg4, as can be seen from 1 7.l:tg1 h5?! 1 8. h3 .i. b4 1 9. 'ii'e2 l:txg 1 + 20 . .l:.xg 1 .i.fa 21 . .i::t g a. 1 7.a3?! When attacking, the pressu re agai nst one's opponent must be increased , so 1 7.g5 was indicated . 1 7 ... .l:.xg4 1 8.h3?! 1 8. 'i'c3 exerts more pressure. 18 ... .l:.g6 1 9.tt'lcs .i.xc5 20.1'.xg6 .i.d6? After this the wh ite attack becomes too strong. 20 . . . hxg6 2 1 .l:txc5 'ifd6 is sti ll playable. 21 ..ths tt'le7 22.tt'lgs tt'lg6 23.dS ! es

44

�

Chapter 1

24.:te1 �8 25.'ii'd 3 25 .fl)xh7+ 9i;g7 26.fl)gs 'ii'h 8 27.'ii'd 1 is also good for White, but it unnecessarily allows Black some counterplay.

25 ... 9i;g7 2s.:g1 Wee 21.:g2 Wh6? !

33.Wh5 U nfortunately Nakamu ra misses the bril liant finish 33. :ca! ! l:txc8 34.'ii'x h6+ Wg8 35.g5 l:.c1 + 36.Wg2 f3+ 37. Wxf3 .l:tc4 38 .fl)f6+, but his move is also a strong one. 33... 'ii'd S 34.f3 'it'd7 35.Wf5 We7 36.:c3 'ifd8 37.g5 After 37.Wg2!? 'ife7 38. : b3 b5 39. l:tc3 White is also superior. 37 ... hxg5 38.fl)xg5 l:r.xh2+ 39.Wxh2 'iie7 40 . .:c2 Wf6 41 .'ifg4 ..te7 42.�4 'ii b6 43.:g2 Wde 44.d6? What a pity. 44 . .l:.d2 leaves Black in a desperate position. 44 ... ..txd6

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

28 . ..tg4 ! ! ..txg4?! This opens up highways for the decisive attack, but in any case it is hard to suggest anything better.

29.hxg4 9i;g7 But not 29 . . . 9i;xg5? on account of 30.'ii'f5+ Wh6 31 .Wf6 'iff8 32. : h2 mate.

30.fl)e4 We7 31 .:h2 h6 32.'ifh3 l:.h8

45.:d2? One inaccuracy is often followed by an other. Now Black can escape the pin, so Hikaru should have continued the attack with 45.'ii h s We7 46.fl)gs .

45 ... 'ii'h S+ 46.9i;g1 ..te7 47.'ii'd7 'ii'h 4 48.:f2 Wh5 49.fl)d& ..txd6 50.'ii'xd6 'ii'h 4 51 . 'ii'd 5 'ii'g3+ 52. �1 'ifh3+ 53.:g2 'ifh1 + 54.Wf2 Wh4+ 55.We2 'it'e7?! 55 ... 'ii'h 1 ! ? 56.'ii'x e5+ Wh7 57.Wgs Wb1 does not change the fact that neither side

lb


GAME 1 3

has an advantage.

56.a4 b6 57.b3 as 58.'ittd3 '*ff6?! 59.'ilfd7? ! An interesting try would be 59.'ittc4! ? .

59 ...'ittf8 60.'itte4 'itt g 7 61 . .U.g1 'ilfh4 62.'*fd6 ii'h5 63.'*fc7 'ii' h 2 64.'ilfxeS+ 'it>h7

45

H. Nakamura F. Tahirov Junior World Under- 1 2 Championship, Oropesa del Mar 1 999 Pirc Defence [809} -

1 .e4 d6 2.d4 lbf6 3.lbc3 g6 4.f4 i.g7 5.lLlf3 cs 6.i.b5+ i.d7 7.e5 lbg4 8.e6

65.'ilfd4? After the text move Wh ite has unnecessary problems. On the other hand, 65.l:txg6 ii'c2+ 66.'ittxf4 fxg6 simply liquidates to a draw.

65 ... 'ii'e 2+? Now Black goes wrong, but it does not cost him the game. The correct way was 65 . . . 'ti'c2+ 66.'itt d 5 lb e7+ 67.'ittd 6 lLlf5+, and there is a high probability that it would have ended in a loss for Nakam u ra. 66.'ittfS '*fe6+ 67.'ittg S �e7+ 68.'ittfS 'ilfe6+ 69.'itt g S 'i!Ve7+ 70.'itt g 4 Draw agreed on White's proposal The Azerbaijani Farhad Tahi rov, whom our young American here defeats in good attacking style, is an example of how a player can peak in early years - he got his grandmaster title in 2002 , when he was 1 5 - but since then his chess career has not progressed any further.

8 ... i.xb5 8 . . .fxe6 9 . l2Jg5 i.xb5 1 o. l2Jxe6 i.xd4 1 1 .lLlxd8 ( 1 1 .l2Jxb5!?) 1 1 . . . i.f2+ 1 2. 'it>d2 i.e3+ is a known drawing variation .

9.exf7+ 'ittd 7 1 O.lbxb5 'ilfa5+ 1 1 .lLlc3 cxd4 1 2.l2Jxd4 i.xd4 1 3.'ilfxd4 lbc6 1 4.'ilfc4 'iWb6 1 5.'ilfe2 h5 1 6.h3 lLlf6?! 16 ... lb h6 is played much more often . However, White i s probably better then too. 1 7.i.d2 l:.af8 1 8.0-0-0 l:.xf7 1 9.l:.he1 lbd8?! 1 9 ... l:!.hf8 20.g4 sees White with an advan tage.

20.'ili'd3 llg8 21 ..te3 'ili'a5?! 22.�c4! .l:.gf8 23.'it>b1 l2Je8?! 23 . . . l2Jc6 is more accu rate.

46

�

Chapter 1

24.llle 4 In the middle the black king is a fine target for the white pieces, and so Nakamu ra sounds the decisive attack.

8 7 6

2

This check is superfluous, because 33 . .txf4 'ii'x b6 34.'ii'xb6+ �xb6 35 . .i. gS turns out to be better.

33 �d7? .•.

The bluff works, since Black misses the chance to set up a defensive line by means of 33 .. Jba8 34.'ii'xa8 lll xg2 35.'ii'g 8 lllx e1 36.l:txe 1 'ilff3.

34 ..txf4 ltxf4 35.lll b6+ �d8 36.llld S :4f7? And now Tahirov even runs into a combina tion , which of cou rse Hikaru does not miss. 36 . . . l:tf2 was requ i red: 37. c3 (here 37.c4 es 38. lllc3 is just as good for White) 37 . . . es 38 . .l:r.xeS 'ii' b S 39. 'ii'a 8+ �d7 40. lte7 + �c6 4 1 . 'ifxa6+ 'ifxa6 42. lll b4+, although all he is left with is hope.

24 ... 'ii'c7 25.'ii'a4+ 'ii'c6 26.lllcS+ �c7 27.'ii'as+ �ca 28.'ii'xa7 lllc7 If 28 . . . dxcS?, then 29.'ii'a8+ �c7 30 . 'ili' xd8 mate. 29.lll a4 lll a6 30.'ifaa+ �c7 31 .lll b6?! 31 . lll c3 is better: 31 ... llle 6 32 . 'i¥a7 lllxf4? 33 . .t xf4 %:.xf4 34. lll d S+, and Black should be out of options. 31 ... llle6 32. 'ifa7 lllxf4

37.lll xe7! Nakamura sweeps away the last pillar of the defence. 37 ... %:.xe7 38.'ifaa+ �d7 38 . . . 'ii'c8 39.'ii'xc8+ �xc8 40 .l:.xe7 in no way changes the outcome of the game. 39.'ii'xf8 Black resigned. 33.llla 8+?

4:J


Tahirov's compatriot Teimour Radjabov, who took second place in 1 997 in Cannes and fi rst place in 1 998 in Oropesa del Mar in the U nder- 1 0 age g roup, one year later made the jump up into the Under- 1 8 . A victory in the final round against the French player Lau rent Fressinet, who became runner-up, would have brought him the gold medal, but he only managed 4th place - on the same nu mber of poi nts as the Cuban Lazaro Bruz6n, his team mate Rasul lbrahi mov and the Span iard Francisco Vallejo Pons, who later in 2000 won the World Championsh ip crown in this age group. Hikaru Nakam u ra's development, on the other hand , conti nued one step at a time, though the steps were becoming notice ably bigger. On the i nternational stage he followed up the U nder- 1 2 with two Under1 4 world championsh ips. With fifth place in 2000 and then his fi rst medal in the fol lowi ng year - a si lver one - his years of apprenticeship were rapidly coming to an end . I n the meanti me his brother had severely limited his competitive chess activity, mean ing that the brothers would face each other only one more time in a serious game. That happened at the Under-20 national championship in Tu lsa, the second biggest town in the US state of Oklahoma, It was the end of J u ly 200 1 . The younger brother decided things in his favou r, as he majestically won the title with 7% out of 9 , whereas Asu ka remai ned on tenth and last place with a mere two points. Here then is this game which is historically interesting and in which the difference in national ratings between the two was al ready a reflection of two completely different chess worlds (2464-2 1 98).

47

A. Nakamura H. Nakamura USA National Under-20 Championship, Tulsa 200 1 Pirc Defence {806] -

1 .e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.lt:Jc3 i.g7 4.f4 lt:Jc6 5.i.e3 lt:Jf6 6.h3 0-0 7.�d2 e5 8.lt:Jf3 exd4 9. lt:Jxd4 lt:Jxd4 1 O . ..txd4 lt:Jxe4 1 1 . lt:Jxe4 J::!.e8 1 2.CH)-() l:txe4 1 3.i.xg7 'it>xg7 1 4.i.d3 l:!.e8 1 5 .g4 i.d7 1 6.f5 l:te5 1 7.l:!.df1 f6 1 8. h4 �e7 1 9.fxg6 hxg6 20.h5 g5 2 1 . h6+ �ha 22. �f2 !:!.ta 23.'iVxa7 ..txg4 24.'iVxb7 i.e6 25.�b4 �f7 26.a3 c5 27. 'ii'd 2 c4 28 . ..te2 c3 29. bxc3 'iVa7 30. 'ii'd 3 l:!.b8 31 .l:txf6 �e3+ 32.'it'd2 �xe2 33.'it'xe2 J::!.xe2 34.l:th5 ..ta2 35.'tt>d 1 lig2 36.h7 l1b1 mate. Seeded 1 oth for his fourth Junior World Championsh ip, at the half-way mark every thing seemed possible for Hikaru with his 5 out of 6, and even his draw in the next round against the Czech Jan Bernasek in no way spoiled his brilliant start. But then he met in Wang Yue a Chinese player who, with his Elo of 2440, was clearly stronger than Nakamu ra (on 228 1 ) and who in the previous year had become Under- 1 2 world champion. The rook ending in which the US boy sought salvation was one he could not hold and the dreams of a medal for the 1 2year-old had burst. His strong final spurt with 2%/3 made no difference, si nce although at the end Hikaru had eight points, like the two Chinese players who took th i rd and fourth places, Zhou Weiqi and Zhao Jun, his tie-break score was worse. In any case, his final round victory over the Dutch player Daniel Stellwagen, who had taken the World Championship si lver in the Under- 1 2, when they had drawn thei r game in round five , is well worth seeing.

�

48

Chapter 1

GAME 14 H. Nakamura D . Stellwagen Junior World U nder-1 4 Championship, Oropesa del Mar 2000 French Defence [C 1 1] -

1 .e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.ll:lc3 ll:lf6 4.e5 ll:lfd7 5.ll:lce2 c5 6.c3 ll:lc6 7.f4 !JJ..e7 8.lt:Jf3 cxd4 9.cxd4 f5 1 0.ll:lc3 0-0 1 1 . .td3 ll:lb6 1 2.0-0 1'.d7 1 3.a3 a5 1 4.b3 a4 1 5.b4 ll:la7 1 6.ll:ld2 'ifee 1 7.'ii'e2 :ca 1 8.1'.b2 �he 1 9.g4 fxg4 20.'ifxg4 ll:lc4 21 .ll:lxc4 dxc4 22.1'.e4 .tc6 23.!JJ.. xc6 'ifxc6 24.'ifg2

Position after 29

...

tll b 5? !

would be a mistake on account of 31 . .l:. xf5 exf5 32 .e6, and even prayer can no longer help Black) 31 .ll:lxc3 ll:lxc3 32 . .l:. xc3.

30 .l:.f5 31 Jif3 .l:.cf8 32.1'.d2 1'.d4 33.:ct1 ?! Nakamu ra wrongly turns up his nose at the pawn: 33 . .l:.xc4! ? !JJ.. xe5 34.l:t.d3 !JJ..f6 (after 34 . . . !JJ.. xf4 35.ll:lc5 'iff7 36 . .l:.xf4 :xt4 37. 1'.xf4 1i'xf4 38.d7 too, White has a splendid posi tion) 35J1c5 with a clear plus for the fi rst player. ..•

33 h6 34.1'.e3 !JJ..xe3 35 ..l:.xe3 .l:.xf4 36.lhf4 36.l':tg 1 ! ? is an option. ..•

24 'ii'd 7? This is simply too slow. Stel lwagen should bring his knight into play immediately with 24 . . . ll:lb5 , leading to unclear complications, e.g. 25.'ii'xc6 bxc6 26.ll:lxa4?! .l:.a8 27.ll:lb6 c3 28. 1'. c1 .l:.a7. .•.

25.d5! 1'.d8 26.:ac1 'iff7?! 27.d6 'ifd7 28.ll:le4 1'.b6+ 29.�h1 ll:lb5?! (see next diagram)

30.1'.c3? Missing the chance to storm the black stronghold at once, which comes about without problems after 30.f5 c3 (30 . . . .l:.xf5?

36.. Jixf4 37.ll:lc5 'iff7 38..l:.e1 ! Necessary prophylaxis. There now began a wild battle in time-trouble. 38 b6? 38 . . . ll:ld4! 39.d7 ll:lc6 40 . .&r.g1 .l:.d4 41 . .l:.f1 l:.f4 42 . .l:.xf4 'ifxf4 43.lt:Jxe6 'iff7 44.ll:lc5 'iff4, and Black has sufficient cou nterplay. 39 . .l:. d 1 ? 39.d7 .l:.d4 40 . .l:.f1 'ii'g 8 4 1 .ll:lxe6 'ii'xe6 (if 4 1 . . . .l:.xd7?, then 42.'ii'g 6 'ifa8+ 43.�g 1 �gs 44 . .l:.fa+ 'ikxta 45.tt:Jxta �xf8 46.'ii'x b6, and Black has nothing to laugh about) 42 .l':tf8+ �h7 43. 'if c2+ g6 44.d8'ii' .l:.xd8 45 . .l:.xd8 sees White with the upper hand. •.•


abcdefgh

39 ... 'iig 8? A radical blunder, probably i n extreme time trouble. After 39 . . . l1f2 ! 40.d? l::txg2 41 .d8'ii'+ Ith? 42.@xg2 bxc5 43.'ii'h 4 'fi'f5 Black may even hold the better cards, but the situation remains complicated . 40.d7 l:.d4 41 .l:!xd4 lLixd4 42.lLib7 Black resigned. •

It is good that H i karu did not get caught up in the "what would have happened if. . . ?" question, but simply conti nued to work stubbornly on his chess. In the following year, when the best up-and-coming players in the world once again met in Oropesa del Mar to decide thei r champions, he had cranked up his Elo rati ng to 2466. That is an increase of 1 75 points i n a single year. However, a direct comparison with his rival Magnus Carlsen shows that the Norwegian chess prodigy at the same age of almost 1 4 had al ready reached 2581 . The most important reason for that is certainly that, qu ite i ndependently of his

�

49

extraordinary talent, he simply trained dif ferently from Nakamura, although he only started to play chess seriously from the age of eight. For Magnus, reading relevant specialist literatu re - for example Kaspa rov's series on his "great predecessors" was an i mportant factor. That was abso lutely not the case for H i karu . In an inter view with chess journalist and author Howard Goldowsky j ust before the 2005 championships in San Diego he explained qu ite fran kly: "Recently I have not picked up any chess books. I work exclusively with the computer." And in fact, according to Dr. Dirk Jordan , many of the representatives of this new generation owe the enormous progress in their playing strength to the rapidly devel oping exchange of information and the powerfully increased techn ical possibil ities dependent on the ever-increasing spread of computers. 7 Thus the two authors Adrian Mikhalchishin and Oleg Stetsko chose as a title for the introduction to their Fighting Chess with Magnus Carlsen (Edition Olms 201 2) "Magnus Carlsen - Hero of the computer age". Hikaru Nakam u ra explained in his inter view with Chess Chronicle (December 2005) that the explosion in the number of grandmasters can clearly be attributed to computers, since every game is made accessible to everyone. "That makes it much easier to study the games of other players . . . I normally use the computer a lot. Basically I study the openings of my oppo nents. Apparently a lot of other players use this method . It works well."8

1

Dr. Dirk J ordan, ,,Einige Bemerkungen zur Erkennung u nd Entwicklung von Talenten im Spitzen schach", http://karlonline. org/jordan. [Some remarks on the discovery and development of talent in top-level chess]

a

Cf. footnote 5, p. 43, on Nakamura's interview with Chess Chronicle.

50

�

Chapter 1

Garry Kasparov's warning about this one-sided tou rnament preparation is inter esting in this respect: "Nowadays most young players only make moves in the anticipation of a m istake, j ust as an ice hockey team pushes the puck into their opponents' zone in the hope that some thing will come out of it. The pure pragma tism of young players can be seen in many games." Well , this results-orientated attitude is nowhere to be seen in the refreshing play of Hikaru , who scored his thi rd I M norm in an open tou rnament in the Hungarian town of Eger in February 2001 and at the age of 1 3 years and two months became the youngest I nternational Master in the U SA, because he went for risks and did not change his combative style after losing a game. "Winning feels real good, but you can learn more from you r losses. In a win you simply outplay the opponent or he makes a mistake and you do not. You definitely learn more from defeats, that is clear", was his reply to Howard Goldows ky's question 'What affects you most? The positive feel after a win or annoyance after a bitter defeat?" And his step-father ex plained: "I think one must be ready to learn from defeats, or what then? Many players do not want to analyse a loss. I think that is in fact true. I agree with Hikaru that it is possible to learn a great deal from a defeat, if one is ready to take a critical look at it ." So at the Junior World Championships of 200 1 his defeat at the hands of the futu re champion Viktor Erdos (Elo 2265!) did not throw him, although it was certainly more than annoying in view of the ratings gap of 200 points. But the Hungarian was playing the tou rnament of his l ife and that is something one j ust has to accept in sport.

Two rounds before the end everything seemed to be possible for H i karu again . First he had to beat Borki Predojovic (Elo 2338). However, the young lad from Bosnia and Herzegovina had two Eu ropean Cham pionship titles to his credit: i n 1 999 in the Under- 1 2 and in 2001 in the U nder- 1 4. Two years later he would become U nder- 1 6 World Champion , but then stagnate in the 2600s. Nakam u ra had some difficulty achieving this task, and then he was unable to win with Black against his old "clienf' Susanto Megaranto (Elo 2234) from the Philippines. In any case, Hikaru finished up with a World Championship silver medal , a place which exactly matched his seeding. All's well that ends wel l . . .

GAME 1 5 H. Nakamura B. Predojevic J unior World U nder- 1 4 Championship Oropesa del Mar 2001 Sicilian Defence [842] -

1 .e4 c5 2.tllf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tllxd4 a6 5 . .ll d 3 tllf6 6.tll b3 tll c6 7.f4 b5 8.0-0 .i.b7 9.'ii'e2 J.. e7 1 0.tll 1 d2 d6 1 1 .tllf3 e5 1 2.a4 0-0!?


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51

1 3 .te3 •

The acceptance of the pawn sacrifice by 1 3.axbS axbS 1 4 . .l:.xaa .txa8 1 5 . .txbS is met by 1 5 . . . lDxe4 ! , since after 1 6.'ii'xe4?! the move 1 6 ... 'ii'b 6+ wins back the piece with good play.

1 3 lDg4 1 4.J.d2 exf4 1 5.J.xf4 J.f6!? •..

Taking full control of the blockading square es, so that Black cannot be worse.

1 6.axb5 axb5 1 7.l::. a d1 J.xb2 1 8.J.xb5 'ifb6+ 1 9. �h1 J.e5 20.lDxe5 lDcxe5 21 .c4 .l:.a3 22.l:.b1 .l:.fa8? ! 24 ... lDg6! Black solves the problem of the protection of his knights i n tactical fashion . 25.lDd2? ! After 25.J.c4 lD4e5 26.J.xeS lDxeS 27.lDd4 'ii'd 8 28.lDe6 fxe6 29.J.xe6+ �h8 30.l:txb7 l::ta 1 the chances for both sides are relatively even. On the other hand 25. hxg4? would not be playable for White on account of 25 . . . lDxf4 26 . .::r. xt4? 'ifh6+.

The way t o equality is 22 . . . J.c6 2 3 . .txc6 'ifxc6 24.cS .l:.fa8, because this deprives White of the potential for exerting pressure.

23.c5?! A good idea, but Hikaru chooses the wrong move order to realise it. 23.h3 lDf6 (after 23 . . . .l:.a2? ! there follows 24.cS, and Black has problems) 24.cS 'ilc7 25.cxd6 'ifxd6 26.1i'b2 makes more of the running, e.g. 26 ... 'ii'b 4 27.J.xes .l:.a2 28.'ii'd 4 'ifxbS 29.J.xf6 'ife2 30 . .l:.g 1 .txe4 31 . l:. b2 .l:.xb2 32 .'ifxb2 'ifd3 33 . .tes 'ii'x h3+ 34 . .t h2.

23 dxc5 24.h3 .•.

25 ... lDxf4? Opens up highways for H i karu . After 25 . . . lDf6! Black, on the other hand, is in no way worse off. 26.'ii'x g4

52

�

Chapter 1

26 ... lll e6? Mistakes rarely occur in isolation . The surprising coup 26 . . . lllx h3! ! was the final chance. Nevertheless White should also win through in the long run after 27.'ii'f5 (but not 27.gxh3? ! on account of 27 . . . 'ikh6 [27 . . . i.. c 8? , on the other hand, is met by 28 . .t c4] 28 . .t d7 .t a6, and White may stand better, but the situation is still rather com p l i cated) 27 . . . l:.f8 28. i.. c 4 'ikc7 29.'ikxf7+ l:txf7 30.l:.xf7 'ii'xf7 31 . i.. xf7+ �xf7 32 . %:txb7+ �e6 33. gxh3 l:.xh3+ 34.�g2. 27.lllc 4 27 . ..tea °fic7 28 . .txf7+ �h8 29 . .txe6 is even better. 27 ... "iic7 28.lll xa3 l:.xa3 29 . .tea llld 8 30.l:.bd1 i.. c8? ! 31 ."iif4 "iixf4 32.l:.xf4 g5 33 . .l:.xdB gxf4 34 ..l:.xca f3 35.gxf3 l:.xf3 36 . .td7+ Black resigned. This 200 1 Junior World Championship would be the last appearance of H i karu Nakamu ra in j unior tournaments. After fou r years at this level he had not only finally completed his apprenticeship, but he had also chosen the American way to success. Later he was never asked whether he wou ld have done everything differently were he able to start all over again . For him, his way was probably the correct one . . .

9

I n July 2004 his brother Asuka published an essay in the magazine Chess Life: "The positive influence of chess on my life". "Chess has been an integral part of my life since my memory can recall. It was my special talent, the one aspect of my character that clearly defined me as a person . As I grew older, I began to realize how much chess had given me. I had made many friends and acquaintances around the world, and I had gained national acclaim as the top scholastic player in the country.9 By the time I began high school, I decided that I would spend more time teaching chess. I did not set out to make everyone a championship player - that requ i res a devotion g reater than many young kids can summon. Instead , I wanted to spread the simple joy that the game of chess brings. The strategy, the thought process, the timeless art - these were the aspects of the game that I sought to bring to the kids I taught. ( . . . ) I know I am not going to be the great chess player that my brother has become, nor the charismatic, eloquent chess teacher my stepfather has gained recognition for. I'm merely trying to spread my lifelong passion to others. And if the only thing I get is a toothy grin from a young face, that's okay. Sometimes winning doesn't mean everything."

H ere there are two interesting facts which Stefan Loffler published i n the column "ABC des Schulschachs" in SCHACH 6/20 1 2 , page 54: Since 1 986 there has been in N ew York a school chess program Chess in the Schools, in which approximately 20,000 students take part every year. With its own program First Move, the American Foundation for Chess annually reaches 50 , 000 students in 26 states.

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53

jy Z O G E

ZWI SC H E N

Rem i n iscences o f a c h ess ga me Bv BETTINA TRABERT

H. Nakamura B. Trabert Hawaii Open, Wai kiki/Honolulu 1 997 Scotch Game [C45] -

1 .e4 e5 2.lllf3 lll c 6 3.d4 exd4 4.lll xd4 lllf6 5.lllxc6 bxc6 6.e5 'ile7 7.'ile2 llld 5 8.c4 .ta& 9.llld 2 0-0-0 1 O.b3 f6 1 1 .exf6 'ilxf6 1 2J:tb1 1'.b4 1 3.'ifd 1 l:tde8+ 1 4 . .i.e2 lllc3 1 5.i.b2 lllxe2 1 6.i.xf6 ltJg3+

Wh ite resigned.

I something special playing against a child,

still remember this game well . It is always

and for his nine years little Nakamu ra was al ready rather dangerous. Of cou rse no body suspected that one day he would

become so strong, and actually it was only a few years ago when looki ng through the database that I realised against whom I had been playing. The great stars must be spotted early, and nine or ten is usually early enough . . . I n this context I also remember the Junior World Championship in 1 984 in Champigny sur-Marne. In them a completely unknown young I ndian boy played unbelievably qu ickly and nevertheless kept up with the then all-powerful Soviets. I remember working out what was on h is name badge: Viswanathan Anand . . . As far as the tou rnament in Hawaii is concerned , it took place in April 1 997 in Waikiki near Honolulu and was organised by the American Eric Schiller, who also played in it. With Anthony M iles, who won it, Suat Atalik, Alex Yermolinsky, Alexander Babu rin and Lev Psakhis, the Open was a relatively strong one. From today's point of view, the participants of interest i nclude the future women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova, who surprisingly took 5 th place, and ten-year-old Arianne Caoili. In the fi rst round H i karu, who was playing along with his brother Asuka and step-father Sunil Weeramantry, won his game with a nice attack. So I approached our game with some respect. He played relatively qu ickly

54

@

Reminiscences of a chess game

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Result:

... W.

lrlll

lllek W.

Reminiscences of a chess game

but with concentration . But things did not go as he wished and after the very early finish he appeared quite disappointed . I cannot remember any joint analysis. However, two rounds later I lost to Hikaru's step-father and analysed the game with him for some time. I had come to Hawaii after finishing my studies in ethnology, because I lived for a

lD

55

long time in the USA. Distant corners of the planet have always interested me and an excursion to this chess tournament was a positive draw. . . Ah well , I have actually managed to find the score-sheet for this remarkable en counter of 1 ?'h April 1 997 with Hikaru Nakamura. At the bottom left you can see his childish signature . . . (see page 54)

* * *

Bettina Trabert (born 1 969) , the first German woman to play a tou r nament game against Hikaru Nakamu ra, was numbered in the 1 980s among the greatest up-and-coming hopes in West Germany. At the early age of 1 4 she took part in her first international tou rnament and in the Junior World Championships in 1 984 gained an excellent fourth place in the U nder- 1 6 girls. The qualified ethnolo gist, who was awarded the WGM title by

FIDE in 2000, has represented Germany five times in chess Olympiads. Her g reatest success with the team was their 61h place on her debut in Dubai 1 986. The fol lowing year she won the zonal tournament for the Women's World Championship in Erlangen . Nowadays Bettina Trabert has settled in Freiburg/Breisgau , where she lives with her family. At present her main link with chess is through her columns.

56

@ C HAPTER 2

Wij k aan Zee Sunday, 1 6th January 201 1 , Round 2

Snowadays. From that standpoint we must hope that the trad ition of Wij k aan Zee is uper-tou rnaments of 1 3 rounds plus th ree rest days are the absol ute exception

preserved , for where else are there th ree whole chess weekends? But the thing that is n ice compared to an Open played according to the Swiss System is that right from the drawing of lots players know whom they will meet on each day and with which colour. That makes specific preparation easier and allows games to be plan ned tactical ly. What in January 201 1 was known only to an absol utely i ntimate circle was that two months previously H i karu Nakamura had had a secret conversation with Garry Kasparov in the Saint Louis Chess Club. After the close of the London Chess Classic on 1 5th December 20 1 0 at a private meal in Simpson's-in-the-Strand their cooperation was decided upon , financed by the American chess patron Rex Sinquefield . "I knew right away that I would defin itely take up the offer simply because there are certain times - certain opportun ities you have in life just don't come around that often , and certainly havi ng the opportun ity t o work with , a t least what I consider t o be , the greatest chess player ever, is sort of an opportun ity you can't turn down", rem inisced Nakamura in an excl usive interview with New In Chess (Volume 7/201 1 , page 1 O ff. ) . One important pointer from the "master'' for H i karu was that i n any case he had to change his all-or-nothing style if he wanted to conti nue successfu lly on his path to the top. It is not always about fighting down to the final bul let, but from time to time energy-saving draws are also a sensible alternative in super-tou rnaments . . .

GAM E 1 6 L. Aronian H. Nakamura Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wij k aan Zee 201 1 Dutch Defence [A89] -

Boldly applying the brakes ...

How does one play with Black against a super-g randmaster such as Levon Aronian , who shortly before had broken th rough the ultra-sound barrier of 2800 Elo points?

Wel l , Hikaru's plan was extremely simple. He gave up his favourite King's I ndian Defence, with which he had put the Armen ian under severe pressure two months before in Moscow. I nstead he chose the Leningrad System of the Dutch Defence as his weapon against 1 .d4. This reminds one of a quote from the legendary David Bronstein: "I choose this opening depending on who my opponent of the moment is. If they are adversaries without any fire in thei r bellies and devoid

Wijk aan Zee

of fighting spirit, I take particular pleasure in playing the Dutch. Frequently they use lessly mark time whilst Black conju res up attacking chances on the kingside." Mikhail Botvinnik too, as well as Vladimir Kramnik in his very young years, belonged to the fans of this opening. As was to become clear, Nakamu ra's choice was spot on, because he managed to put the breaks on his more fancied opponent without any problem.

1 .d4 f5 2.g3 lbf6 3 ..tg2 g6 4.lbf3 .tg7 5.0-0 o-o 6.c4 d6 7.lbc3 lbc6 8.ds lbas

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57

one: "The Dutch brings out the 'chicken' i n many players"; i t can b e found in t h e ex cellent opening monograph Leningrad Sys tem by g randmaster Stefan Kindermann.

9 ... c5 1 0.l::t b 1 1 O.a3!? is probably slightly more venom ous, because the freeing 1 O . . . e5? now fai ls to 1 1 . b4. 1 o ...es 1 1 .dxe6 .txe6 1 2.b3 Aronian even allows the advance of the d pawn. But Black also has no great worries after 1 2 . lb d5 lbc6 1 3. lbf3 h6. 12 ... dS! 1 3.cxdS lbxd5 1 4.lbxdS .txd5

Presumably Nakamu ra's bold choice of opening came as a surprise to Aronian, who allowed the game to peter out really qu ickly to fu l l equality. Hikaru once tried the main move 8 . . . lb e5 in his game agai nst Amon Simutowe, who was more than 200 Elo points weaker than him, at the 2007 1 081h US Open in Cherry Hill, but without success, since he lost in only 29 moves.

9.lbd2 A main alternative is 9. Wa4! ? c5 1 0.dxc6 lbxc6 1 1 . l::td 1 , as played in the game Keres-Korchnoi , 201h USSR Champion sh ip, Moscow 1 952. For the 2 1 -year-old from Leningrad , who had Black, the "ex peri ment" ended in a fiasco eleven moves later, although in his fi rst appearance in the championship he would occupy a respect able sixth place: 1 1 . . . lba5 1 2 .c5 .t d7 1 3 . 'ii'a3 lbe8 1 4 . .t g5 .t e6 1 5.cxd6 lbxd6 1 6 . ltxd6 'ii'xd6 1 7. 'ii'xa5 b6 1 8. 'ifa4 .t d7 1 9. 'ii'h 4 .t xc3 20 . ..txe? 'ii'e 6 2 1 . bxc3 llfe8 22. lbd4, and Black resigned . Korchnoi himself is supposed to have said about the Dutch Defence: "You can only play the Dutch against patzers." The comment of Bent Larsen , the great Danish fighter and winner, is a very pretty

1 5.i.a3 After this the game peters out completely. 1 5.e4!? would, on the other hand, certainly bring more tension into the position , e.g. 1 5 . . . if.. c6 ( 1 5 . . . i.e6 1 6 . .t a3 l:. c8 1 7. 'i'e2) 1 6 . Wc2 b6 1 7.a3, and in each case Wh ite has a sl ight initiative . 1 5 ... .txg2 1 6.'it>xg2 lbc6 1 7.lbf3 Draw agreed on Wh ite's proposal. On Twitter Nakamura commented on the d raw as follows: "A very comforting draw" especially from the point of view of "concen trating on White against Shirov tomorrow".

�

58

Chapter 2

Monday, 1 711 January 201 1 , round 3

D easier said than done. I n this third round, in any case, the Dutch player Jan Smeets rawing with Black and winning with White is a totally plausible strategy. Of cou rse it is

lost to Ruslan Ponomariov and Magnus Carlsen to Anish G i ri (in both cases with White) . The defeat of Smeets may have been expected, but the victory of the 1 6-year-old young Dutch star over the No. 1 i n the FIDE world rating list was something of a sensation, because it was all over in 22 moves. And the explanation that it was Carlsen's worst performance of the last two years did not help. The task of saving White's honour on that Monday now fell to Hikaru , who moreover was meeting in Alexei Shirov an uncompro mising opponent. The previous year the player from Riga, who in view of the fantasy in his style is often seen as a successor to the chess magician Mikhail Tai , had astounded the chess world at the start: five victories in succession - but thereafter things did not go so well . They were followed by six draws and two losses, against Anand and, as it happened , Nakamura. And ten months later too, at the Tai Memorial in Moscow, the American had Black and in a lively Ruy Lopez was on the verge of victory over the older player. In the final position after 79 moves with otherwise only the bare kings he was ahead by a purely symbolic bishop.

GAME 1 7 H. Nakamura

A. Shirov Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wij k aan Zee 20 1 1 Ruy Lopez [C78] -

Alexei's knightmares

The question as to what Shirov would play as Black this time was answered on the very fi rst move. He did not choose the sharp Sicilian Defence as he had done the year before, but he moved his king pawn two squares forward. So it was up to the American to put his stamp on the opening and it was a Ruy Lopez. 1 .e4 es 2.tl'lf3 tl'lc6 3.1'.bS a6 4.1'.a4 tl'lf6 s.o-o bS 6.1'.b3 it.cs The Tkachiev Variation , on which Shirov had even produced a ChessBase Fritz trainer DVD in 201 0, is his speciality. 7.c3 d6 8.a4 l:.b8 9.d4 1'. b6 1 0.axbS axbS 1 1 .tl'la3 0-0 1 2.tl'lxbS 1'.g4 1 3.dS tl'le7 1 4 .i.c2 •

1 4 'ifd7! ? •..

We now have a n exciting new plan. 1 4 . . . 'ife8 is more frequently played , e.g. 1 5.c4 tl'l xe4 1 6. 1'. xe4 f5 1 7 . 1'. d3 e4 1 8. 1'. e2 exf3 1 9. 1'. xf3 tl'l g6 % - % (Shi rov-Ganguly, Ed monton 2005) . 1 S.tl'la3 tl'lexdS 1 5 . . . tl'l g6! ? , the move played later, may be even more dangerous, e.g. 1 6. 1'. g5 (after 1 6.'ii'd 3? ! tl'l h5 Black al ready had good

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Wijk aan Zee

play in De Firmian-Aaron, Philadelphia 201 1 ; 1 6. h3? backfires on account of 1 6 . . . .ll x h3 1 7.gxh3 'it'xh3 1 8. lll g S 'ii'g 3+ 1 9. 'iii h 1 'if h4+ 20. 'iit g 2 lll h S 2 1 . tll h 3 fS) 1 6 . . . lll xe4 ( 1 6 . . . lll h S? is thwarted by 1 7. h3 .llx h3 1 8. lll h 2 lll g 3 1 9 . .l:.e 1 fS 20. lll c 4) 1 7 . .ll xe4 fS 1 8 . .ll c2 e4 with unclear compli cations.

59

also offers White certain winning chances.

23 ..tg& 24.lllc4 :as 2s.lllas :tea 26 . .l:.a3 .ll e4 27.c4 ..•

1 6.h3 .ll h 5 1 7.exdS e4 18 .i.gS! This developing move is the correct reac tion. On the other hand , 1 8.g4? ! .llx g4 1 9. llle s dxeS 20. hxg4 lllxg4 21 . .ll xe4 fS gives Black a very dangerous attack. 1 8 .ll xf3 1 9. 'ikd2 •

..•

1 9 e3? ! A very difficult decision . Probably the alternative 1 9 . . . 'ikfS! was objectively better, e.g. 20 . .ll xf6 (20. lll c4 .ll e2 2 1 . 'ft'xe2 'ifxgS 22. lll x b6 .l:txb6 23 . .t xe4 .l:.e8 24.'ii'c2 lllxe4 25. 'ft'xe4 .l:.bb8) 20 . . . gxf6 2 1 . 'iii h2 (after 2 1 .gxf3 'ifxh3 22. 'ft'f4 'iii h 8 23.'ikxf6+ 'iitg a Black has equality) 21 . . . 'ft' es+ 22.g3 'figs in each case with good counterplay for Black. 20 . .ll xe3 .ll xe3 21 .fxe3 .lle4 22 ..l:.xf6 .i.xc2 23 . .l:.f4 The unconventional 23. lllxc2! ? gxf6 24. llld 4 .•.

27 ... gS! Black has to become active and aggressive on the kingside, or else the extra white pawn will be decisive in the long term . 28.l1f1 g4 29.h4 'ife7 30.'ikf2 .ll g 6 31 .b4?! This very committing move opens the second rank. Prophylaxis with 31 . lll c 6 'ife4 32 . .l:.c3 hS 33. 'iii h2 'iit h 7 34 . .l:.fc1 'iitg 7 35. 'iit g 3 offered better prospects of obtain ing an advantage. 31 ... hS 32 .l:.c3 'ifes 33 .l:.b3 'ife4 34.l:!.c3 'ifes 35 .l:.fc1 ? Here Nakamu ra tries to extract too much from the position. It should be pointed out that 35.'ii'f6 is met by 35 . . . Wg3! 36.e4 'ifes 37. 'i'xeS .l:.xes, and Black maintains the equilibrium. •

•

•

(see next diagram)

35 .i.e4? The bishop gets in the way here and the move can be criticised . Nevertheless, it is astonishing that Shirov did not seize the fleeting chance with 35 . . . g3! , after which •..

60

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Chapter 2

Position after 35.l:tfc1 ?

Black gains a dangerous attack, e.g. 36 . 'i¥f4 (36. 'ii'f3 'ti'g7 37.c5 .l:!. e4) 36 ... 'i¥g7 37. 'ii'x g3 l:te4.

36.'i¥f4 g3 37.�xe5 J:txe5 38 . .l:!.a3 'lt>g7 39.l:.f1 l:.eea 40 . .l:!.fa1

43 ... �e6 44.e4 �g4 45 . .l:!.xg3 f5 46 ..l:!.e3 l:.e8 47.'it;t2 l:ta8! Shirov activates his rook, which gives him good chances of a draw. 48.exf5 :ta2 49 . .l:!.d3 .lii. xf5 50 . .l:!.d5 Si.es 51 .:tg5+ 'it>h6 52.'>t>e3 :a3+? This drives the white king in the direction it wanted to go anyway. 52 . . . .l:!.a4! on the other hand takes advantage of the moment when the king cannot yet get involved on the queenside, e.g. 53 . .l:!. b5 .l:!.a3+ 54.'it>d4 l:[ g3 55 . .l:t b7 .l:!. xg2 56. l2ie4 c5+ 57. bxc5 dxc5+ 58. 'iit xc5 .l:i. g4, and Black has noth ing to fear. 53. 'iif d 4 l:.a1 53 . . . .l:!.a2 54.'it>c3 .l:!. a3+ 55. l2i b3 merely helps White's cause. 54.g3 54.c5 l:!.a2 55. l2i f3 l::t b2 56.cxd6 cxd6 57.b5±. 54... .l:!.d1 55.'it>c3 .l:!.g1 56.b5 :tc1 + 57.'iifd 3 ..if7

8

40 ... .l:!.e5? I n the long run this rook move tu rns out to be a waste of a tempo. After 40 . . . .i. g6 and then .l:!. e4, on the other hand, Black is in no way worse. 41 .l2ib3 l:txa3 42 . .l:!.xa3 .i.xd5! 43.lZ'ld2 43.cxd5? :xe3 44. 'iiff 1 '>t> g6 would be fatal on account of the eternal pin on the knight.

a

b

c

d

e

1

9

h

58.lZ'lb3 ! ! The only possibility of effectively activating the knight, which is going to become a nightmare for Alexei. 58. lZ'lf3? is the wrong route on account of 58 . . . .i. g6+ 59. 'iif d 4

Wijk aan Zee

.:r.d 1 + 60. 'it? e3 .:r. d3+ 6 1 . 'it?f4 l:. c3 62. tiJd2 J.f7.

S8 .:.d1 + •.•

If 58 . . . ..txc4+, then 59. 'it? d2 .l:.f1 60. liJd4 (Atalik) 60 . . . l:.b 1 6 1 . tiJ f5+ 'it? h7 62 . .l:txh5+ �g8 63. tiJd4, and White is better.

S9.�e2 :b1 60.tiJd4 ..txc4+ 61 .'it?d2 dS 62.tiJfS+ 'it?h7 63 . .:.xhS+ �g6 64 .:gs+ 'it>f6 6S.tiJe3 .:r.b2+ 66.'it?d1 i.e2+ 67.c1 l:.xbS 68.�d2! 68. tiJxd5+? would now be a mistake on account of 68 . . . 'it? f7 69 . .:r.fs+ � e6 70. laf2 I:!.xd5 71 J lxe2+ 'it? f5 72 . .l:.eB 'it? g4 73.l:.gB+ � h5 (Atalik), and Black can look to the futu re with satisfaction . 68 .:.b2+ 69.�c3 l:.bS 70.tiJxdS+ 'it?f7 11 . .:.es J.g4 •

•..

72 .l:.e7+! •

Nakamu ra finds a precise tactical solution to the problem of the position.

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61

72 'it?fS 73 . .:e4 ..tfS Also after 73 . . . .:xd5 74.l:.xg4 l:. h5 75 . .:r.c4 c5 (75 . . . l:th7 is met by 76 . 'it? d3, and White wins) 76 . .l:.e4 White's advantage is more than clear. •.•

74.ttJxc7 lacs+ 7s . .:.c4 .:.es Nor is there salvation after 75 . . J::t xc4+ on account of 76 . 'it? xc4 'it? g7 77. 'it? d4 'it?g6 78. 'it> e5. Now White has everything under control and the rest is a matter of tech nique . . . 76.laf4 'it?e7 77.'it?d4 .:.as 78.tiJdS+ 'it?e6 79.tiJc3 l:.ae 80.g4 ..th7 81 .'it?e3 :ca e2.ttJe2 �es 83 . .:.a4 .:.be 84.liJd4 .:.b1 es .:.as+ �f6 86.'it?f4 llf1 + 87.tiJf3 ..tc2 88.'it?g3 .:b1 89 . .:.a6+ 'it?g7 90.tiJd4 ..td3 91 ..:r.d6 �f7 92.�f4 .:.a1 93.hS Black resigned. This game was not only the longest in the thi rd round, but it also brought H i karu for the second time the 500 euro prize for the best game of the day. Asked afterwards why the encounter had gone on for so long, he answered self-critically: ''That was my own fault. For some reason half way th rough I began to play hesitantly, so that the game lasted seven hours rather than two." Well , "Naka" had made a good start in Wijk aan Zee. With his 2% points the American occupied fi rst place, half a point ahead of Anand , G i ri and the 20-year-old Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi (born 1 990) , who had totally surprisingly become 201 O European Champion in Rijeka . . . •

62

\t>

The magic of openings A) Developing

P successful professional chess player,

erhaps at the start of the career of any

one of the most important pre-conditions is to acquire the ability to work independently, with the analysis of his or her own games and the study of the classics being of fundamental importance. Starting from a certain level of performance , a consider able part of the available time in training is taken up by the study of openings. But in practical terms how can one set about this? Naturally there are a great variety of methods for acquiring an open ing reper toi re. And it should also be clear that it is a very individual business in which everyone has his own principles. There are no patented recipes! "I have to admit that I have never been fascinated by opening research and therefore I do not feel particularly confident here. But to avoid this topic altogether is not possible - the opening plays too important a role in modern chess'', 1 wrote Mark Dvoretsky, one of the best trainers in the world. "The mastery of a player in the initial stage of the game is made up of many factors - and not merely a good knowledge of opening theory. Incidentally, to say 'good knowledge of theory' is easy, whereas to achieve it is difficult. Numerous problems immediately arise. "What are the principles of building an 1 -2

a

repertoire

opening repertoire, how broad should it be, and which systems accord best with you r style o f play? "How to cope with the enormous and ever-increasing volume of opening informa tion? "Required here is not only a purely technical , but also a creative treatment of the information - objective evaluation and understanding of book recommendations, old and recently played games, the search for effective novelties and so on. And when at a tou rnament we are preparing for the next game, it is very important, on the basis of a rapid acquai ntance with the opponent's play, to be able to guess which opening will be the most unpleasant for h i m . "However well prepared w e are, sooner or later our 'book' knowledge will end and we will have to act independently. This can happen even at the very start of the game after all, our opponent has the right at any moment to deviate from familiar paths. And here it is immediately revealed to what extent the two players have a mastery of the general principles of opening play, which of them understands more deeply the strategic and tactical ideas of the resulting position , and to what extent they are ready to solve the new problems facing them ." 2 As for Hikaru Nakamura, as a child he began with the completely normal move for

M ark Dvoretsky, School of Chess Excellence 4 Opening Developments, Zu rich 2003 , Edition Olms, p. 9 .

The magic of openings

White 1 . e4, then early on he also tried out 1 .d4, and nowadays he is, as it were, ambidextrous. I n the computer age this is probably imperative, so as not to be simply predictable. With Black he began by meeting 1 .e4 with very ambitious, highly theoretical opening systems such as the Sicilian Najdorf Variation and the Dragon Variation , and 1 .d4 with the King's I ndian, all of which aim for dynamic counterplay. There is no disputing the fact that his bold and inventive choice of openings suits his character. It is not for nothing that the King's I ndian has remained his g reat love till this day. In 2004, in an interview with Howard Goldowsky, his step-father Sunil Weera mantry described his training plan as follows: "I think one of the things I tried to do was to let him play whatever it was he wanted to play. Now, if you look at H i karu's games, he's a pretty versatile player in terms of what he can play, either as White or as Black. And I've tried to encourage him to explore on his own , and to play what he wants to play when he feels like playing it. I mean , I used to say, 'Don't worry if you play a bad game and you look stupid . ' You know, this is the only way you can real ly progress. It's bad if you get set i nto a particular mode or format early on, and you don't want to break out of it."3 However, Hikaru's opening preparation tended, as he h imself said , for a long time to be one of his Achi lles' heels, when it is

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63

compared with that of world-class players. He tried out a lot of things and went more for breadth than for depth , which, however, also gave him the advantage of being very unpredictable. In his experimental phase he even chose exotica such as 1 .e4 c5 2 . 'ii'h 5 (in which he received a painful lesson from Andrei Volokitin i n Lausanne in 2005) and 1 .e4 e5 2 . 'ii'h 5. 4 This changed , however, under the i nflu ence of Kris Littlejoh n . The emphasis was then set above all on tried and trusted main lines together with new computer-checked ideas and each game was prepared for meticulously. There was a new leap i n performance a s a result o f the cooperation with Garry Kasparov and access to the latter's legendary database, which first fully came to fruition in Wijk aan Zee 201 1 and helped the young US grandmaster to a tri umphant success. At the hour of victory Nakamu ra euphorically announced: "I now play more serious chess. No more 2 . � h5, no more crazy openings for me. My results have improved . Hopefu lly, I can keep it going. I hope to break 2800 by the end of this year."5 As far as this dream was concerned, on 1 st January 201 2 H i karu took 1 2th place in the F I D E world rating list with an Elo score of 2759. The route to breaking through the "sound barrier'' of 2800 still lay in the distance . . . Nevertheless it i s unmistakable that the work with Garry Kasparov, which gave Nakamu ra a much greater level of self-

3

The interview was published on 1 9th November 2004 on ChessCafe. com u nder the heading "A Conversation with Hikaru Nakamu ra and his stepfather, Sunil Weeramantry".

4

He even wrote an article on the (in)famous Parham attack, which he tried out in 2005 at the Sigeman Tou rnament, in: J. Bosch, Schach ohne Scheuklappen, Band 7, pp. 1 38- 1 42.

s

Quoted from the daily report of the website www. tatasteel.com for the tou rnament in Wijk aan Zee 20 1 1 .

64

�

Chapter 2

confidence in Wijk aan Zee ("I felt good during the whole tou rnament and that was the reason why I won the tou rnament."6 ) , had a very positive effect, above all o n his opening preparation . Magnus Carlsen , who worked intensively for a whole year with Garry - face-to-face meetings, regular conversations on Skype, joint analysis and games against each other - made the following comments on this subject: "He showed me his methods for working on the opening and I am thank ful to him for that. Thanks to him I have made progress in this area."7 And Kasparov commented on this in an interview with FrankfurterAllgemeine newspaper: "I helped Magnus with something which he did not have : open ing preparation , a systematic

way of working, a sharper playing style." 8 It can be assumed that H i karu also profited from this, not least when one considers his professional approach in training. But let him express it i n h is own words: ''When you look at chess these days, the advantages that players get in the games - the wi ndows of opportunity - are so much smaller, just because so many openi ngs aren't playable or are considered to be very drawish nowadays . . "9 One visible result in Nakamu ra's play is that he varies his openings a lot with both colours and after his separation from Kas parov he works out a route map for every game with the help of his second Kris Little joh n ; in other words, he is working inde pendently in a more self-aware fashion . .

B) His score in the openings According to ChessBase Mega Database 201 2 H i karu has played 71 3 games with White with a score of 68% . 330 1 .e4 and 257 1 .d4, which says a lot about his versatility. The next most frequent move is 1 .c4, with which he has started 64 times. His score is especially impressive against the Sicil ian with 72 .7%. So, for example, he has only conceded a single draw against the Dragon Variation. Against the main openi ngs things look as follows:

Wh ite with 1 .e4 Against the Najdorf Variation Hikaru always played 6. i. e3 till 2007 and since then mainly 6. i. g5, which is nowadays regarded as critical . Against 1 . . . e5 he prefers the Ruy Lopez and the Scotch, though the latter occu rred for the last time in 2009. I n the Ruy Lopez he normally allows the Marshall Attack. He has not yet lost against it, but also his wins have been rare.

6

Ibid.

7

M agnus Carlsen in an interview with Evgeny Atarov for the R ussian website ChessPro, at the end of 201 1 ; published in German on the ChessBase h omepage on 2nd April 201 2 .

s

Frankfurter Allgemeine, 8th January 2 0 1 1

9

New In Chess Magazine, 7/20 1 1 , p . 1 4

ctJ


GAME 1 8 H. Nakamura M. Adams London Chess Classic, London 201 0 Ruy Lopez [C89] -

1 .e4 es 2.lDf3 lDc6 3.1'.bS a6 4.1'.a4 lDf6 5.0-0 1Le7 6.l:te1 b5 7.1'.b3 0-0 8.c3 dS!?

65

of toil and hard work. I considered the position then and decided that I was in honour bound, so to speak, to take the pawn and accept the challenge . . . ", are the words of the Cuban , whose defence found over the board at that encounter is today still reckoned to be the best. 10

9.exdS lDxdS 1 O.lDxeS lDxeS 1 1 .l:txeS c6 1 2.l:te1 1'.d6 1 3.d3 1 3.d4 is the classical main variation . 1 3 .. .tfS 1 4. 'ii'f3 'ifh4 1 5.g3 'ifh3 1 6.1'.xdS cxdS .

Adams is one of the main protagonists of the Marshall Attack, which was fi rst em ployed by the legendary American Frank James Marshall at the double-round New York tournament i n the autumn of 1 9 1 8 against future world champion Jose Raul Capablanca. The Cuban boldly accepted the invitation to enter the extremely sharp variation which arose from it. ''The lust of battle had been aroused withi n me. I felt that my judgement and skill were being challenged by a player who had every reason to fear both , but who wanted to take advantage of the element of surprise and of the fact of my being unfamiliar with a thing to which he had devoted many a night

1 7.a4!? Surprisingly, here this typical move is a novelty, which is meant to set Adams problems at the board . After 1 7. 1'.f4 the line 1 7 . . . 1L g4! 1 8 . 'ili'g2 1L xf4 1 9. 'ifxh3 1L xh3 20.gxf4 d4 2 1 .lDd2 l:.fd8 22.c4 l:td6 1 1 gives Black sufficient counterplay. 1 7. 'ifxd5! is and probably remains the critical test of the black system .

10

J. R. Capablanca, My Chess Career, Bell 1 920 , p. 1 8 1 .

11

Mihail Marin i n ChessBase Magazin 140; abbreviated t o CBM.

(see next diagram)

<;!?

66

Chapter 2

Analysis diagram

1 7 . . J fad8 1 8. 'ii'g 2 'if h5!? (the endgame after 1 8 . . . "ifxg2+ 1 9 . 'it>xg2 i.. xd3 20. i. e3 from Shirov-Karjaki n , Khanty-Mansyisk 2007, results in a somewhat depressing but probably tenable position for Black) 1 9. i.. e 3 i.. h 3 ( 1 9 . . . i. xd3 20. lll d 2 b4! ? from the correspondence game Odehnal-Zacek, 1 998, is the alternative) 20. 'ii'h 1 f5 2 1 . i.. b6 : d7 22. 'ii'd 5+ 'it> h8 23. llld 2 i.. x g3 24. 'ii'x d7 i.. f 4, and despite the big material deficit Black had certain compensation in Sutovs ky-Jakovenko, Poikovsky 2008.

1 7 l:.aea •.•

Mihail Marin's suggestion 1 7 . . . b4! ? 1 8. °ifxd5 .l:. ad8 looks very playable despite the two missing pawns.

1 8.i.d2! Ugly but forced . This is one of the poi nts of H i karu's novelty. (see next diag ram)

1 8 i.g4 1 9.'iWxdS l:.d8 20.d4 20.axb5 axb5 2 1 . 'ii'c6 is the alternative, but after 21 . . . l:. c8 22. 'ii'g 2 'iWh5 Black gets his typical cou nterplay on the light squares. 20 ... b4 20 . . . i. xg3 2 1 . 'ii'g 2 i. c7 22. 'ii'x h3 i. xh3 23.axb5 axb5 24. l:r.a6! gives White a slightly improved version of the ending compared to that in the game. (Marin) •.•

Position after

18.ii.d2!

21 .i.e3?! After this Black can open up the wh ite king position . Marin's suggestion 2 1 . 'ifc6! is critical, e.g. 21 . . . a5 22.cxb4 (22. i. g5 is met by 22 . . . l:. c8 23. 'ii'd 5 bxc3 24. bxc3 i. b8) 22 . . . axb4 23. i.. e 3 l:k8 (23 .. .f5!?) 24. °ii'g 2 'i'h5 25. lll d 2 i. h3 26. 'ii'f3 i. g4 27.'ikb7 l:t c2 28.b3 i.e6, and in both cases Black has a certain amount of compensation . 21 ... bxc3 22.bxc3 i.. x g3 23.'ii'g 2 i.c7 24.°ifxh3 i.. x h3 25.lll d 2 l:.d6 The black bishop pair now gave Adams sufficient compensation for the pawn in the typical style of the Marshall Attack.

ltJ


26.h1 .tas 27.:ac1 .te6 2a . .tf4 l:.c6 29.l;le3 .l:tda 30.g2 h6 31 .tbe4 .tdS 32.f3 l:.c4 33.tbcs .tb6 34.tbxa6 .txd4 3S.lid3 .tf6 36.tbb4 .tb7 37 . .l:.xda+ .txda 3a.l:.d 1 .tas 39 . .td2 gS 40.h3 :cs 41 .l:.e1 .l:.fS 42.lle3 hS 43.tbc2 fa 44.tbd4 l:.dS 4S . .tc1 .tb6 46 . .ta3+ g7 47.:e7 .txd4 4a . .l:.xb7 .txc3 49 . .i.c1 g6 SO.l:.bS .l:r.xbS S1 .axbS .td4 S2 . .td2 .tb6 S3 . .te1 fs S4 . .tf2 .txf2 SS.xf2 e6 S6.f4 f6 S7.b6 d7 sa.f3 c6 S9.fxgS fxgS 60.e4 xb6 61 . fs g4 62.hxg4 hxg4 63. xg4 1h-1h

In the 3 rd Chess Classic in London, Hikaru showed that he is always good for a surprise, when in the final round agai nst Adams he unpacked the King's Gambit. The experiment worked well and secu red second place for Nakam u ra ahead of his long-time rival Magnus Carlsen .

H. Nakamura - M. Adams London Chess Classic, London 201 1 King's Gambit [C36] 1 .e4 es 2.f4 exf4 3.tbf3 dS 4.exdS tbf6 s . .tc4 tbxdS 6.0-0 .te6 7 . .tb3 cs a.h 1 tbc6 9.d4 c4 1 o . .ta4 .td6 1 1 .b3 c3 1 2. °ii'd 3 0-0 1 3 . .txc6 bxc6 1 4.tbxc3 :ea 1 S.tbxdS .txdS 1 6.c4 .te4 1 7.'ii'c3 aS 1 a.a3 f6 1 9 . .tb2 l:ta7 20 . .l:.ad1 l:tae7 21 .b4 axb4 22.axb4 ha 23.'ii'b3 .l:.b7 24 . .tc3 'ii'ba 2S.bS cxbS 26.cS b4 27 . .td2 .tfa 2a.l:.de1 gs 29.'ii'c4 g4 30.tbh4 f3 31 .dS fxg2+ 32.tbxg2 .tf3 33.g1 :ca 34.c6 l:.bS 3S.tbf4 .tcs+ 36 . .te3 .txe3+ 37.:xe3 'ii'b6 3a.l:.fe1 b3 39.'ii'c3 :ta 40.tbe6 b2 41 .c7 1 -0 Agai nst 1 . . . e 6 2.d4 d S h e has al ready tried 3. tbc3, 3. tbd2 and 3.es, the latter, however, for the last time in 2007. He

67

varies the two knight moves according to his opponent, but 3. tb c3 is clearly his main weapon . From his score , it appears that the French is in any case not a bad choice against H i karu . He has not yet won with 3. tbd2 and in the 3. tbc3 .t b4 variation he has "on ly'' scored S3.6%. Against the Caro-Kann ( 1 .e4 c6) after 2.d4 dS he plays both 3.eS and 3.exdS cxdS 4 . .t d3 or 4.c4, with the critical 3.eS probably being his main weapon and also the one he scores best with . Of other lines, the good score for Black after 1 .e4 d6 2.d4 tbf6 3. tb c3 es is worth noting, but these are mainly blitz and rapid games which also do not make it into the Mega Database.

Wh ite with 1 .d4 After 1 .d4, presumably under the influ ence of Kasparov, when facing the Nimzo lndian Defence 1 . . . tbf6 2.c4 e6 3. tbc3 .t b4 he has tu rned away from his old variations 4.e3 and 4.�c2 in favour of 4. tbf3 cs S.g3. However, he has not had a good score with it. Thus, for example, Vladimir Kramnik was able to draw the teeth from it in Dortmund 201 1 :

GAME 1 9 H. Nakamura V. Kramnik Sparkassen Chess Meeti ng, Dortmund 20 1 1 Nimzo-lndian Defence [E20] -

1 .d4 tbf6 2.c4 e6 3.tbc3 .tb4 4.tbf3 cs S.g3 "As expected . Since H i karu began to work with Kasparov, this has become his main

68

�

Chapter 2

weapon against the N imzo-l ndian", re marked Kramnik in CBM 1 44.

5 ... cxd4 6.lll x d4 0-0 7 ..i.g2 d5 8.'ii'b 3 "Almost forgotten these days, but in the 1 980s this continuation was employed se veral times by Kasparov. At present 8.cxd5 lll x d5 9. ir'b3 is fashionable." (Kramnik)

1 3 . . . lllxc3? 1 4 . .i.d2 and 1 3 . . . 'ili'xc3? 1 4.'ii'xc3 lllxc3 1 5 . .i. d2 fail because of the hanging knights. 1 4.e4 lll b6 1 5.eS

8 ... �xc3+ 9.bxc3 lllc 6 1 O.cxd5 lll a 5 1 1 .'ii'c2 lll xd5

1 2.0-0 Presumably one of the fruits of his coop eration with Kasparov, who in his day continued 1 2 . 'ti'd3: 1 2 . . . 'ti'c7! (1 2 . . . � d7? ! was advantageous for White after 1 3. c4 lll e 7 1 4.0-0 l:Ica 1 5. lll b 3 lll xc4 1 6. � xb7 l:I c7 1 7. � a6 on account of his bishops, Kasparov-Karpov, World Championship match London/Leningrad 1 986) 1 3. 0-0 � d7 1 4.e4 lll b 6 1 5.f4 e5 1 6.fxe5 lll ac4, and Black has eq ualised, Kasparov-Suba, Olympiad , Dubai 1 986. 1 2 ... 'ii'c7 1 3.l:Ie1 But this is very slow. Kramnik suggests the pawn sacrifice 1 3. e4 lllxc3 1 4 . .i. b2 lll b5 1 5. 'ii°xc7 lllxc7 and considers the situation to be drawish. 1 3 ... .i.d7

1 5 ... .i.a4! Only now did Nakamu ra begin to think for a longer time. In spite of the white bishop pai r - in return for which Black has two mobile knights on the edge of the board - the posi tion appears to be more or less balanced . 1 6.ir'd3 'iWc4 1 7.'ii'f3 According to Kramnik 1 7. ir'xc4! lllbxc4 1 8 . l:f. b 1 .l:tab8 1 9 .f4 is the critical variation, but one i n which Black should also be able to hold. 1 7 ... lllc6 1 8.l:i.e4 Nakamura thought for a full hou r about this rook move. Later in an i nterview for the magazine SCHA CH he self-critically recog nised that was one of the reasons why he lost the game: "I had looked at this position with the computer and remembered that 1 6 . . . 'i!Vc4 had not been its recommendation. I was very shocked not to be able to find an advantage . Thinking about it for an hour was probably a bit impractical. But such things do happen." (Issue 9/201 1 , p. 23) 1 8 ... lllxd4 1 9 . .l:txd4 .i.c6!


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69

The solution to the problem of the position; the game should now actually end in a draw. 20.l:txc4 .i.xf3 21 .l:tc7 . .txg2 22.�xg2 l:.ab8 23.l:.b1 l:tfc8 24.l:txcS+ l:txc8 2S.l:lb3 25 . .i. e3! ? leads by force to a draw: 25 . . . l:. xc3 26 . .t xb6 axb6 27. l:txb6 l:. c7 (Kramnik) . Hikaru also mentioned this in the afore mentioned i nterview for SCHACH. "Yes, I could have forced the draw. I really no longer know exactly what I wanted at that poi nt in time. Perhaps I wanted to win. And then I wanted too m uch and paid the price for not having taken the draw. Vladimir's technique was very precise."

for some i nexplicable reason .

2S ... hS 26 .i.e3 ll:idS

30 ... �h7! And the penetration of Kramnik's king, which will rapidly make for f5, decides the game:

•

a

27 . .i.d4? 27 . .t xa7 still leads to a draw. 27 ... b6! Now the white bishop is being dominated. 28.f4?! The endgame rule, never to put a pawn on a square of the same colour as your own bishop without necessity, is of cou rse well known to Nakamu ra, but i n this specific case he appears simply to have forgotten it

28 ... l:tc4 29.�1 ?! .l:.a4 30.:b2

31 .�f2 �g6 32.l:tc2 l:ta3 33.h3 bS 34.l:tb2 a6 3S.l:tc2 �S 36.�f3 b4 37.g4+ hxg4+ 38.hxg4+ �g6 39. �e4 bxc3 40.l:r.h2 .lla4 41 .l:tf2 as 42.�d3 c2 43.fS+ �gs 44 . .i.b2 ll:ib4+ 4S.�c3 l:txa2 46.l:tf1 �xg4 47.fxe6 fxe6 White resigned. In addition to his main weapon 3. ll:ic3, H i karu also plays 3. ll:if3 and against the Queen's I ndian either the Petrosian Varia tion 4.a3 or 4.g3. Hikaru has the very good score of 71 .9% against his own favou rite opening, the King's I ndian. However, recently it has no longer been seen agai nst him at the h ighest level. Against the G runfeld Defence 1 .d4 ll:if6 2.c4 g6 3. ll:ic3 d5 since 2008 he has replied only 4. ll:if3 or 4.cxd5 , which can probably be seen as his main weapon . However, at the Tai Memorial Tou rnament

70

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Chapter 2

in Moscow 201 1 he suffered a painful defeat with it at the hands of Peter Svidler. H i karu goes into the Anti-Moscow Varia tion against the Queen's Gambit. With it he managed , tor example, to notch up a beautiful victory over Jan Smeets in Wijk aan Zee 201 1 (see Chapter 6, page 1 26). These unbalanced fighting situations suit him well .

Black against 1 .e4 His main weapon is the Sicilian, above all the Najdorf Variation, followed by 1 . . . e5. Here against top-class players he recently tested with some success the sustainabil ity of the "Berli n Wal l" in reply to the Ruy Lopez, until things finally went wrong against Vassily lvanch uk.

GAME 2 0 V. Anand - H . Nakamura

G rand Slam Final , Sao Pau lo/Bilbao 20 1 1 Ruy Lopez [C67] World Champion Anand could not ach ieve much against the Berlin Wall in the following two games . . .

1 .e4 es 2.ll:it3 ll:ic6 3 . ..tb5 ll:it6 4.0-0 ll:ixe4 5.d4 ll:id6 6.i.. xc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 ll:if5 a.�xda+ 'itxda 9.ll:ic3 'itea 1 0.h3 h5 1 1 .i..f4 ii.. e7 1 2 ..l:!.ad1 i..e6 1 3.ll:igs l:.h6 1 4.g3 ii.. x g5 1 5.i.. x gS l:t.g6 1 6.h4 f6 1 7.exf6 gxf6 1 a . ..tt4 ll:ixh4 1 9.f3 .l::.d a

Position after 19 J:tdS ...

Nor does 20. 'itf2 bring much more, as can be seen from the game Motylov - Malakhov, Olginka 201 1 : 20 . . . .l:.xd 1 2 1 . ll:i xd 1 ll:it5 22 . .l:!. h 1 .i.xa2 23 . .l:!.xh5, and the point was shared . 20 . . . Wxda 21 .Wf2 ll:its 22.l:rh1 ll:ig7 23.i.. d 2 In CBM 1 45 Romain E douard gives the amazing 23.b3!? i..f5 24. ll:id 1 ! but also shows how Black can defend: 24 . . . i.. e6 (but not 24 . . . i..x c2? on account of 25. ll:i e3 ..tf5 26. ll:i g2 ! , and now it is White who is in charge ... ) 25. i..c 1 b6 26. ll:i e3 i..f7 27. ll:i g2 ll:i e8 28. ll:if4 :g5.

23 ... ..tts 24.ll:id1 i.. xc2 25.ll:ie3 i.. d 3 26.ll:ig2 ll:ie6 27 . .l:.xhS :g7 2a . ..tc3
(see next diagram)

20.l:t.xda+ This novelty by the world champion does not change much. The white advantage is only minimal and can hardly be measured .

"Thanks to Kramnik I was able to play something as obscu re as the 'Berlin Wall' and get an easy draw against the world champion", was Nakamura's conclusion on this game.

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GAME 2 1 V. Anand H. Nakamura London Chess Classic, London 201 O Ruy Lopez [C67] -

1 .e4 es 2.tbf3 tbc6 3 .tbS tbf6 4.0--0 tbxe4 S.d4 tbd6 6 . .txc6 dxc6 7.dxeS tiJfS 8.Wxd8+ 'it>xd8 9.tbc3 .td7 1 0.h3 h6 1 1 .b3 'it>c8 1 2 .tb2 b6 1 3.laad1 tbe7 1 4J:tfe1 cs 1 S.tbe2 tbg6 •

•

1 6.h4? ! This weakens the light squares, on which White is in any case somewhat under eq uipped . 1 6. tb g3!? .t e6 1 7. tb h5 !tg8 1 8.g4 .t e7 is more resilient, according to Leonid Kritz in CBM 1 40. 1 6 .te7?! •..

A novelty, but the main variation 1 6 ... .t g4! is quite all right for Black: 1 7. tb h2 .t xe2 1 8 . .l:.xe2 tbxh4 1 9 .l:le4 .t e7 20.g3 tbg6 21 .e6 f5 22 . .l:.ee1 l:. g8, and Kritz even accords Black a slight advantage. After the followi ng move, on the other hand, White gets a slightly superior endgame.

1 7.e6 ! ? .txe6 1 8.hS! tbh4 1 9.tbf4 tbxf3+

71

20.gxf3 Ji.d6 21 .tbxe6 fxe6 22.1:1xe6 l:tf8 23 . .txg7 l:.fS 24 . .l:r.eS+ 'it>b7 2S . .l:.xa8 'it>xa8 26 .txh6 llxhS 27 . .te3 'it>b7 28.c4 'it>c6 29.'it>g2 l:r.h2+ 30.'it>f1 .l:.h1 + 31 .'it>e2 l:lxd1 32.'it>xd1 •

According to Kritz this endgame is now really easy for Black to hold: ''The black king comes to f5, Black plays a6-c6-b5, ex changes a pawn , and afterwards can even give up the c5-pawn - the white king will not be able to i nvade the black position ."

32 ...'it>d7 33 ..tgs 'it>e6 34.a4 c6 3S.aS!?

3S bxaS ! .•.

I n what follows Nakamura demonstrates his resilience in the endgame and makes a completely correct decision . On the other hand , according to Kritz 35 . . . 'it>f5?? wou ld have been a mistake on account of 36 . .tda bxa5 37 . .t xa5 'it>f4 38.'it>e2, and "if the pawns are left on b3 and c4, the ending is lost. If, on the other hand, they are on a4 and c4, then it is a draw" .

36.'it>c2 a4! 37.bxa4 'it>fs 38 . .te3 a6 39.'it>d3 .te7 40.We2 Ji.ta 41 .'it>f1 .te7 42.Wg2 .td6 43.'it>h3 .te7 44.'it>g3 Ji.f6! 4S ..txcs Ji.dB 46 .te3 .te7 47.Wg2 Ji.dB 48.Wf1 .tc7 49.We2 Ji.dB SO.Wd3 Ji.as •

72

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Chapter 2

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

The black fortress si mply can not be stormed , though White did not realise the senselessness of trying to do so till 24 moves later.

S1 .Wd4 .tb6+ S2.Wd3 i.as S3.i.a7 i.e1 S4.i.b6 Wf4 ss.i.e3+
1 2 .. ,j,, d 7? ! H i karu's plan which follows looks a little slow. 1 2 . . . .1'. e6 is the main variation. 1 3.j,, g S :d& 1 4.tl'if4 j,, c8 1 S . .l:txd8+ Wxd8 1 6.:d1 + We& 1 7.g3 :h7 1 8.j,, xe7 tl'ixe7 1 9.tl'igs .l:.h6 20.h4 cs 21 .c3 as 22J:td2 j,,e6 23.tl'igxe6 fxe6

GAM E 2 2 V. lvanchuk H . Nakamura Torneo di Capodanno, Reggio Emilia 201 2 Ruy Lopez [C67] -

1 .e4 eS 2.tl'if3 tl'ic6 3.i.bS tl'if6 4.0-0 tl'ixe4 S.d4 tl'id6 6.j,, xc6 dxc6 7 .dxeS tl'ifS 8.'ii'xd8+ Wxd8 9.tl'ic3 Wea 1 0.h3 hS 1 1 .:d1 .te7 1 2.tl'ie2 (see next diagram)

"The specialists in the Berli n Wall are well aware which endings are drawn and which are dangerous for them . I am not sure whether I have al ready seen this endgame: : + tl'i against : + tl'i. "Nakamu ra defends well i n the subsequent phase of the game, but lvanch u k's play can

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be improved upon in at least two ways, as Rainer Knaak has found out", according to Mihail Marin in CBM 1 46. I n an ending with rook and knight versus rook and knight a slight initiative is often important, so Black's task should be very d ifficult.

24.Wg2 lL!c6 25.l:.e2 lL!d8 26. Wh3 The idea 26.�3 lLif7 27. :e1 We7 28. W e4 is more relentless, according to Rainer Knaak.

73

38 ... bxa4! ? gives Black more counterplay.

39.c4 lLih6 40. Wg5 lLif7 + 41 . Wg4 lLih6+ 42.Wh4 lLif7? Black is only apparently in zugzwang , since 42 . . . Wb7! is playable, whilst 43.:d7 can again be met by 43 . . . Wc6 (Marin). 43.fS! exfS 44. .l:.dS

26 lLif7 27J�e3 Wd7 28.f3 b6 29.a3 Wc6 30.g4 hxg4+ 31 .Wxg4 Wd7 32.hS .l:.h8 33 ..l:.d3+ we& 34.lLig& nee ..•

44 b3? Nakamu ra now falls prey to nerves, since i n t h e long r u n this merely weakens t h e b pawn. He had to try 44 . . . lL!da 45. Wg5 lLie6+ 46.Wxf5 lL!d4+ 47.We4 (Marin), which leaves him with some practical drawing chances. 45.Wg3 lLig5 46.Wf4 lLie6+ 47.Wxf5 lLid4+ 48.We4 lLie6 49.:d3 lL!gS+ 50.We3 lLie6 51 .:!xb3 lL!d4 52.:d3 l:.b8 53.b3! •..

35.f4? This deprives Wh ite of the important manoeuvring square f4. 35 .a4 lLi h6+ (if 35 . . . : ba? , then after 36. lLi e7+ Wb7 37.f4 l:.e8 38.:d7 Black has nothing to be happy about. . . ) 36.Wf4 lLif7 37.l:.d2 lLi h6 38.We4 lLif5 39. : g2 Wd7 40. lL!f4 .i:r. e7 4 1 . lLi xe6! lLid6+ (but not 41 . . . Wxe6? on account of 42. :g6+) 42 .exd6 :xe6+ 43.Wd3 .l:lxd6+ 44.Wc4 with good winning chances accord ing to Rainer Knaak. 35 bS 36.a4 lLih6+ 37.Wg5 lLif7+ 38.Wh4 b4?! •..

(see next diagram)

The final point. Now there is no more that Black can do.

53 Wd7 .•.

After both 53 . . . :xb3 54 . .l:.xb3 lLixb3 55. lLi f8! lL! d4 56.Wf4 (Marin) and 53 . . . lLi xb3? 54. lLi e7+! it's all over for Black . . .

76

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22 ... .l:.a4! Nakamura forces the liquidation to a level ending. 23.'ti'xbS+ axb5 24.a3 c.t>d7 25.c.t>f2 �ca 26.:cd1 f5 21.c.t>e2 :tge 28.c.t>d3 h5 29.l:tde1 h4 30.i..f2 i..f6 31 . .l:!.h1 l:.h8 Draw.

Black against 1 .d4 H i karu's favou rite opening, the King's I ndian Defence, with which he has so far

scored a strong 59.3%, will be treated separately in Chapter 9. The G runfeld Defence, the Len ingrad System in the Dutch Defence (see for example against Aronian in Wij k aan Zee 20 1 1 , Chapter 2, page 56) and 1 . . . d5 are also part of his repertoire, in which he earlier made use of the Slav Defence and at present has gone over to the Orthodox Queen's Gambit ( 1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 or 2 . . . dxc4) .

C) Best novelties Nakamu ra has put his stamp on whole systems such as the King's I ndian , as you wi ll be able to see in Chapter 9. Here we shall take a look at two specific i nnova tions, which show that "the main sou rce of the fascination of chess lies in the richness of the ideas", as Mark Dvoretsky aptly puts it. I n any case, both with Black i n a Queen's Gambit (1 O . . . c4!) against the Russian N i ki ta Vitiugov, and against the English player David Howell with Wh ite in a G runfeld Defence ( 1 6.b3), Nakamu ra convincingly demonstrates the creative way in which he plays and understands chess.

1 O.dxc5 ! ? ll'i xc5 1 1 . i.. e 5 forces Black into the isolated queen's pawn structure. 1 0 ... c4! A fascinating novelty, with which H i karu fundamentally changes the structure. What he has realised is that his pawn majority on the q ueenside will become dangerous. After 1 0 . . . a6 1 1 .dxc5 ll'ixc5 1 2 . i.. e5 on the other hand, White can hang on firmly to a slight plus. 1 1 .b3 ll'ib6 1 2.bxc4 dxc4

GAME 25 N . Vitiugov H. Nakamura Torneo di Capodanno, Reggio Emilia 201 1 Queen 's Gambit [037] -

1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.ll'ic3 i.. e7 4.ll'if3 ll'if6 5.i.. f4 0--0 6.e3 ll'ibd7 7.i.. e2 cs 8.cxd5 ll'ixd5 9.ll'ixd5 exd5 1 0.0--0

The critical question goes: is the c4-pawn a trump card or a dead loss? Here it looks


1 7. li) e4 his king would have had problems finding a secure position (according to Marin in CBM 1 35) .

1 5.li)ec3 i.b7 1 6.li)xf&+ i.xf6 1 7 .li)d5 :ca 1 8.c3 i.xd5! 1 9.l:txd5 Now 1 9.exd5? ! can no longer be recom mended , since even the pawn sacrifice 1 9 . . . b4 20.c4 e4! ? (20 . . . 0-0 is the normal continuation) 2 1 . 'ii'xe4+ i. e5 22. i.d3 f6 23. 'it> b 1 0-0 is well worth considering so as to activate the bishop. 19 ... 'ii'b6 20.'ii'd 3 .l:.c6 21 .a3 'it>e7 22.'it>b1 h5 23.i.e2 h4 24.i.d1 'ilff2 25.'ii'e2 'i!Vxe2 26.i.xe2 It.be 27.l:thd1 i.g5 28.'it>c2 i.f4 29.h3 i.e3 30.l:.1 d3 i.f4 31 .l:.d1 i.e3 32 . .l:!.1 d3 i.f4 33.l'.:tf3 l:r.c5 34.:fd3 Draw.

GAM E 2 4 S . Karjakin H . Nakamura Kings Tou rnament, Bazna 20 1 1 Sicilian Defence [890] -

1 .e4 c5 2.tt:)f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.li)xd4 li)f6 5.li)c3 a6 6.i.e3 li)g4 7.i.g5 h6 8.i.h4 g5 9.i.g3 i.g7 1 0.h3 li)e5 1 1 .f3 li)bc6 1 2.i.f2 i.e6 1 3.'ii'd 2 :ca

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75

1 4.li)dS "A new move , but it did not su rprise the American G M", remarked Dorian Rogo zenco in CBM 1 43. 1 4.0-0-0 is the most frequently played , e.g. 1 4 . . . 'i!Va5 1 5 . li) b3 'ilfc7 1 6. 'it> b 1 li)a5 1 7. i. d4 li) ac6 1 8. i. e3 li)a5 1 9. li)d5 i.xd5 20. li) xa5 i. c4 2 1 . i. xc4 li) xc4 22. li)xc4 'ifxc4 23. 'ii'f2 i.e5, and Black has equal ised , Leko-Gelfand, blindfold, Monte Carlo 2007. 1 4 ... li)xd4 1 5.i.xd4 i.xd5 1 6.exd5 'ii'c7 "All the previous moves were played at bl itz tempo by Nakam ura." ( Rogozenco) 1 7.c3 1 7.c4 is met by 1 7 . . . li) xc4 1 8. i. xc4 i. xd4! 1 9 . 'ii'xd4 'ifxc4! 20. 'ilfxhB+ Wd7, since 2 1 . 'ilxh6?? eve n backfi res : 21 . . . 'ii'd 3 22. 'ii'x g5 ::lc2. The right move is 2 1 . 'fih7. ''Th is variation was stil l part of H i karu's home preparation . That is really very impressive!" (Rogozenco). 17 ... 'ii'a5 1 8.i.e3 li)c4 1 9.i.xc4 lilxc4 20.0-0 i.e5! Strong prophylaxis, whilst 20 . . . 0-0? would have allowed 2 1 .f4, which White would have liked. 21 .'ifd3 'ii'b5 22 . .l:.ac1

w

78

Chapter 2

1 1 ltJb4 Kasparov introduced this idea during his blitz match against Karpov in September 2009 in Valencia. So it may be that Hikaru's approach is based on Garry's database. The old main variation goes 1 1 . . .exd5 1 2 .exd5 .tf5, and now, according to Krasenkow in CBM 1 40, the relatively new 1 3. g4 is very dangerous for Black. 1 2.i.e3 i.d4 1 3.i.xd4 cxd4 •..

14 ... e5 ( 1 4 ... exd5 1 5.a5 ltJc4 1 6.exd5 i. d7 1 7. ltJ 5a3 'ilxa5 1 8. 'if xd4 ltJ d5 1 9. ltJ d2 'ii b 6 20. 'il xb6 axb6 2 1 . ltJ dc4 ltJ xc4 22. ltJ xc4 .tbs 23. ltJ xb6 i. xf1 24. ltJxaa i. xg2 25. i. xg2 ltJ xd5 %-% , Karpov Kasparov, Blitz match, 81h game, Valencia 2009) 1 5 .a5 .t d7 1 6 .lD1 a3, Karpov Carlsen, FIDE Blitz World Championship, Moscow 2009, and instead of the passive 1 6 . . . ltJcS? Magnus should have played the active 1 6 . . . ltJc4. It is known that he too was trained by Kasparov for a year starting from March 2009 and supported by, amongst others, the Norwegian Ministry of Culture .

1 4 ltJxa2 1 s .:.xa2 es ..•

•

But not 1 5 . . . exd5?, since it is met by the strong 1 6 .a5 ! , and Black wou ld have serious problems.

1 6.b3!

1 4.ltJa2 1 4. ltJ b5! ? was tested in the following blitz games, in which in each case White was only able to achieve a minimal advantage:

A strong novelty which leaves the knight on b6 looking stupid and which cements the slight advantage for White. 1 6 . ltJd2 a5 1 7. 'ii'b 3 'ii'd 6, on the other hand, achieved nothing for White in the fourth game of the Karpov-Kasparov bl itz match , Valencia 2009 . On the contrary White lost the th read and later the game too . . .

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77

more like an ace of trumps, because in the long run it is not easy to blockade it firmly. So even for computer programs the evalu ation of this position is a problem. And that is exactly what Hikaru is striving for with his dynamic style.

1 3.'ii'c2 .te6 1 4.l:.ab1 :ca 1 S.a4 as 1 6.lt:lgs .txgs 17 ..txgs f6 1 8.i.h4 c3 1 9.i.d3 h6

31 lt:lf4! A little combination which, thanks to his queenside passed pawns, presents Hikaru with a winning endgame. Thus his opening idea has triumphed all along the line. ..•

20 . .tbS? After this it is hard to control the c-pawn . In CBM 1 46 Michal Krasenkow suggests 20.l:tfc1 lt:l d5 21 . .l:.xb7 lt:l b4 22. 'ii'b 1 'li'd5 23 . .t e4 'ii'a 2, after which the position is approximately level. 20 ... li:ldS 21 . 'li'e4 'ili'd6? ! 21 . . . 'ii'e7 is more accu rate . 22 . .tg3 'fie7 23 .:r.bc1 lt:lb4 24.dS?! This pawn sacrifice is too radical . But in any case Black is al ready clearly better. •

24 ... lt:lxdS 2S.llfd1 l:.fd8 26.l:.d4 fS 27. 'iii'es 'ii'f6 28.'ii'xf6 gxf6 29.h3 �f7 30 ..tc4 �e7 31 .e4?! Also after 31 . � h2 c2 ! 32 Jhc2 lt:l b4 33.l:txdB l:txd8 34. i. xe6 lt:l xc2 35 . .txf5 .:r.d2 36 . .t e4 lt:l b4 37. i. xb7 .l:t a2 Black's advantage is obvious (Krasenkow) .

32.l:.xd8 l:.xc4! 33.i.xf4 �xd8 34.exfS Another, j ust as hopeless, attempt to save the game for White is 34. i. e3 � e7 35. i. b6 c2 36 . .t xa5 l:.xa4 37 . .t c3 .t b3 38.exf5 b5 39. �f1 b4 40. i. d4 .:.as. 34 ... .txfS 3S.i.e3 He also loses after 35 . .t xh6 c2 36. g4 i. h7 37 . .t g7 � e7 38. �f1 ::txa4.

3S c2 36.g4 .te4 37.i.b6+ �d7 38 . .txas l:.d4 Wh ite resigned. .•.

GAM E 2 6 H . Nakamura D . Howell London Chess Classic, London 201 O GrOnfeld Defence [072] -

1 .d4 lt:lf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 i.g7 4 .tg2 dS S.cxdS lt:lxdS 6.e4 lt:lb6 7.lt:le2 0-0 8.0-0 cs 9.dS e6 1 O.lt:lec3 lt:la6 1 1 .a4 •

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@

jy z O G E

ZWI S C H E N

As H i karu Naka m u ra 's second sv KR1s LmLEJOHN

I 2004. We fi rst met not face to face, but on guess you would say I fi rst "met" Hikaru in

the I nternet Chess Club ( /CC) . Although he was only a little over 2600 FIDE at the time, clearly a promising junior player, Hikaru was al ready a major star in online chess. At the time, I was in my last year of university, and had quit tournament chess years before after hitting a plateau at - 1 800 Elo. Though I had given up chess as any kind of serious hobby in favor of concentrating on school, I still regularly played blitz casually on the ICC. We met online through a mutual friend, Jason Doss, who at that time was a sort of unofficial liaison between ICC admin istra tors and strong titled players. Always looking to try something different, Hikaru had taken an interest in the chess variants bughouse and crazyhouse. Jason and I, quite strong players at these variants, taught him the theory and more advanced concepts, which he devou red almost instantly. At the time it was somewhat disheartening to see that Hikaru had mastered in a couple of days what had taken us years, but it was through 1

playing bughouse and crazyhouse that we became friends.

First col laborations It is perhaps important to rewind the story somewhat to explain how it was Hikaru and I came to really work together. I had always been interested in computer chess ever since I started playing. Even before I played chess at all, by the time I was eleven years old I was building my own computers in an effort to save a bit of money and more importantly, squeeze every last drop of performance out of them . When I did begin to play tou rnament chess in high school in 1 997, the biggest story in the chess world was Kasparov's rematch with the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. 1 This fascinated me at the time - not because of the result, or the controversies, or even the interesting games - but because of the idea of chess being a test of computing power. I dreamed of some day having a computer as powerful as that. So, I quickly bought Rebel 9, the strongest engine I could find at the time, downloaded the free engine Crafty, and

In February 1 996 in Philadelphia Kasparov won his fi rst match against Deep Blue by 4-2, losing one game, winning three and drawing twice. After that IBM set up a computer with even stronger hardware and improved the chess program considerably. The version of Deep Blue in May 1 997 was able to calculate 200 million positions per second and it won the return match by 3Y2-2Y2 . This was the first time in chess history that a computer had defeated the reigning world champion in a classical match. In 2004 there appeared a documentary film about the match by Vikram Jayanti entitled Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine.


1 6 ... i.d7 1 7.t4 t6 1 8.l:.at2 'iie7 1 9.a5 lhc8 20.fxe5 'ii'xe5 21 .lhd2 lhd6 22.lht3! 'ii'xe4

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79

up a viable fortress, e.g. 28 . . . d3 (28 . . . .i.c6 29. i. xc6 bxc6 30. 'ii'x c6) 29. 'ii'c 3 !ht? (29 . . . .i.fS 30.'iixeS+ l:.f6 31 . 'ii'd 4) 30. 'ii'xd3 lh g5 31 . h4 lh h3+ 32. � g2 in each case with practical winning chances.

27 ... i.c6! 28.l:txfS I:txf8 29.'ife1 i.xd5 30.Wxe5+ :ts 31 .'i'xd5 bxa6 32.'iixd4 h5 33.'iixa7+ lhf7 34.h4 �ga 35.'ii'e7 �g7 36.b4 :ts 37.'iic7 :ts 38.�g2 �gs 39.'iicS+ �g7 40.'iic7 �g8 41 .'ii'c8+ �g7 42.'ifc7 Draw.

23.l:te2 ! Hikaru sets out to attack! According to Krasenkow 23. lh xd4 'ii'e 3! 24. l:r.e 1 'ii'c3 should be defensible for Black on account of the strong blockading kn ight. 23 ... 'ii'xd5 24.!he5 'ikxe5 25 ..l:.xe5 txe5 26 . .i.d5+ �g7

27.a6? After this Black can construct an impregna ble fortress. 27 . .:. xt8 .l:.xf8 28. 'ii'c 1 offered better chances, because Black cannot set

These last two examples are an impres sive demonstration of how in the opening phase of a chess game there are sti ll u nsuspected opportunities for new ideas. And that should come as no surprise . I n the game against N ikita Viti ugov alone, in which Nakamura su rprised him with the novelty 1 O . . . c4! , purely mathematically there are 1 0 1 5 possible positions, which hope fully tells us that computers will be unable to completely calculate the game of chess to a finish i n the near futu re.

74

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Chapter 2

1 .e4 c5 2.lLif3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.l2Jxd4 lLif6 5.lLic3 a6 6.i.g5 e6 7.f4 i.e7 8.'i1Vf3

8

6 5

5

4

4

3 2

Position after 53.b3!

54.'itie4 c6 55.l2Jh4 'itie6 56.l:tg3 c;tirT 57.l2Jf5 l2Je6 58.l:.d3 l2Jg5+ 59.'itif4 l2Je6+ 60.'itig4 l2Jd4 61 .l2Jxd4 cxd4 62.l:txd4 l:r.xb3 63.l:.d7+ 'itie6 64.l:r.xg7 l:.b4 65.h6 :xc4+ 66.'itih5 :.l.c1 67.ng4 Black resigned. In the Najdorf Sicilian Nakamu ra still often goes his own way and he does well thanks to his experience in the Sicilian dating back to his earliest years. In this connection the parallels with Robert James Fischer are interesti ng. Bobby was an ardent fan of the Sicilian Defence with Black, as shown by his 1 22 games with it. However, in his active period he was j ust as keen a student of it with White, as can be seen from his 1 1 3 games. It is most certainly a great advantage to be able to play both sides of an opening, since in this way you are able to recogn ise better both its strengths and its weaknesses.

GAME 2 3 J . Smeets H . Nakamura Corus-Festival (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 0 Sicilian Defence {898] -

8 ... h6! ? This scores better than the much more frequently played 8 . . . 'ii'c7. 9.i.h4 'ili'c7 1 0.0-0-0 l2Jbd7 1 1 .f5 e5

8 7 6 5

1 2.l2Jde2!? A rare move but not without its venom, to which H i karu has the antidote. 1 2. lLi b3 is the main variation . 1 2 ... b5 1 3.i.xf6 lLixf6 1 4.l2Jd5 'ii'c 5! H i karu displays his sense of danger. After 1 4 . . . l2Jxd5?! 1 5.exd5 i. b7 1 6 .l2Jg3 0-0

As Hikaru Nakamura's second

registered a computer playing account on the ICC. From that time forward , I main tained a computer account at or near the top of the rating lists. At that time the chess engines had few parameters that could be changed to im prove playing strength . To upgrade the speed of my computers any more often than I did al ready would have cost more money than I had. So, the only thing left for me to try to improve my computer's playing strength was to tweak the opening book. I tried lots of different openings, and found that against humans especially, offbeat ones often worked the best. In fact, the fi rst time my computer achieved the top spot on the ICC rating list was when a strong GM tried over and over, in vain, to pun ish the opening 1 .g4. Now, fast forward back to 2005. As I mentioned, Hikaru was always looki ng to try something different, and this applied heavily to his opening choices. At some point, Hikaru learned that as a junior, our friend Jason played the sequence 1 .e4 e5 2 .'ikh5?! almost until he was a master, and that there was actually some rudimentary theory be hind the opening beyond attempting to checkmate on the 4th move. The outrageous idea of playing this open ing at the 2600+ level appealed to Hikaru and so Jason ag reed to show him the theory behind it that he remembered from his youth . To fill in the gaps Hikaru enlisted the help of me and my computer. When Hikaru played 'ii'h 5 agai nst GM Sasikiran, though he eventually lost the 2

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game, he actually got a sizeable opening advantage, 2 so it did nothing to deter him from seeking out new paths in open ing theory. To this end he would periodically contact me to help him work on his pet projects, and since I found both working with a strong GM and exploring new openings quite enjoyable, I was happy to oblige. We worked on many (mostly ridiculous) open ings, such as 1 .e4 d6 2 .d4 f5? ! , with which he beat GM Perelshteyn at the HB Global Chess Challenge in 2005, where inciden tally, we fi rst met in person . As an interesting side effect, some of the work we were doing had apparently some how rubbed off on me. When I graduated from university in 2005, I decided to try out tou rnament play again, just for fu n. I would have sworn that I had not improved at all since qu itting competitive chess in h igh school, but if so then miracu lously every body else had gotten much worse! In a few months I had gained 400 Elo points, and so wh ile still a very bad player by any rational measurement, in the chess deprived United States I had qual ified for the pseudo respectable national master title. Having been surprised to achieve even this, and knowi ng that I had started my chess career much too late to have any real ambitions as a player, I promptly reti red again from competition . Skip ahead to 2007. Hikaru had taken a brief hiatus from professional chess to try university life, but either finding it disagree able or perhaps just unable to resist the call

Hikaru played t h e well known and infamous 2 .W h 5 i n round 7 o f t h e Sigeman Open i n Copenhagen/ Malmo 2005. N akamura al so experimented further in 2005 with 2.1i'h5, for example on the server Playchess. com on 30th April 2005. In the fi nal of the 'Champion's Challenge' against Anton Filipow, to whom he lost by 2-3, he played it in al l his th ree games as White, in wh ich the fi rst six moves were identical : 1 . e4 e5 2.'ifh5 lll c6 3 . ..tc4 g6 4 . °iff3 lll f6 5. lll e2 ..t g7 6. d3 (see H i karu Nakamura, "Not playing for Scholar's mate", Chapter 1 7, Schach ohne Scheuk/appen, vol. 7, pp. 1 38 - 1 42, New in Chess 2007).

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As Hikaru Nakamura's second

of the chess pieces he retu rned to high level chess at the Casino de Barcelona tou rna ment. Perhaps seeking new inspiration after his time off, he decided to offer me my fi rst real job at preparing his openings. Though I was doing the work remotely, communicat ing with him online from home, we seemed to work well together. I knew that at this level rubbish openings such as we had looked at before together would not work, so I pre pared only solid mainstream lines. It worked like a charm , and he finished in clear fi rst with 7/9 points. He finished the tournament with only one loss, when he decided to go against my advice and play the King's I ndian as Black against the bottom seed in the seventh round, al ready a point and a half ahead of the field . It was perhaps that loss as much as anything that convinced him we should keep working together. I worked with him remotely again for the Cap d'Agde rapid tournament in 2008 which he won ahead of lvanchuk, Carlsen , Radjabov and others. I n 2009, I travelled with him to a tou rna ment for the fi rst time at the U . S . Champion ship in St. Louis. Since it was in the country, travel costs were low, making it an easy experiment. He won this too, and since then to the present in 201 1 , with only a couple of exceptions, I have accompanied him to all major tournaments, other than team events.

A second's d uties As Hikaru's second, I have many responsi bilities that contribute towards a simple goal: preparing him to have the best chance of winning each game and tou rnament. Some of these responsibilities may seem trivial but they can still be quite important, such as helping him keep to a proper schedule of working, eating, relaxing, and sleeping dur ing a tou rnament. I also try to keep non game-related concerns from distracting him, so if for example he needs some item from

the supermarket, I will go during his game and get it for him, so the schedule of the tournament routine stays intact. All in all, my role can range from personal assistant, to travel agent, to psychologist, to tech sup port. The primary duty, of course, is opening preparation . Before a tou rnament begins, weeks or months in advance, I will come up with an opening plan for each game. Since Hikaru's repertoi re includes vi rtually every opening under the sun, I have a great deal of freedom in trying to tailor individual open ings for each opponent, but as is often the case, extra freedom requi res more work. His wider repertoi re means more choices which must be considered and narrowed down . Often during a tou rnament, the plan can change because of tournament standings, unexpected new lines being introduced by opponents, or just mood and intuition. When this happens, I'll sometimes have to prepare something entirely new in a matter of hours, which is always risky and challenging, but has gotten somewhat easier over time as we have built up a larger and larger base of knowledge. Fortunately in chess, nothing is wasted since perhaps tomorrow we will dredge up an idea or novelty prepared for a different opponent years before.

Computers i n chess preparation Many people have noted that, as a player, I am probably the weakest second of any strong grandmaster, let alone a top ten player. What makes it possible for me to do what I do has to do with chess engines, both their tremendous playing strength , and my strange path of chess development. Both Hikaru and I derived a large portion of our chess learning from computers, but with different paths. Where Hikaru was able to use the computer as a sparring partner and even a kind of role model to strive to emulate

As H ikaru Nakamura's second

Going forward As Hikaru has progressed from a 2650 player when we began working seriously together, to a top ten player today, we have faced new challenges. What works spec tacularly against a 2600 may be unsuitable against a 2800, and these are things that

Kristoffer " Kris" Littlejohn (born 1 983) is a graduate of the Technical University of Texas in Dallas, which is distinguished by its numerous computer freaks and by the lack of a football team . His profession is the building of computer systems, advising small fi rms on computer networks and teaching chess. Littlejohn grew up in a family which had four times as many computers as there were family members. Thus, his mother Debra Littlejohn Shinder is an ab-

83

have sometimes been learned the hard way. Top players today are much more sophisti cated than in the past, both in their play and their preparation . With the improving strength of computers helping to i ron out our knowl edge, there are fewer fundamental break throughs that can change the evaluation of known positions in a radical way. Many amateu rs analyze positions at home and find strong novelties in mainstream open ings and wonder why they don't see them played by strong players, but the answer is simple: everyone at the top al ready has found them with their own computers, and so thei r opponents won't play in to the line in the fi rst place. Today the emphasis is more on finding nuances that can be exploited in move orders, and new ideas which , while perhaps not an objective improvement over an old line, can still provide a practical problem that an opponent has to solve over the board . All of it boils down to the continuing evolution of chess. New methods of prepa ration and younger, sawier players create new challenges. As Hikaru continues to improve, I personally look forward to helping him overcome the new challenges, and hopefully helping him reach the ultimate goal of World Champion .

during a game, I formed a sort of symbiotic relationship with my engines. Every chess player has different strengths and weaknesses. Some of my biggest weaknesses are accu rate calculation of variations, and performance u nder pres sure. In blindfold chess I am useless. Of cou rse those things don't matter at all in a setting where a 3000+ Elo machine can calculate for you and there is no clock ticking away you r time. What I have developed instead is a strong positional sense, combi native intuition , a knack for knowing when the computer is wrong in its evaluation, and a practicality about what positions are playable for a hu man . This isn't to say that I don't ever have difficulties, but when I do the solution is simple. If I am unsure about a position , I can simply ask Hikaru for his opinion, since in the end he will be the one sitting over the board with it.

*

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solute IT expert, who, for example, works as developer, technology adviser and trainer. She has written several books about compu ter operating systems and networks and in February 201 O also wrote a remarkable blog entry on ''The role of computers in planning chess strategy" (www. techrepublic.com). Kris Littlejohn's fi rst contact with Hikaru was in 2005; two years later he began to work for him seriously and successfully as a second .

84

� C HAPTER 3

Wij k aan Zee Tuesday, 1 8th January 201 1 , Round 4

Texamination of a special sort. The previous year the new child prodigy had been the oday Nakamu ra is up against Anish G i ri . For the 1 6-year-old this tou rnament is also an

clear victor of the B-G roup ahead of the German No. 1 Arkadij Naiditsch, thus secu ring the i nvitation to the A-group. G i ri will finish on 50%, gaining almost 1 1 Elo points and taking him to a position close to the sound barrier of 2700, which above all leads to a considerable increase in his self-confidence . This means the final breakthrough into the world elite for this son of a Nepalese hyd rologist and a Russian mother. Born in St. Petersburg , G i ri , like Hikaru , fi rst took up chess at the age of seven, which is very late according to today's standards. He became a grandmaster at the early age of 1 4 years, seven months and two days, after scoring his third and final GM norm on 1 st February 2009 in Wijk aan Zee in the C-G roup. At that time he was still playing for Russia, but in our age of globalisation early changes are totally normal . So now Anish is al ready the chess idol of the Dutch - and for his American adversary an opponent who needs to be taken most seriously.

GAM E 2 7 A. Giri H. Nakamura Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 20 1 1 Nimzo-lndian Defence [E20] -

Rook endings are always drawn

1 .d4 lllf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 cs 4.lllf3 cxd4 5.lll x d4 i.. b4+ 6.lllc3 llle4 7.'ii'd3 lllxc3 8.bxc3 i..e7 9.lll b5 lll c6 1 0.i..f4 e5 1 1 .i.. c 1 0-0 1 2.i.. g 2 d6!? This is a novelty compared with 12 . . . b6? ! 1 3.0-0 i.. b 7 1 4 . .l:.d 1 llla5 1 5. i.. xb7 lll x b7 1 6. 'ilxd7 lllc 5 1 7. 'ii'xd8 l:tfxd8 1 8. i..e 3 with advantage for White in the game Aronian-

Karjaki n , Moscow 201 0. I n Monaco 201 1 Karjakin tried 1 2 . . . lllas against Anand , but after 1 3.0-0 d6 1 4. i.. a3 i.. e 6 1 5. lllx d6 .ixd6 1 6. 'ilxd6 .l:.e8 1 7.c5 lllc4 1 8. 'ifxd8 l:t exd8 1 9 . .i c1 l:tac8 20. i..xb7 l:txc5 2 1 .l:te1 h6 22. i.. a6 l:td6 23. i.. xc4 the game ended in a draw.

1 3.i.. a 3 'ii'as 1 4.0-0 1:td8? After this passive move White obtains an enduring initiative. 1 4 . . . .i e6 1 5 . i..x d6 .l:.fd8 1 6.c5 l:!d7 1 7.c4 a6 1 8. lllc3 l:!. ad8, on the other hand, keeps the game more or less level, because White has to concede the open d-file to Black.

1 5 . .ib4! 'ii'b 6 1 5 . . . lllx b4 1 6.cxb4 'ilxb4? fails to 1 7. lll c7

Wijk aan Zee

�

85

l::tb 8? 1 8. ll:i d5, and White has an excellent position. 1 6.a4! Giri bets on his strategic light-squared initiative, whereas 1 6. bd6?! .i.xd6 1 7. ll:ixd6 ll:ia5 1 8 . .i::r.fd 1 .i.e6 allows Black good play for the pawn .

1 6 tt::i a s 1 6 . . . ll:i xb4 1 7.cxb4 a6?? fails to 1 8.a5, since after it things become pretty unpleas ant for Black. 1 7 .l:.fd1 .i.e6 1 8 ..i.xaS 'ii'xa5 1 9 .i.xb7 l:1ab8 20 . .i.dS l::t bc8?! This gives White a tactical option. But the black position is in any case extremely uncomfortable. •.•

•

•

27 ... .i.f6? This pawn sacrifice is over-optimistic. How ever, White is also in the driving seat after 27 . . . 'i'd7 28. 'i'c7 'ife6 29.c4.

28.'ii'f S? 8 7 6 5

G i ri does not dare to take the pawn, though that would unquestionably be the best way: 28. 'Wxc5 'ii'e 4 (if 28 . . . a6, there is the strong rejoinder 29. ll:i a3) 29. :c1 'ifxe2 (but not 29 . . . 'ifxa4 on account of 30. ll:ixa7) 30. ll:i xa7 h5 31 . ll:i c6 .l:.d2 32 . 'ii'f5 h4 33. ll:i d4.

28 'ifc6 29.ll:ixa7 'ii'xa4 30.'ii'xcS •.•

Now White completely opens up the posi tion. 30. ll:i b5! ? would represent another plan.

21 .'iff3? ! Anish should have played 2 1 . .i.xe6 here, since after 2 1 . . . fxe6 22. 'ii'e4 'ii'a6 (22 . . . 'ii'b6 23. 'ifg4 'it>f7 24. 'i'h5+ 'it>g8 25. 'ii'h 3 'it>f7 26. l:.db1 'ifc5 27. 'i'xh7 a6 28. ll:i a3 is no better) 23. 'if g4 'it>f7 (23 . . . d5 24.cxd5 exd5 25. 'iff5 .i.f6 26.e4±) 24. l:!. d3 :cs 25. : ad 1 the black position is al ready problematic.

21 .i.xdS 22J1xd5 'ii'a6 23.'ii'e4 :cs 24.cS :xc5 25.:xcS dxc5 26.'ifxes 'ii'b7 27.llb1 ..•

30 ... 'ii'a 2 31 .:e1 'ii'd 2 32.'it>f1 ?! 32 . :f1 'ii'x e2 33. ll:ic6 .l:. e8 34. ll:i b4 gives White better practical chances on account of the passed c-pawn. 32 ... .i.xc3 33.l:tb1 .i.d4? ! Of cou rse this position is not simple for Black, who must display his mastery of the art of defence. 33 . . . 'ifc2 34. :Z.e 1 'ii'd 2 35.: b 1 'ifc2 36. 'i' b6 �f6 is more active, since after it we cannot see how White can make any progress.

34.'ii'e7

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86

Chapter 3

34.'ii'c4 is parried by 34 . . . .i.xa? 35.l:.b7 'ii'd 5.

34 �xa7 35.'ii'xa7 'ii'd 5 36.'iii>g 1 Was 37.'ii'x aS ..•

On account of the high drawing tendency of rook endings, 37. 'ifb6 was worth consider ing, to avoid the exchange of q ueens.

37 Jlxas 3S.:bs ! ? ••

4S.gxh5 After 48.e4 hxg4 49.fxg4 g5 50. hxg5 (50.h5 l:.a3+) 50 . . . l:.xg5 51 J l d5 l:tg6 52. 'iii> f4 'iii> f7 the ending should also be tenable for Black.

4S l:.xh5 49.e4 g5 50.hxgS l:txg5+ 51 .@14 :as 52.l:.c7 'iii>fs 53.l:.d7 @gs 54.l:.dS l:.a3! 55.'iii> g 4 ..•

White prevents t h e standard set-up f7-g6h5.

3S ... f6 38 . . . g6 can be met by 39.g4.

39.h4 :es 40. 'iii>f 1 g6 41 .g4 l:.e4 42.f3 l:.a4 43.l:.bS+ 'iii> g 7 44.l:.b7+ 'iii>g S At fi rst glance the black set-up looks suspect, but Nakamura resou rcefully man ages to ach ieve rel ief in time.

45.'iii>f2 If 45.g5, then 45 . . . l:.xh4 46.gxf6 l:.f4, and Black can breathe again.

45 :as 46.'iii> g 3 h6 47 . .:r.d7 ••.

55 l:.e3! .•.

The white pawns are paralysed .

56.l:.d7 'iii>fs 57.l:.a7 @gs 5S.f4 White can no longer make any prog ress with normal methods. So G i ri uses a sledgehammer approach .

ss l:.xe4 59.'iii>fS :es 60.'iii> g 6 After 60. 'iii>xf6 White's activity is also insufficient: 60 . . . l:.fB+ 6 1 . 'iii> g 5 (61 . 'iii> g 6 l:.xf4 62 .l:taB+ l:.f8 also promises the fi rst player no advantage) 61 . . . .l:t bB 62.f5 :t b6 leads to the famous Philidor position (White: 'iii> g 5, l:.a7, f5; Black: 'iii>f8 , l:.b6) . After 63.f6 .l:.b 1 White has no protection against the checks. .••

47 hS! The relief fol lowing an exchange of pawns is important, because in rook endings purely passive defence often leads to d isaster. ••.

60 fS 6 1 .l:.g7+ 'iii> h S 62.l:.h7+ 'iii> g S 63.l:.g7+ 'iii> h S 64.l:.f7 @gs 65.l:.xfS l:.e7!? 66.l:.gS l:.f7 •..

Wijk aan Zee

Even 66 . . . .l:.g7+? ! is playable in view of 67.Wf6 'iii h8! ! 68 . .l:.xg7 stalemate.

67.'it>h6+ If White now plays 67.f5, then Black simply liquidates to the pawn ending, because after 67 . . . l:.g7+ 68.Wf6 .l:.xg5 69. 'it>xg5 the king move 69 . . . 'it> g7 defends the key squares: 70.f6+ 'iitf7 71 . 'it>f5 'iiif8! , and the game ends peacefu lly. 67 'iitf8 68.fS l:f6+ 69.'it>hS 'iitf7 Draw agreed on Black's proposal •..

Anish G i ri , who according to his trainer Vladimir Chuchelov was able i n this tou rna ment to match the world elite psychologi cally, but still had to work on his physical form , would face and pass his final exami nation in the penultimate round. At the end of it World Champion Viswanathan Anand could count himself more than lucky to have saved the draw. M r. ''Tata Steel Chess" must have been completely amazed that right from the word go Anish set out to play for a win with Black.

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Nakamu ra too paid due respect to the youngster even before their encounter: "Yeah , Anish is in fact a very strong player. I have only beaten him once: in the blitz tiebreak of the 'Experience vs. Rising Stars' match in Amsterdam last year." From 1 2 1h till 22nd August 201 O a team of "old hands" (Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler, Peter Heine N ielsen, Loek van Wely and Ljubomi r Lju bojevic) played i n the Hotel Krasnopolsky against a world select team of ''young bloods" (Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Ca ruana, Wesley So, Anish G i ri and David Howell) . The generation of the "computer kids" won narrowly by 26-24. The highest scorer among the young stars was re warded with an invitation to the final Melody Amber tou rnament. Since Hikaru and Anish both scored six points out of ten games, the ticket to the rapid and blindfold event in Monaco had to be decided i n a blitz duel. The American defeated the young Dutch player, but the latter was then also i nvited by the organisers.

F lying high with endgame ski l ls I Carlsen the authors Adrian Mikhalchishin

n thei r book Fighting Chess with Magnus

and Oleg Stetsko try to demonstrate the outstanding qualities of the young Norwe gian star th rough his games. Since in their opinion it is impossible to do justice to the many aspects of his skill in the framework of one book, they have, as pointed out i n their i ntroduction , specifically limited them-

1

selves to one aspect of his creative activ ity, "a very important indicator of playing strength - the ability to play the endgame, which has invariably distinguished the great champions of the past. . . At the present time his technique of converting an advantage resembles that of Fischer, and it rarely misfi res - an indication of the serious work he has done." 1

A. Mikhalchischin & 0. Stetsko, Fighting chess with Magnus Carlsen, Zu rich 201 2 , p . 1 5

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<;t>

Chapter 3

We know of cou rse that in their schooling of young chess players many trainers lay great emphasis on the learning of numer ous opening systems and the rules which proceed from these to the subsequent middlegames. ''The endgame is always allotted very little time", wrote Mikhail Shereshevsky, who i n 1 976 was the sec ond of I nternational Master Mark Dvoretsky at the 44th U S S R Championsh ip (First League). "Some trainers give their pupils only the most elementary conceptions of the endgame, assuming that with the general development of a player his mas tery of endgame play will also rise . Others demonstrate long and complex analyses from reference books, although the prob ability of such positions being repeated in a practical game is sl ight. It is evident that both approaches are a long way from the truth: the mastery of a player is directly dependent not so much upon his amou nt of theoretical knowledge, as upon his under standing of the general principles of con ducting chess endings." 2 I n this connection it is also interesting to read the opinion of the two grandmasters G rigory Levenfish and Vasily Smyslov, who back in 1 957 produced a remarkable book on this subject: Rook Endings. "Any correct method of teaching chess also demands fi rst of all the study of simple positions with a small number of pieces and pawns on the board . Studying endgames acquaints the beginner with the specific properties of the pieces and pawns and with the way they interact. The study of endings ought, there fore, to precede the analysis of openi ngs

and compl icated middlegame positions", was what the authors wrote in thei r preface. Th is point was unconditionally shared in his work by the Leningrad trainer of young players Vladimir Zak ( 1 91 3-1 994) . For him the chess development of children up to the age of ten consisted of 90% endgame training. And his successes proved him correct, since Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi and Gennady Sosonko are among his best known students . As for the cooperation between Shere shevsky and Dvoretsky, the fol lowing epi sode is interesting; it occu rred during the Fi rst League tou rnament in Minsk 1 976 when Dvoretsky's game against Mark Taimanov was adjourned . "In one of the lines of analysis a rook ending with f- and h pawns was reached . Dvoretsky referred to a book on rook endings, and began study ing the appropriate chapter. I was sur prised : after al l , Dvoretsky is a great expert on the endgame. To my question he replied that he knew the basic principles of playi ng such endings, but did not even attempt to remember lengthy concrete analyses. Later during the tournament we frequently dis cussed the question of how to study the endgame. Dvoretsky considers it essential to know the classics, to analyse compli cated practical rather than theoretical end ings, and to find general rules and princi ples of play in complex endings. And in theoretical endings it is sufficient to know whether the ending is won or drawn, and to have a rough impression of the plan of play",wrote Shereshevsky in his volume Endgame Strategy. 3

2

M . I. Shereshevsky, Endgame Strategy, Oxford 1 985, p. ix.

3

Ibid, p.ix.

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Flying high with endgame skills

When we asked about his everyday train ing routine, Nakamu ra replied: "It is usually openings training, but sometime I take a look at a few endings from the Dvoretsky book. All in all I can say that I invest more than ao% of the time in openings."6 Probably as far as the endings are con cerned this is a slight exaggeration. Hikaru has often demonstrated his mastery of technical endgames and his knowledge of the contents of Mark Dvoretsky's excellent Endgame Manual. But the best thing to do is to take a look at some practical exam ples, because they prove qu ite forcefully that his rise can be quite substantially traced back to his strength in the endgame!

89

to a pawn ending, as White favou rably exchanges queens.

54.'iYf4+! After 54 .'i!Vd4? ! Black does not play 54 . . . 'ifxa2?, but 54 . . . 'i!Vc1 + 55.'iti>g2 'i!Va3, because he could otherwise resign on account of 55.'iYf2+.

54 ... 'ifxf4 55.gxf4 'iti>xf4 56.�2 Because the white pawn is still on a2 , the game is now an easy win for Hikaru . 5 6. . .@e4 57.'iti>e2 'iti>d5 58.'iti>d3 @cs 59.c4 @c6 60.@d4 'iti>d6 61 .c5+ @c7 62.'iti>d5 Wd7 63.c6+ 'iti>c7

A) Pawn endings A 1) The double move of the a-pawn H. Nakamura J. Benjamin World Open, Philadelphia 2005 -

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

64.Wc5! The a-pawn definitely must stay on its starting square, in order to win the duel of the reserve moves. 64.a3? , on the other hand, gives away half a point: 64 . . . @da 65.'it>d6 @ca 66.c7 a6! 67.'iti>c6 as 6a.Wb6 a4=; 64.a4? @ca 65.@d6 'iti>da 66.aS @ca 67.c? a6, and Black holds the draw. Despite the two extra pawns, the queen ending would not be so easy to win, were it not for the followi ng immediate liquidation

4

64 ... @ca 65.@d6 'iti>d8 66.c7+ 'it>c8 67. 'it>c6 Now Wh ite wins because his a-pawn still has both options:

See Nakamura interview, pp. 1 29- 1 39 in this book

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90

Chapter 3

67 a6 •.•

Nor does 67 . . . as 68.a3 a4 69. Wd6 Wb7 70.Wd7 change the outcome for Black. 68.Wd6 as 69.a4 Black resigned.

A2) Triangulation H. Nakamura

S. Karjakin h t Match, 5 game, Cuernavaca/Mexico 2004 -

pawn m ust be kept, since after 5 1 .Wxh4? Wb3 52.gS Wxa3 53.g6 Wb2 54.g7 a3 55.g8'ii' a2 the white king is outside of the winning zone a5-d5-d4-e4-e 1 ) 5 1 . . . Wb3 (51 . . . Wd4 52 .Wh3 wes 53.Wxh4 Wf6 54.WhS offers no consolation to Black either) 52 .gS Wxa3 53.g6 Wb2 54.g7 a3 55.g8'ii' a2 56.'ii'g 7+ Wb1 57.'ii'g 1 + Wb2 58.'ii'd 4+ Wb1 59.'ii'b4+ Wc2 60.'ii'a3 Wb1 61 .'ii'b3+ Wa1 62.'ii'c 2, and now the h pawn proves Black's undoing: 62 . . . h3 63.'ii'c 1 #.

47.Wg3! We6 48.h4 gxh4+ After 48 . . . Wf6 49.hS the protected passed pawn is decisive .

49.Wxh4 �6 50.WhS Wg7 51 .WgS Hikaru's king has reached a key square. 51 ... Wh7 52.Wf6 Wh6 53.gS+ Wh7 54.� WhB 55.Wg6 Karjakin now terminated his resistance in view of 55 . . . Wg8 56.Wh6! Wh8 57.g6 Wg8 58.g7 Wf7 59.Wh7. Black resigned. 46.�2 ! ? Hikaru shows that he understands this ending. 46 ... �6?! After this Black immediately ends up in zugzwang. 46 . . . We6 puts up more stub born resistance, but it will be broken by a manoeuvre involving triangulation: 47. Wg2 wes (47 . . . Wf6 48.Wg3 Wg6 49.�3 �6 50.We4 We6 5 1 .Wd4 Wd6 52.Wc4 wes 53.Wb4 Wf4 54.Wxa4 Wg3 55.Wb3 Wxh3 56.a4 Wxg4 57.aS, and White wins) 48.�3 Wd4 (48 . . . Wf6 does not help on account of 49 .We4) 49.Wg3 (the over-hasty 49. h4? gxh4 so.gs Wes 5 1 .Wg4 h3 52.Wxh3 WfS 53.Wh4 Wg6 would only be a draw) 49 . . . Wc3 50.h4 gxh4+ 5 1 .Wh2! (the h-

B) Rook endi ngs 81 ) Defence A. Baburin H. Nakamura l m re Konig Memorial , San Francisco 2002 -

By careful defence it is often possible to save many valuable half points in unfa vou rable rook endings. Still only 1 4 years old , H i karu managed to save this lost position against the experienced g rand master Alexander Baburin: (see next diagram)

82 � ! ? ..•


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91

Unlike in positions with a rook's pawn and knight's pawn, on h5 the white king here has a refuge against horizontal checks. So these do not achieve anything for Black. I n spite o f this, the second player can stil l hold the draw.

1 .l:.f2+ 2.We3 ::tg2 3.!tg6+ Wf7 4.Wf'3 ::tg1 5.We4 ::tg2 6.Wd5 ::tg1 7.Wd6 ::tg2 8.Wd7 ::tg1 9.::tf&+ Wg7 White is now forced into a pawn sacrifice, or else he will not be able to shake off the pressu re from the black rook. 1 0.!td6 ::txg5 1 1 .We6 l:.g1 1 2.We7 Pointless is 1 2.f6+ Wg6 1 3. We7 ::tf1 with a draw. •••

A good attempt to cause the white monarch problems in finding a place to hide. 82 . . . ::tbS?! 83. l:.f3 makes i t simpler for White.

83.WxhS 83.::ta3 ! ? , intending 83 . . . .l:.g8+ 84.WxhS �6 85.::ta6+ Wxf5 86.g4+ Wf4 (86 . . . .l:txg4 87.::taS++-) 87.::tf6+ Wes 88.gS+-, keeps the rook more active. In the aforementioned book by Levenfish and Smyslov Rook Endings (p. 68, position 1 04) the fol lowing study by Genri kh Kas parian can be found. J ust as in our game, White is two pawns up, one of them a knight's pawn, the other a bishop's pawn. Here too there are some drawing positions, if, as in this case, it is Black to move!

Analysis diagram

1 2 :11 1 3.l:r.g6+ Wh7 1 4.Wf6 ::ta1 , and Black holds the draw. •••

Now let us return to the game: 83 Wf'& 84.::tf3 ::tg8 ! ? 85.Wh4 l:r.hB+ 86.Wg4 :as 87.Wh4 ::th&+ 88.Wg4 l:r.aB •..

89.::tf4? After this Black achieves an impregnable fortress. It was not yet too late to activate the rook with 89. : b3: 89 . . . ::ta4+ 90.Wh5 Wxf5 91 .::tf3+ We6 92. g4 l:r.a8 93.g5, and White wins.

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Chapter 3

89 ... .l:.gB+ 90.@1'3 :as 91 .g4 'it>gs Now the king has occupied the hole in the pawn chain - and things can go no further. 92 . .l:.e4 92.f6?? would even total ly backfire on account of 92 . . . l:ta3+. 92 .l:.a3+ 93. 'it>e2 After 93 . .:r.e3 l:ta4 94.l:te6 l:lf4+ too, there is no way for White to make any progress. 93 :.b3 94.@1'2 l:.a3 95.'it>g2 .:.b3 96.@f2 l:ta3 97.'it>e2 .l:.b3 98.l:td4 .l:.a3 99 . .:t.b4 l:c3 1 00.l::te4 l:ta3 1 01 .@1'2 .l:.b3 1 02 . .l:.e3 .l:.b2+ 1 03.@1'3 .l:.b4 1 04 . .l:.e8 .l:.f4+ 1 05. 'it>e3 11xg4 1 06.11g8+ 'it>xf5 1 07 .i1xg4 'it>xg4 Draw. ..•

.•.

82) Technique in rook endings 821 ) Cutting off the king Cutting off the opposing king with you r own rook is one of the typical winning tech niques. E. Jelling

H. Nakamura European Teams Cup, Ohrid 2009 -

in no-man's-land . But not 77 . . . a2? 78 . .l:.a1 ::ta5 (after 78 . . . llb2 79. 'it>d3 'it>b5 80. 'it>c3 l:th2 8 1 .'it>b3 the position is level) 79.'it>d3 'it>c5 80.'it>c3 .l:ta3+ 8 1 .'it>b2 'it>b4 82 . .l:.xa2, and a win is no longer possible, or 77 . . . 'it>a5? 78.'it>d3 .l:.c5 (th is barrier along the c-file is not nearly so effective on account of 79 . .l:.h8 'it>b4 80.l:ta8) .

78.'it>d4 a2! I ndispensable precision, si nce 78 . . . 'it>b5? would only be a draw on account of 79 . .l:.h8.

79.l::ta 1 l:ta3 80.'it>c4 'it>a5! A fatal bodycheck. 81 .'it>cs l:ta4 White resigned.

822) The rook belongs behind the passed pawn M. L. Fierro Baquero H. Nakamura Kings vs. Queens 960 [rapid], Saint Louis 20 1 1 -

7. ' a

8

b

C

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6 ,·

77 i1b3! This horizontal barrier is extremely effec tive, because the white king is now trapped •.•

For this rule it i s important to know that it is totally unimportant whether the passed pawn is your own or your opponent's. In the present game Black is winning despite the

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material equality, because his rook is radiating much more power. Hikaru won with a typical zugzwang . . . 1 oo .. J:tga 1 01 . Wf3 1 0 1 .Wd3 no longer saves White either on account of 1 0 1 . . .Wf4. 1 01 W d4 .•.

In view of 1 02 .Wf2 (after 1 02.l:lxg2 l:txg2 1 03.Wxg2 wxe4 1 04. W g3 'itid4 1 05. Wf4 Wxc4 1 06 . Wf5 Wb5 1 07 . We6 @xa5 1 oa. Wxd6 Wxb6 the lights are also extin guished for White) 1 02 . . . Wxc4 1 03. l:tc1 + Wb5 1 04.Wg 1 @xa5 1 05Jib1 l:t.g4-+ Martha Fierro Baquero no longer has any chance of a draw. White resigned.

93

57.Wf2 also clearly loses : 57 . . Jbf4+ 5a.@e3 l:tc4 59.Wd3 llxc5 60.l:txc3 l:txc3+ 6 1 .Wxc3 Wg5-+. But 57.g3!? was more resilient: 57 . . . l:txc5 5a.Wf2 .::t. ca 59.Wf3 (after 59.gxh4 Wh5 60.Wg3 :le? 6 1 .Wf3 'it>xh4 62.Wg2 !ica 63.Wh2 l:tc6 64.'it>g2 l:t g6+ 65. W h2 l:! g3 it is also all over) 59 . . . hxg3 60. Wxg3 Wf6 61 .Wf3 We6 62.We3 'it>d5 63. 'it>d3

M. Socko H. Nakamura Santo Domingo Open 2003 -

Analysis diagram

Now Black wins by invading with his rook: 63 . . . l:tga 64.l:th2 l:tg3+ 65.'it>c2 Wc4 66.h4 l:t g 1 67.h5 l:ta1 6a . .l:th3 l!a2+ 69.'it>b1 l:r.g2 70.h6 'it>b3 71 . l:. h 1 :t b2+ 72 .Wc1 l:.a2 73.Wb1 c2+ 74.Wc1 .l:!.a1 + 75.Wd2 l:lxh1 .

57 Wf& 58.g3 A despai ring attempt to get some counter play, but it is doomed to failure on account of the passive white blockading rook. How ever, White is lost, e.g. 5a.c7 'it>e6 59.Wf2 Wd5 60.We3 l:.xc7 6 1 .'it>d3 :ca (a typical zugzwang tech nique) 62.l:txc3 l:. xc3+ 63.'it>xc3 'it>e4 64. 'it>d2 Wxf4 65.'it>e2 Wg3 66.'it>f1 f4 67.'it>g 1 f3 6a.gxf3 'it>xf3. 58 hxg3 59.'itig2 .•.

56 ... W g&! I n this specific case the activation of the king is more important that the crude winning of the white c-pawn, which in any case cannot run away. If, however, Black plays 56 . . . .:r.xc5?, Wh ite obtains good drawing chances with 57.Wf2. 57.c6

••.

59.h4 does not help either: 59 . . . l:txc6 60.h5 :ca 6 1 . h6 (6 1 .'it>g2 'it>e6 62 .'it>xg3 'it>d5 63.Wh4 We4 64.'it>g5 Wd3 65 . .l:.c1 c2 66.Wxf5 l:.c5+ 67.'it>g4 'it>d2 ends up with

@

94

Chapter 3

the same resu lt for White) 61 . . . 'it? g6 62. 'it? g2 'it? xh6 63. 'it?xg3 'it? g7 64.�2 �6 65.�e3 .l:.c4 66. 'it?d3 .l:.xf4 67. 'it? xc3 .l:.e4, and the cutting off of the king is decisive. 59 'it?e& 60.'it?xg3 'it?dS 61 .h4 l:.xc6 62.hS 'it?c4 63.'it?h4 'it?b3 64 .l:.c1 'it?b2 65 .l:.h1 c2 66. 'it?gS c1 'ii' 67 .l:.xc1 'it?xc1 68.'it?xfS 'it?d2 69.'it?gS 'it?e3 70.fS 'it?e4 71 .h6 .l:.xh6 •..

•

•

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White resigned.

Black can only wait and must not be over hasty. Thus the offer to exchange rooks fails to 66 . . . .l:.e6?? 67 . .l:!xe6 'it? xe6 68. 'it? xg6 'iit e 7 69. 'it? g7! . 67. 'it?g7 .l:.a6 68 .l:.g4 'it?ee 69 .l:.e4+ Of cou rse, 69 . .l:.xg6?! hardly holds any promise of success on account of 69 . . . .l:.xg6+ 70. 'it? xg6 'it?f8, and the point is shared . 69 ... 'it?d7 70.'iitf7 •

•

823) The king must be activated In rook endings activity is often of decisive importance, and this applies not only to the major piece, but also to the king. If you r game has reached a n endgame a n d you are looking for a plan, then on no account forget you r king! H. Nakamura

S. Andriasian Dos Hermanas I nternet [blitz] , ICC 2008 -

70 gS? Hikaru's plan now becomes effective, be cause the Armenian Sawen Andriasian , two years younger than him, who was European under- 1 6 champion in 2005 and i n the following year won the under- 1 8 world championship title in Yerevan , now succumbs to panic. Against 70 . . . .l:.d6, on the other hand, there is no way to win, e.g. 71 . : g4 .l:.d 1 72.l:txg6 .l:.h1 73. : g4 l:.f1 + 74. 'it? g7 'it? e7 75 . .l:.e4+ 'it? d7 76.hS .l:.g 1 + 77.'iitfs l::tf 1 + 78. 'it? gs l::t g 1 + 79.l::t g 4 l::txg4+ 80. 'it?xg4 'it?e 7 81 . 'it? gS 'iitf7 . 71 .hxgs :as 72.g6 :ts+ 73.'it?ge :11 74.g7 l::t h 1 75.l::te2 l::tf 1 76.l::t h 2 l::t h 1 A final blitz trick, b u t H i karu thwarts it: 77 .l:.xh1 Black resigned. •.•

Normally one should not analyse blitz games, but in view of Hikaru's outstanding skill i n this field we gladly make an exception : 66.'it?h6 The position is and remains drawn , but this plan is hard to counter.

66 .l:.b6 •.•

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In the fol lowing blitz game H i karu's king also pushes forward i rresistibly . . .

M . Leon Hoyos - H. Nakamu ra Dos Hermanas I nternet [blitz] , ICC 2007

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66.l:.a7+ Wb1 67.l:.a4 l:.d6+ 68.Wc3 Wc1 White resigned.

C) Calculation Hikaru has a lot of energy and he calcu lates well , which often helps him in the end game, as in the following two examples.

N. Short - H. Nakamura Corus Festival (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 0

55 Wa3 ! 56.e4 b4 57.We3 h6 58.� Wb2 59.We3 After 59.h4 the black rook decisively pene trates the white position : 59 . . . l:. c6 60. hxg5 hxg5 6 1 . e5 l1c3 62. l:.xc3 bxc3 63.e6 c2 64.e7 c 1 'if 65.eB'iV 'iff4+. •••

59 Wc2 .•.

40 b4! 41 .l:.e& •..

The alternative variations 41 . .t h2 .txh2 42.Wxh2 � 43.d6 :a2+ 44.Wg3 :Z.d2 45 . .l:.b 1 a5 46. l:. a1 l:.d5 and 4 1 . l:.e4 b3 42 . l:. xa4 b2 also give Black the clearly superior position.

41 b3 42.l:.xd6 l:.b4! The point. Now Short can stop the b-pawn only at the cost of great sacrifices. •..

43.l:.d8+ Black also has a decisive advantage after 43 . .t d4 l:.xd4 44. l:. b6 l:.d3 45.d6 Wf7 ( Ftacnik in CBM 1 35). 43 Wh7 White resigned. The situation after 44 . .t d4 l:.xd4 45. l:. bB l:.d3 46.d6 a5 47.d7 a4 48.dB'iV l:txd8 .••

And now White is in a deadly zugzwang .

60.l:.d8 Wxb3 61 .Wd3 Wb2 62.l:.b8 b3 63.l:.b7 Wa2 64.Wc3 :c&+ 65.Wd2 b2

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Chapter 3

49 .l:txd8 b2 50.:tb8 a3 is too depressing for Short. I n the following game - played i n the fi rst round of the US Championship which Naka mura won for the second time after 2004 H i karu also calcu lated everything exactly.

H. Nakamura A. Shabalov USA Championship, Saint Louis 2009 -

b

c

d

e

37 ... l:t d6 After other moves too, there is no way of holding the game tor Alexander Shabalov, e.g. 37 . . . ll:\xf2 38. bxa6 i.c2 39.a7 i.e4 40. �xf2 or 37 . . . .l:. aa 38. b6 l:tb8 39 .a6 l:i.xb6 40.a7.

33.ll:lxa6! The winning move, because the black bishop cannot intervene i n the defence in time. 33 ... l:tb6 34.b4 .:!.bxa6 35.i.xa6 l:txa6 36.aS Although Black is not at a material disad vantage, he nevertheless collapses be cause his pieces are completely uncoordi nated and so the advance of the two wh ite pawns on the queenside is unstoppable. The black bishop especially plays the part of a tragic hero. 36 ... ll:\e4 36 . . . l:ta7 37. bS ll:ld7 38.!:tb2 ll:\cs 39. b6 l:td7 40.a6 ll:\xa6 41 .l:txa6 is a futile attempt to save the game. 37.b5!

38.aS ll:\xf2 38 . . . l:tda 39.a7 .:. aa 40.b6 ll:\cs 41 .l::I d 2 i.g4 42 .litds ll:lb7 43 . .:.d7 ll:lcs 44.b7 ll:lxb7 45 .l:txb7 i.xf5 46 . .l:!.b8+. 39.a7 ll:lh3+ 40.�xh3 After 40 . . . l:td8 41 . b6 i.g4 42.l:ta3 the white pawns run through to promote . Black resigned. Since it is known that practice is the criterion of truth , we have selected fou r examples o n t h i s theme a s a little test for you , which, as you solve them , will enable you to check you r endgame technique against that of Hikaru Nakamura, and hopefully you will be able to improve it at the same time. But now it is you r move! Fi rstly another i mportant suggestion: be gin with an evaluation of each position and make sure that you write down your thoughts. This is a professional approach and is guaranteed to pay off for you sooner or later. . .

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JY Z O G E - E N DGAM E T E ST

ZWI SC H E N

The kn ight in the corner

A kn ight goes

wal kabout H. Nakamura L.-D. Nisipeanu Kings Tournament, Medias 201 1

H. Nakamura M. Wahls Mallorca Trophy [blitz], playchess.com 2004

How did Hikaru break open the black stronghold?

How does the rook win against the pawn?

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Liqu idated . . .

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B y the back door

R. Ponomariov H. Nakamura 1 st match game, Saint Louis 201 1

H. Nakamura S. Kudri n Western States Open , Reno 2004

How did Hikaru realise his advantage?

How did Hikaru storm the black position?

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98

C HAPTER 4

Wij k aa n Zee Thu rsday, 201h January 201 1 , Round 5

A afford the luxury of three rest days. On this first day, after four games Hikaru is tou rnament such as Wijk aan Zee, justifiably called the "Wimbledon of chess", can

surprisingly in fi rst place with 3 points. But it is well known that the next opponent is always the most dangerous one. And between now and the second planned pause, rou nds 5 till 8 wi ll see the US player face a strong quartet consisting of ex-FIDE world champion Rusi an Ponomariov, the two local heroes Erwin L' Ami and Jan Smeets, and finally Magnus Carlsen. It is far from certain that after this Hikaru will sti ll be sharing top place with World Champion Anand , especially si nce in itially all he can manage against "Pono" is a shaky draw, whereas the I ndian champion defeats Jan Smeets and goes into the lead with 4 out of 5, as the seeding predicts . . .

GAM E 2 8 H . Nakamura R . Ponomariov Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 20 1 1 -

Nimzo-lndian Defence [E20] Salvation painstakingly achieved

The question is: what is the best set-up with which to combat the N i mzo- l ndian Defence? Someone who has demon strated this i n practice in numerous World Championship struggles against his long standing opponent Anatoly Karpov is Garry Kasparov. And the cooperation with h i m is certainly one key to Nakam u ra's success ful play in this tournament. In thei r fi rst training session im mediately before the Tata Steel Tou rnament the two of them dealt i n particular with this opening and the

system with 4. tllf3. In the previously men tioned interview in New in Chess, Naka mura remarked : But I think, sti l l , having all the work - having access to Garry's data base certainly - it sti l l gives me somewhat of an edge to at least know that I ' m playi ng the best possible openings." And yet the most intensive training, and the new theoretical knowledge which went with it, is only one side of the coi n , because in chess the real criterion of truth is practical play. The fact that Nakamu ra finally, pains taki ngly reached the haven of a draw is unquestionably the positive message to be taken from th is game.

1 .d4 tllf6 2.c4 e6 3.tll c3 !ii. b4 4.tllf3 cs 5.g3 tll c 6 6.!ii. g 2 tll e4 7.!ii. d 2 tll x d2 8.'ii'x d2 cxd4 9.tllx d4 'ii'b6 1 0.tll c2 !ii. e7 1 1 .0-0 o-o 1 2.:ab1 d6 1 3.b4 :de 1 4. �h1 1 4. tll e3! ? looks more natural, especially

Wijk aan Zee

since 1 4 . . . i.d?? can then be met advanta geously with 1 5. b5 lbe5 1 6. lb cd5.

1 4 ... i.d7 1 S.lbe3 i.f8 1 6.bS lbas 1 7.f4 'iic7 1 8.l:Ifc1 .l:!.ac8 1 9.lbe4?! This allows Black to stabilise the position , after which the bishop pair will prove to be a long-term trump. So continuing to follow a light-squared strategy by means of 1 9.f5 ! ? b 6 20.'it'd3 is more logical.

19 ... bS 20 . .l:i.c2 h6 21 . .l:i.f1 fS 22.lbf2 g6 23.lLld3 i.g7 24 . .:!.fc1 .tea 2S.lbd1 Wie7 26.Wib4 .l:tc7 27.e4 fxe4 28.i.xe4 °iif6

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when the opportunity presents itself.

32.fxeS 'ii'xeS 33.lbg4 'it'g7 34.�d1 ? ! 34. 'i'd2 g 5 35.'it>g1 i.g6 36.llc3 estab lishes a better defensive position. 34 ... hs 3S.lLlf2 'ii'es The immediate advance 35 . . . d5!? also comes strongly i nto consideration , for example: 36.c5 Wif6 37.'it>g2 'iie 7.

36 ..l:.e1 'iYd4 37.l:.d1 'ifes 38.,l;te1 'iifS 39 . ..te4

28 . . . i.d4!? would certainly be an interest ing try.

29 . ..tf3 ..tf7 30.lLl1 f2? 30.'ii'e 1 g5 31 .Wie2 °ii'd 4 32. lb e3 gives a more harmonious set-up of the pieces.

30 ... Wid4! Ponomariov picks up the gauntlet.

39 ... 'iics? The key moment. With the text move Ponomariov loosens his control of the kingside too much . After 39 . . . 'ii'f 6, on the other hand, White does not have enough compensation for the sacrificed pawn .

40.'ii b2 Wigs 41 .i.d3 es 42.lbe4 'i'e7 43J:tf1 Wg7 31 .lbes i.xes Ponomariov chooses the simple sol ution , which secu res him an unmistakable advan tage. 3 1 . . . dxe5 32 .Il:d 1 exf4 33 . .l:.xd4 l:txd4 34.l:td2 l:tdxc4 35.'ii'd 6 is complicated and better su its Nakamu ra, who loves tactical compl ications and virtually provokes them

And the game was agreed drawn , since after 44.'iic 1 ..txc4 45 . .ixc4 .l:.xc4 46. lbg5 l:.f8 47.l:!.xf8 'it>xf8 48. l:tf2+ We8 49.Wid2 Wh ite now has sufficient compensation but no more than that!

100

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The tactica l pro

T have a constant reminder of this in

actics win games! - You will certainly

you r own games. "The ability to find com binations, to spot tactical motifs as quickly as possible and to calculate variations correctly counts amongst the most impor tant abil ities of all good players. They may have mastered openings brilliantly, they may know all about middlegame plans and may also have assimilated the fundamen tals of the endgame - yet if they cannot calculate correctly they will not get far. Also i n a q uite special way the productive age of any player can be measu red against his tactical competence, because the older they become the less accu rately they cal culate and the more they rely on experi ence and intu ition , with the result that performance inevitably declines," 1 accord ing to M ichal Konopka, for many years coach of the Czech national team. What is also interesting is his conclusion that an excellent tactician need not necessarily be a player who loves to attack or even an ag gressive one. Konopka, whose best known protege was Viktor Laznicka (born in 1988) and who was a second to David Navara (born in 1985) for his debut in Wijk aan Zee in 2007, strongly advises that constant tactical training is necessary. I n this connection it is important to re member Mark Dvoretsky's conclusion that tactics play no less a role in the endgame than i n the middlegame, though their character is different. 1

The tactical pro is characterised above all by his creativity at the board. In the words of Alexei Shirov: "When you are playing a tournament game and the clock is ticking, you tend to choose moves accord ing to you r general knowledge of the game and you r pre-established method of logical th inking. However, sometimes you need to go beyond you r usual frames, to escape the confines of you r knowledge and think less rational ly. You are still strictly limited with in the constraints imposed by the rules of chess, but you can't absorb the whole game, it's too big, so you end up using your associative i ntu ition . And sometimes a brilliant - and mathematically correct! solution is the resu lt."2 Shirov provided an incredible example from tournament praxis. So allow us to invite you to take part in an experiment! As a fi rst step you should set up the following position on your chessboard , and then ask you rself the question how Black, whose move it is, should proceed in order to win the game, which at fi rst sight appears to be impossible. We too, as Alexei did several years previously, asked Fritz - and you will perhaps not believe it: in this specific case the tactical solution was too much for our "electronic second". Of course we can assume that it knows the basic principles of the treatment of compli cated endings such as the centralisation of the king. But how can that really be pos sible in this specific position? How can

M. Konopka, ,, Etwas zur Taktik" in: issue 1 /2007 of culturally oriented chess magazine KARL Frankfurt/M . 2007 , pp. 1 4- 1 9. 2 Alexei Shirov, Fire on Board, Part II, Everyman 2005 , p . 1 6.

The tactical pro

Black actually land the great blow, which was at that time hailed as a stroke of genius i n the magazine SCHACH?

V. Topalov A. Shirov Linares 1998 -

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away his bishop? Something is wrong with the diagram , there must have been some thing on h3!' My fi rst thoughts ran along these lines when I came across the dia g ram position in a Span ish newspaper during my train jou rney from Mad rid to Linares", wrote Dirk Poldauf in issue 3/ 1998 of SCHACH. And he continued: "Yet things may not be so strange! Shirov has never suffered from any lack of creativity; so he probably saw the text move as being a logical one: after all , the white pawns are doubled, the black king is th reatening to penetrate the white position with gain of tempo, and from there it will coordinate the advance of the two passed pawns." The furious finale was equally forced. 48.gxh3 Wf's 49. Wf2 @e4 so.J.xf6 d4

Position after 47.@g1

''The position seemed rather simple since, apart from the kings, only two m i nor pieces were left on the board. However, simpl icity may often be misleading. I came to realise that any ordinary solution would lead to a d raw, as is often the case with opposite colou red bishops. All the same, I had two extra pawns and felt that there should be something to be done!", was how Shirov described the situation. Wel l , our faithful Fritz suggests the normal move 47...J.e4, which however does not win, as you can see for you rself. So what is the key move? 47 J.h3 ! ! •••

"'What i s this? Black i s simply chucking

3

Only now does Fritz recognise the mes sage the bells had rung out for White SOS, but the wh ite ship will sink in very few seconds .. . 51 .J.e7 @d3 52.J.cs @c4 53.J.e7 @b3 White resigned. Natu rally you will ask: how did Alexei Shirov reach this brilliant solution, the sacrifice of his bishop in order to gain the decisive tempi for the king march? What was the role played by his combinative vision?3 It is the experiences mentioned at the start which needed to be called upon at the decisive moment. In this case it was the fol lowing position from a game, which Shirov had lost to U lf Andersson seven years previously!

This is defined by Mark Dvoretsky in his manual School of Chess Excellence 2 - Tactical Play as "t he ability to quickly discover latent tactical ideas - far from obvious strong moves, usually involving sacrifices". Edition Olms, 2002 p. 1 0.

1 02

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Chapter4

A. Shirov U. Andersson Biel 1991

A. Shirov J. Timman Wijk aan Zee 1998

Position after 44.'it>xg4

Position after 14.l:txe4

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44 ... .txh4!

Timman surprised Shirov with

A surprising "cudgel" found by the Swedish player, which enables him to centralise his king in decisive fashion so that the black passed pawns turn into an insoluble prob lem for Alexei.

It is not known whether the then ten-year old H i karu was aware of Shi rov's elegant solution to a "simple positional problem" against Veselin Topalov. In any case we can assume that Nakamura too is continu ously mentally filing away such examples from tournament praxis and above all from his own games, so as to find the correct tactical idea. The fact that he plays innumerable bullet and blitz chess games will unquestionably help him to establish himself as a genuine tactical pro. And it can be qu ite simple motifs which lead to a tactical solution , as the next two examples demonstrate ....

As for Fritz, it finds the text move quite quickly, but it takes some time to evaluate it and further moves so as to see behind the horizon of the bishop sacrifice - but to the best of our knowledge , fortunately things continue like that i n human chess too... 45.�xh4
14.. . .th3!.

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The tactical pro

1 03

H . Nakamura D. Navara Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 20 1 2

B. Gelfand H . Nakamura Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 2

-

-

Position after 24 hS? ...

I n this case the motif is pawn promotion and Boris Gelfand , the 201 2 challenger for the chess crown , made it extremely simple for H i karu notch up the point with his final mistake 35. .l:tc6-c2??. Next came 35 . .l:Ie4d4, and White immediately resigned. .

As Martin Brautigam poi nted out in his chess col umn in Tagesspiegel (291h Janu ary 20 1 2) , after this little sidestep there is no longer any sensible way to parry the powerful th reat of 36 . . . l:!. d 1 +, e.g. 36. 'iii>e2 l:td 1 ! 37. l:.xd 1 !bd 1 38. %:.cB+ 'iii> g 7 39 . .l:.fB l:!. e1 + 40. 'iii> d3 f1 W 4 1 . l:.xf1 l:txf1 42. 'iii>x e3 .l:. h 1 43.h4 l::t h 2 and then .. J ixa2 with an easy win. One round previously Hikaru gave him self the chance of a typical knight sacrifice against David Navara, and in such cases the chess samu rai is merciless!

You r fi rst glance at the diagram will probably have convinced you that moving the black h-pawn two squares forward cannot be a good idea here. Of cou rse a tactical pro like Nakamu ra does not miss such opportunities, especially since all his major pieces are al ready directed at the weak point f7. Now all he has to do is divert the black queen . . . 25.tt:'ixh5+! Like it or not, Black must now take the cheeky steed with his queen, because otherwise everything falls apart. But even then there is no way to ward off the terrible fate which awaits h i m . 2 5 'ifxh5 2 6 . .l:.xf7+ .l:.xf7 27.l:.xf7+ 'iii> h 6 28.'ii'f4+ g5 29.'ii'f6+ 'ilkg6 30.'iff1 'Wh5 31 Jbb7 c4 32. 'iff6+ 'ifg6 33. 'ii'x d8 'ifb1 + 34.�2 .••

Black resigned.

1 04

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Chapter 4

"Chess is 99% tactics!'', was the bon mot of Richard Teichmann ( 1 868-1 925) , who was in fact peacefully inclined. The Ger man chess master may only have won a single important tou rnament,4 but he was very difficult to beat. The frequent fifth place finishes which enabled him to win the last prize earned him the n ickname "Rich ard V". But since you, dear reader, are of cou rse not worried about mere prize money but wish to play chess successfully, we can at once reassu re you that tactics do not have to remain in any way top secret. The key to success is diligent train i ng. You will find more than enough exercises in the relevant books and treatises. And in order to acqu i re tactical finesses, composed studies are particularly usefu l . B u t o f cou rse there is nothing better than your own games ... You should simply look over those from the last three years for tactical models and motifs and then store these in a card i ndex, or even better with the help of a computer. J ust by carrying out these "post-mortems" within a short time

you will clearly improve you r tactical abil ity and also the results you obtain in your games. In paral lel with this you should of cou rse soak up h i nts from the games of the top players. So we shall offer you fou r positions of H i karu Nakamura's; their level of diffi culty varies and they all come from a single decade. To make it somewhat simpler for you , there is a code word in each o f t h e head ings - as was the case in the endgame test - and it gives you a practical hi nt. In addition , try to simulate real match conditions, so use a chess clock (even an alarm clock will suffice! ) , set yourself a time limit and only then start to solve the task. And something else: on no account must you move the pieces about aimlessly. Even in training the "touch-move" ru le applies. Finally, you absolutely m ust write down what you thought, because you will notice how this method - which stores important thoughts i n your sub-conscious - will improve your ability in a lasting fashion. But now, at last, it is your move!

4 The event in question was the second Karlsbad Tournament of 1 91 1 . By a margin of one point, Richard Teichmann relegated to second and third places Carl Schlechter and Akiba Rubinstein, both of whom he also defeated. He was also victorious over Aaron Nimzowitsch (6th) and the 1 8-year-old Alexander Alekhine (8th).

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1 05

1P z0GE - TACTICS TEST

ZWISCHEN

Pinning

Clearance

.

A. Karpov - H. Nakamura CCAS Trophee, Cap d'Agde 2008

H . Nakamura B. Miller Bermuda Open , Southampton 2003 -

a

How did Hikaru beat ex-world champion Karpov?

..

Intermediate move

b

c

d

e

l

g

h

{]>

How did Hikaru punish 1 2 ... lbf5xd4?

..

Exposed king

H. Nakam ura - K. Lie Gjovik Aker CC [rapid] , Gjovik 2009

H. Nakamura - D. Fridman Canarias en Red [blitz], playchess.com 2004

Has Hikaru anything better than 34Jba1 ?

How did Hikaru exploit the exposed state of the king?

1 06

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Chapter 5

Wijk aan Zee Friday, 21 st January 201 1 , Round 6

W achieving greater glory. For a good two weeks they have the chance to make a

ijk aan Zee offers the best up-and-coming Dutch players a unique platform for

name for themselves by outstanding performances against world-class players from abroad , so long as they are amongst the "royalty" of G roup A. This year, in the form of Anish G i ri and the two 25-year- olds, Jan Smeets and Erwin L'Ami, the hosts have come up with a trio of young chess "musketeers" . To be sure , there are always high expectations which have to be met. Looking ahead , as far as the final results are concerned , only Anish G i ri will be able to feel fully satisfied - and not only because he catches Magnus Carlsen on the "wrong foot" and infl icts a stinging defeat on him. For L'Ami (Elo 2638) , who meets Nakamura in round 6, and Smeets (Elo 2662) wil l finish with 4Y2 each in places 1 2 and 1 3. Only Alexei Shi rov, who is completely out of form , will score half a point less and thus earn the "wooden spoon" for coming in last. The fact that Erwin L'Ami, who in 2009/20 1 O was in Vesel i n Topalov's team of seconds - including for the World Championship match against Viswanathan Anand - performs less wel l than expected , might be traced back to the fact that he is simply trying too hard , and frequently leaves the board empty-handed because he will not manage to win any of his 1 3 games . . .

GAME 2 9 E. L' Ami

-

H . Nakamura

Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wij k aan Zee 20 1 1 Nimzo-lndian Defence [E32] Light-square strategy

How do you set out a game against a clearly weaker opponent - and especially with Black? Wel l , if necessary a cat can sit for hours in front of a mouse-hole waiting for the correct moment to catch its prey with a single bou nd, and to hang on to it mercilessly with its claws before killing it with a final bite.

I n the present game Nakamu ra has to deal with the popu lar 4.'ii'c 2 system . The idea behind this system "consists in avoiding doubled pawns in the event of an exchange on c3 and exerting active influence on the e4-square, around which the struggle in the Nimzo-l ndian Defence is often conducted. But the system also has its problems. The early development of the queen slows down the mobilisation of the minor pieces , and in addition its position on the c-fi le is frequently insecu re. In some variations it also becomes notable that the d4-pawn is unprotected", is how Mark Taimanov ex plai ned the characteristics of the opening and the action plans which are derived

Wijk aan Zee

from it. 1 However, the pawn sacrifice 6 .. . b5! ?, which Nakamu ra comes up with two moves later, was u nknown till then.2 The American started from the point of view that L' Ami would not be wanting to take any risks after his catastrophic defeat at the hands of Carlsen on the previous day. Ne vertheless, i n his own words, he himself did not harbour any ambitions of winning either. 1 .d4 ltJf6 2.c4 e6 3.ltJc3 i.b4 4.'ifc2 0-0 5.a3 i.xc3+ 6.'ifxc3 b5 ! ? A popular pawn sacrifice a t t h e top level. White has still not found a favou rable way to hang on to the gambit pawn indefinitely and so he often chooses the advantage of the bishop pai r, as L'Ami did in the present game. 7.cxb5 c6 8.i.g5 cxb5 9.e3 i.b7 1 0.ltJf3 h6 1 1 .i.h4 a6 1 2.i.d3 d6 1 3.0-0 ltJbd7 1 4.Il.fc1 "ii' b 6

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1 07

ltJf6 2 1 .ltJd2 :tea White had only a very slight advantage in the encounter Wang Yue - Mamedyarov, Baku 2008. 1 5 ... .l:.fcS 1 6.'ii'x b6 ltJxb6 1 7.i.g3? This is probably a key position i n this game. Nakamu ra offered a draw before White's move, but his opponent declined. "He felt we should play on , and, wel l , somehow I ended up winning," t h e Ameri can said after the game. As we shall see, now in fact it is Black who gains an enduring advantage. On the other hand, 1 7. ltJd2 is slightly better for White. 1 7 ... .l:.xc1 + 1 8 . .l:.xc1 .:tea 1 9.lbca+ ltJxc8 20.h3 ltJe4 21 . .th2 'it>f8 22.ltJe1 ? ! Relieving t h e pressu re with 22.i. xe4 i. xe4 23.ltJ d2 is preferable. 22 ... ltJd2 23.f3 f5! Black's strategy on the light sq uares is now very effective. 24.ltJc2 'it>e7 25.'it>f2 ltJb6 26.'it>e2 ltJb3 27.ltJb4 ltJa5 28.i.c2 ltJac4 29.ltJd3 a5 30.i.g3 ltJd5 31 .i.f2 g5

1 5.'ifc7 After 1 5.i. g3 ltJ h5 1 6.'it'c7 ltJxg3 1 7.Wxd? ltJ hS 1 8."ii'c 7 'ii'xc7 1 9.l::t xc? l:t ab8 20.l:r.ac1 1

2

M. Taimanov, Nimzowitsch·lndisch, Moderne Eroftnungstheorie Bd. 1 2 , Sportverlag Berlin 1 983, p. 1 32 6 b5!? was successfully introduced into tournament prax is by Alv is V itolins in a preliminary round of the Russian Championship in 1 982 in Severodonetsk aga inst Vilctor Gavrikov. . . .

1 08

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Chapter 5

32.g4? ! This was the Dutch player's final opportu n ity to apply the brakes with 32 ..t b3 a4 33 . .txc4, e.g. 33...bxc4 34.tll e 1 .t a6 35.'it>d2 c3+ 36.bxc3 tllb 6 37.c4 tl\xc4+ 38.'it>c3 tl:\xa3 39.'it> b4 tllb 1 40.'it> xa4 tllc 3+ 4 1 .'it> b3 tlld 5 42.h4, and White should be able to hang on. G randmaster Ian Rogers later remarked : "At the start of the endgame Nakamu ra offered a draw, since he had respect for the opposing bishop pai r. White relied on the said pai r and declined the offer, but in what followed he made no progress, whereas Nakamu ra u nobtrusively brought his pawns into position." 3

which Black wil l i nvade. 35.d5! was his final chance to perhaps reach a safe haven : 3 5...tlld 7 3 6..t d4 exd5 37.exd5 .txd5 38.tllb 4 .t g2 39.'it>f2 .t b7 (after 39....txh3? 40.'it> g3 .tf1 4 1 .'it>f2 the king can pursue the bishop eternally) 40 ..tfS, and thanks to his active bishops White certainly does not yet have to give in. 35 .te4 36.exd&+ 'it>xd6 37 . .tg3+ •..

32 ... a4! Touching on a pai nful spot. ''The main threat is 33...b4! 34..txa4 (34.axb4 tllx b2! 35.tllx b2 a3) 34 ...tllx b2!", again according to Rogers. 33.e4 fxe4 34.fxe4 tll d b6 37 ... 'it>e7! Nakamura cleverly hides his king. On the other hand, 37 ...'it> d5? would be a mistake because Black then runs straight into a perpetual check: 38.tllb4+ 'it>xd4 39 . .tf2+ 'it> e5 40 ..t g3+ 'it> d4 41 ..1'.f2+. 38.'it>d1 ? This loses on the spot, but the white position could hardly be saved, as is shown by the variations 38 ..t es tlld 5 39.'it> e 1 tllde3 4 0..t b1 tl:\xe5 41 .dxe5 tllc4 and 38 ..1'. b8 tlld 5 39. .t a7 .t xd3+ 40.'it>xd3 tllx b2+. 35.eS?

•••

White's play is very na"ive. L'Ami now opens up the light-squared routes along 3 Schach-Magazin

38 .txd3 39 .txd3 tll x b2+ 40.'it>e2 The curtain also falls after 40.'it> c2 tll2 c4 41 . .t e4 tl:\xa3+ 42.'it>c3 tlld 5+ 43..t xd5

64, March 201 1 , p.6.

•

�

Wijk aan Zee

1 09

exdS 44.'iti b4 �c2+ 45.'itic3 � e3 . . . 40 ... � dS 4 1 . .i.e4 �c3+ 42.@fa b4 43 . .te1 The finish of this game i nspired Dr. Helmut Pfleger to set an exercise i n his weekly chess column for DIE ZEIT (magazine supplement 26.4.201 1 ). His question to his readers was: "With which fine move did Nakamu ra as Black demonstrate the pow erlessness of the bishop pai r compared to the caval ry, leaving one of his queenside pawns to make the running?" (see next diagram) 43 ... � bd1 ! That is what it is really all about, since after 44.axb4 a3 the black rook pawn runs through, whilst 44 . .t xc3 �xc3 45 . .t d3 bxa3 46 . .t xc4 a2 47 . .t xa2 � xa2 costs the bishop, and the remaining a-pawn decides the day. Wh ite resigned.

What is interesting about this victory for Nakamu ra is that it is not in fact easy to point to any particular mistake which cost his opponent the game. But it is clear that Erwin L' Ami spoiled his position with his superficial play between moves 20 and 30, and that is also proof of the growing class of the American , his ability to lead his opponent astray and finish him off i n the most refined manner.

No victory without a struggle I n Bobby Fischer 's footsteps

-

"I keep fighting as long as my opponent can go wrong. " Dr. Emanuel Lasker "I do not want you to tell me who I should be. I have the freedom to be anyone I want to be. "

M uhammad Ali good story is always one which catches us by surprise . It was 3 1 51 December 1 997, a Wednesday. In the venerable Marshall Chess Club, a two-storey building on 23 West 1 01h Street New York, chess was of cou rse being played on that New Year's Eve. The main focus of interest was a game between H i karu Nakamu ra with a USCF rating of 201 9

A

1 10

�

Chapter 5

and the experienced 42-year-old I nterna tional Master Jay Bonin. Things should have been clear. But, though j ust ten years old, the boy surprisingly decided the game in his favour with his 361h move, after being in a clearly worse position. I n so doing, on this last day of the year he went into the record books as the youngest US chess player to defeat an i nternational master.

GAME 30 H. Nakamura

J. Bonin New York 1 997 French Defence [C02] -

1 .e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.es cs 4.c3 'ii'b6 s.tbf3 .i.d7 6 .i.e2 .tbs 7.c4 .i.xc4 8 . .txc4 dxc4 9.dS exdS 1 0.'i'xdS tbe7 1 1 .'ii'xc4 'i!Va6 1 2.tba3 'i!Vxc4 1 3.tbxc4 lDfS •

1 4.a4 A novelty compared with the earlier 1 4. i..f4 tbc6 1 5.0-0-0 tbfd4 1 6.: h e 1 ?! i.. e 7 1 7.tbd6+ i.. x d6 1 8.exd6+ d7 1 9. tbe5+ tbxe5 20..t xe5 tbe6 21 ..i. xg7 l:.hg8 22 . .tes : xg2 23 ..t g3 f5 24.:xe6 xe6 2s.: e 1 + d5?! (afte r 25 ...d7 26. l1 e7+ 'itic6

27.l:lc7+ b6 Black could play for a win) 26 ..l:.d 1 + c6 27.d7 f4 (after 27 ...lixg3 28.fxg3 l:.d8 there is nothing on) 28 ..i. h4 :xh2 29.dB'ii' :xd8 30 ..txdB l1xf2 31 ..l:r. h 1 f3 3 2..i. h4 .i::r.e 2 3 3..:r.f1 .l:.e4 34 ..t f2 Y2-%, Weeramantry-Bon i n , Philadelphia 1 992. 1 4 tbc6 1 S.O-O h6?! 1 5 ....i. e7 is more accu rate. ••.

1 6.i.. e 3? ! 1 6.l:.d 1 .i. e7 1 7.b3 .l:ld8 1 8 ..i. b2 would have made Black's development consider ably more difficult. 1 6 0-0-0 1 7.:ad1 .te7 1 8.g4 tbfd4 The alternative for Black was to exchange with 1 8 ...:xd 1 !? 1 9.:xd 1 tbxe3 20.tbxe3 l:ld8 and then to take over the initiative with his queenside pawn majority. .•.

1 9 . .i.xd4 cxd4 20.lDfd2 hS

21 .gxhS? After this the white pawns are badly split up, and what will probably be more impor tant is the fact that H i karu's king is rather exposed. The active 2 1 .tbe4! ?, intending to reply to 2 1 ...hxg4 with 22.tbed6+ i.. x d6 23.tbxd6+ :xd6 24.exd6 d7 25.f3, prom ised White more counterplay. 21 ... .1:.xhS 22.f4

No victory without a struggle

-

In Bobby Fischer's footsteps

ct::'i

111

.l:!.xd3 36.h4 'it> b6 37.b4 a5) 33 ... h 1 d3 28.b3 tlles 29.tll b 2? This retreat is too passive. The rook ending after 29. l:tf4
35 ... .l:!.fd4?? Probably in extreme time-trouble, Boni n now loses t h e th read in t h e confusion over the pin. After 35 . . . @d7 36.l:t df1 lll x d2 37 . .l:!. xf4 lll x f1 38 . .l:!. xf1 .l:!.xb3, on the other hand, the rook ending should finish as a draw. 36 . .l:!.c1 + Black resigned.

32 ... lllf3? Bonin's fi rst step down the wrong path. After 32 ... .l:!. gd4, on the other hand , Black could retain good chances of a win, e.g. 33. @ g2 (33 . h3 'iil> c 7 34.'iil>g 2 tlld 3 35.tllx d3

Compared to Robert James Fischer at a comparable age , Nakamu ra did not have the same sort of success. When the latter was twelve, he took part in the US Amateur Championship (Lake Mohegan , New York). This tournament included his fi rst recorded game; in it Bobby conceded a d raw with

11 2

w

Chapter 5

Black to a certain Albert Humphrey, al though he was clearly better. It was a King's I ndian! A. Humphrey - R. J . Fischer U S Amateur Championship, Lake Mohegan , New York 1 955 King's Indian Defence [E90] 1 .d4 4Jf6 2.c4 g6 3.4Jc3 i.g7 4.4Jf3 0--0 s.e4 d6 6.h3 4Jbd7 7.i.e3 es 8.ds as 9.i.e2 b6 1 0.0--0 4Je8 1 1 .'ii'c 2 ltJcs 1 2.liJh2 fS 1 3.f3 f4 1 4.i.f2 'ii'g S 1 S.�h 1 i.d7 1 6 . .l:.g1 4Jf6 1 7.g4? fxg3 1 8 .l:.xg3 'ii' h 6 1 9.4Jd1 ? liJhS 20.:g1 .txh3 21 .i.e3 4Jf4 22.4Jf2 i.f6 23 . .l:.g3 i.d7 24.4Jfg4 i.xg4 2S .l:.xg4 'ii'g 7 26 . .l:.ag1 .te7 27. 'ii'd 2 l:.f7 28.111 g3? •

•

Fischer's performance in the US Junior Championship, which fol lowed in July in Lincoln , Nebraska, also did not arouse any suspicion that fou r years later Bobby would qualify for the Candidates Tou rnament for the world championship. 20th place out of 25 participants with 5/1 O ( +2 6 - 2) was rather modest, as was his fi rst official national rating of 1 830. Hikaru , on the other hand, after his New Year's Eve victory in 1 997 over Jay Bon in, who is still an active player, once agai n hit the headlines on 5 th April. At the age of ten years and 1 1 7 days he defeated Arthur Bisguier (born 1 929) and till this day he remains the youngest American chess player to have taken the scalp of a grand master.4 In the May issue of the magazine Chess Life there is a photo on the cover of the boy with the headline: "Hikaru Nakamura the Youngest Master Ever!" =

GAME 31 A. Bisguier - H. Nakamura Somerset ACN Action Swiss, New Jersey 1 998 King's Indian Defence [E70] 28 ... .l:.af8? ! Here Black has no problems winning after 28...h5! 29.:xf4 exf4 30.i. xf4 i. f6. 29.i.xf4 .l:.xf4 30 . .l:.h3 'iff7 31 . .l:.gg3 i.h4 32.l1g4 .tf2 33.i.d1 , and White offered a draw, which Black accepted.

4

1 .d4 4Jf6 2.c4 g6 3.4Jc3 i.g7 Even then the King's I ndian was H i karu's favourite opening. 4.e4 d6 s . .tgs 0--0 6.f4 cs 7.ds bS Hikaru chooses to transpose i nto the Volga Gambit.

Nakumura did not lose this US record till 29th September 2002 when it went to Fabiano Caruana, who at the age of 1 0 years and 6 1 days in a USCF tournament in the Marshall Chess Club defeated Grandmaster Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, who died on 1 4th July 2006 aged only 43. Caruana, who was born in Miami but has since played for Italy, joined the top 1 O of the world ranking list for the first time in March 201 2.

No victory without a struggle - In Bobby Fischer's footsteps

8.cxbS a6 9.bxa6 i.xa6 1 O.i.xa6 ll:ixa6 1 1 .lllf3 'iib 6 1 2.l!b1 ? ! The whole white set-up i s not quite right, but this finally goes too far. 1 2. 'ii'e2 is i ndicated. 1 2 ... c4 1 3.'ii'e2? ! l:tfc8? ! Somewhat slow. T h e d i rect 1 3 ... ll:i b4 1 4.ll:id2 ll:i d3+ 1 5.'ittf 1 'ii'd4 exerts more pressu re. 1 4.'iff2? 1 4.i. xf6 i. xf6 1 5.e5 i. g7 1 6. 'ii'f2 limits the damage. 1 4 ... ll:ics 1 s.� Bisguier castles i nto catastrophe, but it was already hard to advise anything better.

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113

was al ready 1 3. And also his ninth place with 4Y2 points from 1 1 games did not exactly create a storm of enthusiasm. He also lost his first meeting with the chess ''titan" Samuel Reshevsky. And yet that is the tou rnament in which the young Ameri can played ''the game of the century", as Hans Kmoch would call his game against I nternational Master Donald Byrne in Chess Review, a game marked by incredible clarity and brilliance.

D. Byrne - R. J. Fischer Rosenwald Trophy, New York1 956 Griinfeld Defence (097] 1 .lllf3 lllf6 2.c4 g6 3.ll:ic3 i.g7 4.d4 � 5.i.f4 dS 6.'iib3 dxc4 7.'ii'x c4 c6 8.e4 lll b d7 9.l!d1 ll:ib6 1 o. 'ifcs i.g4 1 1 .i.gs?

1 5 ... ll:ig4! With his killer instinct H i karu does not miss this: 1 6.'iie2 ll:ixe4+ 1 7.'itt h 1 ll:igf2+ 1 8.'ittg 1 lll h 3+ 1 9.'itt h 1 ll:ief2+ 20.l!xf2 lll xf2+ 21 .'ittg 1 ll:ie4+ Wh ite resigned. As for Robert James Fischer, he lost his fi rst encounter with the American chess legend Arth u r Bisguier at the Rosenwald Trophy in October 1 956 in New York - he

11 ... llla 4! ! This hammer blow lays bare th ree weak nesses in White's set-up: the insecure position of his king, the weak pawn on e4 and the vulnerable bishop on g5. Perhaps at this point the game is al ready essentially lost; i n any case Donald Byrne's position is more than suspect... 1 2.'iifa 3 ll:ixc3 1 3.bxc3 ll:ixe4 1 4.i.xe7 'ii'b6 1 5.i.c4 ll:ixc3 1 6.i.cs l:.fe8+ 1 7. 'ittf 1

1 14

�

Chapter 5

1 7 ... i.e6 ! ! " I t is well known that in a tactical struggle Fischer usually strives to refute his oppo nent's ideas with interposed moves", was the comment of Yu ry Averbakh , who recalled the impression the game had made on him at the time: "After looking at it I was con vinced that the boy was devilishly talented .'75 1 8.i.xb6 i.xc4+ 1 9.�g1 lL!e2+ 20.�f1 lL!xd4+ 21 .�g1 lL!e2+ 22.�f1 lL!c3+ 23.�g1 axb6 24.'ii'b4 .l:.a4 25.'ii'xb6 lL!xd 1 26.h3 :xa2 27.�h2 lLlxf2 28 . .l:.e1 .l:.xe1 29. 'ii'd 8+ i.f8 30.lL!xe1 i.dS 31 .lL!f3 lL!e4 32.'ii'b S bS 33.h4 hS 34.lL!es �g7 35.�g1 1'.cS+ 36.�f1 lL!g3+ 37.�e1 i.b4+ 38.�d1 i.b3+ 39. �c1 lL!e2+ 40.�b1 lL!c3+ 41 . �c1 .l:.c2 mate. Actually, the only astonishing thing is that Fischer did not include it in his My 60 Me morable Games, although many years later he described it as the best game in his career. The following year 1957 saw the 12 decisive months in which Bobby embarked on one of the greatest chess careers of all times. At the turn of the year (17th Decem ber 1957 to 7th January 1958) he won the national championship undefeated with 10% points from 13 games and qualified for the fi rst time for an interzonal tou rnament, in which he shared 5th_5th places in late s

summer in Portoroz in Yugoslavia. He was then 15 and finally a grandmaster. H is designated successor, as Nakamu ra is seen by many and not only in the USA, in the strictest sense of the term earned his fi rst national title on his 17th bi rthday, on 5th December 2004 in San Diego, as can be seen from the dramatic last-round game against lldar l bragimov. He had to defeat the latter so as to reach the subsequent rapid play-off against Alexander Stripunsky, who was twice his age. However, he gave him no chance and won the title as wel l as the prize money of $25,000.

GAME 32 H. Nakamura I. lbragimov USA National Championship, San Diego 2004 French Defence [C02] -

1 .e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.es cs 4.c3 lL!c6 s.lL!f3 lL!ge7 6.lL!a3 cxd4 7.cxd4 lL!f5 8.lL!c2 'ii'b6 1 2.1'.d2 0-0 1 3.h4 f6! 1 4.g4 lL!fxd4!? 1 5.lL!cxd4 fxeS 1 6.lL!xc6 bxc6 1 7.i.c3 ! ? i.d6 1 8 ..l:. h 3 l:.ab8 1 9.i.d3 'fic7 20.lL!gS h6!? 21 .1'.h7 :ha 22.'ii'c2 .l:.f4 23.'ii'g 6?

Q uoted from Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors Part IV, Everyman 2004, pp.2 1 2/2 1 3

No victory without a struggl e

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"Nakamu ra is playing high-stakes poker, since after 23..t g8 @xg8 24.'ji't,7+ 'ifi>f8 25.'if hB+ @ e7 26.'ifxg7+ @ea he could not see a way to win"6 , wrote G randmaster Larry Christiansen. 23 Jlf6! ? 24.�f7+l::txf7 25.'ifxf7 @xh7 26.g5 .tee 27.g6+ @he 2e.1Wxc7 .txc7 29.h5 d4 30.l:lf3 �ge 31 .i.e1 c5 According to Christiansen, although White is the exchange up he is now objectively lost, since he stil l has to stop the powerful black pawn roller, "but he battles on undaunted". .•

4e a5?? Lev Psakhis, who annotated this decisive game in detail, attached two question marks to this move, because lbragimov gives away an easy win which would have been possible tor him after 48....t b5! 49.@f5 d3 50.@f6 i. a4! ! (but not 50...d2?? on account of 5 1 .g7+ @g8 52Jlxb5) 5 1 .l:. e7 e 1 'if 52.l::tx e1 d2.7 But now Nakamura's fighting spi rit reaps dividends . . . 49.@f3 a4 50.@f2 a3 51 .bxa3 b3 If 5 1 ...bxa3, then 52 . .l::ta5 is decisive. ..•

32.l::t c 1 .td6 33.l::t b3! ? l::tx b3 34.axb3 .tb5+ 35.@g2 @fe 36.f3! .td3 37 . .tg3 @e7 3e.b4!? cxb4 39.l:.ce e4! 40. Rge! i.xg3 41 .l::txg7+ @fe 42.l::tf7+ @ge 43.@xg3 e3 44.l::t d 7 e5 45.f4 exf4+ 46.@xf4 e2 47.l::te7 @fe 4e.l:.e5 The duel between rook and bishop rests on a knife edge and Black could now have tu rned things in his favour...

s

1

SCHA CH issue 1 /2005, p.52 Q uoted from CBM 1 45.

52.g7+! The decisive "stirring up of a hornet's nest'', which turns the tables in favour of White.

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52 @xg7 53.l:te7+ @f6 54.l:tb7 .ic4 After 54 . . . .ic2 there is a win with 55. @ xe2 . 55.l:.b4 .if7 55 . . . b2 56. l:.xb2 l:txb2 d3 57. @ e 1 is just as painful for Black. 56.a4 After 56. @xe2 lbragi mov could also have stopped the clocks. 56 d3 57 .as .i.xh5 57 . . . @ e5 58.a6 .i.xh5 59. b5+ @d4 60. l:lxh5, and White triumphs (L. Psakhis, CBM 1 45). 58.@e1 ! But not 58. l:t b6+? @e5! 59. l:t b5+ @ d4 60. l:txh5 b2 61 . l:t b5 @c3 62 .a6 @ c2 ! 63. l:xb2+! @xb2 64.a7 d2 65. @xe2 @c2 66.aB 'ilf d 1 'if+ 67. @12, and the point would have to be shared, like it or not (Psakhis) . 58 @es 59.a6! Precision is required right till the end! The greedy 59. l:tb5+? @ d4 60. l:txh5 fai ls to 60 . . . b2 61 . l::tb 5 @c3 62 .a6 @c2 63 J k5+ (63. lixb2+ @xb2 64. @ d2 e 1 'if+ 65. @xe 1 @c2 66 .a7 d2+ 67. @f2 d 1 'if 68.aB'ii' does not do anything to change the peaceful outcome) 63 . . . @c3 64J !b5+ @ c2 (Psakhis) . 59 ... .if3 60.a7 h5 61 Jlxb3 @d4 62.l:tbS h4 62 . . . .i. c6 is no alternative for Black on account of 63. @d2. 63.l:.d8+ @c3 63 . . . @ e3 64. l:te8+ .ie4 65. llxe4+ @xe4 66.aB 'if+, and Wh ite has achieved his goal . •..

•••

..•

64.l:tcS+ @d4 65.@d2 ! Strong prophylaxis. It was not too late to spoil all his efforts with 65.aB'if?? .i. xa8 66. l:txaa @ e3 and a draw. 65 h3 66.aS'if Black resigned. ..•

a

If one compares the development of the two at this point in time, it is clearly to the advantage of Robert James Fischer, and the question remains: can Hikaru really catch up this lead of almost th ree years, although experts such as New Yorker Larry Ch ristiansen testified that after this fi rst title win he also displayed matu rity away from the board . "He is characterised by a pheno menal feeling for tactics and his enormous powers of calculation . Together with im proved technique and rapidly growing theo retical knowledge he defin itely has the potential to develop into a 2700 player", was the judgement of the US grandmaster. 8 However, it should also not be overlooked that previously the US boy was one of the revelations in the FIDE World Champion ship in Tripoli in June/J uly 2004. "Motivation and self-discipline are highly developed in him", was what step-father Sunil Weera mantry then commented on the reasons for this explosion in his performance. 9 And the high-school student, who was being home educated by his mother, when asked about his futu re in chess said to Dirk Poldauf: "I wou ld like to reach a rating of above 2700 . Whether I will set out on a professional chess career depends on how far I can improve in the next few years. After all, I am only just sixteen." 1 0 Well, in any case Hikaru reached the last 1 6, when his fi rst ru n at the chess crown ended with his Y2-1 Y2 defeat in his mini match against Michael Adams. The Engl ish player, on the other hand, made it through to the final, where the outsider Rustam Kasi mdzhanov from Uzbekistan had the better of it by 4Y2-3Y2 . Luck also plays its

SCHACH , issue 1 /2005 , p.50. On the cover is: ,,Hikaru Nakamura auf den Spuren Fischers?" (Hikaru Nakamura in Fisher's footsteps?). e- 1 0 SCHACH , issue 8 /2004, pp.45/46


part! For both of these players this remains until the present day the best result of their chess career. But what obviously links Nakamu ra and Fischer at this point in time are their unbounded love of chess and their exem plary fighting qualities, as Hikaru logically follows the advice of his father: "Play, fight and never make short draws!" From time to time, however, this can provoke some displeasu re in an opponent. For example, in the B-tournament in Wij k aan Zee 2004 after his 122"d move H i karua with White reached the following dead drawn ending against the Chinese woman player Zhu Chen :

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Bent Larsen , who was then Fischer's second, had to analyse the latter's ad journed position against Pal Benko all through the night, although it was obviously drawn. But Bobby wanted at all costs to squeeze a win out of the rook ending with th ree pawns against two which would inevitably come about. It really was a case of love's labou r's lost... P. Benko - R. J. Fischer Candidates Tournament, 17th round, Zagreb 1959

H. Nakamura - Zhu Chen Corus-Festival (B), Wijk aan Zee 2004

52.g5! Benko reached his goal with this move: the pawns on the kingside disappear from the board , and the players reach the drawn ending of 3 v. 2 pawns on the queenside, which had been found in his night-time analysis by Larsen. But Fischer is after all Fischer, and so he played on ... The knight is known to be the king's best friend! But now another 60 moves were played , because , as Sunil Weeramantry sought to explain, his step-son had the feeling that his opponent would not choose the optimal defence. As for this will-to-win at almost any price, we have selected two examples involving Bobby Fischer. The first comes from the Candidates Tou rnament of 1959, in which

52 ...fxg5 53.e7 :he 54 .:r.t5 g4 55 ..:r.g5+ rl;f7 56.l:xg4 rl;xe7 57 . .:r.g7+ 'it>d6 58 . .:r.g6+ rl;c7 59.rl;ca �b7 6o.:t6 'it>a6 61 . .:r.g6 l:.h3+ 62.rl;b2 a4 63.bxa4 'it>a5 64 ..:r.f6, and Fischer accepted the draw. •

His tortu ring of Canadian Daniel Abraham Yanofsky at the l nterzonal Tou rnament of 1962 was even more merciless, until after Fischer's move 1 02 ... li)f5?! (102...li)c 4

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1 03.:c2 lbe5 is much more powerfu l ! ) , his opponent made a decisive mistake: D. A. Yanofsky R. J. Fischer l nterzonal Tou rnament, round 1 2, Stockholm 1962 -

If White wants to retain real chances of a draw, he must now play 1 03..i. e4, since the black knight cannot simply go to d4. 1 03.:b2? :a1 1 04.:b4 :a2+ 1 05.@e1 @g3 1 os.:b3+ lbe3 1 01 .i.e4 @h2 1 oa.:b4 lbxg2+ 1 09 . .i.xg2 @xg2 1 1 OJ:txf4 g3 1 1 1 .llg4 @f3 1 1 2.:ga :a1 +, and White resigned. As for the Stockholm l nterzonal Tou rna ment (27th January till 5 th March 1962) , Robert James Fischer then wrote a piece of chess history. With his 2¥2 points lead ( 1 7¥2 out of 22, including 1 3 wins and no defeats!) the "prodigy from Brooklyn" proved his absolute world class three days before his 19th bi rthday and qualified for the second time in succession for the Candidates Tour nament. "At last a chess player appeared in the West who broke through the magic circle of Russian grandmasters and won an important international tournamenf', was what Garry Kasparov quoted from a news•

paper. 1 1 And yet Robert James Fischer, who played every game with total dedication , and not just those which had led to his greatest success so far in the Swedish capital , would need more than a decade to make it to the title of world champion. Hikaru's appearance 49 years later in Wijk aan Zee reminds us of Fischer's performance in Stockholm - with just one difference. Nakamu ra, the new hope of American chess, was al ready 23, four years older than his former idol. What is typical for both of them on their way to the world peak is that they basically managed to do so without a coach, which , however, is a normal occu rrence in the peripheral sport that chess is in the USA. Whenever German A-trainer Bernd Rosen complains in the magazine Jugendschach that he was only able to give ten-minute phone cal ls to prepare his 1 7-year-old protege Jens Kotainy for the next round in the German Championships in March 2002 - "he would then have to do the specific preparation on his own" 1 2 - this would not have provoked a wry smile from Robert James Fischer, but rather a total lack of comprehension . For example, for the "Match of the century" in Reykjavi k his chess preparation was largely done on his own . Only Larry Evans had some input. What became famous was his "red book" contain ing all the games which Boris Spassky had played until then . The Soviets, on the other hand, in preparation for the historic World Championship match set up a consultative committee, with as members ex-world champions Botvinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian and Tai as well as grandmasters Averbakh , Korchnoi, Keres and Kotov. I n addition, the

11 Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors Part IV, Everyman 2004 , p.29 1 . 1 2 Quoted from Jugendschach 05/20 1 2, p.4


leading players i n the country were required to send in a written evaluation of Fischer's playing style. They used all possible means to prevent the American from conquering the chess crown. However, the fact that such efforts were made was above all rela ted to the fact that chess was then a con tinuation of the "Cold War" by other means. Since the 1 990s much has changed as far as the political climate is concerned. And that is the only reason why it was possible for Hikaru Nakamu ra to start serious coop eration with Garry Kasparov (which lasted barely a year) in the greatest of secrecy, immediately before the tournament in Wijk aan Zee in 201 1 . I n an exclusive interview with Macauley Peterson , Hikaru spoke for the fi rst time about the fi rst nine months of this unusual cooperation . If you read between the lines, you gain a sense of the tense relationship between the teacher and his student. "I think one of the big differences between Garry and myself is that he views chess sort of like , you have to find the best move, period . There's no room for taking chances. Whereas I think I'm a l ittle bit more practical, where there's some openings or certain ideas which, objectively, they might not be the absol ute best ideas, but it's sort of where if you play it - if you r opponent finds the absol ute best moves - sure it's equal , it'll probably be a draw. But if they don't you probably will get an advantage. I think at the end of the day what matters is that it is my decision - I'm the one playing the game - if the result is good and I 've found the right moves and I 've played well , generally there's not a problem . . . " reflected Nakamura, who self-critically admits that at

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the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund in July 201 1 for example, in the fi rst game against Vladimir Kramnik he followed an idea which finally backfired . "Kramnik found a viable way to master the problems, and I gave the game away. Kasparov knew that things were level, but - although it sounds somewhat pessimistic - nowadays games are won by mistakes on the part of your opponent. If, on the other hand, he keeps on finding the correct moves with the correct ideas, then you won't be able to win - things are as simple as that." 1 3 It is also very interesting to hear Naka mura's opi nions about his second of many years, Kris Littlejohn, who extremely sud denly found himself in a complicated and tense situation : "I noticed with Kris gener ally his thought process - the opening ideas he came up with - tended to be on par with Garry. In fact I actually found that he reached the same concl usion , only a l ittle bit quicker [at least with regard to overall opening choice, if not a specific variation - M . P.]. That, maybe more than anything, sort of con vinced me that I should keep Kris on, be cause it shows that he's not completely out in the woods. He knows what he is doing. If Kris cou ld actually remember what he pre pares, he would easily be a GM - probably a weak G M , but I think he would be a G M . His problems are not coming up with ideas or being able to play them. His problems are that he can't actually remember what he pre pares. I just feel having a second set of eyes -having someone who I trust- trying to come up with these l ittle extra ideas and refine it is stil l very helpfu l . Garry can give me the ideas but Garry's not able to put in the same sort of work that Kris is able to do for me." 1 4

1 3- 1 4 Quoted from the interview by Macauley Peterson with Hikaru Nakamura, w hich was included by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam in his article "The Spirit of Saint Louis" in New in Chess 7/201 1 , pp. 1 0-1 7.

1 20

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Chapter 5

It comes as no su rprise that this partner ship of convenience with Kasparov broke up during the Tai Memorial in Moscow in November 201 1 . The diametrically opposed opinions were almost bound to cause i rreconcilable tension between the 48-year old ex-world champion and the young American of half his age . When one gets down to it, these reflect also a conflict between generations - authoritarian behav iour on one side and on the other the exuberance of youth which does not take things over-seriously, which wants to test itself and to take its own decisions . . . At the 3 rd London Chess Classic in December 20 1 1 on chessbase.com Naka mura made the fol lowing comments about the end of his cooperation with Garry Kasparov: "No, like I said, his strength was in openings. You look at middlegames or endgames and I'm quite convi nced there are other players who are better than he was, but he was able to get advantages out of the openings so that was his main strength , and when he wasn't able to do that, that's why he lost his title to Kramnik." 1 5 But when some time had passed Hikaru's summing up became more objective and more accu rate : " It's just very difficult to perform when you have someone who is very demanding and really everything you do is never good enough. You don't get the pat on the back, instead you have that 800-pound gorilla, to use the American expression , who is just hanging on you r back . . . Kris and I commu nicate very wel l and are very much in sync, whereas with Garry I feel we were never really on the same page." 1 6 1 s Quoted from SCHACH 1 /20 1 2 , 1 s New in Chess 1 /201 2 , p. 1 1 .

1 7- 1 e www.chesspro.ru.

Finally, concerning his work with Garry Kasparov, it is interesting to hear what the No. 1 in the world ran king list, Magnus Carlsen, has to say, based on his own experience. After the Tai Memorial 20 1 1 he said in an interview: "He helped me to better understand a whole series of types of positions. It was clear that he knew a lot more than I did . . . It was sometimes difficult to keep up with the speed and depth of his analysis, but we were mostly on the same wavelength. What can I say: it was a unique experience for me." 1 7 And there are also Carlsen's comments on the end of his cooperation with the ex world champion , whom he considers a fantastic chess player - "I have never seen anyone who has such a marked feeling for the dynamics of complex positions . . . " which are tel ling: "Everything has its time . . . Kasparov and I separated o n completely friendly terms without anyone having to feel he was being attacked , I believe that it was also interesting for him. ( . . . ) Nobody knows what would have happened if we had continued to work together. From today's point of view I consider that bringing the work to an end was the correct step." 1 8 As al ready mentioned, Robert James Fischer never had a strong partner by his side. In the impressive documentary film Bobby Fischer against the World by the American fil m-maker Liz Garbus he says at one point in an interview why that was the case: "Chess is my other self!" That explains everything ... It was only for the 1 972 World Champion ship match that Bobby actually had a personal second in Will iam Lombardy. But

p.30.

Quoted from the German language summary at the end of 20 1 1 .


the former ju nior world champion of 1 957 was more probably a psychological move in the thri ller that was Reykjavik. Lombardy not only shone in the Students World Championship of 1 960 in Leningrad , where he scored 1 2/1 3 on fi rst board , but he also defeated Boris Spassky, which Bobby Fischer had not yet managed to do. I n the adjou rned and highly dramatic 1 3th game, in which Spassky was a pawn down but was exerting strong pressure, there was a disagreement between Fischer and Lom bardy. The second was more or less sacked, and Lubomir Kavalek taken on during the night by telephone. "When I was reporti ng on the 1 972 World Championship match in Reykjavik, I went bowling with Bobby. He drove me in his inimitable drivi ng style to the bowling al ley which was 60 km. away. Because he drove incredibly slowly we took almost two hours to get there. That evening I suggested to him that he could phone me if he required help in the analysis of his adjou rned games" , wrote Kavalek about his surprising cooperation with Robert James Fischer. 1 9 There are also common factors in the playi ng style of Fischer and Nakamu ra, who are both characterised by an extremely self assu red appearance. The greatest of these is that they both hate defensive positions and show great skill in hanging on to the initiative , and, when possible, play in uncompromising style for an attack. Th us, for example, in their games with Black they give preference to the Sicil ian and the King's I ndian Defence. These two excep tional players certainly differ, in that in his heyday the eleventh chess world champion played endings al most unerringly, and in 19 KARL 1 /20 1 2 , p.40. 20 Quoted from Garry Kasparov,

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every phase of the game he always evaluated the situation totally rationally. There is sti ll someth ing of the hidden romantic in Nakamura, who can then also fai l brilliantly with the motto "al l or nothing" on his lips, without however falling apart. It should also be mentioned that Robert James Fischer was a fantastic blitz player as is Hikaru (see Chapter 8) . Thus in June 1 958 the 1 5-year-old Bobby travel led with his sister Joan to Moscow, where he went to the Central Chess Club in Gogol Bou levard, to play bl itz there from morning till night for two whole weeks. The training match against World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, who pol itely declined, never happened. Twelve years later, the more matu re Ameri can pretender to the World Championship throne showed that he was in a class of his own in the fi rst unofficial blitz world champi onship in Herceg Novi on 9t h April 1 970 in a double round-robin. H is 1 9 points from 22 games left second-placed ex-world cham pion Mikhail Tai trailing by 4Y2 points; he lost only one single game agai nst Viktor Korchnoi , who took 3rd place. As for the quality of Bobby's games, let us give the word to ex-world champion Tigran Petrosian : "In my opinion , Fischer plays bl itz in the same manner as in serious games: qu ickly, confidently and practically faultlessly. During the entire tou rnament he didn't leave a single pawn en prise! And at the same time we blundered knights and bishops galore. Fischer avoided tactical complications, but in some games he employed theoretical novelties, which a more cautious player would have kept for serious events."20 It is very difficult to compare the playing

My Great Predecessors Part IV, Ev eryman 2004, p.343.

1 22

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Chapter 5

strengths of Robert James Fischer and H i karu Nakamura. As is wel l known , the eleventh world champion played a dominat ing role between 1 970 and 1 972, that is fou r decades ago. If w e take t h e E l o rating a s a n objective criterion, in 1 971 Fischer headed the very fi rst FIDE world rating l ist of the top 1 00 with a rating of 2760, followed at a clear distance by Boris Spassky (2690) who in turn was ahead of Viktor Korchnoi (2670) . I n the following year Bobby reached his highest Elo rating of 2785, followed by ex world champion Spassky (2660) and Tlgran Petrosian (2645). From 1 973 till 1 975 the eleventh world champion also sat in sol itary splendou r on 2780, clearly ahead of his new and immediate pursuer Anatoly Karpov, who was worki ng his way up via 2660, 2700 and then 2705. Hikaru Nakamura, who on 1 st July 201 2 was rated 7 th in the world, reached his highest Elo rating of 2778, which math ematically may be only 7 points behind Fischer's career best, but in his day the latter was the only champion to break through the 2700 barrier, whereas nowa days there are 45 players who have done so, including Magnus Carlsen (2837) and Levon Aronian (28 1 6), who have even broken the sound barrier of 2800. Such inflation of performances was not foreseen when Elo ratings were introduced . One compromise would be to measure the ratings in relation to the very fi rst l ist of 1 97 1 , in order to indicate actual ratings by means of a simple calculation. The top 1 O in such an "eternal ratings l ist" would then come in the following order: 1 . Robert 2 1 See http://caissa. i nfo

James Fischer 2787, 2. Garry Kasparov 2759, 3. Anatoly Karpov 2722 , 4. Mikhail Tai 2700, 5. Viswanathan Anand 2699, 6. Vladimir Kramnik 2699, 7. Viktor Korchnoi 2692, 8. Boris Spassky 2690, 9. Veselin Topalov 2683, 1 0. Vassily lvanchuk 2682. Magnus Carlsen wou ld only occupy 1 1 th place with 2668, whilst Hikaru Nakamura does not even make it into the best 50. 2 1 Wel l , that is just playing with numbers, and we would do better to stick to the facts. It is known that Nakamura gained the grandmaster title 1 06 days earl ier than Fischer - another record which in turn was taken from him by Fabiano Caruana. 22 After his first national title, H i karu re peated his success in May 2009 in Saint Lou is with a resu lt of 7 out of 9. This time there was even a prize of $35,000 for the champion , plus a $5,000 bonus for a non shared fi rst place. H is explosive final spurt of three successive victories was a deciding factor in this success. "Nakamu ra played in his usual self-assu red fashion, won the decisive encounters and came well pre pared to all his games. H is final round miniature against Josh Friedel was the icing on an impressive cake (with a performance rating of 2807)", wrote Macauley Peterson. 23 H. Nakamura J. Friedel USA National Championship, Saint Louis 2009 Two Knights Defence [CSBJ -

1 .e4 e5 2.ll'if3 lt:'ic6 3.i.c4 ll'if6 4.lt:'ig5 d5 5.exd5 ll'ia5 6.i.b5+ c6 7 .dxc6 bxc6 a . .td3 i.e7 9.lt:'ic3 0-0 1 0.0-0 .:t.ba 1 1 .h3

111 Fabiao Caruana (born 30 June 1 992) received the GM title i n 2007 at the age of 14 years, 1 1 months and 20 days. 2 3 See SCHACH 6/2009, p.32

22


cs 1 2.b3 l:.b4 1 3.l:.e1 �b7 1 4 . .ta3 :t4 1 5.g3 l:.d4 1 6.ll:if3 l:.xd3 1 7 .cxd3 'ii'x d3 1 8.ll:ixeS 'ii'f5 1 9.g4 'ii'f4 20.d4 l:.d8 21 . 'ii'e 2 .:t.xd4 22 . .ll c 1 Black resigned here is the fi nal position . -

When, the day after the prize-giving ceremony, Macauley Peterson congratu lated Nakam ura on his second title, the now 2 1 -year-old played down his performance and drily replied: "Only another seven till I catch up with Fischer!"24 In an interview with Chess Chronicle after winning his fi rst US Championsh ip, when he also became the youngest title-holder since Fischer, H i karu came up with the very modest: "Well, firstly Fischer not only won it at 1 4, but also every time he took part; and at the age of 20 he achieved a perfect score . My performance pales into insignifi cance compared with that."25 Finally, he also came out with an interest ing self-confident comment in an interview with the organisers of the 54th Torneo di

24

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Capodonno in Reggio Emilia at the turn of the year 201 1 /1 2. "Regarding the country you grew up in, you certainly want to win the national championship. Certainly I hope to win it a few more times during my career, but right now there are more important things to focus on. Certainly, I would like to find my place in the top ten , and beyond that I certainly have aspi rations and some d reams of becoming world champion. For that reason , my eyes are on more important goals than the US Championship."26 This did not prevent H i karu Nakamura from once more throwing his hat i nto the ring in May 201 2. Perhaps also because at the moment chess is exciting for him and he can take the opportunity to be the person he wants to be, and Robert James Fischer is a challenge for him. To be sure , in the strong round-robin i n Saint Lou is he did not manage t o equal the legendary best score of the eleventh world champion, the 1 1 /1 1 he achieved in the US Championship at the turn of 1 963/64 - a special prize of $64,000 was on offer for that feat. But his third title win with 8¥2/1 1 , also without defeat, is very commendable. Especially since he won the all-deciding game in round 1 O against Gata Kamsky in the inimitable endgame style of Bobby Fi scher. The final phase, in which he returns his extra exchange, so as to then dominate with his rook + bishop ( Fischer's favourite piece!) the opposing rook + knight, is wel l worth seeing.

(see next diagram)

Ibid, p.34 See interview for Chess Chronicle, December 2005 . 1h 2 s Video interview on the homepage of the 54 Torneo di Capodonno in Reggio Emilia 201 1 /1 2 2s

1 23

1 24

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Chapter 5

G. Kamsky

H. Nakamura USA National Championsh ip, Saint Louis 201 2 -

For a start, it must be poi nted out that Hikaru absol utely had to win this decisive game, because his opponent, who after 201 0 and 201 1 had a real chance of a hat trick of national titles, was half a point ahead at this moment. But with unbel iev ably strong nerves he overcame this pres sure and took his chance . . . 41 .@xhS l:txdS The only way! Hikaru strongly and deliber ately liqu idates to an ending. His resulting passed a-pawn will now be the decisive trump. Such endgames with rook + bishop versus rook + knight, in which the side with the bishop is better, are also called "Fischer endgames". 42.exdS .i.xaS 43 . .l:te7 .i.b6 44.d6 aS (see n ext diagram)

45.@gS? This makes it relatively easy for Hikaru , because his a-pawn simply runs through. However, there was equally no salvation after the alternatives. Neither 45. ll:id8 'it>f8! 21

46 . .l:!.xa7 i.. xa7 47. ll:i c6 [47.d7 i.. b 6 48. ll:ic6 a4 49. @ h6 (after 49.dS if+ i.. x d8 50. tllx d8 a3 the lame white steed can no longer catch the black a-pawn) 49 . . . a3 50. ll:i b4 @ e7 51 . 'iii>xh? (5 1 . ll:i d5+ is met simply by 51 . . . @xd7 52. tllxb6+ @e6) 5 1 . . . f5, and the situation is hopeless for Kamsky] 47 . . . � b6 48. ll:i xe5 a4 49. ll:ic4 i.. c 5 50.d? @ e7 5 1 . @g5 a3 nor 45.d7 @f6 46. :t ea l::tx b7 47 .dS 'ii'+ � xd8 48. l::txd8 .l:!. a7 can save White from defeat. 45 ... a4 46.'iii>fS a3 47.ll:id8 a2 48.ll:ie6+ Wh6 49.ll:igs a1 'ilf so.ll:ixf7+ @g7 Wh ite resigned. In the 3/201 1 issue of SCHACH the head line was "Wij k aan Zee remains the meas ure of all things" and in addition in white script on a black background "Nakamura in Bobby Fischer's footsteps" . I n spite of his successes, Hikaru sti ll speaks of him with the greatest respect ("I think every chess player should read Fischer's My 60 Memo rable Games!"27) , although he never met the eleventh world champion. It is probably the struggling and winning which uncon sciously links the two of them . But a good story is one which su rprises us all .

See interview for Chess Chronicle, December 2005

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Chapter 6

Wijk aan Zee Saturday, 22nd January 201 1 , Round 7

O of The Netherlands and the third player from the host nation. Reason enough for us n this Satu rday Nakam u ra is sitting opposite Jan Smeets, reigning national champion

to take a look at the traces left on world chess by a numerical ly small but nevertheless great chess playing nation. "We have been playing chess in Hol land since the 1 4th centu ry!" proudly said the mayor of Leeuwarden at the ceremonial reception in the town hall on the occasion of the Candidates Tou rnament of 1 956. "This is proved by the 700-year-old chess pieces found during excavations in our town." And in fact there is remarkable evidence of the interest in chess in the kingdom of The Netherlands. There is, for example, the chess player El ias Stein ( 1 748-1 8 1 2) who gave his name to an opening, which later became known as the Dutch Defence. In 1 889 there was the fi rst international master tou rnament to be held on Dutch soil , in which Amos Burn took fi rst place in Amsterdam ahead of the futu re world champion Emanuel Lasker. I n 1 935 Dr. Max Euwe was the sensational Dutch winner of the world championship title against Alexander Alekhine. The fi rst president of F I D E , Alexander Rueb ( 1 882-1 959) , also came from The Netherlands. Proof of the place in chess occupied by this nation can be found in important events such as the legendary AVRO Tou rnament in 1 938, the fi rst part of the match tournament for the world championship in The Hague in 1 948 , the Chess Olympiad in 1 954 and also the traditional tou rnaments in Amsterdam , Ti lburg , Beverwij k and of cou rse Wij k aan Zee. After Euwe, it has produced numerous other world-class players and famous chess authors, of whom the greatest fame has been achieved by Jan Hein Donner and Jan Timman. A great role in the propagation of chess in this country and in the support of talent is being played nowadays by the Max Euwe Centre founded in 1 986 and the "Max Euwe" chess academy. Also the collection of more than 1 8 ,000 vol umes in the Royal Dutch Library in The Hague makes a val uable contribution to the development of chess cultu re. This short digression must have made it clear that chess is more than a mere board game in The Netherlands . It is part of the culture. As far as the Tata Steel Chess Tou rnament is concerned , the new I ndian sponsors have guaranteed its continuation until 20 1 3. And then the 75th jubilee of this unique chess festival wi ll be celebrated in Wij k aan Zee. But, back to the Nakam ura vs. Smeets encounter, which was for H i karu , according to his own words, one of the most important in this tournament after the games against Carlsen and Anand . "I had to try and maxim ize my chances by winning this one . . . "

1 26

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Chapter 6

GAME 33 H . Nakamura J . Smeets Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wij k aan Zee 20 1 1 Queen's Gambit [044] -

The second's finest hour

Concern ing the preparation for this meet ing, Nakamura and his second Kris Littlejohn paid very close attention to the fi rst round victory of Jan Smeets with Wh ite over Alexei Shirov, and they noticed that the preparation for that Ruy Lopez bore all the hallmarks of Jan Gustafsson. H i karu had every reason to pay attention to Jan Smeets' second, because he suffered one of the worst defeats of his career with White in an Austrian Bundesliga game in 2008/09 against the German g randmaster in a Semi-Slav, and that after only 22 moves. For that reason alone this game against Smeets was something special. "I resolved with my second Kris Littlejohn that we were going to bust his preparation at all cost. As this game shows, being a strong G M does not mean you u nderstand all the nuances of variations which engines come up with when you need to let them think!", said the American in New In Chess (issue 2/20 1 1 , pp. 1 7- 1 9). And so it arrived , the hour of the second, who had cooked u p in his analysis labora tory 20. 'ifd2!? in the razor-sharp Botvin n i k Variation . . . 1 .d4 d5 2.c4 c 6 3.lDf3 lDf6 4.lDc3 e6 5 .tg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7 .e5 h6 e . .th4 g5 9.lDxg5 hxg5 1 o . .txg5 lDbd7 1 1 .g3 .tb7 1 2 . .tg2 'ifb6 1 3.exf6 c5 1 4.d5 0-0-0 1 5.0-0 b4 1 6.lDa4 'ii'b 5 1 7.a3 exd5 1 8.axb4 cxb4 •

1 9 .tf4 A relatively rarely-played move, but it has brought White some good results. 1 9 . .t e3 is the main variation. •

1 9 ... .th& 20.'ii'd 2 ! ? The novelty prepared b y Nakamura and his second Kris Littlejoh n , compared with 20 . .t d6 .tfa 21 . .t e7 : ea 22. 'ii'd 4 .txe7 23.fxe7 .:r. h6 24. b3 l:t xe7 25. l:t fc1 lD es 26. lD cs c3 27. l:t xa7 lD c6 28. 'ii'g4+ l:t he6! 29. lDxe6 fxe6 which led to good chances of equality for Black in G i ri-Smeets i n round 2. "It is very hard to evaluate this position correctly. After looking at this the night before the game, I felt that it was just too easy for Black to play. If I was a computer, I would happily go for this line, though!", according to Nakam u ra. 20 .txf4 21 . 'ii'xf4 •.•

(see n ext diagram)

21 .tc&? While taking a shower ten minutes before the round Nakamu ra had noticed the problem of the white approach. 2 1 ... lDcS? 22. lDxcS 'ii'xc5 23. l:tfe 1 l:td7 from Zahar•.•

Wijk aan Zee

lb

1 27

Position after 21. 'i!ixf4 26.�xdS? tsov-Michalczak, G uben 201 1 is also wrong on account of 24.h4, but 21 . .. d4! ! gives Black equality, e.g. 22. lllc 3 'ii'e5 23. � xb7+ � xb7 24. 'ii't3+ 'it> ba 25. llld 5 'ii' h 5 (Naka mura). 22.'iid 4? ! 22. l:.fe 1 ! is preferable, because the q ueen is already active, for example: 22 . . . 'iib a 23. 'iid4 'iic 7 (but not 23 . . . l:I dea on account of 24. lllc 5! ) 24. l:. e7 'iit'a5 25. b3! (Naka mura). 22 ... 'itibS? Smeets too should occupy the e-file, to prevent the white rook from invading via e7: 22 . . . 1:1. dea! 23 . .l:i. fc1 [23. Wxa7?! allows Black good cou nterplay after 23 . . . d4! 24. 'iixd4 � xg2 25. � xg2 "ilkc6+ 26.f3 .l:!. e2+ 27 . .l:.f2 l:. xt2+ 2a. Wxf2 l:. h6 (Krasenkow)] 23 . . . : h6 24. h4 (Nakamura) with lasting pressu re, though not as strong as i n the game. 23J�fe1 :he8 24 . .l:!.e7 24. Wt4+! ? �ca 25. J:[ e? (Krasenkow) is slightly more accurate and leaves White with an advantage. 24... ..Was 25.l:!.xf7 �xa4

This gives Smeets the opportunity to unpin immediately. Nakamu ra, who was in time trouble here, should set his biggest trump the h-pawn - in motion at once, so 26.h4! for example: 26 ... llle 5 27. "/J,.e7 llld 3 2a. : xea :xea 29.f7 : ta 30. l:txa4 'i!Vxa4 3 1 . 'iWg7 :xt7 32 . 'iWxf7 lll x b2 33. h5, and Black has reason to be afraid . . . 26 ... 1Wc5! The text move came as a surprise to Nakamu ra, since when he took on d5 with the bishop he had only reckoned on 26 . . . llle 5? 27. l:. b7+ � ca 2a . .l:!.xa4 it'xd5 29. 'ii'xd5 l:. xd5 30. : bxa7. 27. 'ii'f4+ llle 5 28.�e4 .l:.d7! 2a . . . � d7? ! 29 . .Ug7 'ii'c 7 30. �g2±. 29 ..l:!. g7 �b5 30.l:l.xd7 Black should also be able to keep his head above water after 30. : a5, e.g. 30 . . . �c7 3 1 .f7 : ta 32. l:.xa7+ (32. : g5 :e7 33. :xa7+ 'ii'x a7 34. l:. xe5 : exf7 35. : e?+ � d a 36. l:txa7 : xt4 37.gxf4 :xt4) 3 2 . . . � b6 33. : xd7 � xd7 34. 'i!Vt6+ � c6 35. �xc6 lllxc6 36 . .:l. ga c3 37 . :xta 'i!Vxta. 30 ... �xd7 3 1 .�gs .:.ta 32.:e1 33.'iWxe5 llxf6?!

1i'd6

1 28

<;!{

Chapter 6

33 . . . 1\VxeS! ? 34. :txeS �xf6 35. i. e4 i. c6 brings out the potential of the black pawns more clearly. 34.�xd6+ l:txd6 35 . .tf7 :td2 36 . .txc4 .l:.xb2 37.h4

Position after 41

...

.l:!.d2

After 42 . . . l:!. d7 43. :t xaS @ b6 44. � gS .l:l. xf7 4S. �xg4 @cs 46. hS b3 47. l:!. h4 b2 48. l:!. h 1 @ d4 49. :t b 1 @c3 SO.g4 l:!. h7 S 1 .f4 @ c2 S2. :txb2+ @xb2 S3. Wf3 @c3 S4. @ e4 it 37 ... .tg4? I n pawn races like this everything depends on speed . So Black should bet on his own passed pawns with 37 . . . as 38.hS l:!. c2 39 . .ii. d 3 .l:.c6 (Krasenkow) . Nakamura gives 37 . . Jk 2 38 . .ltd3 l:!.c3 39 . .ii. g 6 as 40.hS l:!. c6! , and thinks that only White would have winning chances, but the position is ''tricky" for both sides. 38. 'it>g2 a5 39 . .l:l.eS .l:.c2 But not 39 . . . a4? on account of 40.hS, and it is hard to offer Black any good advice. 40 . .l:l.bS+ Also possible here is 40 . .tf7! ? . 4 0... 'it>c7 41 . .ii. d S :ld2 (see next diagram) 42 . .ii.f 7 "After this move the ending is a question of technique", according to Nakamura. 42 ... .ii. d 7

comes down to almost the same won ending as in the game with th ree pawns against a rook. 43 . .l:!.xas ii.cs+ 44.'it>f1 .ii.f3 45.l:!.a1 'tt>d 6 46 . .i.b3 .l:.d3?! After this White can quickly "unscramble" his position . 46 . . . :t b2 is more tenacious, but in the long run it should also not suffice for a d raw. 47.l:!.b1 ! @cs 48.'tt>e 1 'it>b5 49 . .ii. d 1 .txd1 49 . . . @c4 SO. i. e2 .t xe2 S 1 . 'iit xe2 is no better. 50.�xd1 :tc3 After SO ... :txd 1 + S 1 . @xd 1 @ a4 S2. 'tt> c2 @ a3 S3. 'iit b 1 only White can win. 51 .hS b3 52.@d2 l:!.ca S2 .. Jk 2+ S3. We3 b2 S4. l:!. b 1 also does promise Smeets salvation. 53.:tc1 lif8 54.f4 'tt> b 4 A long and painful death for Black would be the result of the variation S4 .. J l g8!? SS.h6 .:t xg3 S6. :t h 1 .i:!. g8 S7.h7 :t h8 sa. @c3 @ cs

�

Wijk aan Zee

59. 'iti>xb3 'ifi> d5 60. 'iti> c3 'iti>e4 6 1 . : h4 'iti>f5 62. 'ifi>d4 'ifi>f6 63. 'it> e4 : ea+ 64. 'ifi>f3 l:t ha 65. 'it>g4 'it> g6 66.f5+ 'ifi>f6 67. : h6+ 'iti>g7 6a. 'it>g5 'ifi>f7 69 . .l: a6. 55.l:.h1 'iti>a3 56.'ifi>e3 b2 57.g4 :ca 58.l:tb1 'it>a2 59.:xb2+ 'iti>xb2 60.h6 'iti>c3 61 .g5 Black resigned. Black has a rook against three pawns, but the latter are unstoppable: 61 . . . : ea+ 62. 'ifi>f3 : ha 63. 'it>e4 'iti>c4 64.f5 'iti> c5 65.f6 'ifi>d6 66. 'iti>f5 'iti> d7 67.g6 (Nakamu ra) . And his final comment on this game in New In Chess went: "Altho u g h our middlegame play was far from perfect, such messes are commonplace in the Botvi nnik, and it makes for really exciting

"I

1 29

a

Final Position after 61.g5 games like this one, which readers and fans alike will enjoy!"

never g ive u p and a lways try to wi n"

H i karu Nakam u ra in an exclusive i nte rview

your brother Asuka and your step

tic chess tournaments in the US and my step

father Sunil Weeramantry took part in

father is actually a very prominent chess coach

the US Open in Concord, California, in Au

in the New York area. It's actually a combina

gust 1 994, you accompanied the two of them

tion because both he and my brother were

and then in the common-room more or less by

competing a lot when I was growing up. I was

chance played your first friendly games. Your

just around chess growing up. I was certainly

step-father must certainly have been pleased

not a strong player when I began in fact. One of

to see that. What did he then have to do to get

the great little titbits about my first chess

you enthusiastic about chess and what part

tournament is that I lost all the games that I

did he play in your early development?

played. But my step -father certainly knows

The first thing is that my brother (he started

how to motivate kids to at least get interested in

playing when he was five, that was when I was

chess if not actually to try and become really

three) was actually competing a lot in scholas-

strong at it. He really encouraged me to play as

1 30

�

Chapter 6

much as I could. Without him I would never have become so good. How did your mother Carolyn, influence your chess development - she is after all a teacher. . . ?

If she could pursue her real passion she would be a musician. She had a maj or in music, maybe music appreciation. I would not say that she is a teacher, but when she came back to the States she did become a teacher for a few years, because obviously as a single mother with two kids you have to make ends meet. She certainly

was in any case that he became good very quickly, but he hit this wall where he didn't progress. At eleven or twelve he had

an

Elo

rating of approximately 2 1 00-2 1 50, so he was very close to master level. However, he could not get past that. His decision to stop also had something to do with the fact that he was always the strongest player for his age in the USA, till I passed him. You cannot say that there was rivalry, but when you are passed by your own brother, you can certainly lose some interest.

has a unique b ackground. In terms of chess, I

I also thought a lot about stopping chess. I

cannot really say that she has motivated me. In

even stopped for a short time when I went to

any case she did not try to put pressure on me

university for six months. When you go to

to either play chess or not play chess. There are

university, it is very hard to study chess. In fact

a lot of parents who will put a lot of pressure on

I did not study chess for pretty much all those

their children because they think that their

six months. When you play chess it is very

child will be the next world champion or the

difficult for two reasons. Firstly, unlike a lot of

next really strong player. My parents simply

other sports it is very hard to make a living,

did not do that. They just let me pursue it. It's

unless you are right near the top of the game.

all about the background, the way they were.

The second reason is that you are seeing the

Of course that helped me a lot.

same people over and over again, you travel to

Your brother Asuka played in three j unior world championships, but then stopped play ing chess. How did his decision affect you? Did you also consider quitting chess?

He had the problem which every chess player at some level comes across. He was a very talented j unior. He played in the world youths in 96 in Menorca. In that tournament

a lot of the same places. That can become very repetitive and it is very much in human nature that you want to explore, you want to see what else is out there. It was a combination of both of those factors as to why I quit the first time. But I haven't considered it since then. What role has the fact that you are Ameri can played for your chess development?

he played several players who have become

That is a tough question. If I had not grown

well-known grandmasters. He lost e.g. to

up within the American chess culture, I would

Radjabov. He also played against Boris Grachev 1 and Vugar Gashimov. So he was up against

certainly not be the same sort of player I am

young players who have since become very

chess at all. So it has been very beneficial,

strong grandmasters. One problem for him

certainly. Unlike a lot of other players I am

I

today. Perhaps I would not even be playing

The Under- I O World Championship was won in 1 996 in Cala Galdana on Menorca by the Indian Pentala Harikrishna ahead of Vugar Gashimov and Teimour Radjabov; Boris Grachev won the title in 1 995 in Sao Lourem;:o/Brazil.

Hikaru Nakamura in an exclusive interview

ltJ

1 31

much more noticeable simply because there

Bobby Fischer. Without him there would

are not many strong players from the US,

pretty much be no chess culture in the USA. At

whereas say I came from Russia. You have so

least I don't think so.

many really talented and really strong players that it is hard to distinguish one from the other. Just look at Kramnik, Karjakin or Grischuk! They are all j ust really, really strong players. It is also very frustrating when you see these

Has your love of the King's Indian some thing to do with Kasparov?

It was long, long before my time that he played it. Was it not Kramnik, who pretty

players like Magnus Carlsen or Levon Aronian.

much made him quit playing the King's

People who in their countries are really

Indian? No, I think that it is simply to do with

superstars, they are heroes. When I go back to

me liking to play attacking chess. The other

the US, I am essentially j ust an ordinary citizen, I am not anything special. It is quite difficult sometimes to reconcile that with the fact that these other really strong players get so much attention in their own countries. In the USA sport is dominated by the "big four" - baseball, American football, ice hockey and basketball - followed by golf and tennis. Chess is not popular - like in Ger many. So why did you stick with it?

It is what I was best at. I got the master title when I was ten years old. From that point onwards I wanted to see just how far I could go

thing that I find incredibly unique about the King's Indian as opposed to j ust about every other opening is that computers consistently get it wrong. In many games which I won, the computers said that I was completely lost, when in fact I was completely winning. The King's Indian requires a lot of human intuition, your ability to calculate and play, while elimi nating the effect that computers have on modern day chess. Which chess books did you read and which would you recommend?

I have not really read any books from start to

with chess. It is j ust one of those things: when

finish. I read some books on Nimzowitsch, on

you keep progressing, you keep going up in the

his style, many, many years ago, and of course

rankings. You just would like to see where it

also Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games. But

goes. I think that is more than anything why I

beyond some basic stuff I j ust generally have

kept playing. Which role models did you have in chess as a child, whom did you want to follow, who impressed you?

I would have to say Kasparov by far. He is the player that I most followed. I remember the years from 1 999 to 200 1 , I would always be on the internet watching the games - especially the ones from Wijk aan Zee and Linares. When

not read books. I grew up with the computer. And when you have all that knowledge at your finger-tips, then the usefulness of a lot of books j ust ceases to have practical value. In the first phase of your career you played in four j unior world championships, coming fourth in 200 1 in the Under- 1 4 in Oropesa del Mar. Afterwards you did not participate. Why?

you see someone who is so dominant at the top

I also got second one of these years. Yes,

of their field, then it is hard not to want to be

around that time all the top junior players were

like that. The other player, though obviously I

competing, players like Harikrishna or Radja

never had the chance to see him play, would be

bov. But shortly thereafter almost all the top

1 32

<;t>

Chapter 6

j unior players stopped playing. In fact it has

On and offl follow pretty much all the major

continued even now. You don't see the highest

sports in the US, basketball, b aseball, Ameri

ranking j uniors in their age-groups playing.

can football and hockey. Right now I

There is no particular value in playing against

more into ice-hockey. The great thing about

am

much

weaker young players, not like playing in major

sports much like chess is that you watch the

events - I think that is the reason why I and a

games and the best team or the best player does

lot of others stopped playing. You did not belong to the chess prodigies. How did you manage to reach the top I 0 in the world?

I think for me it has always been about work, it's been about proving people wrong. Growing up I spent a large portion of my time playing blitz chess on the internet. And a lot of people

not always win. That's what makes it really great, watching it, rooting for someone. It's j ust a really enjoyable relaxing activity. You are often compared to the l l th world champion Fischer, as you became the young est American grandmaster, taking away his record (on 4th February 2003 at the age of 1 5 years and 7 9 days - Bobby was exactly I 06

thought I was a really good blitz player but that

days older) ! What did this mean to you, how

I would never be such a strong classical chess

did Fischer inspire you?

player. I think that trying to prove all these

It is like the question about prodigies. I was

people wrong certainly has been a very large

never compared to the European prodigies.

motivating factor for me. Bobby Fischer once said: "To be really good

From the time I was very young a lot of people have compared me to Fischer. Of course that is

in chess you must love the game:' How

inevitable any time you have really strong

important is this in your opinion?

j unior players coming out of the US, it will

To a certain extent that is true. But having said that, I am not sure that is the case any more. With all the information out there on the internet and technology, I not sure that you actually have to love it and put in the same amount of work as people like Fischer did back when there were no computers and everything had to be done by hand. You didn't have databases, so it was all on p ieces of paper. Then you had to pour your whole heart and soul into chess. I certainly like the game but I would not go so far as to say I love the game. Of course you have to have a passion for it, but if you know what you are doing, if you play a lot and you work hard you do not necessarily have to put everything into the game the way you did in the past. In your spare time do you actually follow other sports?

happen simply because he is really the only strong American player ever in the chess world, at least in modern times. It is more the fact when you see the people who were around during that time, the American chess players who still are actually around, to see them hoping for a return to those days is probably what inspires me more than Fischer himself and what he did inspired me. When did you notice that you could get to the very top?

Yes, when was the first super-tournament? It was probably in 2009 when I had a really good run. B ecause prior to that I had been around 2700 for about a year, a year and a half and I hadn't really been going anywhere. First when I won the American championship very con vincingly and when I also won a very strong round-robin in San Sebastian; then I knew that


I had a chance. It would have to be around

ltJ

1 33

chess players in the world by far. When you are

then, 2009 early 20 1 0 when I started playing

competing against them and trying to beat

some really strong players and realised that I

them, then it is naturally hard to become

could hold my own.

friends with them. For that reason I have gone

Which character traits must a world class player have?

my own way. For which of the present top players do you

You certainly have to be very strong men tally. When things are not going right it is very

have particular respect?

In terms of results, I would probably have to

easy to j ust throw it all away and not care any

say when I play against Magnus Carlsen. I do

more. You also have to be serious about chess.

the worst against him right now and right now

You have to put in a lot of effort into preparing,

he is certainly the best player when it comes to

making sure that you are ready to play the

just winning games. At the same time there is

game. You also have to really hate losing as

Kramnik, though for other reasons. I have a lot

well. If you look at all the strong players,

of respect for him. He is the person who beat

especially the top players - they always will

Kasparov in a World Championship match.

find the best defence even when they are

Another player could hardly have done that,

losing. That is extremely important, more so

including Anand in my opinion. In terms of

than even the other two traits.

play it is certainly Magnus. In terms of raw

Do you think that a world class player has

class and the ability to stay near the top it would have to be Kramnik as well.

to be a little egoistic?

Yes, somewhat. You certainly have to have a

You first played in the world championship

lot of confidence that you are going to beat the

in Tripoli in 2004. How important was that

other players. If not, it has a certain effect. You

for you?

do not go with the same mind-set or approach.

It was important because it was the first time

In terms of confidence, yes, but I do not know

I played against really strong players and had a

if that means you have a huge ego. Certainly

good result. I had played against lower 2600

some

and a lot of 2500 grandmasters and done well.

of the

world

champions

such

like

Kasparov especially had very big egos. They

But in Tripoli, reaching the fourth round in the

thought they were j ust better than everyone

match format before losing to Michael Adams . . .

else. Some players do, some don't. You look at

That was the first time that I knew I had a

Anand . . . in my view he does not have that

chance at least to be near the top. Prior to that I

much of an ego. It all depends on the person. Have you friends within the world-class players, or do you talk to others regularly?

I'll talk to them, but I would not say that I am friends with them. That is perhaps to do with

had had good results but nothing was really that surprising, but even in that match I shouldn't perhaps have lost the way that I did. So that was a very important tournament for my overall development!

the background of growing up with chess in

After the 2004 World Championship you

the US. Even in the US a lot of the very strong

were asked about your future in chess and you

players I would play against were Russians.

replied that you wanted to reach an Elo rating

Certainly, I don't have anything against Rus

of over 2700, but whether you would take it

sians, certainly as a whole they are the best

up as a professional career would depend on

1 34

�

Chapter s

how far you could improve in the years which

I think it is very important. You have to be

followed. What do you think about that now?

very motivated to play well in tournaments. If

It is much in line with what I thought then. It is not enough to be one of the best players in the USA. As soon as you become an adult you have to make a living. I would probably be of the same opinion today. Your step-father Sunil Weeramantry rec ommends: "Play, fight and never make a short draw!" Why basically do you follow this and play fighting chess?

It's my general philosophy. When you are

you are not motivated, then what's the point? Why are you playing chess at all? I have always been very motivated, more so by the fact that a lot of people never really thought that I was going to get to where I have in chess and really just proving them wrong . . . Lately you have been playing much more in Europe. Why?

I think that the best competition is in Europe, the best players are in Europe. To

playing chess or doing anything for that

improve you have to keep on playing against

matter, I don't see the point in making draws.

better players. In the US there still are some

You only have so many games you are going to

good players, there are a few very strong

play in your life. Obviously, there are certain

tournaments, but in terms of trying to reach

times when it makes sense to draw games, for

the top and becoming the best then you have to

example to win tournaments. But when you

play against the best to get there. That's why I

get down to it, you are also trying to create a

think that every tournament I play now is in

work of art for the spectators. Ultimately they

Europe.

too do not want to see draws. As professionals we owe it to them to play games to the end, to play fighting chess instead of drawing games.

It also became somewhat more natural since you have invitations . . .

It really started for me in 2008 when I

How do you deal with defeats?

started playing in Europe more, because I

That really depends on the game. There are

started playing in leagues in addition to a few

several categories. Firstly if you prepare some

open tournaments. Since then it has really j ust

thing badly, you forget something and you just

continued, I have kept on playing in Europe.

los e without ever being in the game - those games are probably the worst. If you lose a game you want to be able to say that your opponent outplayed you. If you play a game when you are never in the game, where j ust

In which leagues?

I started in the French league in 2008, in the year after that in the Spanish one too and in the Austrian.

from the start you are much worse and you

In Europe playing for a dub is often very

really can't do much, that is really frustrating.

important for chess professionals. Many play

Games when your opponent plays very well

ers play in many leagues like the German

and you j ust get outplayed, I don't mind so

Bundesliga. How is the situation in the USA?

much those sorts of losses, because there was

Do you play for a club?

not much you can do. You j ust got outplayed. Then you j ust move on to the next game. How important is motivation and disci pline for chess training?

No, there is nothing even resembling that in the US. That is one of the great, great things about European chess. There are a lot of professional and semi-professional players who


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1 35

compete in these leagues and who can make a

about Chess960 comes down to the two

living. In the US it is, as in many other things,

competing theories regarding chess right now.

''All or nothing". You either win everything and

On the one side people are saying that chess is

life is great or else you don't win anything.

all about preparation, it's all about work with

That's the capitalist way. It is great that these

computers away from the board. Then you

leagues exist in Europe. All these really strong

have the second group of people who think

chess players are competing and when you

that chess should be more about your skill.

have access to that level of competition it is a

And when you play Chess 960, there isn't the

lot easier to improve. How do you explain that you like bullet so much?

That is more j ust from growing up with chess in New York more than anything. There are a lot of strong blitz players in New York. I was j ust naturally exposed to a lot of blitz and rapid chess when I was younger. So I became addicted to blitz chess. I have always been naturally good at it. Do you still play bullet?

Yes. I played bullet the other night. I was actually playing before I played my game yesterday. I do not only play on the ICC, but since 2008 I have also played a lot on Playchess. I have played a lot on both those sites. It is fun. However, the problem for me now is that it is very different: when I play a classical game of chess I am always trying to find the best move. When you are playing a quicker game, you cannot afford to use a lot of time trying to find the best move. You have to make moves based on instinct and intuition as opposed to calcula tion. It is not the same for me now as it used to be, but it is still quite fun to play. At the end of July 2009 in Mainz you became for the moment the last Chess960 rapid chess world champion. You beat Levon Aronian in the final. What do you think about Chess960?

amount of theory, you can't really prepare for it. And so by virtue of that it seems that the best player should win the game of chess. It's more about your actual talent as opposed to your ability to simply prepare. I think I fall into that second category where if I could play chess without everyone being able to prepare at all, I would enjoy it a lot more. It is surprising that a world-class player like you has no coach. You work with Kris Littlejohn and you are satisfied. Why?

I think that at least in the past you had to work with a very strong coach. Now, however, with the rise of computers especially, I think it is more about ideas than anything. If you have someone like Kris who is master level (2400) or a GM, they can both input moves on the computer, it doesn't matter in that regard. What he has the ability to do . . . even though he is not a very strong player. . . he has a very good understanding of chess. There are a lot of players I know who are a lot weaker than I am but who happen to know a lot more opening theory. But the difference is they cannot put everything together. It is not easy because you have to calculate very well, you have to not feel any pressure. A lot of people feel a bit of uneasiness or pressure and they can make a mistake. It is a matter of putting all the pieces together. Obviously he can't do that when he plays. But in terms of his ability to understand

It is probably the future of chess. I like it a lot.

the computer's evaluations, he is much better

I had some great results in Mainz. The thing

then almost anyone else I know. The major

1 36

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Chapter 6

good example is my game against Jan Smeets in

I grew up with computers. When I had approx.

Wijk aan Zee. 2 We played a very theoretical

2300-2400 Elo, I played against Fritz. I think at

line of the B otvinnik System of the Slav

that time it was Fritz 4. I would still lose the

D efence. It was about move 19 - I don't re

vast majority of the games, probably 80 to 85

member exactly. Jan Smeets and his second Jan

percent. But of course there were also one or

Gustafsson had looked at all the computer

two games in which I managed to beat the

choices, but in the game I actually played the

computer on its strongest setting. Whereas

third highest computer move as opposed to

now it does not matter who you are. You lose

playing the first one. So it is not all about j ust

every game, end of story! If you do not put the

hitting the "space-bar" and following the

computer on its highest setting, then it can be

computer's suggestions right to the end of the

very beneficial. For me nowadays it is more

variation. In this game I must admit that it was

about using the computer for analysis as

not my idea which I played. It came from Kris,

opposed to actually playing it, because there is

and that speaks volumes about what he is able

so much more that can be gained from that. If

to do.

you play a computer you lose every game. It is

How do you train chess each day? How many hours do you spend on chess? What about training openings and endings?

I don't actually train every day. It depends.

very hard to be serious about chess when that happens. No one likes losing, and since you are going to lose every game no matter what you do, it is j ust kind of silly.

Especially now more so than in the past there

What about the influence of computers in

are long periods of time when I do not play. For

general? Would it be better to make do

instance I played a tournament in Wijk aan

without them altogether?

Zee, then I played in Monaco, but my next serious classical tournament was in June. So that is almost five months without chess. When I have these really long periods, I won't study every day. Generally about two, two and a half weeks before a tournament I start studying, probably about 4 to 5 hours per day. And how is the relation between openings and other things?

It is almost all about openings, but some times I will look at the Dvoretsky book on endgames. It is probably about 85 to 90 percent on openings and 1 5 percent on endgames. Do you play against the computer from time to time? Would you recommend this?

Yes, I used to. It has gone full circle. After all

2 See Game 33, p. 1 26

It has taken away a lot of the creativity in chess. You don't see the amazing novelties in the openings that you did before they were around. At the same time because of comput ers the quality of the games is a lot higher. So it's also much more interesting in some ways. It's a little bit of both, I think. Once you said that chess is about ideas and not about playing strength. How do you interpret that?

It comes back to the same thing as not working with a strong grandmaster. If some one can come up with an idea, then it is the idea which counts. He does not have to play the game. It is like in my game against Jan Smeets. Kris Littlej ohn came up with the idea. Ifhe had

Hikaru Nakamu ra in an exclusive interview

to play the game he would lose every time. He comes up with the idea and I am the one who has to play the game. I am able to put all the pieces together. You do not have to come up with the idea. Other people can j ust mention it in passing . . . ! What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Fighting ability is my strength, not giving up and always trying to play for a win. Even when I am losing I try to find the best defence. Certainly I much prefer tactical positions with a lot of possibilities. My main weakness is probably that my preparation in the openings isn't as good as some of the other top players and certain endgames I don't play particularly inspiringly. How would you characterise your style?

Very tactical. I like playing open positions with a lot of space. Robert Desjarlais wrote in his book Coun

terplay: "Nakamura's education in chess has been decidedly non-classical. Much of what he absorbed about chess early on came not from studying the instructional games of the great masters, but from spending hours upon hours analysing and contesting positions on a

lLJ

1 37

not with the technology. Do you give chess training, on the web or "over the board" ?

I have sometimes done it, but not so much in recent years. I am a professional player now and you have to be very serious about it. That is actually one of the problems with American chess right now. You have quite a few of these really strong players like Alexander Onischuk or Yury Shulman, who are very strong players but who also coach chess quite a bit on the side. But you can see that when they compete in tournaments and have what I would say are bad results. It shows in their play, just because they are teaching all the time. It's great to help players to improve and to get them to a very strong level, but they are not at that level yet. At the same time when you are teaching weaker players it can affect your own ability. You teach kids that there are rules you should not break and that starts to get into your own head and you start thinking like that, instead of the way the way you normally would about a game. Your way to the top was typically Ameri can, not like in Russia where you have state support. How do you explain it then that you made it to the top?

computer?' What do you think about that?

It is j ust a matter of keeping on playing,

Did you only play or also solve combinations,

seeing where it will go and never accepting that

do endgame training, etc.? What would you

it isn't possible. Once you accept that some

recommend to talented young players?

thing isn't possible, then you never will get

Yes, chess has really evolved. That is a very

there.

accurate portrayal of my youth, I did spend a

Once you named Kasparov as your idol.

lot of time playing on the internet. The thing

Why? Was he the strongest player of all time?

about these sites you use is that it is not j ust

Yes, in terms of the level of play Kasparov

playing against humans. There are a lot of

was far and away the strongest player. Cer

training programs on them that you can use

tainly the openings, the preparation that went

for endgames, middlegames, tactics. Every

into games before he was around was very

one's approach has somewhat changed now, in

different from what it is now. You have to

terms of the junior players. It is simply no

credit him with the opening revolution, where

longer the same game it was 25-30 years ago,

everyone puts so much time into their open-

1 38

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Chapter 6

ings. It is absolutely the most important thing

opponent makes good moves or bad moves.

in chess right now. B efore him it was important

You j ust have to focus on your own moves,

of course. Anatoly Karpov of course also knew

your own games.

his openings well, but many of the games he won were very much in a positional style where he would outplay opponents in middle games and endgames. Kasparov on the other hand won a lot of games based on his opening preparation alone. He really changed the game. For 20 years he was number one in the world. This hasn't happened since then. He is defi nitely the best player in terms of what he has

Do you think that you can become world champion and break Fischer's record again? You would still have six years for that.

It is possible. I don't know. Either I will or I won't. It will be very clear in the next year or two whatever happens. But is this a goal for you?

Yes, it would certainly be nice but right now

done for the game. At the same time B obby

it is not the main thing. The main thing is j ust

Fischer is the player who brought the game to

playing well, because I am playing against the

the public and made it popular the way no one

absolute top players now as opposed to j ust

else has.

very strong players and when you play against

A milestone in your career is your victory in Wijk aan Zee this year. What did you feel after this triumph?

I had come close to winning a lot of elite tournaments prior to that. Of course it was great to win that tournament especially, since it is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. But it really wasn't all that different to me. Towards the end of the tournament I felt a lot more pressure than I had ever felt before in any tournament. But it is still chess, you still have to go on with the same approach, the same thought process and just play the game ! Of course it is great to win, but it didn't change the world for me. Are you afraid of dropping out of the top ten before you reach the very top spot?

I do not know. It is all about playing good chess, isn't it? ! The main thing for me is to see what happens. Anyone can have a couple of

the absolute top players it's very different. First of all it is much harder to beat them, and secondly you also have to play very precisely not to lose against them sometimes. I'll worry about becoming world champion as I get closer to the top. Which are your main rivals on the road to the top?

Magnus Carlsen for sure, but also Sergei Karj akin and probably also Levon Aronian. These are probably the three players I consider my most serious competition. Which World Championship mode is the best in your opinion?

The old candidates format with matches, certainly longer matches than in Kazan. Six game matches are a bit of a j oke. I think j ust longer matches and there has to be a better qualification cycle. Which are your ten best games and why?

very bad results and slip out of the top ten

Ten best games? Yes, there is this game

considering how many strong players there are

against Krasenkow in Spain in 2007, when I

at the top. If you play well, you hope that things

sacced a queen for pretty much a pawn and

happen and if they don't they don't. That's all

maybe a knight. That is definitely one of the

you can do. You can't control whether your

highlights. My King's Indian over Gelfand also

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belongs in here, also my win against Beliavsky

1 39

and it's not easy as a professional chess player.

in the King's Indian. (At this point Hikaru has a

If I had a choice now. . . and I do quite a bit in

long think. . . . ) And even if the quality of the

that area already. . .

game was not particularly high, my win against

something with finance.

Vladimir Kramnik in London last year was

Why did you move to Saint Louis? 4

very important for me. That was the first game I won against a really strong player who had been at the top before. Winning that game was very important because it is a matter of proving to yourself that you can beat these guys. At the moment you are a chess pro. Once you mentioned you might want to study law or psychology. 3 What about your plans for the future?

I would probably do

I moved there because there is a chess club and Scholastic Center in St. Louis. They hold the US Championship there every year and they also have a lot of scholastic activities for kids in the area. Considering the lack of interest in chess in general, to have a place in the US where chess is valued is very good for chess in America. Trying to be a part of it, considering my role in the American chess

I am surprised I said that. Those would not be my interests now. You have to make a living

world, certainly trying to help improve things is very important to me!

* * *

as

Georgios Souleidis (born 1 972) is an

tournaments, such

international chess master and a re

Open, the LGA-Open or the Sparkassen Chess

nowned chess journalist. He became known

Meeting. The interview with Hikaru Nakamura

through his work as the editor for the German chess Bundesliga and his chess blog [http://

was undertaken by Georgios Souleidis by th arrangement with the authors during the 39

entwicklungsvorsprung.de]. He is responsible

staging of the strongest German grandmaster

for press relations at the biggest German chess

tournament in Dortmund in July 20 1 1 .

3

the international Neckar

In this respect there is an interesting statement by Nakamura, who actually took six months out from chess in 2006 and studied for one semester at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, though he was hardly enthused by it: "With chess, it doesn't matter what background you are, what age you are - everyone is equal. With college, I couldn't quite get used to the fact that, to paraphrase Animal Farm, it feels like some p eople are more equal than others." (Riverfront Times, Saint Louis, issue of 2 1 st July 20 1 1 )

4 I n Saint Louis an important chapter in the history of chess was written between J rd and 1 0th February 1 886. Four of the total of 20 games (rounds 6 to 9) of the first "official" World Championship match took place here - other venues were New York and New Orleans. After his 1 0 - 5 success over Johannes Hermann Zukertort (the first to win ten games took the match) Wilhelm Steinitz was recognised as the first world chess champion.

1 40

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Chapter 7

Wijk aan Zee Sunday, 23 rc1 January 201 1 , Round 8

S

undays also can someti mes be cru e l ! And that is the case for H i karu N akam u ra too, at least on this 23 rd January 20 1 1 . O n the billing in the Dorpshuis de Moriaan in Wij k aan Zee is the keenly-awaited duel between the title defender Magnus Carlsen and the sole leader from the USA with his 5Y2 poi nts. The "Mozart of chess", as he was once called by Lubomi r Kavalek i n the Washington Post, is al ready trailing by 1 Y2 poi nts after rou n d 7 and has only reached '+1 ' , a modest score for h i m. This clarifies the l i n es the duel m ust follow: Carlsen absolutely has to win this prestigious game, so as to be once more i n contention for tournament victory! H owever, a glance at the statistics shows that even with White this is no foregone conclusion. So far the pai r h ave met a total of five times. There h ave been fou r d raws . H owever, in their latest encounter i n the London C h ess C lassic i n December 20 1 0 H i karu Nakam u ra had to lay down his arms. The q u estion for h i m today is: when you h ave such a lead , which strategy should you employ i n an i m po rtant game, when all you really need to do is share the point? And is it actually possible to gain a d raw on demand? P robably the best illustration of such a situation is the final game of the fou rt h World Championship m atch between the champion Garry Kasparov and his challenger Anatoly Karpov i n Seville 1 987. S u rprisingly, the title holder was losing 1 1 - 1 2 and he absolutely had to win the 24 1h game i n order to retain his chess crown . H owever, anyone who thought h e would attack come hell o r high water was mistake n . Kasparov came up with a psychological trick: h e deliberately avoided the exchange of blows which he knew his opponent was expecting, and instead he decided i n this decisive game to adopt a peacef u l , but flexi ble set-up. This cost Karpov a lot of t h i n king time rig ht i n the open i n g . To that was added the enormous nervous tension o f s i mply avoiding making a m istake . I n extrem e time-trouble - Karpov had only two m i n utes left for his final ten moves Kasparov then set h i m a n asty trap. Karpov did not see what was perhaps the only possible way to a d raw, lost a pawn and i n the adj o u rned game was unable to find an effective defence. For Garry Kasparov this may perhaps have been the most i m portant win i n his chess career. . . Certainly t h i s g a m e i n Wij k a a n Z e e was not o f s u c h enormous sign ificance a s to outdo the d rama of the Sevil l e game. Even if he were to lose, N akam u ra wou l d have enough chances to put this behind h i m in the five rounds which were to follow.

Wijk aan Zee

It is obvious that there is a b u rn i n g rivalry between the N o rwegian , who has long been the idol of chess fans, and the combative U S star. And a remark by Naka m u ra , that Magnus su ited him as an opponent, will have tended to be a motivating factor for the latter, rathe r than someth ing which affected his self-confi dence . At the end of January 201 2 (after the 74t h Wij k aan Zee) the sobering resu lt for H i karu would be -4 =7.

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1 41

1 0.gS lLifd7 1 1 .h4 lLib6 1 2.'ii'd 2 lLi8d7

GAME 34 M . Carlsen - H. Nakamura Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 20 1 1 Sicilian Defence {892} Hara-kiri

I n the th ree previous games with White against his rival, Magnus Carlsen opened with 1 . lLif3 (Biel 2005) , 1 .d4 and 1 .c4 (London 2009 and 20 1 0) . The last encoun ter was the only one the American lost, when he brought out his Dutch Defence . But today Carlsen opens with the king's pawn . 1 .e4 cs 2.lLif3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lbxd4 li:Jf6 s.lt:Jc3 a6 6.il.. e2 es 7.li:Jb3 il.. e7 8 . .lle3 0-0 8 . . . il.. e 6 is the main variation. 9.g4! il.. e6 "Around here the su rprised Nakamu ra started thinking", remarked I gor Stohl. The . fact is that the line with 9.g4 in the Najdorf Sicilian is extremely rare nowadays. It can be seen from Nakamu ra's play that he is not so familiar with the resulting positions. Probably that was precisely Carlsen's cunning intention.

1 3.f4!? A strong novelty, which immediately puts Black u nder pressu re. U p till then only 1 3.0-0-0 had been tried . Nevertheless with good results for White. The idea of the text move is that after the exchange on f4 White will bring his b3-knight back into play via d4, for it then to take an active part i n White's attack on t h e king from f5 . 1 3 exf4 1 4.il.. xf4 lLies 1 S.0-0-0 l:f.cB 1 6.�b1 'ii'c7 1 6 . . . lt:J bc4 ! ? would be worth a try. ..•

1 7.hS .l:r.fe8? This is too slow and is probably, as some commentators think, al ready the decisive error! Nakamu ra should immediately sound the counter-attack with 1 7 . . . lb bc4 ! ? , for example: 1 8. il.. xc4 lbxc4 1 9 . 'ii'd3 lba3+ 20. � c 1 'ii'c4 (Stohl), and the white attack does not get going q uite so qu ickly as it does in the game. 1 8.�a1 ! A very nice prophylactic move. The imme diate 1 8. lLid4? would on the other hand even backfire in view of 1 8 . . . lt:J bc4 1 9. 'iVe1 'ilfb6 20. il.. c 1 ?? lLi a3+ 2 1 . � a 1 lLi c6.

1 42

Chapter 7

1 8 .t fB 1 9.lLid4 •..

alternatives are also u nconvi ncing, e . g . 2 5 . . . lLie5 26. lLid5 .t xd5 27.exd6 (Stohl) . After 25 . . . d5?! 26. lLi xd5 .t xd5 27.exd5 .t d6 28. 'ii'g 4 .t e5 29.c3 .t xd4 30 . .l:.xd4 lLi e5 3 1 . 'ii'f5 'ii'x g6 32. 'ifxg6 lLixg6 33 . .l:. g 1 lLi e5 34. i.. x h6 things are even clearer for Carlse n .

1 9 ... 'ifc5? After the game Nakam u ra suggested 1 9 . . . g6? , but White wins immediately with 20. hxg6 hxg6 21 . .t xe5 dxe5 22. lLi xe6 l:1 xe6 (22 .. .fxe6 is strongly met by 23. 'ii'e 3) 23. i. g4 ll d6 24. 'ii' h 2 llxd 1 + 25. ltJ xd 1 (Stohl). 1 9 . . . lLi bc4! 20 . .t xc4 lLi xc4 2 1 . 'ifd3 'ii' a 5 22.g6 h6 is an improved version of the game. However, even in this case the wh ite attack looks very promising. 20.g6! lLiec4 20 . . . fxg6 2 1 . hxg6 h6 22. lLi xe6 ll xe6 23 . .t xe5 dxe5 (23 . . . ll xe5? would be a mistake on account of 24. 'ii'f4 'ifc7 25. i. g4 .l:. b8 26 . .l:.df1 , and White's position is clearly superior) 24 . .t g4 (Stohl), and in this case too Carlsen's position is preferable.

26.l:r.df1 ! This takes a bit longer than 26. lLi xe6 .i:r.xe6 27. lLi d5, which also gives White a winning position. But "better a bird i n the hand . . . ", thinks Carlsen . . .

23.hxg6 h6 24.'it'g3 'ii'b 6 24 . . . lLixb2? 25. 'it> xb2 i.. e 7 26. lLi b3+-.

26 ... ltJe5 In SCHACH-MAGAZ I N 64 (March 20 1 1 , p. 7) the Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers points out here: "Nakam ura had ridden out the first, rather obvious wave of the attack, but his q ueen got out of position." There is also the instructive analysis by grandmaster Igor Stohl: 26 . . . lLixb2? 27. lLixe6 'ifxc3 (27 . . . .l:.xc3 is met by 28. 'iff2) 28. 'ifxc3 l:!. xc3 29. 'it> xb2, and Black has his hands ful l ; things are simi lar after 26 . . . 'ife5 27. 'iff2 'i'c5 28. l:t hg1 'it> h8 29. i.. x h6 gxh6 30.g7 + .t xg7 3 1 Jbg7 .l:.f8 32 . 'ii'xf8+.

25.i.c1 'ii'a 5? ! This finally tu rns out to be too slow. But the

27.lLid5 Let us give the word back to Ian Rogers,

21 .txc4 lLixc4 22.'ii'd 3 fxg6? ! This opens too many highways for the white attack. I n any case , even after the better 22 . . . h6 the black position does not inspire a great deal of confidence. •

Wijk aan Zee

who awarded an exclamation mark to the text move: ''The th reat is a combination along the lines of 28. lLixe6 :xe6 29. Wh3 : cea 30 . .t xh6! gxh6 3 1 . : xf8+ @ xf8 (31 . . Jbf8 32 . 'ii'xe6+ etc.) 32. 'ii'xh6+ and mate, because the black king cannot slip away via e7 since the knight on d5 is preventing that. So the annoying knight must be got rid of." 27 .txd5 28.exd5 'ii'x d5? This runs straight into a powerful hammer blow or, as Dirk Poldauf appositely calls it in his annotations for SCHACH, a wrecking operation , after which either the h- or the g file is opened. "For Carlsen mere child's play, for the likes of us the win remains equally effective and instructive." ( SCHACH 3/20 1 1 , page 24) So let us take a look at it together. . . 28 . . . .l:r. c4 provides more of a defence, but .•.

�

1 43

Carlsen opens the floodgates for the attack which breaks through. 29 gxh6 •••

Mate follows after 29 . . . 'ii'xd4 30. il. e3 'ii'e4 3 1 . l:t hS+ @ xh8 32. 'if h3+ @ ga 33. 'ii' h7 mate. 30.g7 .te7 30 . . . .t xg? 3 1 . ltJfS l:. c7 32 . lLixh6+ @ h7 (if 32 . . . @ ha, then 33. lLif7++ @ ga 34 . .l:. ha mate) 33. lLig4+ @ga 34. lLi f6+ (Stohl) does not change the outcome of the game. 31 ..l:.xh6 lLif7 32.'ii'g 6 lLixh6 33. 'ii'x h6 .tf6 34.'i'h8+ @17

should not be enough in the long run , as can be seen from the fol lowi ng variation: 29. lLie6 l:tg4 30. 'iff2 l:!.xg6 3 1 . .t xh6 'iVxd5 (but not 31 . . . gxh6? on account of 32 . .l:r. hg1 ) 32 . lLic7 'ii'c5 33. 'iVxcS dxc5 34. ltJ xea gxh6 35. lLi f6+ .

35.gS'iV+! The tempting 35. l:r.xf6+? is met by 35 . . . @ e?. 35 .:r.xga 36.'ii'xf6+ @ea 37 . .l:!.e1 + And in view of 37 . . . @ d? 38. 'i!Ve? mate, Nakamu ra had to accept his only defeat in this high-class game. •..

Black resigned.

h

29.il.xh6! ! With this resounding bishop sacrifice

''That's more like it," Carlsen twittered after the game, and he told reporters: "I am really very happy. This is what I needed badly . . . after the stupid draw I handed in yesterday."

1 44

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Chapter 7

I n the press centre he commented that in his opinion Hikaru's Sicilian was the wrong strategy in terms of tou rnament tactics. Especially since the previous year Naka mura had criticised Alexei Shirov for ex actly the same thing, when, leading by 5¥2 out of 6 he had also chosen the Sicilian against him - and lost. As was so aptly said by Borussia Dort mund's successfu l football trainer J u rgen Klopp: "You cannot learn about experi ence. You have to acquire it." 1 H i karu Nakamu ra acqu i red it on that Sunday in January 20 1 1 . Magnus Carlsen will have been addition ally pleased by the fact this 81h round game also earned for him the prize for the best game of the day. As far as the situation on

the leader board was concerned , every thing had opened up for him again . Nakamu ra, who was left o n 5 ¥2 , was caught by Anand after his draw with Levon Aronian. But behind the two leaders l u rked Carlsen, the French player Maxi me Vachier Lagrave , Aronian and ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik - a strong quartet on 5 poi nts each. Apart from Aronian and Carlsen, Nakamu ra still had to play against the other two, as well as Anand. And in round 9, after the second rest day, it was precisely the I ndian world champion who was waiting for h i m . Pessimists among Hikaru's fans were even predicting that their man was now facing a double loss. But it is not only in fai ry tales that you should not count your chickens before they are hatched . . . .

The sky's the l i m it "If you want to run, then run a mile. But if you want a new life, then run a marathon." Emil Zatopek

T there is no guarantee that the goal will be reached . Yes, even a sudden crash can

he way to the chess summit can be compared to a marathon - and in this case too

never be excluded. It is sufficient to recall the Russian Andrei Sokolov (born 1 963) , whose rise in the early 1 980s was breath-taki ng: junior world champion in Copenhagen in 1 982, USSR national champion i n 1 984, and third in both the l nterzonal Tou rnament in Biel 1 985 and the Candidates Tournament in Montpellier the same year. Then in the q uarter-finals of the Candidates matches a clear 6-2 victory over Rafael Vaganian and in the semi-finals a fortunate but deserved 7Y2-6Y2 success against Artur Yusupov. The tempo of the 24-year old was breath-taking, because there was only one single hurdle remaining between the 1

I nterv iew with Jurgen Klopp: DER SPIEGEL ( N umber 1 1 /1 2. March 20 1 2)

ctJ

The sky's the limit

new Soviet chess star and a World Championship match against Garry Kas parov. But the tactically gifted Andrei Sokolov failed this last challenge, which bore the name of Anatoly Karpov, by a rather clear-cut 3%-7% , without actually winning a single game. Third in the world rating list with an Elo of 2645 (the same as Yusupov) behind Kasparov (2735) and Karpov (27 1 0) , he later plunged down to earth like a comet in the Candidates matches in Saint John in Canada, losing in the fi rst round against local grandmaster Kevin Spraggett in the rapid-play tie-break. After that he played no further part in the battle for the chess crown. He was only a miler and no marathon runner. Conti nuous prog ress is not always guar anteed - Hikaru Nakam ura has also had to experience this. And at present one rival appears to be too strong for him: Magnus Carlsen . Even at the American's greatest triumph in Wijk aan Zee 201 1 , the Norwe gian , three years his jun ior, demonstrated in impressive fashion where his present limits are , by inflicti ng his one and only defeat in the tou rnament, as can be seen from the extensively annotated game in the fi rst part of this chapter. Of a total of 1 5 serious games against the leader of the world ranking list since their fi rst meeting in Biel in 2005, Hikaru has not managed to notch up a single victory. There is no other top 1 O player2 against whom he has so far had to pay so dearly, as can be seen from the followi ng survey (which incl udes the 40th chess olympiad in Istanbul 20 1 2) :

2

1 . M . Carlsen (NOR) 2. L. Aronian (ARM) 3. V. Kramnik (RUS) 4. T. Radjabov (AZE) 6. V. Anand (I ND) 7. S. Karjakin (RUS)

8. F. Caruana (ITA) 9. V. lvanchuk (UKR)

1 0. A. Morozevich (RUS)

15 5 11 1 6 15 5

+O +2 +3 +O +1 +5 +1 9 +1 2 +O

=

1 45

1 0 -5

=2 -1 =6 -2

= 1 --0 = 5 --0 =8 -2 = 4 --0

4

=

--4

=1 -1

If we take as our criterion the previous two years, a statistical evaluation by Chess Base3 shows that in the top tournaments of 20 1 0 (player of the year was Levon Aronian with a performance rating of 29 1 7 over 50 games in six competitions) the strongest newcomer was Hikaru Nakamu ra in 9th place (2776/57/6) . Ahead of him in addition to Levon Aronian were Magnus Carlsen (29 1 5/54/ 6) , Viswanathan Anand (291 3/49/5) , Alex ander G rischuk (Russia/2906/4 1 /5) , Sergei Karjakin (2797/49/5), Shakh riyar Mamedya rov (Azerbaijan/2796/57/6) and Vladimir Kramnik (2779/60/7). I n the ChessBase rankings for 201 1 4 Evgeny Tomashevsky ( Russia/2909/22/3) in 2nd place, European champion Vladimir Potkin (Russia/2777/24/3) in 9t h and Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan/277 1 /37/4) at num ber 10 are three new players to make it into the top 1 0 . Nakamu ra now comes gth with a performance rating of 277 1 from 60 games in six top tou rnaments . These resu lts indicate that H i karu Naka mura has reached the world el ite and

F I D E world ran king list as of 1 st September 201 2; Hikaru Nakam u ra occupied 5 th place . ChessBase Magazine 1 40, p.8, without blitz and rapid chess, as well as at least 2 tournaments 4 See ChessBase Magazine 1 46, p.9

3 See

1 46

;t

Chapter 7

maintained his position in it in 201 1 . And yet the American can not have been happy with the following twelve months, especially after his success in Wijk aan Zee. And that was also the view of his "critical travelling companion" Vladimir Kramnik as expressed in an interview for New in Chess.5 And the ex-world champion suggests from his point of view a possible cause for it: "In Wijk aan Zee he was showing very good chess and it seemed to me that he was really getting to the top-five. Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that he and Garry were just not the right match. Chess wise Garry gave him a lot, of cou rse . . . Besides all the positive things which Garry can give on the chess board , it was probably not working on a human level . This sometimes happens. And you could see, after they broke up H i karu started to do better immediately (laughs). That sounds like a joke, but it's true." Nakamura's own conclusion about the year 201 1 which was decisively marked by his cooperation with Garry Kasparov, is also instructive: "I feel that many of my decisions this year have been wrong. Not playing the U S Championship on his advice, not playing the F I D E World Cup, also a m istake."6 I n the long run , as far as the conflict with his "over-powerful" teacher is concerned, the following aspect is particularly impor tant: "One thing with Garry, and I think it is due i n a large part to his Soviet training, he' ll s New in Chess

s New in Chess

7 8

never quite u nderstand that you have to be able to criticize constructively. When you have someone who is always on you r case and it's never good enough no matter how you win a game, it just brings you down , you lose confidence. And as a chess player you have to be confident, you have to believe in you rself."7 As far as not taking part in the World Cup i n Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia is concerned , that was q uite certainly the biggest mistake on the way to the chess crown . After all , at the knockout spectacu lar from 28t h August to 1 9t h September 201 1 with 1 28 participants, there were at stake three places in the Candidates Tourna ment, which is due to take place i n March 201 3. The two Russians Peter Svidler and Alexander G rischu k and veteran player Vassily lvanchu k seized this opportunity, whereas Gata Kamsky, the best American, was eliminated in the last sixteen . A s for the way the World C u p was played , Nakamu ra al ready fou nd it problematic earl ier. "Firstly a match of only two games does not necessarily show who the better player is; anybody can be l ucky in one game. Then in the second game there is a whole heap of pressu re on whoever lost the first one. I remember that Anand once lost his fi rst game against a 2300 player. 8 Of cou rse he won the second game with Black, but the pressu re which is put on you in this situation is very strong. It is very, very difficult to win the second encounter after you have lost the fi rst one. The players

1 /201 2 , pp.38/39 1 /20 1 2 , p. 1 8

I bid It was in the 1 st round of the Knockout World Championship 200 1 against Olivier Touzane (Elo 2368) ; in the rapid tie-break Anand went on to win 1 %-%.

The sky's the limit

make it into the tie-breaks, but then it is all about blitzkrieg and rapid fire, and about who manages to blunder and who does not blunder. That is simply not good for the qual ity of the chess. Quality, I think, is more important than quantity."9 Hikaru himself suffered this painful expe rience in November 2005 in rou nd 1 against the I ndian player Surya Shekhar Ganguly. After a defeat in the fi rst game he was forced to risk everything - and he lost a second time. To be sure, two back doors were open for Nakam u ra when he decided against the "lottery" of the World Cup. Places 1 to 3 i n t h e F I D E world rating list on 1 51 January 201 2 would also have secu red qualifica tion. However, that would only have been possible with outstanding tou rnament vic tories in the Grand Slam finals, the Tai Memorial, the London Chess Classic and last but not least probably in Reggio Emilia too . The second option lay in the hands of his sponsor Rex Sinquefield. He would have had to make efforts to have the Candidates Tournament staged in Saint Louis, which of course would not have been cheap. Who ever hosts this high-level tou rnament has at his disposal a wildcard entry for a local grandmaster with an Elo rating of at least 2700 . We are not aware why Rex Sinq uefield , who along with his wife Jeanne founded the Chess Club and the Scholastic Center in Saint Louis and sponsors both establish ments, did not become active i n this case. It might well be that the breakdown of the

9

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147

cooperation between H i karu and Garry Kasparov put him off the idea of taking on such a financial risk, since what counts above all for an American businessman is success. It seemed rather unlikely that at that point i n time Nakamu ra could have guaranteed emerging from the Candidates Tou rnament as victor and thus earning the right to challenge the old and new world champion Viswanathan Anand. And finally FIDE's decision in such a tendering proc ess is also not easy to calculate. In the past the highest bidder has not always seen his offer accepted . Wel l , in any case Nakamu ra passionately tried all he could i n the aforementioned super-tournaments to ach ieve the impossi ble through his own efforts - but in vain . It might have been expected that he would prog ramme in a break after the tournament victory in Wijk aan Zee. The final staging of the Melody Amber in Monaco in March with blindfold and rapid chess, (won by Levon Aronian), was for H i karu , like all the top players, more of a great chess spectacle, i n which he would certainly have aimed for more than 1 OY2 points from 22 games (blindfold 5 , rapid chess 5%) and 61h place. Nakamura probably kept a distant eye on the candidates matches for the world championship in Kazan, which in May produced the unexpected victor Boris Gelfand. And he will have also noticed that the World Championship chal lenger was al ready over 40. Born in Belorussia (in 1 968) , he emigrated to Israel in 1 998 and is known both for his extraordinarily good chess and also mental and physical prepa-

See interv iew in Chess Chronicle, December 2005

1 48

<;t>

Chapter 7

ration. And he also has that sound self confidence which is indispensable for top performances, not only in chess. Nakamu ra, who in the same month was gaining match experience in Saint Louis in a duel with Ruslan Ponomariov, which he won 3%-2%, was understandably eager to finally confirm the brilliance of his perform ance in Wijk aan Zee. And i n June ( 1 1 th _ 21 st} he had his fi rst real opportun ity to do so in the Kings Tou rnament in . Bazna in Romania. With Magnus Carlsen, Sergei Karjakin, Teimour Radjabov and Vassi ly lvanchuk as well as the top local player Livi u-Dieter N isipeanu, this double round robin event reached FIDE Category XXI (Elo average 2757) . However, his result of 4%/1 0 (+1 =7 -2} was soberi ng for the cu rrent No.8 in the world ranking list, especially the ease with which his "nem esis" Carlsen once more defeated h i m . "Making t h e difficult look easy is o n e o f the marks of genius!", was what preceded the comments on the game in SCHACH. 1 0 After suffering his second defeat in the final round at the hands of lvanchuk, the frustrated American wrote on Twitter: "I managed to turn a mediocre result into a complete disaster with a few well-timed blunders. The time has come to concen trate on the World Series of Poker", was the quote Leontxo Garcia took up in his report for SCHACH. 1 1 Whether H i karu actually wandered off into the camp of the poker players for a short time has never been made clear, although Kelsey Whipple reported that early in July 201 1 he is supposed to have 10

taken part in the opening round of the World Series of Poker under his fi rst Christian name of Chris. 12 On the other hand, it could perhaps be true that after his unexpected col lapse in Bazna he decided to give the World Cup a miss. I n any case, apart from Carlsen, who as No. 1 in the world ran king list did not have to worry about his place in the next Candidates Tournament, the other fou r rivals were there among the 1 28, and lvanchuk se cured the thi rd qual ifying place in the match for thi rd place against Ruslan Ponomariov with a score of 2%-1 % . The organisers o f the 39th Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting will of cou rse have welcomed the American's withdrawal from the World Cup. Thus in Ju ly, in addition to their regular guest Vladimir Kramnik, who celebrated his tenth victory on the stage of the theatre, they would be able to engage a real "chess samurai", whose play is characterised by fight and risk. Once more the result 4Y2/1 O (+2 =5 -3 and second last place} must have been a sobering one. And things could have even been relatively worse , had not ex-world champion Kramnik, on his "home" ground, made a surprising knight sacrifice in the last round, which looked very promising from a practical point of view. But since tournament victory was already secu red , i n playing t o t h e gallery the Russian over estimated his position and lost this really entertaining game. It was clear to Hikaru that his adventu re in Dortmund would not be without its consequences on the world rating list - a

See SCHACH 7/20 1 1 , p.46 Ibid, p.48 1 2 Riverfront Times, Saint Louis, issue of 2 1 st July 201 1 . 11

The sky's the limit

plunge to 1 2th place with an Ela rating of 2753, which wou ld make the leap to 3 rd place in the remaining top tournaments all but impossible. Wel l , the G rand Slam final in Sao Paulo and Bilbao (26th September to 1 1 th October) with its 3 rd place behind Carlsen and lvanchuk was something along the lines of a rehabil itation - in particular, the win against Levon Aron ian and the two draws with Magnus Carlsen must have been greeted with some joy by Hikaru , but 5/1 0 ( +2 =6 -2) meant only a relative improve ment. And the next collapse came immediately after that in November in Moscow at the 5th Tai Memorial : 1 oth place, in other words last, with 3/9 including th ree defeats (Carlsen, lvanch uk, Svidler) and not a single win. Even the most pessimistic would never have expected that things would get so bad . Out of the ten decisive games, Hikaru was involved in th ree of them and in the negative sense. In this connection, Vladimir Barsky, who among other thi ngs was Alexander Moro zevich's second, drew some interesting conclusions in his report for SCHACH: "Only rarely was a win the result of one of the players logically and mercilessly out playi ng another. Generally speaking, it was more a case of the loser over-estimating his chances because he too was striving for victory and opened himself up in the heat of battle and overlooked a powerful blow. This also makes it clear that psycho logical stabil ity is becoming increasingly important in modern chess. Who can sit his

13 SCHACH

1 /20 1 2 , p.45 30/20 1 2, pp.76n7

1 4 Sportmagazin kicker,

ttJ

1 49

opponent out? Who can take more pres sure? Who keeps a clear head at the decisive moment? These are the factors that are becoming ever more important!"1 3 I n top-level sport, mental trainers have long since ceased to be the exception . As described by Thomas Baschab, who is one of the most consulted experts in Germany and whose help is used in particu lar by Bundesliga football professionals, their task consists of being active in many areas: "The basic condition is the attitude. How does the person consider the sport? How hard-working is he? How disciplined? How self-critical? Those who have failings there have no hope of making a career."1 4 "Enormous talents can fail because dur ing the good times they let things slip", according to Baschab, whose theory is: "Mental trai ning is one of many compo nents needed by sportsmen and women, in addition to talent, strength , training and motivation ." I n this respect the 3 rd London Chess Classic in December with its +3 result was certainly a positive turn of events for Nakam ura and a clear warning along the lines of: "folks, you'll have to reckon with me agai n!" However, the reason for his second place behind Kramnik, but ahead of Carlsen, was a rather fortunate win over the English player M ichael Adams, who was in really bad form with his 1 %/8. "In this encounter the American tu rned to the King's Gambit, which is a rare guest in tou rnaments of this category. This choice strengthened the impression made in his game against Anand. However, it should

1 50

�

Chapter 7

not be overlooked that Nakamura has suffered a relapse and has once again become the 'chess street fighter' he pre ferred to be before the start of his cooperation with Kasparov'', according to SCHA CH reporter Dirk Poldaut. 1 5 And unfortunately this ''fighting chess" was also continued in Reggio Emilia in Italy. When half-way through Nakamu ra reached 4/5, and then also won against the Russian N ikita Vitiugov and drew with Fabiano Caruana, he began to stake everything in the following th ree games - and the resu lt was a series of three unnecessary defeats, such as the following one against Alexan der Morozevich, who is once again back among the world el ite after a lengthy creative pause.

GAME 35 H. Nakamura A. Morozevich 54th Torneo di Capodanno, Reggio Emilia 201 2 French Defence [C 1 1 ] -

1 .e4 e6 2.d4 d 5 3.t'Lic3 t'Lif6 4.e5 t'Lifd7 5.f4 c5 6.t'Lif3 'iib 6 7 .te3 t'Lic6 8.'ili'd2?! Whoever plays this pawn sacrifice needs to know exactly what he is doing, especially against an opponent of the cal ibre of Morozevich. This made Hikaru's choice here very dubious, as will become clear. The main variation here is 8 . t'Lia4. •

8 'ifxb2 9 . .l:.b1 'ii'a 3 ..•

15

SCHACH 1 /201 2, p . 3 1

1 0.fS? This opening up of the position backfires, because it is not possible to make rapid enough use of White's lead in develop ment. Moreover, it is not clear whether Wh ite can even sti ll hope for sufficient compensation. For example, after 1 o.t'Lib5 'ii'xa2 1 1 Jlc1 in Ragger - Andreiki n , Gaziantep 2008 , Black cool ly played 1 1 . . . l:!.b8, when White can prevent him from castling with 1 2 . t'Lic7+ 'iitd 8 1 3.t'Lib5, but is nevertheless two pawns behind. The most usual move at this point is 1 O . .te2 , but after 10 . . . a6 1 1 . 0-0 cxd4 1 2 .t'Lixd4 t'Lixd4 1 3 . .txd4 .tc5 1 4.'iit h 1 i.xd4 1 5.'ii'xd4 'ili'c5 Black can feel happy. 1 O.l:.b3 gave the German team an impor tant victory on their way to winning the European Team Championsh ip: 1 o . . . 'ii'a5 1 1 .dxc5? ! a6 1 2 . .te2 i.xc5 1 3.f5? .txe3 1 4.'ii'x e3 t'Lic5 1 5 .l:.b5 axb5 1 6.'iixc5 'ii'a3+, and later 0-1 in Rombaldoni-Buhmann ' Porto Carras 201 1 . 1 0 a6 1 1 .fxe6? ! .•.

White reveals his cards too soon and limits his options. 1 1 . .te2 .te7 1 2 .0-0 offered somewhat more compensation , but in the long run it should not be enough .

ltJ

The sky's the limit

151

GAME 36

1 2.J..e 2 J..e7 1 3.0-0 0-0

H. Nakamura A. Giri 54th Torneo di Capodanno, Reggio Emilia 201 2 Petroff Defence [C42] -

1 .e4 eS 2.lLif3 lLif6 3.lLixeS d6 4.lLif3 lLixe4 S.llJc3 lLixc3 6.dxc3 J.. e7 7.J.. e3

Black has consolidated well and is simply a pawn up. So "Moro" has no problems, despite his bad French bishop and the associated lag in development. 1 4.�h 1 cxd4 1 S.llJxd4? ! 1 5.J.. x d4 is the lesser evi l , but there is also no doubting Black's advantage. 1S lLidxeS 1 6J:tb3 .l::txf1 + 1 7.J.. xf1 'ifd6 1 8.lLixc6 lLixc6 1 9.lLia4 bS 20.lLib6 .l::t b 8 21 .J..f4 es 22.lLixce .l:.xc8 23.J.. g 3 'ife6 24 .l::t b 1 e4 2S.a4 bxa4 26.J..xa6 .l:tf8 27.c3 a3 28.J..e2 J.. d 6 29.J.. h 4 .l::t b 8 30.l:txb8+ J.. x b8 31 .'ili'a2 'ifd6 32.J.. g 3 'ires White resigned. .•.

•

And against the young star Anish G i ri , who made a classic bad start with 1 /4 but then took himself in hand and finished by catapulting himself into fi rst place, he got an unpleasant surprise with White.

7 lLid7!? "Tiii this game I almost exclusively went for long castling (after . . . lll c6) . In fact there are two types of Petroff players, ones that castle short and others that castle long. While big guys like Kramnik and Gelfand belong to the first category, I previously belonged to the second, accompanied by Chinese experts, Wang Yue and Li Chao. Usually my 'team' made d raws after some suffering and Kramnik with Gelfand were having more exciting times, but occasion ally got mated . After having carefully checked that Black is not getting mated (at least not by force), I decided to try to play with fire as well", according to Anish G i ri i n CBM 1 46. .•.

8.'ifd2 0-0 9.0-o--0 c6 1 0.h4 .l::te 8 1 1 .i.d3

1 52

Chapter 7

1 1 dS!? "A new move and a new idea. Previously Black has played . . . W'a5 and . . . ll:if6, both of them were played by none less than Kramnik, but after both of them , Black didn't fully solve his problems it seemed to me. I decided to wait with deciding where to put my knight, as besides f6 it has an inter esting career on cs as well as on f8." (G i ri) 1 2.lL!gS? ! "Hikaru decided that there i s n o difference and that he can mate me by the usual scheme. Obviously now I use the flexibility of my knight " (Giri) 12 lL!fS! 1 3.hS �f6 1 4.lL!f3 .i.g4 1 S.:de1 .i.xf3 1 6.gxf3 Hikaru offered a d raw, thereby admitti ng that the opening had not gone perfectly.

Position after 1 6 lL!e& •••

••.

According to G i ri , 1 7. h6 g6 1 8.f4, intending f5 , is an improved version of H i karu's idea, since White gets rid of his doubled pawns: 1 8 . . . 'ii'd B 1 9.fS lL!cS , and the position should be level. 17 ... h6! 1 8.a3 'ifas 1 9.'ii'd 1 lL!cs

•..

1 6 lL!eS •.•

(see next diagram) 20 . .i.fS?! 1 7.f4?! "A very ugly move to me, played with a visible confidence. Hikaru was probably trying to regain that psychological advan tage that he had given me one move ago by offering a draw." (Giri)

Too optimistic. 20.l:ihg 1 looks more natu ral . 2 0 lL!a4 21 .'i'd3 lL!c5 ! ? Anish G i ri takes no risks, although after 21 . . . lL!xc3 22 . .i.d2 d4 the position is also advantageous for Black. •..

The sky's the limit

�

1 53

22.'ii'd 1 'ii'b5? ! This runs into a n incredible counter, whereas 22 . . . lt:Je4 ! , intending 23.i.d4 i.xd4 24.'ii'xd4 'ii'c 7! (Giri), gives Black a slight but lasting advantage . 23.'iie 2? ! Here both players missed the brilliant 23.i.d4 ! ! intending 23 . . . lt:Ja4? 24. b3 tt:Jxc3 25.i.xf6 ! ! lt:Jxd 1 26.:eg 1 �ta 27 . .l:.xg7 .l:r.e6 28. i.xe6 fxe6 29.l:!.hg 1 and then mate (Giri). 23 ... 'ii'a 4 31 .'i'xc4?! The fi rst step in the wrong direction. The immediate 3 1 .l:[d 1 !? is more prudent. 31 ... .l:.xc4!

24.'ii'd 1 ? ! 24.:hg 1 lt:Je4 25.'ii'g 4 - intending 2 5 . . . lt:Jxc3?! 26.i.d3 lt:Je4 27.'ii'fS - wou ld have been more precise, according to Giri . 2 4 lt:Je4 25.i.xe4 :xe4 2 6..:r. h g 1 l:!.ae8 27 . .l:.g3 �h8 28 .l:.eg1 'ii'c 4 29.�b1 c5 30.°iid 3 b6 ..•

•

(see next diagram)

32.l:!.d1 ? This runs straight into a very strong exchange sacrifice. 32 .i.d2 l:!.ce4 33.�c1 was the lesser evil . 3 2. . .d4! 33.cxd4 cxd4 34.b3 dxe3! 35.bxc4 exf2 The passed f-pawn will decide the day, because it condemns White to passivity. 36.:ta l:!.e1 37.�c1 i.d4 38.c3 i.e3+ 39.�c2 f5!

1 54

�

Chapter 7

Now Black is simply th reatening g7-g6, creating the next passed pawn and the end draws nigh . . . 40.a4 a S 41 .cS .txcS White resigned. The pause to "lick his wounds" and to revive after Reggio Emilia was very short for Hikaru, who did after all finish thi rd . The chess festival in Wij k aan Zee was calling, and the title defender was in special demand. Although this time H i karu did not steal the show on his own , he could be quite content with his 7%/1 3 (+3 =9 -1 ) , which meant 61h place, since no one was expecting him to repeat his tri umph of twelve months previously. Nevertheless, his only defeat in round 2 to tou rnament winner Levon Aronian indicated what prob ably still stood between him and absol ute world class.

GAME 3 7 L. Aronian

H . Nakamura Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 2 Dutch Defence [ABB] -

26 . .txc3 One can hardly believe that Nakamura could have worked out all the conse quences of this far-sighted queen sacrifice by his opponent. And Aronian too must have taken an intu itive decision to go for it, reminding one of that chess magician Mikhail Tai . 26 .. J1xb1 27Jldxb1 g s 28.%:tb7 ltJg8 29 . .txg7+ �xg7 30.%:tbS 'ii'g6 31 .cS dxcS 32 . .l:.xcS 'ii'xe6 33.liJf3 'ii'd 6 34.ltJd4 �h8 3S.%:tc6 'ii'd 7 36.%:tac1 f4 37 . .tca 'ifa7 38.liJe6 l:!.f6 39.exf4 gxf4 40.l:.c7 "ifa4 41 .liJxf4

1 .d4 fS 2.g3 liJf6 3 . .i.g2 g6 4.liJf3 .i.g7 S.0-0 0-0 6.c4 d6 7.ltJc3 c6 8.'ii' b3 �h8 9.%:td1 ltJa6 1 0.'ii'a 3 ltJc7 1 1 .dS cs 1 2.b4 cxb4 1 3.'ii'x b4 liJa6 1 4.'ii'b 1 .i.d7 1 S.liJbS :ca 1 6.liJd2 'ifb6 1 7.e3 ltJcs 1 8.a4 'ii'a s 1 9 . .ta3 a6 20 . .i. b4 'ii'd 8 21 .liJd4 ltJxa4 22.liJe6 .txe6 23.dxe6 'ii'e 8 24 . .txb7 %:tb8 2S . .txa6 ltJc3 (see next diagram)

Aronian's army is cooperating well . When-

t2J

The sky's the limit

ever a queen has to fight against a lot of pieces, what is i mportant is whether or not it has targets. 41 ... .l:.d6 ! ? Nakamu ra must exchange pieces, in order to reduce the strength of Aronian's forces and create targets for his queen. In my opinion, Baburin's suggestion of 41 . . J:txf4?! 42.gxf4 'Yi'xf4 is too radical . The queen may gain more options, but in the long run the cost is too high si nce the white rooks will obtain possibilities after 43.�b7 lbf6 44.h3 (Karsten Muller) . 42 . ..tes l:td1 + ! Nakamu ra exchanges rooks to relieve his position . After 42 . . . Wg?? White can avoid the exchange of rooks by 43.�d5 and reg roup under the cover of his bishop, e.g. 43 ... 'i!Vb4 44.h4 h6 45 .h5 'it'b2 46.Wg2 'iVe5 47.�7c5 lbf6 48 . ..tf3 'Wd4 49 .llc7 Wf7 50.lle1 l:td7 51 . .l:!.xd7 lbxd7 52.lbg6, and White's domi nation is obvious.

1 55

tage of the pawn sacrifice is that White no longer has a real attack and the black queen can now act with all the freedom of a fish in water) 45 . . . ii'e 1 46.lbe6+ Wg6, but in both cases Black is still faced with an unpleasant and tedious defence. 45.l:i.xe7 'it'e1 46 . .l:!.f7 'ife4+ 47.f3 'iVd4 47 . . . 'it'e5 ! ? , in order to meet 48.Wh3?! with 48 . . . lbh5! and thus reduce the pressu re by the exchange of knights, was suggested by Baburin in Chess Today 4086. 48.Wh3 'iVeS? 48 . . . °ii'b 2 49 . ..tc4 'i!Vc3 50 . ..td3 Wg8 was Hikaru's last real chance to put up any serious resistance. a

b

c

d

8

43 . .l:!.xd1 °ii'x d1 + 44.Wg2

49.Wh4! The white king joins the attack with decisive effect. 49 ... 'ii'd 4 50 . ..tg4! But not 50.Wg5? on account of 50 . . . lbg8! . so ... "ii'e s 44 ... ltJfS 44 . . . Wg7 was the alternative. Black can probably hold on, e.g. 45 . ..td5 (45 . ..txg8 Wxg8 46.llxe7 is interesting; the advan-

50 . . . 'iVd6 does not help in the long run either, e.g. 5 1 . ..tf5 lbd5 52.lbe6 lbe7 53.'�h5 h6 54.�g4 'lii g 8 55 . .l:!.f8+ Wh7 56.f4 'ifd5+ 57.f5 lbc6 58 . .l:!.f7+ Wg8 59 .l:tg7+ Wh8 60.l:tg6. On the other hand ,

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Chapter 7

50 . . . tbxg4? loses immediately on account of 5 1 .1:::.fB+ �g7 52.tbe6+ 51 .tbe6!

Aronian closes the last mesh of a finely woven net. The game is over. 55 �h7 56.Il.f7+ �h8 57 . .tg6 tbf6 58 .l:r.fS+ tbg8 59 .tf7 •••

•

The knight is like a keystone in a lovely piece of architecture. It closes the ring of white pieces and Nakamu ra can simply do nothing against it. 51

.••

h6

5 1 . . . h5 is refuted by 52 .tbf4 �g8 53 . .te6 'ffxe6 54.tbxe6 �xf7 55.tbf4+ and 5 1 . . . tbxg4?? by 52.ltfB mate. 52.:!fS+ tbg8 52 . . . �h7? fails to 53.f4 (Baburin) 53 . . . 'ii'c3? ! 54 . .i.f5 mate. 53.f4 'ikb2 54.�h3 'ii' a 1 ? ! 5 4 . . . 'i'b5 i s more tenacious but also not sufficient, e.g. 55.f5 h5 56 . .i.xh5 �h7 57.�h4 'i'b4+ 58 . .tg4 Nh6 59.h3 'ifb1 60.l:If6 tbxg4 6 1 .�xg4 'ii'd 3 62 .tbg5+ �g7 63.l:!f7+ �g8 64.�h4, and Black can resign. 55 .th5! •

1s

Quoted from SCHACH 1 0/20 1 0, pp. 1 4/1 5

.

59 . . . �h7 is now met by 60.ltxgB 'ii'f 1 + 61 .�h4, and nothing works any more! Black resigned. 201 2 could be a really decisive year in the chess career of Hikaru Nakamura. And not only because he will be the oldest of the "young stars". Yes, he can still step out of the shadow of Robert James Fischer and one day become world champion , which is his declared goal as he self-assuredly admits: "Absolutely! Yes! Why else should someone with an Elo of over 2700 be playing chess?", was his reply to the Italian journalist Janis N issi in August 201 O in Amsterdam, when she asked about his ambitions. 1 6 As far as this challenge is concerned , nothing has changed for H i karu Nakamu ra since then - qu ite the contrary. Wel l , time will tell whether the sky will in fact be reached . . .

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Chapter 8

Wijk aan Zee Tuesday, 25111 January 201 1 , Round 9

I of the young post-war German writers, published a volume of nineteen short stories

n 1 947 Wolfgang Borchert, the most admonitory and perhaps the most authentic voice

under the title of "An diesem Dienstag" (''This Tuesday"). There are two Tuesdays during the tou rnament in Wijk aan Zee and the ninth round is to be played on this one, the last one in January, after which the state of the leader board should become clear. Among the top players, Kramnik defeats L'Ami and Aronian beats Shi rov, whi lst Carlsen cannot manage more than a draw against the hitherto undefeated Maxime Vachier Lag rave, and he appears to be almost out of the running. But of cou rse everyone's eyes are mainly on the encou nter between the top two on the leader board , who have d rawn strength from thei r second rest day. The question is: will thi ngs be decided in advance today in the game between Hikaru Nakam u ra and Viswanathan Anand? The 4 1 -year-old I ndian world champion clearly has experience in his favou r, and it makes hardly any difference to him which colour he has, because no other world-class player is better able than he is to prepare for any opponent. His lightning start with 4/5 has been specific proof that the "Madras tiger'' is in excellent form . And , after all, the Dorpshuis de Moriaan is practically his own chess "living room". No one has won the Hoogovens/Corus/Tata-Steel chess tou rnament as often as "Vishy": five victories (th ree of them shared), and 70 successive games without defeat. In this connection , it must be mentioned that Anand was among the winners (together with Predrag N i kolic, Zoltan Ribli and Gyula Sax) on his very fi rst appearance. But what weight should be accorded nowadays to records from the past, when there is a new generation of players? The managers of Tata Steel appreciate the sporting successes of their compatriot, but that is another story. However, the main thing for young players is that this extremely high level event should continue to appear i n the annual calendar. How seriously the biggest I ndian conglomerate (they also own , for example, Air I ndia) is committed to Wijk aan Zee can be seen from their guarantee that it will continue until 201 3. However, for the fifth biggest steel producer in the world , the ann ual cost of running the tou rnament with its Open and three top-class groups of 1 4 players each, with appearance money, prize fund and running expenses, comes to an estimated half a million euros. But one might think that it is money well spent in Europe as a logical marketing exercise, especially since it gives them certain rights when it comes to i nviting participants. Thus i n the 74th event, the victor of the B group, Pentala Harikrishna, is also from I ndia, as are three starters i n the C

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Chapter 7

group. Such super-tou rnaments are quite impossible without heavyweight sponsors, as can be seen from the examples of Linares and also Mainz, which may have possibly disappeared for ever. But let us now tu rn to this fantastic pai ring on this final Tuesday in January. . .

GAME 38 H . Nakamura V. Anand Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 20 1 1 Queen's Indian Defence [E 13] -

The art of defence

As for the sub-heading: there was probably no player in the whole history of chess who was such a perfect master of the art of defence as Tigran Petrosian . In his best years each of his defeats was hailed as a sensation . "For this truly legendary impreg nability he was nickhamed 'iron Tigran' , although on account o f h i s very distincive 'passive' style it was hard to associate his name with the proud conquerors of the chess th rone", 1 was the description of the ninth world champion by Garry Kasparov. "Meanwhile, Petrosian had a complete mastery of the art of creating harmonious positions, full of life, where behind the apparent absence of dynamics was con cealed a colossal internal energy (the slightest changes being immediately taken i nto account in the general strategy, which was not always understandable to the opponent) ." 2 Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian ( 1 929-1 984) had this to say about his way of playing 1 -3

chess: "Yes, perhaps I like defending more than attacking, but who has demonstrated that defence is a less risky and dangerous occupation than attack? And are there so few games that have found their way into the treasu ry of chess thanks to vi rtuoso defence? What I value more than anything in chess is logic. I am firmly convinced that in chess there is nothing accidental. This is my credo. I believe only in logical , 'correct' play." 3 As you will see, for a long time the young American is well and truly under pressu re in his key game against the favou rite although it would be going too far to say that he had his back against the wall . But in this situation he shows that he is almost a "student of Petrosian". And so he manages to work his way out of the difficult situation, because he is a master of the "art of defence". 1 .d4 lDf6 2.c4 e6 3.l2Jc3 1'.b4 4.lDf3 b6 5.1'.g5 h6 6.1'.h4 g5 7.1'.g3 l2Je4 8.'ifc2 1'.b7 9.e3 d6 1 0.1'.d3 1'.xc3+ 1 1 .bxc3 f5 1 2.d5 Nakamu ra immediately takes the bull by the horns, as otherwise the superior black structure will be decisive in the long term . 1 2 ltJaS 1 3.h4?! •.•

A rather questionable novelty and the cause of White's forthcoming difficulties, since he does not have time for such activity on the kingside. After 1 3.1'.xe4 fxe4 1 4.1\Vxe4 'fif6 Black had enough compen sation in Wang Yue-Adams, Baku 2008 , and so White really has to go for the main variation 1 3. lDd4 l2Jac5 . I n any case the world champion was certainly unimpressed by Nakamu ra's experiment.

Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors Part Ill, Everyman 2004, p.7.

Wijk aan Zee

1 3 ... 'ii'f6! 1 4.i.xe4 fxe4 1 5.'ii' xe4 ·ifxc3+ 1 6.�e2 lbc5 1 7.'ii'g 6+ �e7! The black king is absolutely safe - unlike the white one. 1 8.l:tac1 But not 1 a. hxg5?, since after 1 a . . . 'ii'xc4+ 1 9.�d 1 'ii'x d5+ 20.�e1 :aga 2 1 .'ii'f 6+ �ea 22.gxh6 l2Je4 23.'ii'b2 'ii'a s+ 24.�e2 l:!.h7 Black al ready has a clear advantage. 18 ... 1Vf6 1 9.'iVxf6+ �xf6 20.:hd1 exd5 Anand opens both the attacking diagonal a6-f1 and the c-file. 20 .. J::ta ea ! ? 2 1 .dxe6 lbxe6 was the alternative. 21 .cxdS i.a6+ 22.�e1

�

1 59

32.�f2, since an advantage for Anand is no longer apparent. But the immediate 24 . . . �fS! ? deserved serious consideration. 2s.:aa i.c8?! After this the play totally peters out. After 25 . . . �fS, on the other hand , the world champion could still have exerted some pressure. 26.hxgS+ hxg5 27.l:.xa7 l:!.8e7 28.�1 i.g4 29.lbd2 .:!.xd4 29 . . . i.e2+?! is parried by 30.�g 1 . 30.exd4 lbd3 31 .f3 i.f5 32.a3 lbf4 33.i.xf4 gxf4 33 . . . i.d3+ 34. �f2 l:!.e2+ 35 .�g 1 36.lbe4+ is a vain attempt to win.

gxf4

34.lbe4+! Now White secu res the liqu idation to a rook ending and finally a d raw. 34 ... i.xe4 35.fxe4 �xe4 36.:xc7 :xd4 37 ..:.cs �es 38.l:!.xb6 l:.d1 + 39.�e2 :a1 40.l:!.b3 �xd5 41 .g3 Draw agreed on White's proposal. And now let us give the word to the protagonists, who on the homepage of the Tata Steel Tou rnament expressed them selves as follows: 22 ... .:.aea After 22 . . . lbd3+! ? 23 . .l:.xd3 i.xd3 24. :xc7 Wh ite is very active , only a few pawns are left as winning potential , and the "dead" bishop on g3 has been resuscitated . Never theless, after 24 . . . l:thda Black has practical winning chances. The prophylactic 22 . . . l:!.h7 was also well worth considering. 23 . .:.ca :e4 24.l:!.d4 .:!.he8 After 24 . . . :xd4 25.exd4 :ea+ White should manage to defend successfu l l y with 26.i.eS+ �g6 27.dxcS g4 2a.:e3 gxf3 29.i.h2 :xe3+ 30.fxe3 fxg2 3 1 .cxd6 cxd6

"I was clearly better after the opening," said Anand , who qu ickly transposed into an endgame while maintaining his advantage. "And it was clearly very unpleasant for White because his bishop was much worse than mine. At the same time, however, I had to do something pretty fast because such an advantage clearly doesn't last forever. But, although I had a feeling I was close, I couldn't find anything. Stil l , a d raw is not a bad result, considering I had Black." Nakamura's comment echoed Anand's. "I think I was a l ittle bit worse out of the opening. It wasn't the sort of game I wanted

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Chapter 7

to play at all but, fortunately, Vishy was unable to come up with anything concrete . I must admit it wasn't my most exciting game of the tournament but I'm pretty happy I d rew and didn't lose again."

The resu lts of this ninth round left fou r players a t the top - Nakamu ra, Anand, Kramnik and Aronian - with six points each. So, with fou r rounds still to play nothing had yet been decided . . .

Wednesday, 25th January 201 1 , Round 1 0

I French player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (born 1 990) , who recently has been powerfully t can be said that u p to round 1 O the main su rprise of this tou rnament has been the

pushing up into the world el ite. Just one month older than the comet-like Magnus Carlsen, he was even more successful as a junior. Thus in 2009 i n Porto Madryn he became junior world champion, after six and eight years previously being ru nner-up in the U nder- 1 4 and third in the U nder- 1 2 championsh ips in Oropesa del Mar in Spain, when he emphatically made the world aware of his talent. Also his increase in performance as mi rrored in his Elo development is impressive. In October 2000 he fi rst entered the F I D E lists with a rating of 2 1 86. In April 2005 he broke through the 2500 barrier (2525) and at the age of 1 4 years and fou r months he gained the grandmaster title. Other noteworthy stations in his ascension are October 2007, when he reached 2634 Elo points and exactly twelve months later, when he leapt over the final hurdle to stand at 27 1 6. The fact that at this very highest of all levels he has not made any more leaps in performance must certainly be only a temporary business. Everything comes in good time . . . As for his encounter with Hikaru Nakamura, i n this case it was a portentous one. At the fi rst great tou rnament victory of the American in San Sebastian in July 2009 he was also a participant, and their Elo scores of 271 0 compared to 2703 were on much the same level. Maxime lost a Sicilian, but since then there has not been a serious game between them . In any case their Elo ratings have not d rifted too far apart in that time with 275 1 to 27 1 0. So Maxime has a good chance, especially since up ti ll now he has shown that he can keep up with the big boys and is so far undefeated . He will finish on a shared 5th to 5th place with ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik with th ree wins and only one loss.

GAME 39 H. Nakamura M. Vachier-Lagrave Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 1 -

Grunfeld Defence {087] The knight opens the way

Which opening should one choose with White against a renowned expert on the

G runfeld Defence? Well , Nakamura de cides on a direct challenge, which above all means preparatory work for his second Kris Littlejoh n . An important clue in the considerations of how to make an impres sion on Maxime, who has been playing for M U l h e i m Nord 1 93 1 in the German Bundesliga si nce 2007/08, is the game Gelfand-Kamsky from Bazna 2009 . In it White decided on 1 3 . .tgS! ? and was slightly better after 1 3 . . . 'ild7 1 4 . .th6 .txh6?!

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Wijk aan Zee

1 5.'ii'x h6 f6 1 6.f4 'ii'g 7 1 7. 'ilfh4. A further argument for this principled choice of open ing is that Vachier-Lagrave played exactly that variation up til l the twelfth move in round 4 against Shirov, and so it would be the American who would choose the mo ment to spring a surprise. A tou rnament game is not like in a match, where there is usually a continual discussion of opening ideas. Remember, for example, the impor tant role played by the Seville Variation of the G runfeld Defence in the 1 987 World Championship match between Anatoly Kar pov and Garry Kasparov after the moves 1 .d4 l2lf6 2.c4 g6 3.l2lc3 d5 4.cxd5 lbxd5 5.e4 lbxc3 6. bxc3 ..tg7 7 . ..tc4 c5 8. l2le2 lbc6 9 . .te3 0-0 1 0.0-0 ..tg4 1 1 .f3 lba5 1 2 . ..txf?+ nxf? 1 3.fxg4 :xt1 + 1 4.'iii> xf1 'ili'd6, in which Karpov twice tried the pawn ad vance 1 5.e5 (5th and 7th games) , before changing in the 1 1 th game to 1 5.'iit g 1 ; to this day both of these are still the main moves. 1 .d4 l2lf6 2.c4 g6 3.l2lc3 dS 4.cxdS ltJxdS S.e4 lbxc3 6.bxc3 .tg7 7 . ..tc4 cs 8.l2le2 lbc6 9 . ..te3 0--0 1 0.0--0 ltJaS 1 1 . ..td3 b6 1 2.'i!i'd2 es 1 3 ...tgs ! ? A clever "move" in both senses o f the word , Vachier-Lag rave is taken away from the plan which had worked so well against Shirov in round 4: 1 3 . ..th6 cxd4 1 4.cxd4. Here 1 4 . ..txg? would have followed in the footsteps of the famous 1 st game of the World Championship match between chal lenger Topalov and title defender Anand : 1 4 . . . 'iitx g? 1 5 .cxd4 exd4 1 6. �ac 1 'iYd6 1 7.f4 f6 1 8.f5 'ili'e5 1 9.l2lf4 g5 20.l2lh5+ 'iii> g 8 2 1 . h4 h6 22. hxg5 hxg5 23 . .l:!.f3 (see n ext d i ag ram)

23 . . . �f?? Anand mixes up the move order from his preparation (the correct way is

1 61

Position after 23. l:l'.f3

23 . . . ..td?) . 24.l2lxf6 'iii> xf6 25 . .l:t.h3 .l:l.g8 26 . .:r.h6+ 'it>f7 27.l:th?+ @ea 28 . .l:.cc? 'it>d8 29 . ..tb5 'iVxe4 30.:xc8+ 1 --0 Topalov Anand , Sofia 201 0. What is interesting is "Vishy" Anand's self-critical remark that in his preparation he had "senselessly wasted th ree hou rs" trying to prove an advantage for Black. Did this have an impact on the young French player? 1 4 . . . exd4 1 5 . .l:!.ac 1 .i.b7 1 6 . ..txg? 'it>xg7 1 7.f4 l:k8 1 8.f5 l:txc1 1 9.'ili'xc 1 l2lc6 20.f6+ 'it>h8 2 1 .i¥g5 i¥d6

22 .l2lg3? (22 .l:tf4 is critical, according to Vachier-Lagrave) 22 . . . .l:!.g8! 23 . .tc4 l2le5 24 . .tb3 d3 25.h3 .ta6 26 . .l:!.f4 d2 27.'iii> h 2 'ili'c5 28. h4 l2ld3 29.e5 l2lxf4 30.l2le4 lbe6 31 . ..txe6 i¥c6 32 . ..txf? d 1 i¥ 0-1 Shirov Vachier-Lagrave, Wijk aan Zee 201 1 . 1 3 ... ii'd7 1 4 . ..th6 ..itb7

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Chapter 7

If Maxima Vachier-Lagrave continues as in his game against Shirov with 14 ... cxd4 1 5 .i.xg7 'it>xg7 1 6.cxd4 exd4 1 7.f4, then we can see the difference. The black queen is worse placed on d7, because it now exerts less control over the dark squares. According to Nakamu ra White could now swi ng his rook via f4 to h4, si nce the advanced f6-pawn is no longer being attacked by the black queen from d8. It is in fact a fine distinction and shows the mean ing of specific preparation at the highest of levels. This was precisely the reason why H i karu and Kris had also gone deeply into the Gelfand-Kamsky game and looked for possible resou rces ! 1 5.i.xg7 xg7 1 6.dS! The correct way to continue with the pres sure. In the game Leitao-Sutovsky from the 7th world team championsh ips, Bursa 201 0, here Wh ite played 1 6.f4?, which Black met energetically with 1 5 .. .f5 ! . After that Wh ite had to hit the brakes with an exchange sacrifice and he finally saved the game by perpetual check: 1 7.d5 fxe4 1 8.i.xe4 ll'lc4 1 9.ifd3 'iVa4 20.f5 ll'ld6 2 1 .ll'lg3 i.a6 22.'ii'e 3 i.xf1 23.l' hf1 .l:!f6 24.l:!.e 1 %:taf8 25.fxg6 hxg6 26.h3 'i'xa2 27.l:te2 'fi'c4 28.'ifg5 .l:!h8 29 . .l:!f2 ll'lxe4 30.ll'lxe4 l:txf2 31 .'ifxe5+ h7 32 .'i'e7+ 'it>h6 33.'iVg5+ g7 34.'iVe5+ 'it>h7 35.'ii'e 7+ h6 36.'ikg5+ %-% 1 6 fS 1 7.f3 U nfortunately the captu re on f5 is impossi ble, since after 1 7.exf5 'iVxd5 1 8 .f3 c4 Wh ite loses a piece. ..•

(see n ext diag ra m )

1 7 ... .l:tf7? In retrospect a bad error in calculation by the French player. Black should instead shut up shop with 1 7 . . . c4 1 8 .i.c2 f4, for

Position after 17.f3

example: 1 9.g3 g5 20. gxf4 gxf4 2 1 .'iii> h 1 ha 2 2 . .l:.g 1 'iVh3 23.ll'ld4! (Nakamu ra) , and then follow the advice of I M Dirk Poldauf, who suggested 23 . . J lg8 with unclear play. 1 8.exfS c4? Black fails to spot Nakamu ra's remarkable tactical idea, linked to the captu re on f5 . Having his a5-knight out of play is now a big handicap. Vachier-Lag rave had actually planned 1 8 . . . 'ifxd5 1 9.fxg6 .lad7? ( 1 9 . . . hxg6 is the lesser evil), but to his horror he now saw that after 20.'iVe3 'i'xd3 2 1 .'iVxe5+ he cannot take on g6 on account of the fork on f4. But 2 1 . . . 'it>ga does not solve Black's problems either, as can be seen from 22.'ife6+ 'iii> h 8 23.ll'lf4 'ii'd 6 24.g7+ @xg7 25.llad 1 'iWxd 1 (25 . . . 'ilfxe6 is no better: 26.ll'lxe6+ f8 27. 'fi'f6+ Wg8 2a . .:.xd 1 llxd 1 + 29.Wf2 l::td 7 30.'ifg5+ @fa 31 .'ii' h 6+ e7 32 .'iff6+ @ea 33.'iie 6+ da 34.ll'lf6. 1 9.i.c2 gxf5 1 9 . . . 'ilfxd5?! is met by 20. 'ii'g 5 ii'c5+ 21 . .:.f2 'ii'e7 22.'ii'g 3 l:r.f6 23.f4 with an advantage for White. 20.litad1 f4?! 21 .g3!

Wijk aan Zee

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d5-d6, they are not actually lightened . But the text move accelerates his downfal l .

21 Vi'd6?! After this Nakamu ra gets a strong attack. Cou ntering by 21 . . . �h8 22. gxf4 1i'h3 23.�h 1 l:.g8 24.lt:Jg 1 'i!Vh5 25.fxes 'ifxe5 offered better chances of fishing in trou bled waters, especially as after 26.'ifd4 Vixd4 27. l:txd4 there is the move 27 . . . .1'.a6, intending to move the knight away from its off-side position via b7. White would have a very good ending after 2 1 . . . .l:.g8 22. gxf4 �h8+ 23.�h 1 'ii h 3 24.l:r.f2 "ilfh4 25.'Yie3! exf4 26.Vi'd4+ Vi'f6 27.llg2 . 22.gxf4 exf4 23.�h 1 ! "Nakam u ra has outplayed his opponent: the g-fi le is open, the bishop is aiming at h7, and the knight and queen can invade the black position via d4. In contrast, Black's minor pieces are wasting away and the f4pawn is weak", according to Dirk Poldauf, who annotated for SCHACH (3/201 1 , p.8 ff.) th ree of Nakamu ra's six wins (against G rischu k and Vachier-Lag rave, as well as the one from round 1 1 against Ian Nepom niachtchi), in order to analyse the American's style of play. 23 ... l:Ie8?! 24.l:.g 1 + �f8 25 . .1'.e4 .i.c8 26.lt:Jd4 °ii'f6 It is obvious that Black is in great difficu lties and after 26 . . . J:tee7 27.lt:JbS, followed by ..•

27.lt:Je6+! The knight opens the way for the long range pieces. 27 .i.xe6 28.dxe6 "ilfxe6 Things look j ust as sad for Black after 28 . . . l:.xe6 29 . .1'.dS .l:.d6 30.:g8+ �xg8 31 ..i.xf7+ �xf7 32 .Vi'xd6. 29 ..i.dS Vi'h3 30 . .i.xf7 Vi'xf3+ 31 . .l:.g2 �xf7 32.'i!Vd7+ �6 33.'i!Vg7+ Black resigned. "I'm happy to be retied for first again", Nakamura said when asked how he rated his chances. "There are sti ll th ree rounds to go and I am taking it one game at a time. But I th ink I 've got good chances if I keep playing the way I did today." In fact after this 1 o•h round the ever combative American has alongside him only Viswanathan Anand , who effortessly defeated Alexei Shi rov. Lurking behind this duo, now on seven points, are Aronian and Kramnik each with 6¥2. Magnus Carlsen, on the other hand , has to say goodbye to his title defence, since he went down to Ian Nepomniachtchi i n a high-class game. And the latter will be Hikaru's next opponent with White . ..•

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The Ga m bler "When I approach the playing room and am still two rooms away, I almost get cramps as soon as I can hear the clinking of money being thrown on the table. . .

"

Fyodor M . Dostoevsky

I narrator is describing not the imminent

t is not difficult to recognise that here the

thrill of a chess tournament hal l , but rather the magic attraction of a roulette table i n a casino, which he knew so wel l . I n 1 865 he lost his travel money at roulette i n the casino in Wiesbaden . A year later, in only 26 days, Fyodor M. Dostoevsky trans formed the experience of his own addiction to gambling i nto the novel T he Gambler. Of cou rse, chess is not a game of chance; it is not luck which decides suc cess, rather the result is decisively influ enced by our abil ity. But which of you has never experienced that almost eerie si lence during a blitz tou rnament, which is distu rbed only by the clicks when the clocks are pressed or from time to time by the noisy placing of pieces on the boards? But no sooner has the last round finished, than this fascination loses its magic again . It is as though a light switch has been tu rned on in the darkness . . . And yet the potential for addiction cannot be denied. "For chess players, chess servers can soon become the equivalent of

4 s

a 24-hour bar with free beer for alcoholics", wrote Roland Schmaltz in his interesting article "What you always wanted to know, but never dared to ask" about playing chess on the i nternet. 4 This man knows what he is talking about. In any case, under his handle of "Hawkeye", he has fou r times become u nofficial world bullet champion 5 and is a legend on the net. Without him H i karu Nakamu ra would have missed out on a decisive impetus to his motivation, as he admitted at the age of 1 8 in an interview during the chess festival in Biel in 2005: "In the meanwh ile I have been almost exclusively playing bullet chess. And doing so fi rst of all to prove that I am better than you r Hawkeye , in fact exclusively for that reason." 6 As for the online activities of Roland Schmaltz, over the years this professional computer specialist, who started by study ing economics in Mannhei m , has played around 1 00,000 games on various chess servers. "I let my studies drop on account of internet chess. I am simply too lazy to get down to th ings properly and at that point I

SCHACH 212004, pp.44-5 1 .

All the title matches were played under the knockout format over 1 0 games with one minute per player, and the winner in the final had to score more than 1 O points. Schmaltz, who has been a grandmaster in over the board chess since 2001 , won four times in succession: 1 998, 1 999, 2000 and 2001 . s See SCHACH 9/2005, pp.66/67.

The Gambler

became a victim of the highly addictive natu re of internet chess." 7 One has to be pretty strong to withstand the contin ual temptation to play, which is constantly kept up by the ever-present online availability 24 hours a day. Of course one-minute bullet chess can be played on proper boards, but all the cunning tricks which become possible on the i nternet i n t h e hectic fight against time, where tenths of a second are important, such as "pre moves" (moving before your opponent has replied) are then out of the q uestion. The thrill which you knowi ngly seek is al most completely missing. In extreme time pres sure, real chaos is u navoidable, as the pieces are moved on the board . The bits of wood often unintentionally never reach thei r i ntended sq uares and it is not unusual for i llegal moves to slip in as wel l . It is understandable that prominent chess players, i n spite of thei r frequently warli ke user names - Nakamu ra is registered u nder "Smallville" on the I nternet Chess Club (/CC)8 and under "Star Wars" on the playchess.com server9 - cannot forever enjoy the desired advantage of anonymity. Thus H i karu alias Smallville is also duly mentioned in the book published in English by Roland Schmaltz i n 2004 The Complete Chess Server Guide: "Al ready has a killer chess reputation at the age of 1 5 . " 1 0 I n t h e interview for t h i s book Nakamu ra 1

llJ

1 65

states that he grew up with blitz and rapid chess and also tal ks about his love for bul let chess. Since in classical chess he always tries to find the best move, whereas one can no longer afford this luxury in a rapid game, he may have a problem. And so, i n view of the ambition which H i karu has to win every possible game, internet chess is i ncreasingly becoming simply an amuse ment for h i m . This evaluation is also shared b y Martin Fischer, who is the main tournament d i rector and principal arbiter on the playchess server: "The main use of bullet is that, when you fancy it, it is fun. And after all that is the reason why we play chess. I think that it is u n l i kely to have a positive effect on playing strength outside of bullet chess itself. Bullet is superficial chess, the con tinuous stress liberates adrenali n and certainly leads to potential addiction. At the same time this feeling has an i nfluence on the capacity for thi n king and the suscepti bility to the charm of solving chess prob lems. Any effects on pattern recogn ition, which is scarcely a factor on account of the extremely short reaction times, are cer tainly secondary. Bul let is fun if you l i ke it, no more than that. If you want to improve , you would be better spending the two minutes that a bullet game lasts on solving a combi nation", he explained in answer to our question.

I nterview on http://de.pokerstrategy.com on 2 1 .2.2009. The website of the American chess server can be found at www.chessclub.com . An actual case of addiction on the ICC, which has existed since 1 995, is an anonymous player with the pseudonym "A6648", who since 1 996 has completed the incredible number of more than 558,000 games, of which 240,000 in bullet chess alone. 9 On the ChessBase server (Hamburg) www. playchess.com (German name schach.de), which went online in October 200 1 there are more than 220,000 registered members. So far over 50,000 tournaments and also 600 million games have been played. (As of June 20 1 2) 1 0 Chapter 9 Famous People Who Play Chess on the Internet, p . 1 1 0. a

1 66

�

Chapter 7

And Roland Schmaltz, who has gained so m uch experience as a world class i nternet player, had the following comment about its useful ness: "Bullet is simply the rattling off of learned structures, motifs and theory combined with rapid mouse skills." 1 1 For him a one-minute bullet game i s actu ally the blindman's buff version of chess or a mouse-race, in which the regular rules are respected. "In the very last seconds of a bul let game it tends to be more important to make you r move in tenths of a second rather than to find a good move." 12 I n this connection there remains another featu re of bullet chess which requ i res some more explanation. These are the so-called "pre-moves", which are also possible in a game against a normal chess program. You already execute a move on you r own board before you r opponent's answer has arrived; this is what caused Roland Schmaltz to come up with his original analogy with blindman's buff. "Pre-moves of cou rse contribute in a high degree to the speed , but on the other hand they are often the cause of horrible blunders. Because the move you enter in advance does not always fit in with the one you r opponent plays! So you should do without pre moves, especially in the opening." There is a striking example of this which actually happened i n correspondence chess, of all things, with a suggested follow-up move: after 1 .d4 Black played 1 . . . g6 and offered the additional move: "On 11

See Footnote 4

12

SCHACH 2/2004, p.50

13

any 2 n d move, 2 . . . ..t g7." White did not miss out on this opportunity: 2 . .i. h6! .i. g7 3 . .txg7 and added for his part an i ronic possible follow-up, which this time worked: on any 3 rd move, 4. i.xh8." 1 3 "Pre-moving is in any case an advantage when you have an advantage in material , because you can then simply run the game down via pre-moves and even five seconds are enough to del iver mate", was the answer to our q uestion to Hamburg grand master N iclas Huschenbeth , who plays on the Fritz server. I n his book Bullet Chess - One Minute to Mate, written by Nakamura in conjunction with Fl DE Master Bruce Harper, there is even a special chapter on this subject "Pre moving Blu nders" . 1 4 Nakam u ra, who according to Vugar Gashimov "is someth ing l i ke a god in the /CC' 1 5 , believes that in bul let chess you have to follow you r insti nct or you r intui tion . 1 6 And that is something he has done on both servers with great success over the years. On playchess he has played a total of 1 869 bul let games, winning 1 532 , losing 262 and d rawing 75. One of his favou rite clients was the French grandmaster Anthony Wirig , against whom he scored 1 31 poi nts out of 1 46. Agai nst Hawkeye Roland Schmaltz the score is 1 6%/27. On the ICC, where between 1 61h October 200 1 and 1 3th May 20 1 1 (almost a decade

Fritz Baumbach , 52-54-STOP - Fernschach - Tips und Tricks vom Weltmeister, Berlin 1 991 , p.58 See Chapter 5, pp.56-68 1 s See SCHACH 7/2008, p.24 1 s See exclusive interview, p 1 3 5 14

.

ctJ

The Gambler

of active play) , he played a total of 4029 bul let games (+3093 = 1 53 -783). Naka mura's highest Elo ratings are also interest ing: 3402 on playchess and 31 68 on the ICC. However ratings on different servers are not really di rectly comparable; in each case the rating protocols are very different. U nfortunately we cannot publish any bul let games by H i karu Nakamu ra ("The Smallville phenomenon escapes normal human u nderstanding", according to Vasser Sei rawan) , because there is a legal prob lem. You see, one must have the consent of at least one of the players, and in this case we would not consider it right to get that from the players alone. Also in the book of his which we mentioned even usernames are not given and the players are simply referred to by Elo ratings. The authors set out "Eight golden bul let rules" , which are too interesting for us to deprive you of them: 1 7 1 . Winning on time is as honorable as winning on the board . 2 . Ti me is money. 3. Post-mortems are for losers . 4 . T h e i n itiative is crucial i n bullet. 5 . If you're win n i n g , don't pick a fight. 6. If you're losing, fight on ! 7 . When the position is balanced , play q u ickly and consistently. 8 . Have fun. And the two of them even have their thoughts about etiq uette. Certai nly the most profound is: "Since bul let is sup posed to be fu n , it's difficult to understand why some people get upset about it. [ . . . ] Don't get mad when you lose . Mistakes are 11 1a

1 67

part of bul let - be glad you can contrib ute ." 1 8 As to the question they ask themselves, i.e. whether bul let is still chess, the duo of authors Nakamura & Harper reply u nani mously: "Of cou rse not!" But it is also more than m ucking about or time-wasting. "It rather demands the capacity to react to changes at lightning speed and to be able to solve problems i n fractions of a second", according to Roland Schmaltz, whose "Immortal game" (in his own words) we really must show you , though, as he says, "U nfortunately I was sitting on the wrong side of the board . . . " So that you can form an objective judgement we have deliber ately added no annotations! The German's opponent was the I sraeli GM Ronen Har Zwi , whose handle in the I nternet Chess Club is "I ndiana-Jones". H is highest ICC ratings were 32 1 5 i n bl itz and 2947 in bu llet chess (compared to Hawkeye's 3359 and 3074) . I n over-the-board chess the most impor tant success of the Israeli grandmaster was the world u nder- 1 6 junior championsh ip title in 1 992 in Duisburg (ahead of Peter Svidler and Daniel Fridman). R. Schmaltz

-

R. Har-Zwi

ICC - Bul let game, 03.07.2001 Vienna Game [C26] 1 . e4 ll:l c6 2. ll:l c3 es 3.g3 .t cs 4 . .t g2 ll:lf6 5. lt:Jge2 d6 6 . h3 .t b6 7.0-0 0-0 8. @ h2 .l:r. e8 9.f4 exf4 1 0.gxf4 lt:J g4+ 1 1 . @ g3 ll:lf2 1 2 . l:txf2 'ii' h4+ 1 3. @ xh4 .txt2+ 1 4. ll:lg3 l:te6 1 5 . @ g4 lt:J d4 1 6.fS l:t g6+ 1 7 . @f4 l:t xg3 1 8. 'ii'f1 g5+ 1 9 .fxg6 ll:l e6+ 20. @fS ll:lg7+

H. Nakam ura/B. Harper, Bullet Chess - One Minute to Mate, Chapter 20, pp.245-246. Ibid, p.246

1 68

�

Chapter 7

2 1 . @f6 l:txg6+ 22. @ e7 l:te6+ 23. @ d8 .i. b6 24. lll d 5 l:. e8# As well as his passion for bullet chess, Nakamu ra has of cou rse also demon strated his extraordinary class in blitz on the internet. It is known that he made the acquaintance of his second Kris Littlejohn on the ICC server. 1 9 Here too H i karu's level is gigantic: his highest Elo rating was an incredible 3750 points on 1 4 th October 2009 (the comparable val ue on playchess was 3420) . Out of 1 5,306 rated games d u ring his membership he won 7503, lost 6320 and had 1 483 d raws. As to the question whether frequent blitz play to this extent is not harmfu l to playing strength , i n July 2005 in an i nterview H i karu frankly admitted , however: "Bullet or bl itz games are good for understanding tactics, but generally speaking bad for your chess."20 And despite the reservations expressed by the then 1 7-year-old, it must have been attractive to play bl itz not only in the ICC, but also on the Fritz server. Between 1 st April 2003 and 1 3th May 20 1 O Nakamura played 5906 games. 2 1 Among them he had the upper hand against Garry Kasparov (time l i m it 4 m i n utes + 1 second or 5 mi n utes + 1 second) by 1 3-1 0. Against Michael Adams the score was 1 4Y2-7Y2 , he led Alexander G rischu k 2 1 - 1 7, against Shakh riyar Mamedyarov by as much as 28¥2- 1 0¥2 ,

19

a n d he h a d a clear lead over his compatriot Vasser Sei rawan of 39¥2-26¥2. It was only against Magnus Carlsen that he d rew the short straw by the close margin 1 0- 1 1 . The fact that Carlsen and he play even blitz chess at the very highest level can be seen from the game chosen and annotated by Lubosh Kavalek in the prologue, namely the final of the BNbank blitz Chess in Oslo 200922 • However, Nakamura will not have such good memories of his only F I D E world championship in November 2009 in Mos cow, because 4th place behind Levon Aron ian, Teimour Radjabov and Magnus Carlsen may be remarkable, but it is hardly the measure of things for the uncompromising attacking player that he is. More like it was the 1 st place in the 1 1 th Dos Hermanas blitz tou rnament, played in March 201 0 online in the I nternet Chess Club with a thinking time of 3 minutes per game. 23 I n the final Small ville (Nakamura) had a 3Y2-1 Y2 victory over MEGAYARICK (GM Jaroslav Sinchenko) . Our example comes from the round involv ing the last 32 players. YaakovN (Yaacov Norowitz), who on the ICC reached a highest rating of 34 1 9 (7 th May 201 O) had just played 43. @ d1 when the tactician started his i rresistible mating attack.

(see n ext diagram)

See Zwischenzuge "Hikaru Nakamu ra's second", p. 80.

20 SCHACH 9/2005, p. 67 21

"On the ChessBase server, blitz includes all games with 1 80 seconds or more (3+ 1 O) and ends at 900 seconds for the whole game, that is 1 5 minutes", according to main tournament director Martin Fischer. 22 See Prologue, Game 1 0, pp. 30/3 1 2a For the report and games, see on the internet: http://www.chessclub.com/aktivities/doshermanas201 O/

liJ

The Gambler

YaacovN [Y. Norowitz] - Smallville [H. Nakamura] 1 1 th Dos Hermanas blitz toum . , ICC, 1 9.3.201 O

1 69

H i karu also showed h imself to be abso lutely on the ball with his tactics against Ruslan Ponomariov. It is wonderful to see how in the fi rst of two play-off games with White he opens the floodgates - and Black is left totally exposed . In the second play off game Nakamura was also victorious. 32.g5! hxg5 33.'ii'xe5 Very spectacular. However, 33 . .i. h5+ � f8 34. 'ii'xe5 � g7 35. 'ii'g3 also wins. 33 �?! ..•

43 l:!gS! ..•

The rook does a l ittle dance before being allowed into the attack: 44.'ike3 .l:.e8! 45.'ii'g 3 l:tee2 46.'ii' g 6+ �f8! 46 . . . � e7? 47.f6+ � d7 48. 'iig 4+ is a draw. 47.'ikf6+ �ea 48.'ii'g &+ �d7 H i karu's king can now head for safety: 49. 'ii'f7+ �ca 50. 'ii'g8+ � b7 5 1 . 'ii'g 1 l:lxa2 52. � b 1 ll hb2+ 53. �c 1 l:ta1 +. Wh ite resigned. H. Nakamura - R. Ponomariov Playoff, 1 st Game, San S e basti a n 2009

The alternatives are 33 . . . fxe5? 34 . .1'. h5+ l:t g6 35 . .i.xg6 mate and 33 . . . l:t h8 34. 'ii'g 3 'iic3 (34 . . . .l:.xh4 35.e5 Wc3 36.exf6 .1'. xf6 37. 'ii' b 8+ 1'. c8 38 . .i.c6+ Wxc6 39. l:txf6, and the white tsunami can no longer be stopped) 35. hxg5 .i. xe4 36. 'ii'g 2 .i. g6 37 . .i. c6+ �f7 38. l:td7 f5 39 . ..t a4 with a clear advantage. 34.'ii'g 3 g4? ! 35 .i.xg4 Wc5? ! 3 5 . . . l:tg7 36. l:tg 1 � f8 37. 'ii'f4 also loses. •

36 . .i.xe6+ If 36 . . . �xe6, White mates: 37. 'ii'xg8+ � e5 38 . .l:.f5+ � xe4 39. 'ii'g4+ � e3 40 . .l:.d3. Black resigned. The organisers of the 7t h Tai Memorial in Moscow had a very special idea for the d rawing of lots: on the previous evening the 1 0 participants played a blitz tou rnament. The final classification on that 7th June 20 1 2 would then decide the starting num bers, with Carlsen , Aronian , Kramnik, Radjabov and Nakamu ra the top 5 i n the l ive-ratings list. For H i karu this event m ust have meant more than q uiet satisfaction , because blitz happens to be one of his passions. But once more Moscow would not turn out to be a specially happy h u nting ground for him, because at the end of the blitz, with two defeats at the hands of the

1 70

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Chapter 7

F I D E bl itz world champion Alexander G ri sch uk (winner of the premiere in 2006) and Levon Aronian (20 1 0), his score of 5/9 was only good enough for 61h place, and in the classical chess Nakamu ra finished only eighth . Regarding Levon Aronian. He had a really g reat moment against the Armenian in the final of the Chess960 rapid world championship in Mainz at the end of J uly 2009. Nakamu ra had previously proved that he is an excellent rapid player at the traditional rapid Cup in Cap d' Agde i n France in November, where he defeated Vassily lvanch u k in the final by 1 Y2-Y2 . But of cou rse that was not i n Chess960. This chess variant, which was fi rst developed by world champion Robert James Fischer and later modified , was introduced to the world for the fi rst time on 1 9 th June 1 996 in Buenos Aires. The i ntention was to accord more importance to the creativity and talent of the player. After all, who could possibly develop comprehensive new opening theory for the 960 different possible starting posi tions, even though, with the exception for changes involving castl ing, the usual rules were retained? Although this is not exclu ded in the long term , most positional funda mentals, the techniques and the tactical pro cedu res as well as the whole realm of the endgame remain more or less unchanged. In any case, i n an exclusive interview for this book, Nakamu ra had very positive comments on Chess960 and he sees this chess variant as perhaps being the futu re of the game, because it is no longer of decisive importance how wel l one is pre pared for one's opponent nor how many variations one has learned by rote. 24 At the J'h and last but one world champi onships, which from 200 1 to 2009 have always been one of the high points of the

Chess Classic i n Mainz, things did not go so smoothly for Nakamu ra with his two games in the preliminary round in the form of chess propagated by Bobby. He started with two defeats at the hands of Sergei Movsesian and title defender Levon Aronian. As IM Dirk Poldauf reported for SCHACH "Smallville spent a part of the night in a bl itz match on the I nternet Chess Club, in which he destroyed his colleague in the national team Varuzhan Akobian by 1 7¥2-1 Y2 in front of 250 spectators." 25 From then on the American had sufficiently warmed up and on the next day he won three games in succession . In the final on 30 1h July he then won the fi rst th ree encou nters - the fou rth game ended in a draw - and became world champion in Chess960. "Aronian simply could not han dle this Nakam u ra, who was playing chess from a different un iverse", according to Dirk Poldauf. 26 But, form you r own opinion because here is the decisive third game . . . H . Nakamura L . Aronian Chess960 rapid chess world champion ship, finals, Mainz 30.07.2009 Starting position 666 -

1 .e4 e5 2.tiJf3 g6 3.tiJc3 c6? !

ltJ

The Gambler

This looks slightly artificial. White can easily get in d2-cl4 and Black has problems with the .!iJ b8 and the .t ea. 4.g3 d6 5.d4 ..td7 6 ..l:.d3 As Dirk Poldauf says: "In Chess960, after castling the king and rook always end up as they would in normal chess, i.e. here the white .l:. a 1 simply leaps over the king which is al ready on c1 " . .!iJa6 7.a3 ..th6+ a ..td2 ..tg7 9 . ..te3 9.dxe5 ! ? was somewhat more resolute: 9 . . . dxe5 1 o . ..t e3 lLi h6 1 1 . h3 f5 1 2 .0-0-0. 9 ... exd4 1 0 ..txd4 .!lJc5 1 1 . .l:t.d2 lLif6? After this the black position looks a bit toothless. 1 1 .fS 1 2 .exfS ..t xf5 1 3.0-0-0 rt;c? creates more counterplay.

1 71

Position after 11 tiJf6? .••

After 1 2 . . . 0-0 1 3.eS .!iJ d5 1 4 . .!iJxdS cxd5 1 5. 'fWxdS± the position of the black queen on h8 is really remarkable. 1 3.0-0-0

.

•

(see n ext diagram)

1 2 .!iJgS! Hikaru creates an Achilles' heel for Aronian - and it really h u rts. 1 2 !i:.fS •

•••

24

1 3 ... 0-0-0? This Fischer castl ing leads to disaster. 1 3 . . . lLi e6 was the lesser evi l, although after 1 4.eS .!iJxd4 1 5.exf6 ..t xf6 1 6. liJge4 lLif5

See page 1 35. It must be pointed out that the starting position for the pieces on the back rank - the pawns remain in the usual position - is drawn by lot immediately before each round. One of the possible 960 positions is the normal starting position (position 5 1 8) . 2 s See SCHACH 9/2009, pp.20-21 2 s Ibid, p.21

�

1 72

Chapter 7

1 7 . ltJxf6 'ii'xf6 1 8. ltJe4 'ii'e7 1 9.g4! White has a clear advantage. 1 9. ltJ xd6+? can be parried by 1 9 . . . ltJ xd6 20 . .l:. xd6 0-0-0. 1 4.e5! The decisive undermining. "Black falls apart in the middle of the board . The rot rapidly eats its way through to the black king."27 1 4 ltJg4 1 5.f4 ltJe6 1 6.ltJxe6 .txe6 1 7.h3 The immediate 1 7 . .t xa7 also leads to a win. 1 7 ... dxe5 1 8 . .txa7 ltJf6?! ••.

1 9 . ..ta&!! A powerful thunderclap which forces its way through, since Black cannot bring defenders to the queenside quickly enough. The SCHACH reporter at the tou rnament re marked here: "According to information from the computer specialists among the organis· ers, Nakamura hammered out this blow on the board faster than the operating pro grams could have shown it to him." 1 9 e4 1 9 . . . bxa6? is met by 20. 'ifxc6 mate, but 1 9 . . . ltJd5 20. 'ii'g 1 bxa6 2 1 . ltJ xd5 cxd5 22. 'ii'b6 � d7 23 . .l:. xd5+ is just as hopeless. .••

20.'ii'g 1 ! .!:.xd2 20 . . . ltJ d7 also does not save him on account of 2 1 . l:txd7 .:Z.xd7 22. 'ii'b6 .!:.xd 1 + 23. ltJxd 1 bxa6 24. 'ii'xc6+ � d8 25 . .t b6+ � e7 26. 'ifc7+ .t d7 27 . .t c5+ � ea 28. 'ii'bB+ .t ea 29. 'ii'xcB mate. 21 . .txb7+ �xb7 22.°ii'b6+ It is quite understandable that Aronian had no desi re to be mated as follows: 22 . . . � aB (22 . . . � cB 23. 'ii'xc6+ � dB 24 . .t b6+ � e7 25 . .t c5+ � dB 26. l:lxd2+ ltJ d5 27. :xd5+ .t xd5 28 . .t b6+ � e7 29. ltJ xd5 mate) 23. 'ii'xc6+ � xa7 24. ltJ b5+ � bB 25. 'ifb6+ � cB 26. 'ii'c7 mate. Black resigned. Nakamura was in fact due to defend his Chess960 World Championship title28 in 201 1 i n Mainz. But unfortunately the optimism of tournament di rector Hans-Walter Schmitt regarding the future of this traditional tourna ment bu rst like a soap bubble. The 1 81h event in 201 1 did not take place, because the economic conditions were not there to continue a tournament of this enormous size, which always represented a bridge between chess for the masses and for the elite. Since his "coronation" in Mainz the Ameri can has never again taken part in an officially organised Chess960 competition . In the I nternet Chess Club it can be seen from Smallville's statistics that Hikaru achieved his best rating on 7th July 201 O with 2480, with the total showing merely 82 games , of which he won 75 , with only th ree defeats and four draws. Everything has a beginning and an end even for that passion ate player Nakamura, for whom the game and life really form a magical un ity.

21 Dirk Poldauf, ibid, p.22 2a

The title of "world champion" in Chess960 was never officially awarded by FIDE. However, the latter organisation raised no objections to the match in Mainz which was billed as the World Championship.

lb

1 73

]p zOGE

ZWISCH E N l : 58

-

Nakamura plays blitz

Dramatis personm: two chess players White: Varushan Akobian Black: H i karu Nakamu ra Location: Board 1 of the National Open Blitz Championship 2007, round 5 Taken from a video on You Tube 1

Tshowi ng

he players are sitting at the board the utmost concentration. Akobian is leaning on his elbows , his hands folded in front of his mouth . Nakamu ra looks less tense, his arms are folded in front of the board , on which the eyes of both of them are completely concentrated . After roughly fou r seconds Akobian will make his fi rst move ; he takes the black bishop on d7 and presses the clock. 1 .�xd7 Since Akobian's white bishop is not exactly on d7, Nakamu ra pushes it to its correct 1

place and immediately re-immerses him self in the position . He has apparently found his reply, but then he lets his right hand drop so as to continue to think. His fingers claw together, a short glance at the clock which is running mercilessly, a raising of his eyebrows signals pure tension, suddenly a grimace crosses his face, his hand goes mechanically under his chin and then falls back on to the table, another look at the clock while his opponent finds a new sitting posture. Now he too has his arms folded in front of h i m . Finally, after an eternity ( 1 7 seconds) Nakamura makes up his mind to move . . . 1 ... .l:!.xb3 2.l'Llxb3 l'Llxd7 3.g3 Both of them q uickly trot out these moves, but now H i karu pauses. His right hand plays with the captu red pieces. Like a vulture descending on its prey, his right hand then swoops down on Akobian's g pawn and immediately presses the clock. On the linked video clock 32 seconds have elapsed . I n the background one can hear the merciless ticking of the clocks and the click when pieces are moved, with Akobian

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZo80-p9qy4. Up till 7th May 201 2 the video had seen 1 46,558 hits.

1 74

�

1 :58 Nakamu ra plays blitz

using both hands, one to take a piece and then quickly the left hand to press the clock. This is common practice and is in fact also al lowed. 3 .... fxg3 4.hxg3 a4 5.lbd4 0:35 - H i karu wants to reply at once, but then he backs away from that. His demean our points to extreme tension : the elbow of his left arm is folded on the table, his right hand is i n front of his mouth and his eyes are staring intently at the board . "What should I do?" is what he appears to be thinking desperately. Then, as though steered by some ghostly agency, his playing arm hovers over his rook on a2, and he gently moves it by a single sq uare. 5 Jlb2 6.l:la1 l:lb4 7.lbc2 l:te4 8.lbe3 Wf7 9.llc1
1 0 ... fs 1 1 .:as I n his haste Akobian sees his c6-rook d rop from his hand, and he places it safely on a6 at the second attempt. The plastic pieces are obviously too l ight, and Nakamura sometimes d rops them too. Shortly after that Akobian's left hand dives into the camp of captu red pieces next to Nakam u ra, so as to fish out in advance a white queen, which he then juggles with i n his hands, although h is passed pawn is sti ll only on d5. A common psychological trick, to i ntimidate the opponent. . . As though moved by magic, H i karu's hand also reaches for a new

queen and he stares at his opponent as though he means to hypnotise him. - "You can't threaten me!" he may be thinking. Akobian, on the other hand, does not look at his opponent but stares at the board , whereupon Nakamu ra puts the black queen down with a clicking sound on his left-hand side so as then to make his next move qu ite calmly. 1 1 ...f4 1 2.d6+ g2 h5 The black h-pawn has been pushed too vigorously; it falls over and almost tumbles off the board . It is straightened up with his left hand , after which Nakamu ra presses the clock a second time for safety's sake. His opponent is not put off by this, because he too is havi ng to struggle with the same vagaries of the eq uipment. Even if it hardly looks comprehensible to the spectators, serious and highly concentrated chess is being played here . Collateral damage on the board is purely a side issue, especially since there is no arbiter close by, though probably one would be unable to see things as qu ickly as the two are movi ng and acti ng. 1 s. g2 lbes Of cou rse the white king is not clearly on the g2-sq uare and is touch ing h2, but that does not particularly bother Nakamu ra, since at last there is an opportunity to bring

1 :58 Nakamura plays blitz

back to l ife the "sleeping kn ighr on d7. Obviously a success, since Akobian takes some time here, as though completely astonished that Black stil l has a steed . Then he pushes his d-pawn another square forward - just one left before he can promote, and if we look closely at the board it is al ready scratching at the door of d8! 1 9.d7 .l:.d4 1 : 1 9 - Nakamura is suddenly cal m personi fied . The f-rook is moved almost expres sively to d4, so as not to let White start anything. It looks as though his right hand is al most screwi ng it into the board . After that the clock is pressed just as gently. Akobian's time is ru nning agai n . He imme diately moves his passed pawn to the back rank without however replaci ng it with a new queen. 20.d8 .l:r.xd8 Of cou rse the intruder is captu red by Naka's rook, but that happens in a rather uncontrolled manner and in any case his left hand must h u rry to his aid whi lst the right one is ready to hit the clock. . . 21 .:xa4 :ta Yet again a black rook moves across to f8 to stand by its man. Things are hectic once

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again , which is a signal that both of them now have only a l ittle time left - u nfortu nately we cannot make out exactly how much. So the black king fal ls over before safely reaching the dS-square, and even on d4 it starts to wobble th reateningly. However, this hardly bothers the players. Perhaps such high-level bl itz chess puts them as it were in a trance-like condition , so that they simply become immersed in another world - and we spectators can only look on and wonder. The time-trouble battle i rresistibly reaches its climax . . . 22.lt:Jg4 lt:Jd3 22.lite4 �dS 23.l:.e3 tt:Jt4+ 24.�g1 �d4 25.l:.e7 lt:Jh3+ 26.�g2 tt:Jt4+ 27.�g1 tt:Jd3 28.tt:Je3 tt:Jxf2 29.tt:Jc2 + �d3 30.tt:Je1 + �d2 31 .lt:Jg2 tt:Jg4 32.lild7+ �e2 33.I:.e7+ �f3 34.lt:Je1 + �g3 1 :46 - after his final move Nakamu ra briefly and unmistakeably points to the clock. Akobian's time has run out - it's all over! I n any case h i s position i s lost. Without any reaction the pros start to collect the pieces, in order - sti ll at bl itz speed - to again set up the starting position . With one single difference - this time the white pieces are on Nakamura's side.

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Wijk aan Zee Friday, 29th January 201 1 , Round 1 1

T certainly remember immed iately the legendary year of 1 95 1 - U lf Andersson , Anatoly here is always another series of g randmasters born i n a "golden year''. You will

Karpov, Zoltan Ribli, Gyula Sax, Jan Timman, Eugenio Torre and Rafael Vaganian - what great names who have left their mark on the history of chess! Looking at the cu rrent top-class field in Wijk aan Zee , we immediately think of 1 990, since it is represented by Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi, th ree of the strongest of the 'wild bunch'. Although at present the 20year-old Russian is not in the top ten of the F I D E world rating list - with his Elo rating of 2733 he is in 1 5 th place - the continuous improvement in his performances hints that there is still a lot to come. Ian, who grew up in an intellectual, literature-loving family in the town of Bryansk, which is almost 400 kilometres from Moscow, gained numerous titles in junior chess: European under- 1 0 (2000) and under- 1 2 champion (200 1 , 2002) as wel l as world under- 1 2 champion (2002) and u nder- 1 6 run ner-up (2005) . Despite this, he did not gain the grandmaster title until the age of 1 7, and he demonstrated his prowess a year later in February 2008 with his victory in the Aeroflot Open in Moscow. This success simultaneously secured him an invitation to the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, in which he shared second place . Shortly after that he won the C hess Classic i n Mainz, which at that time was the world's biggest Open . Finally, in March 201 O at the age of 1 9 in Rijeka in Slovenia he added the title of European champion to all this, and in December 20 1 O the boy from Bryansk became champion of Russia for the fi rst time after a play-off agai nst Sergey Karjakin. It comes as no su rprise that the good and bad are so intermingled in a young player. "Piercing ideas followed by gross blunders" , was how Dirk Poldauf aptly described the appearance of Ian among the big boys. "What he will have left us with after this tournament are a few bold ideas and an impeccably played victory over Carlsen . . . " (SCHA CH 3/20 1 1 , p.36) In any case, this Friday nobody in the Dorpshuis de Moriaan was interested in the fact that Nepomniachtchi had previously blundered away a rook agai nst Aronian , but the chess fans were keen to see what would be the result of the Russia-USA duel, and in particular whether H i karu Nakamura could manage to continue his mid-tournament spurt at the top of the table . . . There i s also a bit of background to this game: almost th ree years earlier (28th February

Wijk aan Zee

- 1 st March 2007) the two opponents played a bl itz match. Of the 20 games, which are to be found in the Big Database, Nakamu ra won 1 4 and lost 5, with just a single d raw. The Caro-Kann Defence did not appear i n any of them . But this time things would be different in normal chess . . .

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his choice of opening appears risky, espe cially since N epomniachtchi certainly knew this game. But chess is all about work, and in the meantime H i karu & Kris had done their homework thoroughly. So, once more - "we can do it!". 1 .e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 .i.f5 4.h4 h5 5.c4 e6 6.ltJc3 ltJe7 7.ltJge2

GAME 40 I. Nepomn iachtchi

H. Nakamura Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 1 Caro-Kann Defence [8 12] -

They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind

After his disaster with the Najdorf Sicil ian in round 8 against Carlsen, it was not surprising that Nakamu ra turned to another open ing. I n his preparations for this game with Kris Littlejohn , he employed the last rest day in taking a good look at the Russian's open ing repertoi re - and of cou rse betting on the fact that he would as usual open with the king's pawn. Only later, in the cou rse of the year, would Ian more frequently try out closed openings. After 1 .e4 his choice this time was 1 . . . c6 the Caro-Kann, the "defence of world champions"! This plan was fi rst mentioned in the 1 5th centu ry. In the 1 880s Simon Winawer occasionally employed it. Since then the defence has enjoyed a majestic development and has occupied an impor tant place in the repertoires of world champions Capablanca, Botvinnik. Petros ian and Karpov. When you take into account the fact that Hikaru was systematically ripped apart in the Caro-Kann in August 201 0 at the "Rising Stars vs. Experience" match in Amsterdam by Peter Svidler, at fi rst sight

7 ... .i.g4 ! ? N Nakamu ra probably found t h i s strong inno vation in Karpov's annotations in Informant 68 to his game against Adams in Tilburg 1 996 (p. 78 , game 1 07). Dirk Poldauf, who was an eye-witness to the event, was in any case enthusiastic and thus in SCHACH he made a really euphoric comment on this unexpected bishop move: "A fantastic idea. Black sacrifices a tempo to entice the white f-pawn to f3. Because the latter is badly placed there for at least two reasons: fi rstly, White can no longer attack the h5-pawn from e2 with his bishop, and secondly it gets in the way of the ki ng's rook being l ifted over to the queenside via h3." ( SCHACH 3/20 1 1 , p. 1 3) On the other hand , 7 . . . dxc4 8. ltJ g3 .i. g6 9 . .i. g5 'ii'b6 1 0. 'ikd2 'ii'b4 1 1 .a3 'ii'b3 1 2 . ltJge4 (here Adams played 1 2 . .l:!. c1 )

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1 2 . . . lt:Jd5 1 3 . .:!. h3! , Svidler-Nakamura, Am sterdam 201 0, was less pleasant for Black. That is how Hikaru sees things too: "Certainly not a game I plan on talking about or ever mentioning again." (New In Chess 2/201 1 , p. 1 9)

ant for him. Nakamu ra's d ry comment on this was: "That was not enough for him, apparently. People may say I'm an agg ressive player but it was clear ' Nepa' was the one out for a kill today."

8.f3 .i.f5 9.lt:Jg3 .i.g6 1 0 . .i.g5 'iVb6 1 1 .'ili'd2 lt:Jd7 1 2.a3? ! White has been fol lowing Svidler so far, but the text move was also a su rprise for Naka mura. 1 2 ... f6 1 3 . .i.e3 'ili'b3!

1 4.cxd5 lt:Jxd5 1 5.lt:JxdS W'xd5! This is clearly more aggressive than 1 5 . . . cxd5 1 6. lt:Je2 .:I. ca 1 7 . .:!. c1 l:. xc1 + 1 8. lt:J xc1 'ii'c2 , which leads to approximate equality. 1 6 . .:!.c1 ? ! 1 6. lt:J e4 i s more in line with White's i nten tion of rapidly building up the pressure, e.g. 1 6 . . .fxe5 ( 1 6 ... ..t xe4 1 7.fxe4 'ii'xe4 1 8 . .i. d3 'ili' g4 1 9. 0-0) 1 7. 0-0-0 0-0-0 1 8. 'ili'c2 and in each case he has a defin ite, slightly dangerous i nitiative for the pawn. 1 6 ... lt:Jb6 1 7.lt:Je2 ! ? Nepomniachtchi goes for broke a n d sacri fices a pawn , since 1 7.exf6 gxf6 1 8 . .i. d3 .i. xd3 1 9. 'ili'xd3 0-0-0 is equally unpleas-

1 7 ... fxes 1 8.dxeS 'ili'xe5! 1 9 . .i.d4? ! Objectively this is going too far, but from practical considerations the wh ite choice is understandable, since after 1 9. 'it>f2 .:I. dB 20. 'ii'c3 'iVxc3 2 1 . lt:Jxc3 ..t e7 the most he can hope for is a d raw. Typical Naka! He does not know the mean ing of fear! He rejected the exchange of q ueens, because after 1 8 . . . 'i!i'xd2+ 1 9 . .i. xd2 0-0-0 20. lt:Jf4 .i.f5 White has no problems, once again according to Dirk Poldauf. 19 .. .'�c7 20.'ii'g S .i.f5 21 .g4? ! Logical but not good . In any case, it is al ready hard to know what to do, since 2 1 . lt:J g3? ! ..t e7 22. 'ii'xg7 Q-0-0-+ also gives Black a powerful initiative. They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind . . . 2 1 . . .hxg4 22.fxg4 .i.e4? "Right idea - wrong order'', was Nakamu ra's judgement. Black would do better to play 22 . . . ..t e7 23. ifxg7 .:!. h7 24. W' gB+ 'it> d7

Wijk aan Zee

25. i. xb6 l:.xg8 26. i. xc7 i. e4. 23.l:.h3 i.e7

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2s.'ii'e s Things get much worse for White after 25. i. xb6? i. xh4+! or 25. 'ii'g8+? � d7 26. i. xb6 .:xg8 27. i. xc? � xc7 28.g5 i. f5 29 . .: h 1 i. xg5 (Nakamu ra). 2S ... 'fixes 26.i.xeS i.xh4+ 27.lLig3 lLJd7 28.i.d4? Presumably a tactical oversight. Both 28. i.c? i. g6 29. i. g2 i. g5 30. l::t x h7 i. xh7 3 1 . :c4 and 28. i.f4 i. f3 29.g5 i. g4 30.g6 : hs 3 1 . .: h2 i. xg3+ 32. i. xg3 .:xh2 33. i. xh2

24. 'ii'x g7? "A serious mistake", commented Nakamu ra in New In Chess on the text move. He was of the opinion that 24. 'ii'e3 i. d5 25.h5 i. d6 26. 'ii'g5! is preferable, because thanks to the queens White is clearly able to develop more pressure and the position would then only be rather u nclear. Now i n any case Black is clearly better, because White will lose an important pawn after the exchange of q ueens. Ian had not anticipated the next move . . . 24 ... .:h7!

offered better practical chances. 28 ... i.f3 ! "Everything q u ickly falls apart for Ian", according to Nakamu ra. 29.gS 29. i. e2 changes nothing on accou nt of 29 . . . i. g2. 29 ...i.g4 30.g& .:h& 31 . .:xh4 .:xh4 32 ..:c3 i.f3 33 . .:xt3 If 33.g7, then 33 . . . � e?. 33 ... .:xd4 34.i.h3 lLies 3S ..:f6 lLid3+ 36.�e2 lLif4+ 37.�e3 es 38Jlf7 .:d3+ 39.�e4 .:xg3 40.i.d7+ �d8 41 .i.fS lLixg& 42.l:!.g7 :be!

As Nakamu ra points out in his annotations for New in Chess, there is also a win here

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after 42 . . J l g5 43 . .:r.g8+ �c7 44. :Xa8 tD e7 45 . � h3 .:r. g3, but he did not want to go into any more complications, but rather gather in the point safely. 43.b4 b5 44.�xg6 .l:.g5 Wh ite resigned. For this performance the American j ustifi ably received the extra prize of 500 euros for the best game of the round. This was al ready the third such award for him in this tournament and it is a true tribute to his combative attitude to the game. The word ''fear'' is not in his vocabulary. . . "I'm happy with the result," Nakamua said. "I played very well today, but there's

two rounds left and I'm not q uite there yet. I play ( Russia's Vladimir) Kramnik on Satur day and he is a former world champion and all that. But I'm not concerned : I'm on form and I'll have White." Wel l , the situation remained exciti ng, because this was a black Friday for Kram nik, who once again lost to Magnus Carl sen . Anand could not have been satisfied with his d raw against Maxime Vachier Lagrave, nor could Levon Aronian, who shared the point with Ruslan Ponomariov. Before the final two rou nds at the weekend the leader board looked like this: 1 . Nakamu ra 8, 2 . Anand 7%, 3. Aronian 7, 4-5. Carlsen and Kramnik 6%.

Saturday, 29th January 201 1 , Round 1 2

W reach

hat a special feeling it must be to you r goal through unaided efforts! Nakamu ra's starting situation on the final days in Wijk aan Zee can perhaps be compared to that of a climber just before he storms the summit of an 8,000 metre peak. The mou ntain is calling! And yet it is precisely during this last stage that even more prudence is called for, so as not to lose you r balance and fall . I n the history o f chess there are numer ous examples of just how difficult this final step can be - and of how the climber fails. Perhaps the most tragic one, with all the legends su rrou nding it, is that of the "cunning" David Bronstein. On move 35 with Black in the 23 rd game of the World Championship match against the cham pion M i khail Botvinnik, the challenger came up with the unfortunate idea (in view of his 1 1 %- 1 0% lead) of winning a pawn, so as to decide his duel with the patriarch of Soviet chess before the final game. But thanks to

a burst of energy and a good portion of luck, Botvinnik - since after his weak sealed move he no longer believed in a successful defence of his title - sti ll managed to wrest from his opponent the necessary victory. David lonovich was so completely shattered after giving away the d raw that in the final 24 th game he was simply u nable to seek the uncompromising struggle necessary to wrest back control of the match in his favou r. On this Satu rday the 8,000 metre peak we spoke of at the start took the form of the ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who was the opponent of the "l ittle Japanese tan k" (Boris Spassky) . In his career the 35year-old Russian had won just about everything that could be won in chess, including of cou rse Wijk aan Zee ( 1 998 along with Viswanathan Anand) . After his defeat with White on the previous day at the hands of Magnus Carlsen, his 1 % point deficit meant that he had missed the boat,

Wijk aan Zee

but of cou rse there was no question of him giving anything away. You could feel the tension in the Dorpshuis de Moriaan, because at the same time Anand would be fighting against Giri. . .

GAME 41 H. Nakamura V. Kramnik Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 1 Ruy Lopez [C67] -

Cleverly neutralised

There were objective reasons for Hikaru approaching this game with sound self confidence. A month before, with the black pieces, he inflicted on the ex-world cham pion his only defeat in the 2 nd London Chess Classic - and he himself lost only to Carlsen. And at the 5 th Tai Memorial in November 201 0 he had no reason to be dissatisfied with a d raw against Petroff specialist Kramnik, as the cou rse of the game shows: 1 .e4 es 2.lllf3 lllf6 3.lllxeS d6 4.lllf3 lll xe4 s.lllc 3 lll x c3 6.dxc3 il.e7 7.i.e3 0-0 8.�d2 llld 7 9.0-0-0 .l:i.e8 (th is is actually Gelfand's favou rite variation) 1 0.h4 c6 1 1 .i.d3 lllf6 1 2.I!.de1 dS 1 3.i.d4 cs 1 4.i.xf6 il.xf6 1 S.�f4 i.e6 1 6.lll g S g6 1 7.i.bS l:f.f8 1 8.lllxe6 fxe6 1 9J1xe6 il.xc3 20.�g4 il.g7 21 .hS! (the energetic text move m ust have su rprised Black, but what else should Nakam u ra play?) 21 ... c4 22.hxg6 h6 23.l:!.d 1 (23. l:. he1 ! is certainly better, since there is now the threat of l:t e7; here 23 . . . a6 would be a mistake on account of 24. il. e8) 23 ... �as 24.l:.xdS 'ii'xa2 2S.i.xc4 'ifxb2+ 26.'it>d1 'it>h8 27.f3 as 28J�d7 (28. 'ii' e4 would have caused

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problems for Black) 28 ... a4 (here the engines see a clear advantage for White but their j udgement of the position is totally u nemotional, it is not important for them . . . ) 29.'ii' h 4 (the doubling of rooks on the seventh ran k with 29. :ee7 seems more logical) 29 ... �b1 + 30.'it>d2 �b4+ 31 .'it>d1 (the double rook ending after 31 . 'it> e2 b5 32 . l:t xg7 �xc4+ 33. 'it'xc4 bxc4 34. l:. h?+ is unwinnable for White despite the extra pawn, si nce Kramnik has his passed a pawn as a permanent th reat) 31 ...�b1 + 32.'it>d2 'ii' b 4+ 33.'it>d1 'ii'b 1 + , and a draw by a th reefold repetition of the position. I n view of such a safe sharing of the point, the Nakam ura-Littlejohn team must have thought of trying this Russian roulette again . But on the other, Kramnik would not have allowed another such temporary dropping of his guard , and, as we shall see, he renou nced his tried and tested Petroff Defence and i nvited the American to a Ruy Lopez. The fact that Nakamu ra did not hesitate for long was understandable, as was his decision to neutralise his famous opponent so cleverly. After half an hour it was all over, but a half point is a half point the storming of the peak was put off for a day and was still possible. Especially since Anand had great d ifficulty escaping with a d raw against Anish G i ri , who was really up for it in this game and ready to show the world champion what he was capable of. But, short of time in a double rook ending, he missed an easy winning move , and Vishy, who had been u nder pressure throughout the game, retained his chances of tournament victory. 1 .e4 es 2.lllf3 lll c 6 3.i.bS lllf6 4.0-0 lllxe4 S.l:f.e1 With this choice Nakamura indicates that he is agreeable to a d raw against the u ltra-

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solid Kramnik. He deliberately avoids (after 5.d4) the latter's Berlin Defence, with which Kramn i k had been successful i n many battles - in particular this was the opening that guaranteed his winning of the world chess crown from Garry Kasparov i n London in 2000, where the 1 6-game match concluded 8%-6% in his favou r. 5.d4 tt:'i d6 6 . .t xc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 tl'if5 8. 'ii'x d8+ �xd8 is the principled line and there are undoubtedly more possibilities in the resulting well known ending. In any case , in fou r World Championship games with White, Garry could not find a way to break through the Berlin Wall. 5 tt:'id6 6.tt:'ixe5 .te7 7 . .i.f1 tt:'ixe5 8.l:txe5 0--0 9.d4 .tf6 1 o.:e1 :ea 1 1 .c3 l:txe1 1 2.'ifxe1 tl'if5 1 3 . ..td3 d5 1 4 . .i.f4 c6 •..

1 5.tl'id2 tt:'ih4 1 6.'ii'e2 .tf5 1 7 . ..txf5 tt:'ixf5 1 8.tt:'if3 'ife7 1 9.l:te1 At this point, in round 1 0, Jan Smeets played 1 9. 'ifd3 against Kramnik, but after 1 9 . . . tt:'i h4 20. tt:'ixh4 .t xh4 2 1 .g3 .tf6 the point was also shared . 1 9 'ii'xe2 20.l:txe2 ..•

Draw agreed on White's proposal "No comment," Kramnik told reporters afterwards. "Ask him" said Nakamu ra, explain i ng that he "had the choice to take a risk or not and decided: why take the risk?" "Tomorrow, I have Black against Wang Hao. At least, he's not Kramnik. So I'll have some chances in the final round."

Sunday, 30th January 201 1 , Round 1 3

I

s 1 3 perhaps H i karu's favou rite number? Well , after this Sunday he could at least give serious thought to the matter. I n any case, the way things fall in the final round is simple: all he has to do is not lose - and should Anand not defeat Nepomniachtchi, then he has climbed this peak on the way to fame. This all sounds simple and not very d ramatic, but it is really playing with numbers, leaving chance and the main actors in this performance totally out of the equation . There can hardly be any other sport i n which a single error can be so brutally decisive as regards victory and defeat, as it is in chess. It is sufficient to remember the first World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and his challenger Garry Kasparov i n 1 984/85. Trailing by 0-5, Kasparov found h imself facing final elimination in the 3 1 st game on

7th December 1 984, since after two hou rs' play Karpov was a pawn up with a clear positional advantage. But the proximity of the goal suddenly had a paralysing effect on the play of the champion, who up till then had been supremely dominant. He got into time-trouble and was unable to win the game. A d rama, which would be repeated in the 4 1 st game. One single move by Kar pov again th rew away the win . Mind you , it was astonishing how the 2 1 -year-old Garry, with his back to the wall , took advantage of the moment and closed the gap to 3-5, u ntil 1 5 th February 1 985, when the FIDE officials brought to an end this chess marathon without a winner after 1 6 1 days. As far as decision in the final round is concerned , the H ungarian Tibor Florian has published a book with a similar title. In it the i nternational master gives advice on preparation and examples of game tactics,

Wijk aan Zee

including a chapter with the title "A half point lead". 1 Florian investigates the situa tion in which a fortunate player with a half point lead comes u p against a weaker participant i n the final round. This is the situation Nakamu ra finds himself in on 30th January 201 1 , faced with the Chinese player Wang Hao. The 2 1 -year-old grand master from the M iddle Kingdom has made a respectable score up till now and his tactical talent is no secret. Since he is in no way i nvolved in the tournament finish, he will be able to play in totally uninhibited fashion. This makes him very dangerous because he appears to have nothing to lose. Against him H i karu will try to achieve an active position and best of all to aim for a draw from a position of strength or, if circumstances demand it, to play for a win with Black. The latter could well be the case if Anand should win as Black against his R ussian opponent.

GAME 42 Wang Hao H. Nakamura Tata Steel Chess (A) , Wijk aan Zee 201 1 Benoni Defence [A62] -

•••

and the position is equal . 1 2 tLixc3 1 3.bxc3 tLld7 1 4.c4 l:.b8 1 S.aS bS 1 6.axb& :xb6 1 7 ..1'.f4 'iilc7 1 8.e4 l:.b4 1 9.i.f1 as 20.i.d2 .•.

Nakamu ra makes the appropriate choice of the Benoni Defence, which he reaches by transposition. The Modern Benoni 2 is quite a rare guest in major tou rnaments. Black takes certain risks, but this opening has one u ncontested advantage - it takes the opponent away from the usual paths and 1

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opens u p opportunities for creative, non stereotyped play. 1 .d4 tLlf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 .1'.g7 4 . .1'.g2 cS S.dS d6 6.tLlc3 0-0 7.tLlf3 e6 8.0-0 exdS 9.cxdS :ea By transposition we have reached a basic position of the Benoni Defence. On ac count of the asymmetrical pawn structure, both sides can play for a win , and that was also precisely Nakamura's plan , since if Anand were to win he too wou ld have to score the full point. 1 0.a4 a6 1 1 .l:.e1 Wang Hao chooses a side variation. 1 1 . tLl d2 and 11 . .1'.f4 are the main contin ua tions. 11 tLle4! Nakamura radically stops the planned central advance. 1 2.:aa 1 2 . tLl xe4 l:.xe4 1 3. tLl d2 is met by 1 3 . . . l:. b4,

Reaching a happy ending with "the son of my sorrow"

2

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Quoted from the German edition Entscheidung in der SchluBrunde, Stuttgart 1 987. The name Ben Oni comes from the Hebrew and means The son of my sorrow.

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Chapter 9

20 ... lDeS ! ? For t h e Benoni this is a typical exchange sacrifice which secures dynamic play for Black. Quite i n the spirit of Petrosian or, to choose a more modern example, Topalov! 21 .lt)xeS .txe5 22 . .t c3 22 . .t xb4?! cxb4 23. 'ii'a4 bxa3 24. 'ii'xea+ � g7 25. 'ii'a4 .t b2 would be dangerous for White. 22 ... .td7 The black position has more potential because the white light-sq uared bishop does not have good prospects. However, Nakamura offered a draw, because it was starting to look as if Anand would not win his game, and Wang Hao accepted the offer. All's well that ends wel l ! Nakamu ra was in h i s hotel room watch ing his rival's game on the I nternet. "It was totally unexpected to see it ending in a draw," he told the press. "I was sort of ju mp ing u p and down around the room . I was so happy. Winning a tournament is always nice but winning an el ite tournament like this is something completely different. I cannot remember the last time an Ameri can won a major tournament. I hope my victory will make for greater interest in chess back home in the States."

3

And a special tournament report in New In Chess printed the following statement by Nakamu ra, whose fi rst place brought him a cheque for 1 0,000 euros: "Now that I have finally won a major tou rnament ahead of all the other top players in the world , I guess that everyone realizes that I am a potential th reat to the European dominance of chess . . . " Fortune favou rs the bold ! I n the 1 6 days of Wij k aan Zee the 23-year-old American , whom Boris Spassky had described in a telephone i nterview with ChessBase dur ing the tournament as a "little Japanese tank", impressively demonstrated to the world of chess that he was now ready to follow in the footsteps of Bobby Fischer. But unlike Nakam u ra and most world champions in classical chess 3 , the latter never appeared on the list of victors of Wijk aan Zee, because he did not even once take part. 4 The anything but qu iet American Hikaru Nakamu ra is the fi rst US grandmaster since Walter Browne and Vasser Seirawan, who shared fi rst place in 1 980, to tri umph in this Mecca of chess in The Netherlands . This is something of which he can be really proud. But success, especially one like this, also creates expectations for the future.

These include Max Euwe, M i khail Botvinnik, M i khail Tai , Tigran Petrosian , Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand . 4 When asked why Fischer had never taken part in the Wijk aan Zee tournament, previous tou r nament director Piet Zwart replied on 1 8. 1 .2008, one day after Fischer's death : "The answer is quite simple. At that time we did not have the necessary financial means. We could not pay the sort of fees which Fischer demanded . I n addition there were his extravagant wishes concerning playing conditions. For that reason nothing ever came of a visit to Wijk aan Zee by Fischer. It is certai nly a shame, but there is noth ing we can do to change it now." (D. Kohlmeyer, "Fischer in Wijk", ChessBase homepage. 1 9. 1 .2008)

ctJ

Wijk aan Zee

1 85

Tata Steel Chess A Wijk aan Zee, 1 4th - 30th January 20 1 1 Cat. 2 0 (2740)

l

2

3

4

'Ii 0

5

6

7

8

9 I O 1 1 12 13 1 4 Pts.

1 1 9

1.

Nakamura, H ikaru

USA

275 1

*

2.

Anand, Viswanathan

I

D

2810

y, *

1 'h * 'h 'h 0 '12 0 1 'h 1 1 'h 8 'h'hYi* Y,11,Y,'hl Yil Y,1/,1 8

'h 'h 1

'h 'h 1

'h 'h '12 'h 'h 1

3.

Carlsen, Magnus

N OR

2814

4.

Aronian, Levon

ARM

2805

5.

Kramnik, Vladimir

RUS

2 7 84

'h 'h O

6.

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA

27 1 5

0

7.

Giri, Anish

NED

2686

'h 'h 1

8.

Ponomariov, Ruslan

UKR

2 744

'h 0

9.

Nepomniachtchi, Ian

RUS

2733

0

1 0. Wang, Hao

CHN

273 1

'h 0

1 1 . Grischuk, Alexander

RUS

2773

0

'h *

'h 1

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112 0

1

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1 2 . I.: Ami, Erwin

NED

2628

0

'h 0

'h 0

NED

2662

0

0

0

'h 'h 0

1 4 . Shirov, Alexei

ESP

2722

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Progressive Table Round 1 - 1 3

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

12

13

1.

Nakamura, H ikaru

1

l 'h 2'h 3

3'/z

4'h S'h S'h 6

7

8

8'/z 9

2.

Anand, Viswanathan

1

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3

4

4'h 5

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7

7'/z

8

8 'h

3.

Carlsen, Magnus

112

1

l 'lz

2 '/z

3 '/z

5

5 'h

6 '/i

7 'h

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Aronian, Levon

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l 'li

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3 '/z

4'/i

5

6

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7

7'/i

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5.

Kramnik, Vladimir

'Ii

l 'li

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2 'h

3 '/i

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7

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6.

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime

112

l 'h

2 'h

3

3'/z

4

5

5 '/z

5'/z

6

7

7 '/z

7.

Giri, Anish

'Ii

2

2 112

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4'/z

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8.

Ponomariov, Ruslan

0

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9.

Nepomniachtchi, Ian

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10.

Wang, Hao

'h

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1

2

2 'h

3

3

4

5

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6

11.

Grischuk, Alexander

0

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2

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3

4

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2

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4 '/z

2

2

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3

3 Yi 4

4

l 'lz

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2 'h

2 'h 3

3 112 4

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1 2.

I.: Ami, Erwin

13.

Smeets, Jan

1

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Shirov, Alexei

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1 86

�

H is g reat love the Ki ng's I nd ia n a short repertoire a la Naka m u ra "

W You don't know if you r moves are correct and the computer's moves aren't always hen you play the Classical King's I ndian, the game is never going to be perfect.

correct either. That's one of the things I love in the King's I ndian , that in many cases the computer gives evaluations and then when you run through the lines it tu rns out that you're right and the computer is wrong. It's probably the only open ing, where the computer can be completely wrong and humans can be completely right. The player who comes up with the best plan wins", is how H i karu Nakamu ra explains his "love" of the King's I ndian in New in Chess Magazine ( 1 /20 1 2) . He has been faithful t o this defence for more than a decade, and that is anything but by chance. One decisive reason for this must have been that Su nil Weeramantry also has the King's I ndian i n his repertoire. In his 1 993 book Best Lessons Of A Chess Coach (the co author was Ed Eusebi) the second lesson with the title "A Wonderful Knight" contains one of Nakamu ra's step-father's own games, played in the US amateu r team championships in the summer of 1 992 against Larry Pugh . And of cou rse Weeramantry chose the King's I ndian Defence. 1 .d4 lLi f6 2.c4 g6 3. lLic3 i. g7 4.g3 0-0 5 . i. g2 d6 6. lLif3 ttJ c6 7.0-0 i. g4 led to exactly the same variation as H i karu chose six years later at the j unior world championship in Cannes against Artem l lj i n , and to which he would remain faithful despite a defeat. So in what fol lows we would like to show you how his King's I ndian repertoire has developed over time! 1 .d4 1 . lLif3 tiJf6 2.c4 g6 3. lLic3 .lt g7 4.g3 0-0 5. i. g2 d6 6.d4

Against the Fianchetto Variation H i karu chooses the Panno System: 6 . . . ttJc6 7.0-0 Or 7.d5 ttJ a5 8. lLi d2 c5 9.0-0 a6 1 0. 'ilfc2 .l:r. b8 1 1 . b3 b5 1 2 . i. b2 e5 1 3. l:. ab 1 ( 1 3.dxe6 fxe6 1 4.cxb5 axb5 1 5 . ttJ ce4 ttJ xe4 1 6. ttJ xe4 j,, x b2 1 7. 'ii'xb2 i. b7 is the most usual seq uence and should be approxi mately level) 1 3 . . . lLi h5 1 4. 'li'd3 i. h6 1 5 . l:. fd 1 f5 1 6.e3 j,, d 7, and Black has no problems, Alvarez Marquez-Nakamura, Caribbean Open, Port of Spain 1 999. 7 . . . a6 (as mentioned earlier, at the start of his career H i karu also played 7 . . . i. g4 here - a continuation attributed to the R ussian Vladimir Simagin. In the game against Artem l ljin things continued: 8.h3 i.xg4

King's I ndian short repertoire

9.i.xf3 tl'ld7 1 O.e3 e5, and whereas Weeramantry's opponent now played 1 1 .ll'le2, H i karu had to deal with 1 1 .d5) 8 . b3 a) 8 . h3 l:.b8 9 . .te3 e6 (a rare move, but one which does not score badly; 9 . . . b5 is the main variation) 1 0.'ii'd 2 b5 1 1 .cxb5 axb5 1 2 .i.h6 b4 1 3.i.xg7 �xg7 1 4.ll'ld1 i.b7 1 5.ll'le3 'i'd7 1 6.:tc1 l:tfc8 , and the position is balanced, Andrianov-Nakamura, Reno 2003; b) 8.d5 tl:la5 9.ll'ld2 [9.'ii'd 3 c5 1 O.e4

tD

1 a1

1 4.dxe6 fxe6 1 5. 'ifc2

1 5 . . . c5? ( 1 5 . . . tl:lb5 is preferable) 1 6.l:.fd 1 'ife7 1 7.:1xd6, and Black has serious problems, Aronian-Nakamura, FIDE Blitz World Championship, Moscow 201 0. 1

.••

ll'lf6 2.c4 g6 3.tl:lc3 i.g7 4.e4 d6

Analysis d i ag ram

1 O . . . b5 (really risky and typical Nakamu ra; the main variation is 1 O . . . l:tb8) 1 1 .cxb5 axb5 1 2 .ll'lxb5 .ta6 1 3. a4 'ii'b6 with definite compensation , Klei man-Nakamu ra, rapid, New York 2004] 9 . . . c5 1 O.l:tb 1 llb8 1 1 . b3 b5 1 2.i.b2 i.h6 1 3.i.a1 i.t5 1 4.e4 i.g4 1 5.f3 i.e3+ 1 6 .�h 1 i.d7 1 7.cxb5 axb5, and Black has equality, Aronian-Nakamu ra, Tai Memorial Tou rnament, Moscow 201 O; 8 ... .l::!. b8 9.i.b2 (after 9.ll'ld5 ll'lh5 1 O.i.b2 e6 1 1 .tl'lf4 tl:lxf4 1 2 .gxf4 b5 1 3.i.c3 i.b7 Wh ite has no advantage , Fridman Nakamu ra, Bermuda 2003) 9 . . . b5 1 O.cxb5 axb5 1 1 . .:.c1 [ 1 1 .'ii'c2 e6? ! ( 1 1 . . .tl:lb4 is the main variation) 1 2 . e4 .td7 1 3.e5 tl'lb4 1 4.'ii'd 2 tl:ltd5 1 5.tl:le4, and White was slightly better, M iton-Nakamura, rapid, New York 2004] 1 1 . . .b4 1 2.ll'la4 tl:la7 1 3.d5 e5

5 ll'lf3 .

5.tl:lge2 0-0 6.tl'lg3 e5 7.d5 h5 8.i.g5 'ii'e 8! 9 .i.e2 tl'lh7 1 O.i.e3 h4 1 1 .ll'lf1 f5 1 2 .exf5 gxf5 1 3.f4 a5 1 4.ll'ld2 tl:la6 does not bring Wh ite any advantage, Kaposztas-Naka mura, Budapest 2000; Against the Averbakh Variation 5 . .i.e2 0-0 6.i.g5 Hikaru transposes with 6 . . . c5 7.d5

1 88

\ii

Chapter 9

a6 8.'ii'c 1 'ii'as 9.i.d2 e6 into a Benoni structure: 1 O. i.d3 exdS 1 1 .exdS tl'ibd7 1 2 .f4 Taylor-Nakamu ra, Financial Concept Open, North Bay 1 999, and now 1 2 . . . 'ii'd B! 1 3.tl'ige2 bS 1 4.cxbS tl'ib6 would have been advisable. Against the Four Pawns Attack S.f4 0-0 6.tl'if3 Hikaru also plays 6 . . . cS and heads in the di rection of a Benoni Defence: 7.dxcS (here the q uestion is what does H i karu play against 7.dS? Does he try 7 . . . e6 seeking a way to a Benoni, or does he strive fror a transposition to the Volga Gambit with 7 . . . bS ?) 7 . . . 'it'as 8.i.d3 'ii'xcS 9.'iie2 tl'ic6 1 o . ..te3 'ii'as 1 1 .0-0 .tg4 1 2. :ac1 tl'id7 1 3. 'i!Vf2 ..txf3 1 4.gxf3 tt:Jcs 1 S.i.b1 tl'ia4 1 6 .tl'ixa4 'ii'xa4 1 7.�h 1 e6 1 8 . h4 tl'ie7 1 9 .hS 'ii'b4 with good play for Black, as can be seen from the game Arancibia Rodri guez-Nakamura, Linares 2002 ; Against the Simisch Variation S.f3 0-0 6. i.e3

Nakamura chooses the well-known pawn sacrifice 6 . . . cs, in order to become active straight away. (previously he also employed 6 . . . eS) 7.dxcS (7.tl'ige2 tl'ic6 8.dxcS dxcS 9.'ii' x d8 :r.xd8 1 0 . ..txcs tl'id7 1 1 . ..te3 tl'ideS 1 2 .tl'ic1 tl'ib4 with good compensation i n

Privman-Nakamu ra, rapid, New York 2003) 7 . . . dxcS 8.'ii'x d8 :xd8 9 . ..txcS tl'ic6 1 O.tl'idS e6 1 1 .tl'ie7+ tt:Jxe7 1 2 . ..txe7 l:td7 1 3.i.a3 b6 1 4.tl'ih3 ..ta6 1 S.eS tt:Jea 1 6.f4 f6 with good compensation in Karpov-Nakamura, rapid, Cap d' Agde 2008; S . h3 o-o 6 . ..tgs tl'ia6 7.tl'if3 'ii'e a 8.g3 es 9.dS tt:Jcs 1 O.tl'id2 as and Black has equal i ty, Miljkovic-Nakamura, blitz, playchess.com 2004; s . ..td3 0-0 6.tl'ige2 tl'ic6 7.0-0 es 8.ds tl'id4 9.tl'ixd4 [9.tl'ibS cs (th is is Nakamu ra's move. 9 . . . :ea is played more frequently) 1 0.tl'ibxd4 exd4 1 1 .f3 tl'id7 1 2.f4 tl'if6 1 3. h3 bS (Hikaru likes transposing to the Volga Gambit like this) 1 4.cxbS a6 with sharp play, M iton-Nakamura, rapid, New York 2004] 9 . . . exd4 1 0.tl'ibS l:.ea 1 1 .:e 1 tl'ig4 1 2.h3 a6 1 3. hxg4 axbS 1 4.cxbS 'ii'h 4 1 S.g3 'ii'xg4 1 6. 'ifxg4 ..txg4

1 7 . ..tf4 (an interesting novelty by Aronian , but one which Hikaru combats well ; 1 7.�g2 is critical) 1 7 . . . ..tf3 1 8. b6 gS! 1 9 . ..txgS l:teS 20.i.h4 cxb6, and the black bishop on f3 compensates for the weaknesses, Aronian Nakamu ra, Melody Amber, rapid, Monte Carlo 20 1 1 . 5 0-0 6.i.e2 •.•

ttJ

King's Indian short repertoire

1 89

match against Ruslan Ponomariov in St. Lou is 20 1 1 : 1 O .. .f6 ( 1 0 . . . 'ii'c7 1 1 .h3 exd4 1 2 .ltJxd4 'ii'b 6 1 3.i.. x g4 i.. x g4 1 4. hxg4 i.. xd4 1 5.i.. e 3 i.. x e3 1 6.l:!.xe3 ltJc5 with equality, Ponomariov-Nakamura, 5th match game, Saint Louis 201 1 ) 1 1 .i.. h 4 'ii'e8 1 2.c5 dxc5 1 3.dxe5 ltJxe5 1 4.ltJxeS

6 e5 This remains Hikaru's main weapon . But he has also experimented here: ...

6 . . . ltJa6 7.CHl e5 8.l:.e1 (8.i.. g 5? ! h6 9.i.. h 4 g5 1 O.dxe5 ltJh5 1 1 .i.. g 3 ltJxg3 1 2 . hxg3 dxe5 1 3.'ii'x d8 .l:!.xd8 1 4 . .l:.fd 1 i.. e 6 1 5 .ltJh2 ltJb4 1 6.ltJdS ltJc2 1 7.ktac1 ltJd4 1 8 .�1 l:!.d7, and Black was al ready slightly better in Krei man-Nakamura, Connecticut 2003) 8 . . . c6 (previously Hikaru also played 8 . . . i.. g 4, e.g. in Alekseev-Nakamura, Santo Domingo 2003. In general, however, he ap pears to have distanced himself somewhat from the i.. g4-systems) 9.i.. e 3 ltJg4 1 O.i.. g 5

1 4 . . . fxe5? ! (Hikaru goes all out and ac cepts a position which is rather full of holes. On the other hand , after 1 4 . . . 'ii'x e5 1 5.i.. xa6 bxa6 1 6.'ii'a4 f5 1 7.'ii'xc6 l:!.b8 1 8.exf5 'ii'xf5 Gavri lov-Shimanov, Moscow 20 1 1 , the position is almost level) 1 5.i.. xa6 bxa6 1 6.'i'd6 ( 1 6.ltJa4!?) 1 6 . . . c4 1 7 . .l:tad 1 with a slight plus for White, Ponomariov-Naka mura, 3 rd match game Saint Louis 20 1 1 ; 6 . . . ltJbd7 7.i.. e 3 (7.CHl es 8.l:.e1 c6 9.i.. f 1 as 1 O.l:tb1 l:r.e8 1 1 .d5 ltJc5 1 2 .b3 i.. d 7 with equal ity, Fi negold-Nakamu ra, US Open, Cherry Hill 2007) 7 . . . e5 8.CHl l:!.e8 9.dxe5 dxe5 1 O.b4 c6 1 1 .c5 (see n ext diagram)

This position was twice discussed in the

1 1 . . . ltJhS!? (a novelty by Nakamu ra, who often employs this knight manoeuvre; Wh ite may be slightly better, but the position is not an easy one to play) 1 2 .ltJd2 ltJf4 1 3.ltJc4 ltJxe2+ 1 4.'ii'xe2 'ii'e 7 1 5.l:!.ab1

1 90

�

Chapter 9

Position after 1 1 .c5

t"Lif8 1 6.t"Lid6 .:td8 1 7. t"Lia4 t"Lie6 1 8 .t"Lib2 bS 1 9. a4 a6 20.l:.a1 l:.b8 2 1 .axbS axbS 22. l:.a3 (Romain Edouard suggests 22 .t"Lid3! ? ) 2 2 . . . t"Lif4 23.'ild2 .te6 24.g3

5 4

3 2

24 . . . t"LihS? ! , and now in Vallejo Pons Nakamu ra, World Cup Final, Sao Paulo/ Bilbao 201 1 , Black should have forced a d raw with 24 . . . t"Lih3+ 25. �g2 t"Lif4+! 26.�h 1 (after 26.gxf4 the move 26 . . . 'ii' h 4 equal ises) 26 . . . t"Lih3 (Edouard). 7.0-0 7.dxes dxes 8.'ilxd8 l:.xd8 9 . .tgs

9 . . . t"Libd7 (9 .. Jle8 is by far the most frequently played move, but the alterna tives are well worth considering; thus King's I ndian expert Victor Bologan recom mends 9 . . . l:.f8!?) 1 0.0-0-0 .l:tf8 1 1 .t"LidS c6 1 2 .t"Lie7+ �h8 1 3 . .te3! l:.e8 1 4.t"Lixc8 l:!.axc8 1 5.g4 t"Lif8 1 6.t"Lid2 t"Lie6 1 7.gS t"Lid7 1 8. t"Lib3 ( 1 8 . .tg4 is the alternative) 1 8 . . . l:.c7 1 9 . .tg4 .tf8 20 . .txe6 l:.xe6 21 J :td3 cs, and White was somewhat better in Roussel Roozmon-Nakamura, World Open, Phila delphia 2006, but the black position is not easy to break down . Now 22 . .l:r.hd 1 ! would have been more accu rate than 22.t"Lid2 as in the game, when 22 . . .fS followed . 7.ds as 8 . .tgs h6 9 . .te3 t"Lig4 1 o . .tc1 fS 1 1 .exfS gxfS 1 2.g3 t"Lia6, and Black has equality, Wolski-Nakamura, Hawaii Open, Honol ulu 1 997; 7 . .te3 (see next diagram) 7 . . . t"Lig4 [here too H i karu has an alternative up his sleeve: 7 . . . t"Lia6 8.0-0 (8.dS t"Lig4 9 . .tgs f6 1 0 . .th4 hs 1 1 .t"Lid2 .td7 1 2 .h3 t"Lih6 1 3.g4 hxg4 1 4. hxg4 'it'e7 1 S.t"Llf1 t"Lif7 1 6.t"Lie3 .th6 1 7 . .td3 �g7 1 8.'ii'e2 l:.h8

ctJ


1 91

Position after 7 .J.e3

Position after 1 3.c5!?

1 9.0-0-0 c5 20.a3 0ic7 2 1 .'it>b1 a6 22.f3 b5 with counterplay for Black, Volkov Nakamu ra, FIDE World Championship, 1 st round, Tripoli 2004) 8 . . . 0ig4 9 . .tg5 _.ea 1 O.dxe5 ( 1 O . h3 f6 1 1 . .tc1 0ih6 1 2 . .l:e1 c6 - 1 2 . . . 0if7 is the main variation - 1 3 . .tf1 0if7 1 4.l:r.b1 'ii'e 7 1 5 . b4 0ic7 1 6. b5 c5, and neither side has an advantage, Markus Nakamura, blitz, playchess.com 2005) 1 0 . . . dxe5 1 1 . h3 ( 1 1 .0id2 f6 1 2 . .th4 0ih6 1 3. f3 c6 1 4 . .tf2 .te6 1 5.a3 0if7 1 6. b4 .th6 1 7.0ib3 'ii'e 7 1 8 ...c2 l:.fd8 1 9. l:l.fd 1 was slightly better for White in Gustafsson Nakamura, blitz, playchess.com 2004; af ter 1 1 .'ii'c 1 c6 1 2 .l:.d 1 f6 1 3 . .td2 f5 1 4.h3 0if6 1 5.exf5 .txf5 1 6 . .th6 .txh6 1 7. 'ii'x h6 too, a slight advantage for Wh ite can be discerned , as in Carlsen-Nakamura, rapid, Gjovik 2009) 1 1 . . .f6 1 2 . .td2 0ih6 1 3.c5!?

Vol kov-Nakamu ra, F I D E World Champi onship 1 st round, Tripoli 2004, but the black position is not easy to breach) 1 4 . .txa6 bxa6 1 5.'ii'a 4 0if7 1 6.l:.ad 1 l:tb8 1 7 . .tc1 0id8 1 8.l:.d6 l:.f7 1 9.l:.fd 1

(see next diagram) An extremely dangerous pawn sacrifice. It would now be very risky to play 1 3 . . . c6 (a more solid move is 1 3 . . . 0ixc5: 1 4.'ii'c 1 0if7 1 5 .0id5 0ie6 1 6. 0ixc7 0ixc7 1 7.'ii'xc7 0id8 1 8.l:.fc1 and White was minimally better i n

H i karu has had this position twice. En gines, however, consider it better for White and here they could be correct: 1 9 . . . .te6 (after 1 9 . . . 0ib7, which was played in G us tafsson-Nakamu ra, bl itz, playchess.com 2004, even 20.l:.xc6 i.. d 7 2 1 .l:.xd7 'ii'x d7 22.'ii'xa6 is very i nteresting from White's point of view) 20 . .te3 a5 2 1 .l:.6d3 0ib7 22.'ii'c2 .tfa 23.0ia4 g5 24.0id2 l:.g7

1 92

w

Chapter 9

25.4:'if1 !Ida 26. 4:'ig3 l:.gd7 27.b3 l:.xd3 2a . .l:.xd3 .l:.xd3 29.'ii'x d3 .tea 30.'it>h2 h5 3 1 .4:'if5 and White is better, Shabalov Nakamu ra, Foxwoods Open , Mashantucket 2004. Nevertheless, this game ended in a d raw, as follows: 3 1 . . . 'ii'd 7 32.'ii' c4+ 'ii'e 6 33.'ii'c3 h4 34 . .tc1 'ili'd7 35 . .ta3 'ii' h 7 36.'it'c4+ 'ii'f7 37.4:'id6 .txd6 3a.cxd6 'ii'xc4 39. bxc4 c5 40.d7. a . .tg5 f6

1 3.g4 ( 1 3.f3 c 5 1 4.g4 hxg4 1 5. hxg4 4:'if7 1 6 . .td3 .td7 1 7.'it'e2 4Jca 1 a . .tf2 .th6 1 9 . .te3 .txe3 20.'iix e3 �g7 2 1 .0-0-0 :tha was almost equal in Bacrot-Nakamura, Spanish team championsh ip, Sestao 20 1 0) 1 3 . . . hxg4 1 4. hxg4 4:'if7 1 5.'ii'c2 c5

9 . .th4 [on two occasions against 9 . .tc1 Hikaru was unable to achieve complete equality: 9 . . . 4:'ic6 1 O . h3 4:'ih6 1 1 . .te3 4:'if7 1 2.0-0 ( 1 2.d5 4:'ie7 1 3.4:'id2 f5 1 4.f3 c5 1 5.g4, Yu Mingyuan-Nakamura, Budapest 2000) 1 2 . . .f5 1 3.dxe5 dxe5 1 4. 'ii'x da 4Jcxda 1 5.4:'id5 fxe4 1 6.4:'id2 4:'ie6 1 7.4:'ixe4 4:'if4 1 a . .tf3 4Jxd5 1 9 .cxd5, Bhat-Nakamura, rapid, Mainz 200a] 9 . . . 4Jc6 1 O.d5 4:'ie7 1 1 .4:'id2 h5 1 2 .h3 4:'ih6

(see next diagra m )

Hikaru likes this set-up, followed by a6 and then b5, for example: 1 6 .0-0-0 a6 1 7.l:lh2 .td7 1 a. lldh1 b5 1 9 .�b1 :ba 20 . .tg3 Wea 2 1 .f3 l:!.b7 22.�a1 'i¥c7 23.f4 l:lfba 24.fxe5? ! (in CBM 1 3a Michal Krasenkow suggests here 24.f5!?) 24 . . . dxe5 25.4:'id 1 4Jca 26.4:'ie3 (26 . .tf2 ! ? - Krasenkow) 26 . . . 4Jcd6 2 7 . .th4 bxc4 2a.4Jdxc4 .tbs 29 . .l:.b1 i.xc4 30.4:'ixc4 4Jxc4 31 . .txc4 4:'id6 32 . .te1


'ii'd 7 33 . .te2 c4 34.Ji.c3 g5 35.:h h 1 Wea 36.Ji.f3 tl:ib5 37.'ii'a4 :ca 3a.:hc1 .tfa 39.Ji.e1 tl:id6 40.'ii'x ea :xea Y2-Y2 Gelfand Nakamu ra, N H Hotels, Amsterdam 20 1 0. 7 . tl:ic6 8.d5 ..

a . .te3 exd4 (this exchange is strategically risky, so probably the main variation a . . . tl:ig4 should nowadays be Hikaru's choice) 9.tl:ixd4 .:tea 1 0.f3 tl:ih5 1 1 .f4 ( 1 1 .'ifd2! ? is critical) 1 1 . . .tl:if6 1 2 .tl:ixc6 bxc6 1 3 . .tf3 l:!.ba 1 4. b3 tl:ig4 1 5 . Ji.d4 tl:ie3 1 6. Ji.xe3 .txc3 1 1.:c1 Ji.g7 1 a .'ii'd 2 with a slight advantage for White in Hebert-Nakamura, Financial Concept Open, North Bay 1 999; a.dxe5 dxe5 9 . .tg5 'ii'xd 1 1 0 . .l:.fxd 1 .tg4 1 1 . h3 .txf3 1 2 . .txf3 tl:id4 1 3.tl:id5 tl:ixd5 1 4.cxd5 f5 1 5. 'it>f1 :f? 1 6.l::t a c1 fxe4 1 7 . .txe4 .tfa 1 a.:da .td6 1 9 . .te3 tl:if5 20 . .td2 and the bishops gave White a slight plus in Ponomariov-Naka m u ra , Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund 20 1 1 . 8 . . tl:ie7 .

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has turned away from that. On the other hand, not long ago he brought 9 . . . tt:iea up for discussion, possibly to avoid Gata Kamsky's preparation : 1 O.a4 f5 1 1 . a5 tl:if6 1 2 . .tg5 tl:ih5 1 3.tl:id2 tl:if4 1 4.c5 h6 1 5 . .txf4 exf4 1 6.llc1 fxe4 1 7. tl:idxe4 tl:if5 1 a . .i:r.e 1 , and now, according to Yermolinsky, instead of 1 a . . . .te5?! the move 1 a . . . tl:id4 was indicated in Kamsky-Nakamura, USA National Championship, Saint Louis 201 O; 1 0 . .l:.e1 a) 1 O.c5 tl:if4 1 1 . a4 ( 1 1 . .txf4 exf4 1 2.:c1 is the main variation; 1 1 . .tc4 .tg4 1 2 . :e1 g5 1 3. h3 .th5 1 4. Ji.xf4?! exf4 1 5.'ii' d 3 tl:ig6 was more pleasant for Black in Nepom niachtch i-Nakamu ra, bl itz, playchess.com 2007) 1 1 . . .f5 1 2 . .tc4 fxe4 1 3.tl:ixe4 h6 1 4.!:!.e1 .tg4 1 5.l:ta3 g5 1 6.h3 .th5 1 7 . .txf4 :xf4 1 a.g3 l:tfa 1 9 . a5 'it>ha 20.'it>g2 :ba 2 1 .'ii'd 2 b6 22.axb6 axb6 with equality, Kramnik-Nakamura, Dortmund 20 1 1 ; b) We do not know what Hikaru has up his sleeve against 1 O.g3. After 1 o . . . f5 1 1 .tl:ig5 tl:if6 1 2.f3 does he prefer one of the two main options, 1 2 . . . c6 and 1 2 . . .f4, or has he his own interpretation? 1 o . . . f5 1 1 .tl:ig5 tl:if6 1 2 . i..f3 c6 1 3. b5

9.tl:id2 A) 9.b4 tl:ih5. Nowadays this is H i karu's main weapon against the Bayonet Attack. Previously he also employed 9 . . . a5, but he

"The problem with this move is clear: Black

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has at his disposal a well-known drawish variation . But at the start of this game my opponent looked even physically so up for it that he convinced me. He would never go for a d raw!" (Yan nick Pelletier in CBM 1 08) 1 3 . . . h6 1 4. tt:'ie6 i.. xe6 1 5. dxe6

Position after 1 8 h5 . . .

1 5 . . . 'ii'a S? ! (Hikaru aims very high ; 1 5 . . . fxe4 1 6 .tt:'ixe4 tt:Jxe4 1 7.i.. xe4 d5 1 8 .cxdS cxd5 1 9 .i.. a 3 dxe4 20. 'ii'x d8 l:.fxd8 2 1 .i.. x e7 .l:f.e8 22.i.. cs .l:.xe6 "leads to the afore mentioned d rawn ending", according to Pelletier) 1 6.i.. b2 fxe4 1 7.tt:'ixe4 tt:Jxe4 1 8 . .l:.xe4 d5 1 9.cxdS cxd5 20 . .l:.xe5! (a typical and strong exchange sacrifice) 20 . . . i.. x es 2 1 .i.. x e5 'ifxb5?! 22 . .l:.b 1 'ii'c6 23. i.. a 1 .:!.f4 24.g3! :c4 25. 'ifd2 'ii'c5 26 .i.. f6 g5? ! 27 . .l:f.xb7 .l:Xc1 + 28.�g2 'ii'c4 29.'iie 2 'ifxe2 30.i.. xe2 tt:'if5 31 .i.. g 4, 1 -0, Pelletier-Nakamu ra, Biel 2005; B) 9.tt:'ie1 tt:'id7 1 O .i.. e3 [ 1 O.tt:'id3 f5 1 1 .i.. d 2 tt:'if6 1 2.f3 f4 1 3.c5 g5 1 4.cxd6 cxd6 1 5.tt:'if2 tt:'ig6 1 6 .'ifc2 l:!.f7 1 7 . .l:.fc1 tt:'ie8 1 8.a4 h5 (see next diagram) 1 9. tt:'icd 1 ("White has no waterproof method of preventing the impending kingside attack

by Black. His superiority on the q ueenside should help him to tie down some of the enemy pieces. Aronian's novelty is sensi ble, as the knight may help his king," was the comment by Lubomir Ftacnik in CBM 1 34) 1 9 . . . i.. f8 20 . .l:ta3 a6 2 1 .'ii'c3 i.. d 7 22.�as b6 23.�b4 l:g7 24 . .l:.ac3 tt:'ih4 25.h3 i.. e 7 26 .i.. e 1 , and now in Aronian-Nakamu ra, World Team Championsh ip, Bursa 201 0, the typical advance 26 . . . g4 should have followed . However, instead Hikaru played the passive 26 . . . 'ifb8] 1 O . . .f5 1 1 .f3 f4 1 2 .i..f2 g5


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1 3.lLid3 a) 1 3.g4 h5 1 4.h3 l:.f6 (''This rather closed position has not at tracted the attention of strong players in the past. Nakamu ra has his own ideas about the King's I ndian Defence, so his choice of the line could make a difference", was the appreciative j udgement of Ftacnik in CBM 1 42) . 1 5.lbd3 l:r.h6 1 6.�g2 c5

21 . . . g3 (the typical way of getting counter play. Now after 22 . .i.b6 instead of 22 . . . 'ii'e 7? as in Meier-Nakamura, Dortmund 201 1 , 22 . . . gxh2+ 23.�h 1 should have been played , according to Georg Meier) . 9 lbe8 9 . . . as is H i karu's alternative: 1 O.a3 �h8 (1 0 . . . c5 1 1 .l:.b1 lbe8 1 2. b4 axb4 1 3. axb4 b6 1 4. bxc5 bxc5 1 5 .lbb3 f5 1 6.f3 f4 1 7 . .td2 .td7 1 8.l:.a1 g5 1 9.lbb5, and White was better in Vaganian-Nakamura, Barcelona 2007, because his play on the queenside q uickly picks up speed) 1 1 .l:.b1 lLid7 1 2 .b4 f5 1 3.f3 f4 1 4. lbb5 b6 1 5.'ii'c2 ...

H i karu's novelty. He likes playing the King's I ndian with . . . c7-c5. 1 7.dxc6 lbxc6 1 8.c5!? White must seek counterplay q uickly, be fore the black advance on the kingside be comes too th reatening: 1 8 . . . dxc5 1 9.lbxc5 lLid4 ( 1 9 . . . lbxc5!?) 20 . .tc4+ �h7 2 1 .lbb3 and now 21 . . . lbb6! 22 . .td3 .te6 with equa lity should have followed (Ftacnik) instead of 21 . . . lLif6? as in Ponomariov-Nakamura, 1 st match game, Saint Lou is 20 1 1 . b) Against the most frequently played 1 3.a4 it is not clear exactly how H i karu will continue. However, Kasparov's database must have had a lot on this subject; 1 3 . . . lLif6 1 4.c5 lbg6 1 5.l:.c1 l:.f7 1 6.a4 .i.f8 ( 1 6 . . . h5 1 7. a5 g4 is the main variation) 1 7.a5 h5 1 8.cxd6 cxd6 1 9.lbb5 g4 20.lbxa7 .td7 2 1 .'ii'b 3

1 5 . . . a4! ? ("A curious idea. I nstead of

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opening the a-file for White, Black prevents a3-a4 and .ic 1 -a3. The a4-pawn can be captu red but that will take a lot of time," was M ichal Krasen kow's opinion on this move in CBM 1 42) 1 6.l:.d1 g5 1 7.g4 h5 1 8.h3 l:.f6 1 9 . .tb2 .i::t h 6 20 . ..tg2 lbgs 2 1 .:h1 .tta 22.'ifi>f2 lbt6 23.c5! dxc5 24.lbc4 .td6 25 . .tc3? ! (25. h4! is critical for Black) 25 . . . 'itg7 26. 'ilb2 (26 . h4 ! ? ) 26 . . . cxb4 27. axb4 'ii'e 7 28.l:.bg 1 ? .td7 29.lbbxd6 cxd6 30. h4 hxg4 31 . hxg5

1 2 ...f4 1 3.lbc4 gS 1 4.a4 lbg6 1 5 . .ta3 .l:.f7

1 6.bS For 1 6. a5 see Beliavsky-Nakamu ra, Am sterdam 2009 , Chapter 1 0, p. 203. 1 6 ... dxcS 1 7 . .txcS hS 1 8.aS g4 1 9.b6 g3 And the attacks roll forward on both sides as in Gelfand-Nakamura, World Team Championsh ip, Bursa 201 0, see Chapter 1 0, p. 201 . 31 . . . lbxe4+! (now H i karu strikes! ) 32 .fxe4 l:.xh 1 33 . .l:.xh 1 f3 34.lbxb6 g3+! 35 .'itxf3 .l:.ta+ 36.'ite3 'ii'x g5+ 37.'ifi>d3 .tbs+ 38.'ifi>c2 l:.f2 39.1'.d2 .l:.xe2 40.'ii'c3 g2 4 1 .l:.g 1 a3 42 .'ifi>c1 l:.xd2 43.'ifxd2 a2 44.'itc2 'ifxd2+ 45 .'ifi>xd2 .tf1 0-- 1 Kramnik-Nakamura, rapid, Melody Amber, Monte Carlo 20 1 1 . 1 0.b4 fS 1 1 .c5 lbf6 1 2.f3 1 2 .a4 f4 1 3.lbc4 g5 1 4 . .ta3 g4 (typical H i karu - he always presses boldly forward ; 1 4 . . . lbg6 is the alternative) 1 5.cxd6 cxd6 1 6. b5 lbe8 1 7 . .txg4 'ifc7 1 8 . .te2 f3 1 9. b6 axb6 20.lbbS fxe2 2 1 .'ifxe2 'ifd8 22.lbbxd6 lbxd6 23 . .txd6, and now instead of 23 . . . l:.f7? in Kramnik-Nakamura, Olympiad , Khanty-Mansiysk 2 0 1 O, the move 2 3 . . . :ea wou ld have been more accu rate) .

As this short King's I ndian repertoi re of Nakamu ra impressively demonstrates, over his chess career H i karu has not only fought successfully for his place in the world el ite , but has also developed this defence into one of his most dangerous weapons. H is countless bullet, blitz and rapid chess games on the internet must have played a large part in this process of development. And a role was perhaps played by the fact that his great model Robert James Fischer also unconditionally trusted the King's I ndian with Black. In his statistics we find 1 09 games in which the eleventh world champion chose this defence, which was introduced into tou rnament praxis by Louis Paulsen. And it is certainly no coincidence that the first recorded game of Bobby

King's Indian short repertoire

Fischer - played in the US Amateur Championships in May 1 955 - was also a King's l ndian . 5 In the 1 990s the King's I ndian Defence was en riched with numerous new ideas by Garry Kasparov and it experienced a renaissance, after for a long period when other I ndian openings such as the Queen's I ndian , the Nimzo-l ndian and the G runfeld Defence attracted much more attention. During his barely one year of cooperation with the 1 3th world champion, Nakamu ra must certainly have gained some valuable ideas in the King's I ndian . Alongside

5 Cf. Karsten

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H i karu , the six months older Azerbaijani Teimour Radjabov (born 1 2th March 1 987) is probably today's most ardent and inno vative fan of the King's I ndian at the very highest level. Other world-class players who in the last 20 years have at least for a time had the King's I ndian in thei r reper toi re are Victor Bologan , Boris Gelfand , Alexander G risch uk, Vassily lvanch uk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Alexander Moro zevich (almost solely in rapid chess) , Sergei Movsesian , John Nunn, J udit Polgar, Alexei Shi rov, l lja Smiri n , Peter Svidler, Veselin Topalov and Loek van Wely.

MOiier, Bobby Fischer - The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion, Russell Enterprises, Inc., Milford , CT USA, 2009, p.35

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H i ka ru Naka m u ra 's best games

W games as the title to this chapter. And there is a good reason for this. In 1 969 Robert e happily admit that we were sorely tempted to give 'memorable' as well as 'best'

James Fischer published his collection of games under the title My 60 Memorable Games. 5 The games, which appeared with brill iant introductory comments by grandmaster Larry Evans, were all played between 1 957 and 1 967. The final one was from the l nterzonal Tou rnament in Sousse against Leonid Stein. At that point the futu re world champion was just 24, as by chance was Hikaru Nakamu ra in the year of his breakthrough in Wijk aan Zee! When in July 201 1 in Dortmund we asked our hero about his top 1 O games, his answer was the slightly shocked : "Ten games?" Well , "memorable" and "best" games are of course not the same thing . . . At that time Hikaru mentioned at least the games against M ichal Krasen kow, Boris Gelfand , Alexander Beliavsky and Vladimir Kramnik, in that order. After a thorough search we have added one more game to that quartet, with an important criterion for its choice being that, as in the case of Robert James Fischer, it would contain something "memorable and exciting". For H i karu Nakamu ra's five best games that we intend to show you , that which Anatoly Karpov wrote in another context about the beauty of chess is equally valid: "It is based on the subtlest of nuances, behind which are hidden deeply important rules and inexhaustible possibilities. Thus something new can always be taken from every game. This eternal freshness of chess is what we find so tru ly beautiful about it."2 Moreover, the ex-world cham pion met the then 22-year-old American in 2009 i n San Sebastian i n the tournament mentioned in the Prologue by Lubosh Kavalek - and lost. . .

1

GAME 4 3 M . Krasen kow H. Nakamura Casino Tournament, Barcelona 2007 Reti Opening [A 14] -

A brilliant queen sacrifice

In 2007 the 1 9-year-old Hikaru was No.3 in the USA behind Gata Kamsky and Alexan der Onischuk. But if he wanted to improve further he really had to cross ''The Pond" and go to Europe to take part in tou rna ments there. In the autumn of 2007 that step was taken. In October Nakamu ra took

Publ ished by Simon & Schuster, New York. Rights to the German edition were secured by the Kurt Rattmann Verlag in Hamburg , where in 1 970 the first edition appeared with the title Meine 60 denkwiirdigen Partien; many more would follow it. 2 I. Linder: Faszinierendes Schach, Sportverlag Berlin 1 986, p.259

Nakamura's best games

part in the Corsica Open in Bastia - a rapid tou rnament with 1 0 minutes thinking time each plus an increment of th ree seconds per move - which he won , defeating Rustam Kasimdzhanov 1 %-% in the final. He had previously stopped off in Barce lona, where he won a F I D E category XV (Elo average 2607) all-play-all tou rnament, a point ahead of the Cuban Perez Dominguez (Elo 2683) . At the time Hikaru chose and annotated for New in Chess Vol . 8/2007 h i s encounter with Michal Krasen kow, one of the best Polish (formerly Russian) grandmasters, on account of the brilliant queen sacrifice . Allow you rself be enchanted , since at the time the winner said euphorically that it was the best game he had ever played . 1 .tZ'if3 tZ'if6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 dS 4.i.. g 2 ile7 5.0-0 0-0 6.b3 as 7.tt:Jc3 c6 8.d4 tZ'ibd7 9.'ii'c 2 b6 1 0.e4 ila6 1 1 .tZ'id2?! White may have managed a few good results with this set-up, but Nakamu ra shows that it is in fact rather artificial . The alternative 1 1 .e5 tt:Jea 1 2.tZ'ie2 .l:.c8 1 3 .. l:!.d 1 tt:Jc7 is preferable.

1 1 ...cS! Nakamu ra immediately picks up the gaunt-

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let with this novelty and boldly seizes the initiative. 11 . . . .l:!.ca did not appeal to him, as can be seen from the rapid game Renet Bronstein, Oviedo 1 992, which he justifi ably quotes: 1 2 .l:.e1 c5 1 3.dxc5 d4 1 4.tZ'ia4 tt:Jxc5 1 5.i.. xc5 ilxc5 1 6.1i'd3 e5 1 7.i.. h 3 !Iba 1 8 .tZ'if3 .l:.e8 1 9.i.. g 5 b5 20. tZ'id2 i.. b4 2 1 . .l:.ed 1 h6 22.i.. xf6 1Vxf6 23 . .l:!.ac1 i.. c3 24 . .td7 bxc4 25. bxc4 l::t e d8 26.i.. b5 ( 1 -0). 1 2.exdS After 1 2 .dxc5? ! d4 1 3.tZ'ib5 i.. xc5 1 4.e5 Black happily gives up the exchange: 1 4 . . .tt:Jxe5 1 5.ilxaa 1Wxa8 ( Ftacnik in CBM 1 2 1 ) with good compensation. 12 ... cxd4 1 3.tZ'ibS exdS 1 3 . . . i..x b5? 1 4.dxe6! plays into White's hands. 1 4.tZ'ixd4 .l:!.c8 15 . .l:.e1 b5 1 6.i.. b2 .l:!.e8 1 7.'ii'd 1 ? Wh ite does not have time for this retreat. 1 7.i.. c3 bxc4 1 8.bxc4 i.. xc4 1 9.tt:Jxc4 .l:!.xc4 20.'ii'd 2 would have limited the damage. 1 7 ... bxc4 1 8.bxc4

1 8 ... 'i!i'b6! A strong intermediate move, the point of which is sti ll lying hidden beyond the

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Chapter 1 0

horizon . Accepting the pawn sacrifice at once with 1 a . . . .txc4?! 1 9 .lbxc4 l:txc4 20.lLif5 .tc5 2 1 .'ii'd 2 allows White good compensation , and 1 a . . . dxc4? 1 9. lbc6 backfi res. 1 9 . .l:!.b1 dxc4! 20.lbc6?

saving the game, e.g. 23.'iii>f 1 c3+! (but not 23 . . . .l:t.xf6+ ?? on accou nt of 24 . .tf3 c3+ 25.Wg2, and the wrong side wins!) 24.lle2 c2-+; or 23.i.d4 .txd4+ 24.Wf3 l:tf6+ 25.Wg4 lbe5+ 26.Wg5 .tea ( Ftacn ik) . 23 l:.xf&+ 24.'it>g4 •••

This runs into an incredible counter. 20 . .tc3 'ii'c5 was the lesser evil. 20 .. Jbc6 21 .txf6? ! •

From the practical point of view 2 1 Jhe7!? was preferable, but in the long run the black rooks should also retain the upper hand after 21 .. Jhe7 22 . .txf6 (22 . .ta3 c3 23Jhb6 cxd2 24.l:.xa6 l:tc 1 25.l:!aa+ lL!fa 26 . .tf3 l:.xd 1 + 27 . .txd 1 l:r.e1 + 2a.'iii> g 2 lb6d7, and White has nothing more to laugh about) 22 . . . lL!xf6 23.l:!xb6 l:!xb6.

24 ... lL!eS+! Nakamu ra brings all his pieces into the attack. The fantastic coordi nation of his rooks and bishops is impressive . 25.'iit g S 25 . .l:.xe5 .tea+! 26. l:tf5 .txf5+ 27.Wh4 l:!h6+ 2a.'it>g5 .tea 29.Wf4 g5+ 30.Wxg5 (30. 'iii>f3 :f6#) 30 . . . .te3#. 25 ... l:.g&+ 26.WhS 21 'ifxf2+! ! An incredible q ueen sacrifice , apparently out of nowhere. •..

22.'iii> xf2 Black also has a decisive advantage after 22.'iii> h 1 'Wxf6 23 . .txc6 'ilfxc6+ 24.'Wf3 'ilea . 22 .tcs+ 23. 'iii>f3 Krasenkow's king tries in vai n to flee. However, there is no longer any way of ..•

26.Wf4 lLid3+ 27.'iii>f3 llf6+ 2a.'it>g4 .tea+ 29.Wh4 l:.xe 1 30.'ifxe 1 l:.h6+ 3 1 ".Wg5 f6#. 26 f6 27 . .l:.xeS l:.xe5+ 28.Wh4 .tea ! And now there i s no escape from Nakamura's mating net: 29.g4 (29 . .td5+ l:.xd5 30.g4 l:.d3 is equally hopeless for White) 29 . . . .tf2+ 30.Wh3 l:!h6 mate. White resigned •..


GAME 44 B. Gelfand H. Nakamura 7th World Team Championship, Bursa 201 O King's Indian Defence [E97] -

Like a hurricane ''The Chess Informant represents the fi rst attempt in the application to chess of modern scientific methods in the endeavour to study more efficiently the trends i n World Chess. All games showing particular beauty and innovations in Openings Theory and general concepts find a place in this publ ication', was the claim made by the editors in the very fi rst volume in 1 966. By the fourth issue a new section had been i ntroduced : ''The ten best games from the previous volume", which was intended to bring out more clearly the creative element in chess. For their ju ry, to which a selection of 30 games was submitted , the editors were able to call on grandmasters Max Euwe, Yu ry Averbakh , Gedeon Barcza, Erich Eliskases, Vasja Pirc, Lev Poluga evsky, Lothar Schmid and Petar Trifunovic. The method was extremely simple and has remained the same ti ll the present day. The members of the j u ry vote by allocating points to each individual game - with a maximum score of 1 0. The total which each game achieves decides its placing among the ten best performances. The fi rst winner was the game Fischer-Stei n from the l nterzonal Tou rnament in Sousse with 58 points out of a possible 80, though it did not receive the highest mark from any of the jurors. In Bobby's best-seller My 60 Memo rable Games it is the final game, annotated under the heading "When champions meef'. I n Chess Informant 1 09, for his game against Boris Gelfand, Nakamu ra received

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from the j u ry (Alexander Beliavsky, Larry Christiansen , Mikhail G u revich, Aleksandar Matanovic, Adrian Mikhalchischi n , Zoltan Ribl i , Jonathan Speelman and Jan Timman) the second highest number of votes, only six points (55 to 61 ) behind the fi rst-placed World Championship brilliancy from Sofia between Topalov and Anand. 1 .d4 lbf6 2.c4 g6 3.lbc3 .tg7 4.e4 d6 5.lbf3 0-0 6.i.e2 e5 7.0-0 lbc6 8.d5 lbe7 9.lbd2 lbea 1 0.b4 f5 1 1 .cs lbf6 1 2.f3 f4 1 3.lbc4 g5 1 4.a4 lbg6 1 5 . .ta3 :11 1 6.b5 dxc5 1 7.i.xc5 h5 1 8.a5 g4 1 9.b6 g3 20.@h1 .tf8

The main continuation. Ognjen Cvitan scored a nice victory with the trap 20 . . . lbh? 2 1 .d6 'ii' h 4 22 . .tg1 i.h3!? 23. bxc??? (23.gxh3! refutes the black plan : 23 . . . 'i'xh3 24.l:tf2 gxf2 25.i.xf2±; 23.l:le 1 ? i.xg2+ 24.@xg2 'ii' h 3+ 25.'itixh3 lbg5+ 26.@g2 lbh4+ 27.�1 g2+ 28.@f2 lbh3#) 23 . . . .txg2+! 24.@xg2 'ii'h 3+ ! ! 25.'it>xh3 lbg5+ 26.@g2 lbh4+. White resigned on account of 27.@h 1 g2 mate, Ftacnik-Cvitan , Bun desliga 1 997. 21 .d6 Gelfand's novelty. In older games we find the continuation 2 1 .i.g1 , for example:

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Chapter 1 0

2 1 . . . .!Lih4 22 . .!:.e 1 ? ! .!Lixg2 23.'it>xg2 .l:.g7 24 . .!Lixe5? gxh2+ 25.'it>h 1 .!Lixe4 0-1 , Roozmon-P.Charbonneau , Montreal 2008. 21 axb6 22.i.g1 ..•

22.axb6? l:!.xa1 23.Wxa1 cxd6 allows Black too strong an attack, for example: 24.:l.d 1 (24.i.g1 gxh2 25.i.xh2 h4) 24 . . . .!Lig4 ! ! 25.fxg4 'ifh4 26.i.g1 hxg4 2 7 . .!Lie3 gxh2 28.i.xh2 g3 29.lLif1 i.e6 (Ftacnik). 22 .!Lih4 ! ? Nakamu ra goes for broke a n d plays logi cal ly for an attack on the king. 22 . . . gxh2 23.i.xh2 bxa5 24.dxc7 'ifxd 1 25.llfxd 1 l:.xc7 26.lLib5, on the other hand, gives Wh ite good play for the two sacrificed pawns and does not fit in with the black attack. .••

23 . .l:.e1 23 ..!Lixe5? is a mistake on account of 23 . . . i.h3! , but 23. hxg3!? was well worth considering. I n any case Black retains counterplay after 23 . . . fxg3 24. i.e3 cxd6 (but not 24 . . . i.h3? on account of 25.l:r.g1 'ifc8 26.i.f1 with an advantage for White) 25.i.g5 .!Lig6, e.g. 26.f4 i.e7 27.fxe5 .!Lig4 28.l:!.xf7 'it>xf7 29.i.xg4 hxg4 30 . .!Lixd6+ 'it>g7 3 1 .i.f6+ i.xf6 32 .exf6+ 'it>h7, and the position is balanced .

23 ... .!Lixg2! 24.dxc7? This runs i nto a powerful storm , which tu rns i nto a fatal h u rricane for White . . . 24.'it>xg2 ! i s forced, after which White can probably j ust survive, as shown by Lubomir Ftacni k in CBM 1 34: 24 ... .l:.g7 25.dxc7 (25 . .!Lixe5 gxh2+ 26.'it>xh2 .!Lig4+ 27.fxg4 'ii h 4+ 28.'it>g2 hxg4 29.'iid 5+ 'it>h7 30.i.d4, and Black has nothing better than per petual check by 30 . . . 'ilh3+ 3 1 .'it>g 1 'iig 3+) 25 . . . gxh2+ 26. 'it>h 1 !! (after 26.'it>xh2? .!Lig4+ 27.fxg4 1i'h4+ 28.'it>g2 hxg4 29.°ifd5+ .l:.f7 30.i.xb6 (30 . .!Lixe5? 'ilfh3+ 3 1 .'it>f2 g3+ 32 .'it>f3 'ifh 1 #) 30 . . . f3+ 3 1 .'it>f1 i.e6 32 .'iix e6 'ii h 3+ 33.'it>f2 g3+ 34.'it>e3 Wxe6 Wh ite has surely been adm in istered the last rights) 26 . . . hxg 1 'ii+ 27.l:.xg 1 'fixc7 28.axb6 J::t xa 1 29. bxc7 .!:.xd 1 30.i.xd 1 l:.xg 1 + 31 .'it>xg 1 .!Lie8, and the storm has abated.

24 ....!Lixe1 ! 25.'ifxe1 25.cxdB'ii'? fails to the wonderfu l 25 . . . g2 mate. What a mating pattern ! (see n ext diagra m )

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Nakamu ra's best games

203

i.g2# or 29.i.xh3? 'ilfxf3+ 30.i.g2 'ilfxg2#. 29 i.xf1 30. 'ilfxf1 •••

30.lDxd3? i.g2#. 30 .'ifxc3 31 .l:tc1 Boris did not feel like playing on after 3 1 .lDd3 'ii'x c7, since, being a knight down, the rest would be pretty hopeless for h i m . ••

31 ... 'ii'xe5 32.cS'iW l:txc8 33 .:!.xcS 'ii'e 6 White resigned •

Analysis diagram after 25.cxdS 'iV? g2#

25 g2+! Nakamu ra logically opens attacking lines. •..

26.�xg2 l:1g7+ 27.�h 1 27.�f2? i.c5+ 28 . �f1 l:.xg 1 mate. 27 i.h3 28.i.f1 ..•

28.'ilff2 'iii'd 4 29 . .l:Id1 'ilfxf2 30.i.xf2 i.g2+ 3 1 .�g 1 i.xf3+ 32 .�f1 i.xe2+ 33.lDxe2 .l:.xc7 also does not save White, and after 28.cxd8'ii'? he is simply mated: 28 . . . i.g2#.

And finally, it should be pointed out that in Bu rsa Nakamu ra not only played brilliantly against Gelfand , but he also scored the best result on board 1 with 6 out of 8 and thus achieved the best rating performance of 285 1 points. And he required only 30 minutes thinking time for this masterpiece. We say "hats off to him"!

GAME 45 A . Beliavsky H . Nakamura Match Experience - Youth, Amsterdam 2009 King's Indian Defence [E97] -

A deadly pawn fork

28 ...'ii' d 3 ! ! A powerful thunderclap, which announces White's demise. Moreover, for fou r moves Hikaru's queen on d8 had been taboo for the white pawn on c7. 29.lDxeS If the i.f1 moves, White is mated : 29.i.xd3?

Here we must fi rst of all pay tribute to Joop van Oosterom, whom we have to thank for twenty Melody Amber tou rnaments be tween 1 992 and 201 1 in his adopted country, Monaco. The twice world corre spondence chess champion ( 1 8th and 2 1 st championships) and sponsor from The Netherlands , who finished a respectable seventh in the fi rst junior world champion ship of 1 955 in Antwerp, which was won by Boris Spassky, has always shown himself to be open to new ideas. And so he also supports the NH-tou rnament, in which a team of experienced g randmasters puts to the test the "rising stars", of whom the winner earns the right to take part in the

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next Melody Amber Tournament. I n August 2009, in the luxurious five-star Krasnapolsky Hotel in the centre of Amsterdam , this inter esting confrontation saw youth represented by the two Dutch players Jan Smeets (Elo 2632) and Daniel Stellwagen (2630) , the U SA-born Italian Fabiano Caruana (2670), the 1 5-year-old ru nner-up in the women's world championship Hou Yifan (2584) from China and Hikaru Nakamu ra (27 1 0) . However, partly due to illness H i karu did not live up to the high expectations, scoring only 3Y2 points from 1 0 games. To no small ex tent, his negative resu lt was responsible for the 22%-27% defeat of the youth team . However, in round 3 on 22nd August he showed what he was capable of with his fantastic King's I ndian triumph over Alex ander Beliavsky. In the choice of the ten best games, he was to finish second in Chess Informant 1 07, only one point be hind Vladimir Kramnik (50 to 51 ) .

1 9.bxc7 l:.xc7 20.ll'ibS g3! ! ''The prelude to the black sacrificial dance. Active play is requ i red; if Black brings his rook to safety with 20 . . . l:.f7, after 2 1 .ll'ibd6 White exchanges the most important black attacking piece, the i.c8, and obtains an overwhelming advantage."3 21 .ll'ixc7 •

The next day Beliavsky described this capture on c7 as the decisive mistake. But what else should or could he have played? In his analysis for Chess Informant 1 06/ 2007 (game 1 68) he gives 2 1 .h3 i.xh3 22.gxh3 (22 .'ii'b 3! ? ) 22 . . . 'ii'c8 23. tt:'ixc7 'ifxh3 24 . .l:.f2 gxf2+ 25.�xf2 'ii'g 3+ 26.�f1 tt:'ixe4 27.fxe4 'ii' h 3+ 28.�e1 'it'c3+ 29.'ifd2 'ii'xa 1 + 30.i.d1 l::t b8 3 1 . i.xc5 with advan tage for White .

1 .d4 ll'if6 2.c4 g 6 3.ll'ic3 i.g7 4.e4 d6 5.ll'if3 0-0 6.i.e2 es 7.0-0 ll'ic6 8.d5 tt:'ie7 9.ll'id2 tt:'iea 1 0.b4 f5 1 1 .cs ll'if6 1 2.f3 f4 1 3.tt:'ic4 g5 1 4.a4 tt:'ig6 1 5.i.a3 l:.f7 1 6.aS 1 6. b5 is much more frequently played , for example in the previous game Gelfand Nakamu ra. 16 hS 1 7.bS dxc5 1 8.b6 ! ? •••

This very ambitious advance is a new idea of the Ukrainian player Beliavsky, who in the 1 980s was amongst the best players in the world. Since 1 996 he has been playing for Slovenia. 1 8 ... g4 As usual , Nakam u ra goes for broke. 18 ... i.f8 was the alternative. 3

21 ... tt:'ixe4 ! ! The point of Black's idea. 22.ll'ie6?! Only 22.fxe4! offers any prospect of riding out the black storm and finally emerging from the turbulence with an advantage:

According to Peter Daggers from The Netherlands in his game annotations for SCHACH Vol . 1 0/ 2009, p .37

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22 . . .'ifh4 23.h3 .txh3 24.gxh3 'ii'x h3 25 . .:!.f2 gxf2+ 26.�xf2 'ii'g 3+ (but not 26 . . . i.f6? 27.'ii'h 1 .th4+ 28.�g 1 , and White is i n control) 2 7 .�1 . a n d Black cannot really capitalise on his attack, e.g. 27 . . . 'ilfh3+ (27 .. .f3 28.t"LixaB fxe2+ 29.�xe2 t"Lif4+ 30.�d2 'ifd3+ 3 1 .�c1 'ifxc4+ 32.'ii'c2 t"Lid3+ 33.�b1 'ii'x e4 34.d6) 28.�e1 'ii'c3+ 29.'ifd2 'ilfxa1 + 30.i.d 1 , and in each case White is clearly better. After 22.'ii'c 2? ! the line 22 . . . 'ii' h 4 23.h3 .txh3 24.gxh3 t"Llg5 gives Black enough of an attack in retu rn for the material, e.g. 25.i.xc5 (25.'ifxg6? would be a mistake on account of 25 ... t"Lixh3+ 26.�g2 t"Lig 1 !!) 25 ... 'ifxh3 26.i.d1 t"Lih4 27.l:.a2 :ca 28.d6 e4 with a compl icated position , in which the chances should be equal. Of cou rse, the greedy 22.t"LixaB?? really backfi res after 22 . . . 'ifh4 23.h3 i.xh3 24.gxh3 'ii'x h3. 22 ... i.xe6 23.dxe6 23.fxe4? 'i!t'h4 24.h3 i.xh3 25 .gxh3 'ii'x h3 26JU2 gxf2+ 27.�xf2 'ii'g 3+ 28.�1 f3 29.i.xf3 .l:tf8 30.t"Lid2 t"Lih4 leaves Black with a clear advantage. 23 gxh2+! ••.

Black m ust tackle the white king straight away, since after 23 . . . 'ifh4? Wh ite can secu re his position and Black is simply a rook down : 24.h3 t"Llg5 25 . .:!.a2 t"Lixh3+ 26.gxh3 'ii'x h3 27.i.d3.

27 . . . 'ii'g s 28.i.xa7 b5 29 . .:!.a2 .:!.xa7 30.t"Lid6 .:!.xa5 3 1 .t"Lixe4 i.d4+ 32.'ifxd4 .l:.xa2 33.t"Lif6+ �8 34.t"Lih7+ �g8.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

28.i.xa7? Beliavsky does not have time for this pawn grab. I nstead he should have sought salvation in counterplay by 28.e7 ! , which leads to incredible compl ications, e.g. 28 ... t"Lixe7 (28 ... e3? fails to 29.t"Lixe3, but 28 . . . exf3! ? is a genuine alternative: 29.i.xf3 t"Lixe7 30.i.xa7 b5 31 . .:!.b4 bxc4 32 . .:!.e1 i.c3 33J:lb1 'ii'h 1 + 34.�f2 'ifh4, and Black can probably hang on in view of the i nsecu re white king) 29.t"Lid6 exf3 30.i.c4+ �h8 31 .t"Lif7+.

24.�xh2 'ifh4+ 25.�g1 t"Lig3 26.i.xc5 e4 27 . .:!.a4 :ca Nakamura continues in his typical style and is not put off by any risk. He had two alternatives, which more or less end in a forced d raw: 27 . . . .:!.dB 2 8 . e7 .:!.xd 1 29.eB'ii' + �h7 30 . .:!.xd 1 t"Lixe2+ 3 1 .�f1 t"Llg3+ 32.�f2 e3+ 33.t"Lixe3 t"Lie4+ 34.�g 1 'ii'f 2+ 35.�h 1 'ii' h 4+;

205

Analysis diagram

206

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Chapter 1 0

And now comes the i ncredible king move 31 . . . 'i.t>gB ! ! [if 31 . . . 'i.t>h7? , then 32.i.d3+ lll g 6 (after 32 . . .lt:\ef5 33.'ii'xf3 l:.xc5 34.'ii'xf4 ii'xt4 35 . .:!.fxf4 'i.t>g6 36. llld 6 lll e 2+ 37.i.xe2 lt:\xd6 38.l1f3 Black is also worse) 33.ii'xf3 l:txc5 34.i.xg6+ �xg6 35.'ii' d 3+ lt:\f5 36.l:.axf4 and White is better] 32.lt:\e5+ 'i.t>h8 33.lt:\xf3 'iih 1 + 34.'i.t>f2 lll e 4+ 35 .'i.t>e1 i.c3+ (35 . . . 1i'xg2 36.i.d4 'i!Vg3+ 37.i.f2 i.c3+ 38.'i.t>e2 'i!Vg2 39.i.e6 lll g 3+ 40.'i.t>d3 l:tc6) 36.lll d 2 'i!Vh4+ 37.i.f2 lt:\xf2 38.l:.xf2 l:td8 39 . .l:!.a2 lt:\f5 , and in each case Black has dangerous counterplay. 28 ... b5! ! The straw which breaks the camel's back. 29 . .l:.b4 In Chess Informant Beliavsky gives the variation 29.l:ta3 bxc4 30.fxe4 'iih 1 + 31 .'i.t>f2 lt:\xe4+ 32.'iii>e 1 'iih 4+ 33.i.f2 "iie 7 with a decisive advantage for Black, which is clear after 34.°ii'a4 'ii'd 6. 29.fxe4 can be met by either 29 . . . 'ii' h 1 + 30.'iii>f2 lt:\xe4+ 31 .'lii>f3 'iih 4 32 .i.d3 lt:\c3, or 29 . . . bxa4 30.e5 f3 31 . .l:.xf3 lt:\xe2+ 32 .�xe2 l:!.xc4. This does not change the evaluation . The en passant captu re 29.axb6? shows the point of the pawn fork: 29 . . . i.d4+ 30.'ii'x d4 lt:\xe2#. 29 ... bxc4 30.i.xc4 30 . .l:r.xc4 .l:!.d8 3 1 .l:.xe4 l:!.xd 1 32.l:!.xd 1 i.f6 also does not promise salvation . 30 ... 'iih 1 + 31 .'lii>f2 e3+ 32.i.xe3 fxe3+ 33.'it>xe3 If 33.'iii> xg3?, then 33 . . . 'ii'h 4 mate. 33 ... lt:\xf1 + 34.i.xf1 34.1i'xf1 'ii'h 4 35.e7 + 'iii> h 8. 34 ... 1i'g1 + And this was enough for Al - he had no desire to witness 35 .'iii>e 2 l:tc3 36.1i'd2 'ii'c 5 . White resigned.

As far as the state of health of the victor on that 22nd August 2009 is concerned, he must have been feeling wretched . "Nakamu ra was asked afterwards to explain on the demo board to the admiring spectators what had happened , but he had to excuse himself because he felt too unwell . He had even twice been sick during the game. He would not recover properly before the end of the tou rnament and even had to consult a doctor on two occasions," according to eye-witness Peter Daggers, who is responsible for the internet portal www.chessvibes.com.

GAME 46 V. Kramnik H . Nakamura 2nd London Chess Classic, London 201 0 Nimzo-lndian Defence [E20] -

Cold-blooded defence

From time to time the nicest bi rthday pre sents are the ones you give you rself. On 9th December 2009, his 22nd bi rthday, Hikaru Nakamu ra took that opportunity for the fi rst time at the London Chess Classic, which since that year has always taken place at the same time and which marks a real high point of the international tou rnament calen dar. However, at the inaugural event in the Olympia Congress Centre, things did not work out as desired against M ichael Adams, as he found himself a pawn down in a rook ending, and after seven hours' play only the two kings were left standing. A defeat at the hands of English player Luke McShane and six d raws - including against the newly nominated No. 1 in the world ranking l ist Magnus Carlsen and agai nst ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik - did not repre sent his d ream result in this F I D E category

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XVI I I tou rnament (Elo average 2696) . But things were fine 1 2 months later when on his 23 rd bi rthday Nakamu ra won on demand over Kramnik thanks to his cold blooded defence, and compared to the previous year he improved his placing in the final classification to fourth. Hikaru's fighting spi rit could only have been spu rred on by his previous unfortunate defeat to the Russian at the Corus Chess Festival in Wij k aan Zee in January 201 0. But see for yourself! 1 .tt)f3 tt)f6 2.c4 e6 3.tt)c3 .tb4 4.g3 cs 5 .li.g2 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.d4 .txc3 8.bxc3 'ile7 Nakamu ra points out in his comments in New In Chess ( 1 /201 1 , pp.27-29) , that he thought about this move for roughly 30 minutes, because he saw several alterna tives - including 8 . . . 'ii'a5 and 8 . . . tt)c6 none of which satisfied him. 9.dxc5 9 . .li.f4 is played more often and is probably slightly more resil ient. Nakamu ra gives the fol lowing variation : 9 . . . l'td8 1 0.'ilb3 tt)bd7 1 1 . .:tfd 1 l:te8 1 2.tt)h4 e5 1 3.tt)fS 'i'e6 1 4.dxe5 dxe5 1 5 . .li.h3 exf4 1 6.tt)h6+ gxh6 1 7 . .txe6 :txe6 1 8.gxf4. "The Computers like this, but no human i n their right mind would play it."

207

Position after 11 tll h 5 ...

•

9 ... dxc5 1 O.tt)es 'ilc7 11 ..li.f4 tt)hS (see next diagram) 1 2.'ii'd 2? Kramnik is over-optimistic and wants to punish Hikaru straight away. 1 2 .e3 tt)xf4 1 3.exf4 with a slight advantage was prob ably not enough for him, but it is neverthe less preferable. 1 2 gS! Hikaru boldly picks up the gauntlet. ..•

1 3 . .ll x gS 1 3.tt)g6?! is parried by 1 3 . . . gxf4 1 4.tt)xfB �xf8 1 5 . .:r.ad 1 tt)d7. 1 3 ... 'ii'xeS 1 4.l:tad1 ? ! The alternatives 1 4.g4!? tt)g7 1 5 . .li.d8 tt)c6 1 6.f4 l:txd8 1 7.'ifxdB+ tt)xd8 1 8.fxe5 .li.d7 and 1 4 . .ll e 7 l!e8 1 5 . .li.d6 'iff6 1 6.l:tab1 'it'g6 1 7 . .txc5 tt)c6 may represent a lesser evil , but are in no way what Kramnik wants. 1 4 ... f6 1 5 . .th6 tt)g7 1 6 .li.f4 'i'h5 1 7 .li.d6 :ea 1 8.'ilf4? ! Kramnik's plan is unconvincing. I n any case it is hard to see anything better. 1 8 tt)d7 1 9.g4 'ilf7 20.l:td3?! 20.'i!fg3 makes it harder for Black to adopt a defensive set-up and poses him more practical problems, but it should not be sufficient in the long run either. 20 ... es 21 . 'ii'h 6 •

•

..•

(see next diagram) 21

'ifg6!

.••

The text move again costs Black a lot of thinking time, but the investment is worth it, as the course of the game indicates. Without the q ueens, White's two pawns are insufficient compensation for the piece.

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But not 2S. l:!.xf4? on account of 2S . . . .!LibS and Black wins easily.

Position after 21 . 'ii'h 6 However, in the post-mortem analysis Na kamu ra slightly reg retted not having played the obvious contin uation 21 . . . .!LieS 22.l:.h3 .!Libs 23.f4 .!Lixf4 24.l:!.xf4 exf4 25.'ii'xf4 l:!.xe2, "wh ich is easily winning, as White has no attack". 22. 'ii'x g6 hxg6 23.i.e4 23.i.dS+ .!Lies 24.f4 .!Libs 25.fxes fxe5 2S.l:!.fS .!Lixd5 27.l:!.xds bS 28 . .l:.xes Wg7 29.gS lld8 and Black wins. 23 Wf7 24.f4

26 ... .!Lib6 Hikaru self-critically attachs a question mark to this move, because it allows the black king's stronghold to be opened up, but i n fact he easily copes with the problems. However, 2S . . . Wg7! the defence suggested by the computer, is objectively stronger: 27 . .l:.e3 (after 27.i.xb7 .!Lixf4 28.l:lxf4 .l:.b8 29.i.xc8 .!Lies 30.l:.dS l:tb1 + 3 1 .Wg2 ltxc8 32 . .l:.fxfS l:!.b2 the white pawn islands decide the struggle in Black's favou r) 27 . . . gS (Nakamu ra points out the following win for Black: 27 . . . .!LibS 28.gS f5 29 .i.eS+ Wf7 30. l:!.h3 .!Lixd5 3 1 .l:.h?+ .!Lig7! 32 .l:!.xg7 + WeS) 28.i.g3 .!Libs 29.:te4 .!Lixd5 30.cxdS .!Lie? 31 . l:!.xe8 .!Lixe8. 27.i.es .!LixdS 28.cxdS .!Life 29 . .l:.xf6+ Wg8 30.i.d6 Wg7 31 .l:!.f4 gS 32.l:!.f2 b6 33.l:!.df3 .!Lig6 34 . .l:tf7+ Wh6 35.h3 35.l:!.2f6? is met by 35 ... i.xg4 3S.e4 i.e2-+. 35 ... i.a6! 36.l:!.2f6 i.xe2 37.i.e7 i.c4 38.l:Id6

•••

24.l:!.b1 is met by 24 . . . .!Libs 25.i.xcs .!Lies 2S.i.xbS axbS 27 .l:!.d2 l:!.d8 . 2 4...exf4 25.i.dS+ .!Lies 26.i.xf4

38 i.xdS Since his thinking time is running low, Hikaru frees himself from the bind in a •••

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radical way. The win will become difficult, however, because there is not much potential left on the board . I nstead Black should i mmediately break through on the queenside in order to create a passed pawn: 38 . . . bS! 39.�f2 as, e.g. 40.�g3 (40. h4 l:txe7 4 1 .l:txe7 gxh4 42.l:tee6 i.d3 is no better) 40 . . . i.d3 4 1 . l:tc6 c4 42.a3 b4 43.axb4 a4-+ . On the oth e r hand, 38 ... i.xa2? would be too greedy: 39. i.f6 l:tg8 40.l:tdd7 l'Llf8 41 . .l:.d6 �g6 42.:r.b? i.xdS 43. i.e7+ i.e6 44. i.xf8 l:tgxf8 4S.%:.xe6+ l:tf6 46.l:tee7, and White has too much counterplay. 39.i.xgS+ �xg5 40 .:r.xd5+ �h4 •

209

This rips apart the mating net. 42.l:txes t'Llxe5 43.l:fS t'Lld3 44. �h2 l:th8 White's play has been stopped and the rest is a matter of technique. 45.a4 :th& 46.�g2 as 47.�f3 l'Llb2 48.�4 t'Llxa4 49.c4 t'Llc3 50.�e3 a4 51 .�d3 t'Lld1 52.l:tfS �xh3 53.gS l:td6+ 54.�e4 �g4 Now SS. �es is hopeless on account of the reply SS .. J�g6. White resigned. After this "bi rthday present'' Hikaru Na kamura was mighty proud of having de feated a world champion . As we know, he wou ld repeat this one year later - this time on 5th December - when Viswanathan Anand was the chosen "victim". With his "provocative set-up" (in the words of Dirk Poldauf) in a King's I ndian he forced the reigning champion into "play and fight mode (for which Anand tu rned out to be un prepared)" . 4 The idea of this series being continued in 201 2 cannot be ruled out.

GAME 4 7

41 .l:r.f3? Too passive and according to Nakamu ra a mistake. The only remaining practical chances were promised by 4 1 .�g2 l:te2+ (41 . . . .l:.eS? fails to 42.l:txes t'Llxes 43 . .l:.fS t'Llxg4 44 . .:r.f4 l:tg8 4S. hxg4 .l:.xg4+ 46.�3. and White can rejoice) 42.�f3 l:tes 43 . .l:.h7+ �gs 44. h4+ �6 4S.l:td6+ l:te6 46.gS+ �es 47.l:txe6+ �xe6 48.hS t'Lle7. 41

l:teS!

..•

4 Dirk

Poldauf in SCHACH Vol . 1 /20 1 2, p.31

V. Anand - H . Nakamura 3rd London Classic, London 201 1 King's Indian Defence [E97] Hacker Neo sends his regards

.•.

At the start of this chapter we indicated how problematic the choosing of best games can be. As criteria one might tu rn to, for example, originality, aesthetic impression, the correctness of a cascade of sacrifices greetings from Tai ! -, new ideas and the level of the players. Well , we took as our guideline Robert James Fischer, who in his day was influenced in the choice of his 60 favou rites by whether they contained some thing memorable and exciting.

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I t was quite special that at the 3rd London Classic it just happened to be Viswanathan Anand whom H i karu Nakamu ra met on St. Nicholas' day. 5 After the American had more or less collapsed the day before in round 3 against Magnus Carlsen , his fighting spi rit was of cou rse sti rred up to contest the game against the I ndian world champion come hell or high water. Just as the hacker Neo, in the cult science fiction film Matrix, does in the big finale when faced with an overwhelming number of agents, when his simple "No" stops the hail of bullets in mid-ai r. As for the choice of opening i n this "battle of London", H i karu explains it as follows: "Vishy is not a natu ral d4 player and has only picked it up since his World Champi onship match agai nst Vladimir Kramn i k in 2008. I have seen many descriptions of this game, and one stuck out in particular. GM Naiditsch reckoned that me playing the King's I ndian against Anand was some thing akin to a samurai running at a machine gun with a sword . However, as in this game, if, like Neo, you can dodge the bullets, then you'll probably emerge victori ous at the end of the day."6 1 .d4 ll'lf6 2.c4 g6 3.lt'ic3 i.g7 4.e4 d6 s.lt'if3 0-0 6.i.e2 es 7.0-0 lt'ic6 8.dS lt'ie7 9.b4 lt'ie8 1 0.cs fS 1 1 .ll'ld2 ll'lf6 1 2.a4 gs At the board Nakamu ra decides to deviate from his game against Kramnik in round 4 of the 201 0 Olympiad , to avoid running into Vishy's preparation . That game went 1 2 . . . f4

1 3.lt'ic4 g5 1 4.i.a3 g4 1 5.cxd6 cxd6 1 6. b5 lt'iea 1 7.i.xg4 'iic7 1 8.i.e2 f3 1 9. b6 axb6 20.lt'ib5 fxe2 2 1 .'ii'xe2 'ifd8 22 .lt'ibxd6 lt'ixd6 23.i.xd6 .l:.f7 (23 . . . .l:.e8 ! ? - Naka mura) 24.i.xe5 lt'ig6 25.i.xg7 lt'if4 26.'iife 3 'ii'g 5 27.g3 'ilfxg7 28.lt'ixb6 i.g4 29.lt'ixaa lt'ie2+ 30.'it>g2 i.f3+ 3 1 .'ifxf3 .l:.xf3 32 . 'it>xf3 ll'ld4+ 33.'it>g2 'ii'f8 34.:fe 1 'ii'xa8. As SCHACH editor-in-chief Raj Tischbierek points out in his comments on this game, Nakamu ra later said on his Twitter account that he was winning after 34 . . . ll'lc2 . 34 . . . ll'lc2 35 .lt'ic7 'iib 4! 36 . .l:.eb 1 'iixe4+ 37.'it>g 1 ll'ld4 (37 . . . lt:Jxa 1 38.:xa 1 with advantage for Wh ite) 38.�xb7 lt'if3+ 39.'it>f1 lt'id2+ with equality, according to Shipov. In response to this Shipov variation Naka mura tweeted: " . . . Amateurs with Rybka . . . I couldn't care less."7 35 .l:.ed 1 lt'ic2 36 . .l:.ac 1 'i!Vxa4 37.d6 'i!Vxe4+ 38.'it>g 1 lt'id4 39.d7 ll'lf3+ 40.'itif1 lt'ixh2+ 4 1 .'it>g 1 ll'lf3+ Y2-Y2 , Kram nik-Nakamu ra, Olympiad , Khanty-Mansiysk 201 0. I n New in Chess Nakamura explained the choice of the text move as fol lows: "A relatively new try which I decided to go for over the board. I had briefly looked at this line while on vacation in Canada d u ring my summer hol idays. I could not remember what the correct order/idea was, so I simply played the moves that felt most natu ral . (Warning! Not a recommended method) ."8 1 3.lt'ic4 h6 1 4.f3

On the 6th December, St. Nicholas' day, German children receive early Christmas presents Translator's note. s New in Chess 1 /201 2, p.24 7 SCHACH 1 1 /20 1 0, p. 1 6 e New In Chess 1 /20 1 2 , p.24 s

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1 4 f4? "A very committal move . I play poker (not a pro . . . ) and this is essentially the all-in move", according to Nakamu ra, who evalu ates 1 4 . . . .!Lig6 1 5 . ..te3 .!Lif4 1 6. 'fic2 fxe4 1 7.fxe4 a6 as better for White. In his comments, SCHACH editor Dirk Poldauf evaluates the text move as objec tively bad , because compared to the usual variations it loses a tempo and vi rtually presents it to the world champion . "So 1 4 . . . .!Lig6 intending .!Lig6-f4 should be pre ferred . All this was of cou rse known to the King's I ndian specialist Nakamu ra. But it was this plan, only just on the edge of the possible, that he saw as his best chance against the world champion ,"9 concluded Poldauf. ..•

Position after

(see next diagram)

SCHACH 1 /201 2, p. 1 6

g3

22 ... ..tfB 23.d& a6 24 . .!Lic7 l:tb8 25 . .!Lias 'iii> h 8 26 . ..tc4 J:tg7 27 . .!Lie& ..txe6 28 . ..txe6 gxh2

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bad , since with it Wh ite anticipates a th reatened knight sacrifice on e4 (d5) , clearing the way for the black queen to h4. But according to Nakamu ra the computer variation 22 . bxa?! .!Lid? 23 . ..tb4 .!Lib6 24 . .l:la2 ! ! 'ii'h 4 25.h3 ..txh3 26.gxh3 'fixh3 27 . ..td3 .!Lih4 28 . .!Lixb6 g2 29 . .!Lixaa is more forcefu l .

1 5 . ..ta3 .!Lig6 1 6.bS dxcs 1 7 ..txcs l:.f7 1 8.aS h5 1 9.b6 g4 20 . .!LibS cxb6 21 .axb6 g3

22.'iii> h 1 This safety move (the g 1 -square is cleared for the ..tc5 for defensive pu rposes) is not

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29 .!Lic4? •

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This relieves the potential pressure and there wil l soon be problems with the protection of the white minor pieces. After 29.i.. h 3, on the other hand, it is not clear how Black should pursue the attack and Anand would then have had a comfortable position .

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29 ... 'ir'ee "An unexpected tactical motif', commented Nakamura. 8 7

30.i.. d 5? ! Vishy played this move very quickly. But after it the position is scarcely tenable for a human player, on account of the lack of defenders on the kingside. Nakamu ra's suggestion 30. i.. h 3 1ifb5 (with a double attack on i.. c 5 and tt:Jc4) 3 1 .d7 tt:Jxd7 32 .i.. xfB tt:Jgxf8 33.°ii'd 5 l::L g 6 34.l:r.ab 1 1ifxd5 35.exd5 is easier to play and therefore preferable. 30... h4 31 .l:!.f2? According to the computer 3 1 .l:r.a5 h3 32 .gxh3 .l:i.c8 (32 . . . tt:Jh4 33.'ir'e 1 ; 32 . . . tt:Jh5 33.'it>xh2 tt:Jh4 34J1g 1 ) 33.'ii'e 1 was the last real defensive chance for Anand. 31 ... h3! The battering ram is knocking at the gate. 32.gxh3 l:r.c8

33.l:!.a5? After this White runs out of defenders on the kingside. The relieving operation 33.d7 l:f.xd7 34.i.. xfB tt:Jxd5 35.exd5 l:.xc4 36.i.. a 3 l:!.d4 was the best practical chance , but of cou rse there is no doubting Black's advan tage. 33 ... tt:Jh4 A computer is in its element in tactical wa ters. Here Houdini ''finds" 33 . . . tt:Jd7 34. i.. b4 tt:Je7 ! ! , and White can simply resign. Not human, but true. 34.'it>xh2 a

b

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34 ... tt:Jd7?! Once more the computer discovers a


quicker way to win: 3 4 . . . ltJxdS ! 35.exdS l:tg3 36.'ile2 'ili'g6 37.'ilf1 i.. x d6 38. ll'ixd6 .l:r.g8 39.J:.a1 ll'ig2 (Nakamura) . 35.i.. b4 l:tg3 36.'ii'f 1 'ii' h 5 37.l;I.a3

37 ... aS? A calculation mistake in a complicated position. After 37 . . . ll'ixb6! 38.i.. e 6 (but not 38 .l:.c3 on account of 38 . . . ll'ixdS 39.exdS 'it>g8) 38 . . . litxc4 39.i.. xc4 H i karu missed the key move 39 . . . i.. xd6 ! : 40 . .i.f7 (40.i.. x d6 tl:ixc4 41 . .l:.d3 ll'ie3 42 . .l:txe3 tl:ig2 ! ! 43. 'i\¥xg2 .l:.xg2+ 44. l:txg2 fxe3, and White is lost) 40 . . . 'il¥xf7 4 1 .i.. x d6 ll'ic4 42 . .l:!.d3 as, and Black is on the way to victory (Nakamura) . 38 . .i.e1 litxc4 39.i.. x c4 i.. xd6

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40 . .l:r.xa5? White has no time for this. 40.l1d3! had to be played : 40 . . . i.. c5 4 1 .i.. e 6! ll'if6 42 . .l:tc2 .l:!.g 1 43.'ife2 'ii'g 5 44.i.. g 4 l2Jxg4+ 45.fxg4 l:!.g2+ 46.'ili'xg2 l2Jxg2 47. 'it>xg2 (after 47.i..f2 ll'ie1 48.i..xe1 i..d 4 49.i.. f2 'it>g8 the situation is approximately level - Karsten Muller) 48 . . . 'iig 6 49.:tda+ 'it>g7 49.litxcs 'ifxe4+ 50.'it>f1 'ii'h 1 + 51 .'it>e2 'i\¥e4+ 52.'it>d 1 'iff3+ 53.'it>c2 'ii'e4+ 54.'it>d 1 'il¥f3+ with a d raw by perpetual check, as Nakamura pointed out when commenting on the text move: "Vishy's blunder. It is i ncredibly hard to fault h i m , as the d rawing variation re quires several 'only moves' , which a com puter finds instantly but which do not come intuitively to the human brain." 40 ... i.. cs 41 .i.. e2 4 1 .litxcS l2Jxc5 42 . .i.e2 ll'ib3 43. i.. d 1 ll'id4 44.'it>h 1 ll'ihxf3 45.l:txf3 l:txf3 46.i.. xf3 l2Jxf3, and the white position is hopeless. 41 ... i.. x b6 42J:tb5 i.. d 4? Over-refined. The di rect route to the goal is 42 . . . i.. xf2 43.i.. xf2 ll'ixf3+ 44. i.. xf3 "ii'xf3, as Nakamu ra later demonstrates in the game after a transposition of moves. 43.i.. d 1 ? Anand does not take advantage of this fresh inaccu racy. 43.l:tdS! was the final chance to put up some more resistance. However in the long run Black should get there after 43 . . . ll'if6 44. l:!.d8+ 'it>h7 45 . .l::!.d 6 'ii'h 6 46.l:.xd4 exd4 47.i.. d 1 ll'ig2 48.'ii'x g2 l:.xg2+ 49. l:!.xg2 'il¥h5. 43 ... i.. xf2 44.i.. xf2 l2Jxt3+ 45.i.. xf3 'if xf3 46.l:tb1 .l:r.g6 47 . .l:.xb7 lt:'if6 48J:tb8+ 'it>h7 49 ..:r.b7+ 'it>h6 After 50 . .l:!.b6 l2Jxe4 51 J:bg6+ 'it>xg6 52.'ii' g 1 + 'it>h5 53.i.. b 6 ll'ig5 54.'ilg2 'ild 1 it is finally all over for White and so Anand capitu lated .

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that you play through the twelve which have not been included in full i n this volume and where the names of his opponents are to some extent less well known . Nakamu ra managed to win almost half of them by clever and far-sighted endgame (!) play. This is also the reason why we devoted a special chapter with some practical exer cises to this absolute strength in the American's game . And here are the top games of H i karu Nakamura in the order selected by Forney: White resigned . "I had already known for a few moves that I would beat the World Champion , but once he resigned I had to take several deep breaths to just enjoy the moment", was the final comment of the overjoyed victor. At that fateful moment did he also rise up like Hacker Neo, who looked over the human masses on the street in the concluding scene of Matrix, before then rising up i nto the skies? Sometimes one would really like to be able to fly. . . While researching the best games of Hikaru Nakam u ra, who himself pointed out fou r to us 10, we came across an interesti ng general su rvey put together by the Cal ifor nian Timothy Glenn Forney (www. chess games. com). A few years ago he made a list of the 300 "best" chess games of all time (up to 2007), basing hi mself on publ ications and recommendations by Andrew Soltis, John Nunn, Ti m Krabbe and others. 1 4 games in his list came from his compatriot Hikaru Nakamu ra. We suggest 10

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H. Nakamura - J. W Loyte, 1 02"d US Open, Boston 200 1 H. Nakamura - A. Shabalov, Foxwoods Open, Mashantucket 2005 G Sagalchik - H. Nakamura, American Continental, Buenos Aires 2003 H. Nakamura - S. Muhammad, USA Nat. Championship, San Diego 2004 M. L. Hoyos - H. Nakamura, Young Masters, Cuernavaca/Mexico 2006 H. Nakamura I. Cheparinov, Young Masters, Cuernavaca/Mexico 2006 H. Nakamura - T. H. Persson, 1 3th Sigeman Open, Malmo/Copenh. 2005 A Stripunsky - H. Nakamura, USA Nat. Championship, Stil lwater 2007 H. Nakamura - S. Karjakin, 5th match game, Cuernavaca/Mexico 2004 J. Friedel - H. Nakamura, USA Nat. Championship, Stillwater 2007 H. Nakamura - Y. Pelletier, Grandmaster tou rnament, Biel 2005 H. Nakamura - J. F. Poyatos, Casino tou rnament, Barcelona 2007 -

We have added the win over Viswanathan Anand. Additionally, we nominated amongst the top ten games the following: H. Nakamura - L. van Wely, Corus-Festival [A] , Wijk aan Zee 201 0; H . Nakamura - K. Sasikiran , 7th World Team Championship, Bursa 2 0 1 O ; H . Nakam ura - W . Browne, lmre Konig Memorial , San Francisco 2002 ; H . Nakamura - L. Aronian , Grand Slam Final , Sao Paulo/ Bilbao 201 1 , H. Nakamura - A. Lesiege, Bermuda [A] 2002.

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EPILOGUE "It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. " Mark Twain

O q uestion , whether,

f cou rse it is more of a hypothetical should he have the opportunity to l ive his life again , H i karu Nakamura would take different decisions. But it is perhaps a good thing that such time machi nes do not (yet) exist. As far as his future career is concerned, the next fou r or five years may well decide what will be his place in the history of American chess, whether he will take his place in the national Hall of Chess Fame alongside greats such as Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Frank Marshall and Samuel Reshevsky, or even be mentioned in the same breath as Paul Charles Morphy and Robert James Fischer. For the present everything appears to be possible, although Mark Twain, who also played chess as a hobby, as he proved during a sea voyage with the 1 7-year-old daughter of a stinking rich New York Sun magnate , did not make too many predic tions about the futu re , as can be seen from his witty comment above. And in fact who, for example, before 2008 would have seriously thought that Barack Obama would be elected as the fi rst coloured US Presi dent, with his inspiring slogan "Yes, we can !". Yes, H i karu Nakamu ra can ! There is a very real chance of him winning the chess crown - but he could also fail , which would be no disgrace , si nce there are in the world of chess these "eternal runners-up" such

as M i khail Chigori n , Paul Keres, David Bronstein or Viktor Korchnoi. They cou ld not make that final step to the very summit of chess. And that is without even mention ing Akiba Rubinstein or Aaron Nimzowitsch, who never even had the chance to contest the title of world champion. And perhaps it is necessary to have that inevitable good fortune which supposedly favours the brave , to actually achieve a sporting goal such as world champion. However, that depends on whether H i karu Nakamu ra makes logical use of the chances offered to him and does not let them slip, as when in August/September 20 1 1 he opted out of the F I D E World Cup in Khanty-Man siysk for inexplicable reasons. And he did so, even though there were three places up for grabs in the Candidates Tou rnament, which should now in all probabil ity take place in London in March 201 3. Perhaps H i karu was secretly hoping that Rex Sinquerfield, who had arranged the deal with Garry Kasparov and in particular had financed it, would bring the Candidates Tournament to Saint Louis. Accord ing to the invitation to tender for it, the host would have a wild-card for a player with an Ela rating of over 2700 poi nts. But unfortu nately Nakamura lost this "game of poker" - if that is what it was. There is no doubt that the 24-year-old sti ll has enough time to achieve his greatest sporting goal, if one takes a look at

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the world ranking list of 1 st January 1 997, i.e. the year in which the little boy from the US started to revolutionise the chess world . 1 5 years later Viswanathan Anand (then No.2 behind Garry Kasparov I born 1 969) , Vladimir Kramnik (4/1 975) , Vassily lvanchuk (5/1 969) , Veselin Topalov (6/1 975) , Gata Kamsky (7/1 974) and Boris Gelfand (8/ 1 968) are still absolutely world-class play ers, and even Alexei Shirov (9/1 972) and Nigel Short (9/1 965) continue to set stand ards i n top-level chess. The only ones to have disappeared, on grounds of age, from this top ten of 1 5 years ago are ex-world champion Garry Kasparov ( 1 /1 963) who has reti red and Anatoly Karpov (3/1 951 ) . T h e "wild bunch" such a s Carlsen ( 1 990) , Radjabov ( 1 987) , Nakamu ra ( 1 987) , Karja kin ( 1 990) and Caruana ( 1 992), to name only the most prominent quintet among them, may well have been making em phatic claims for the lead , but they have not yet managed to displace the older genera tion . So at the next Candidates Tou rna ment in 20 1 3 only the "boy wonder'' from Norway will be there (on account of his place as No. 1 on the world ranking list) , along with Teimour Radjabov as a wild-card entry, to face up to the "experienced stra tegists" Vladimir Kramnik, Vassily lvanchuk, Boris Gelfand , Peter Svidler, Alexander G rischu k and Levon Aronian. Boris Gelfand , who in May 20 1 2 at the age of 43 made it through for the fi rst time to challenge reigning world champion Anand, and u nfortunately lost to him in Moscow only in the rapid tie-break by 1 ¥22¥2, offered a plausible explanation for this at a press conference i n Tel Aviv before

1

2

Quoted from New in Chess 3/201 2, p. 7 New in Chess 1 /201 2, p. 1 8

thei r World Championship match: " I think it is also one of the advantages of our generation , one of the reasons why our generation is still doing wel l , is that we learned to play on a good basis. And then we learned how to use computers in our favou r, while a lot of young players know only how to use the computer and don't have a good basis. I nstead of th inking a lot of people are used to press a button and see what the computer will say." 1 As regards Robert James Fischer, with whom Nakam u ra (his designated successor) is increasingly often compared , it is highly unlikely that Hikaru wil l , like Bobby, regu larly disappear from the scene and take breaks from chess. He himself knows best that, on the other hand, he will have to become more consistent at the very top level. And from that point of view his convincing victory at the USA National Championship in May 201 2 in Saint Louis with 8¥2/1 1 was a demonstration of both his playing and mental strength . The increas ing differences with Garry, who apparently would accept absolutely no dissent in their cooperation , and in doing so significantly obstructed h i m , appear finally to have been overcome. "When you have someone who is always on you r case and it's never good enough no matter how you win a game, it just brings you down , you lose confidence. And as a chess player you have to be confident, you have to believe in you rself." 2 Vlad i m i r Kramnik, who has closely observed Nakam ura's rise to the top of world chess, has a very realistic view of the separation of H i karu from Kasparov - not only did he win the World Championship

Epilogue

match against h i m in London in 2000, but he was also once in his team of seconds: "Maybe at some point it became a burden to him. Maybe he got too tense. I don't know who is to be blamed , it just happens sometimes." 3 One prediction which Kramnik hazarded after the Wijk aan Zee chess festival in 20 1 O has been real ised : Nakamu ra, who since then has played almost exclusively i n Europe a n d regularly against t h e best in the world, not only catapulted h imself into the top ten in the fol lowing twelve months, but on 31 st May 201 2 he was for the fi rst time with a l ive Elo-rating of 2782.6 in 5th place of the world ranking list. 4 H is self-confidence, which is also reflected in the fact that he is not afraid of defeats, has remai ned intact over the years and has perhaps become even stronger. Nakamu ra, who does not have a coaching team , which is however typical of the chess culture of the USA, still places his trust i n his second Kris Littlejohn : "To have ideas you do not have to be a grandmaster. Even someone with an Elo of only 1 500 can have good ideas, which a stronger player - me for example - can make use of in a game. It is about ideas and not about p l aying strength . . "5 Wel l , in the near futu re more than enough opportunities will be opening up for Hikaru Nakamura. One is qu ite certainly the new FIDE G rand Prix cycle of 20 1 2/1 3. The two best players from the six tou rna ments in the series (London, Tash kent, .

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217

Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin and Paris) , of which fou r events are counted for each of the participants, will be given a coveted place in the Candidates Tou rnament in 20 1 4. And for the American super-grandmaster that would be the fi rst step on the way to achieving his u ltimate goal of one day becoming world champion, and before his 29th bi rthday thereby finally emerge from the great shadow of Bobby Fischer. H i karu is u n q u estionably motivated enough for this. He always wants to win sometimes also at any cost - and to show his opponents that he is the better player. "I would simply like to play good chess and hope that things turn out in my favour [ . . . ] I would like to play creatively and enjoy my chess. Sometime that works, sometimes it doesn't. It is also important to me that chess fans enjoy my games, and that is a reason for me to play chess. [ . . . ]", he put on record in the Reggio Emilia tournament in Italy at the tu rn of the year 20 1 1 /1 2. 6 And last but not least, he must probably be prepared to make changes in his playing style in order to be able to write his name into history as the 1 5th chess world cham pion up to now since 1 886. For him this is perhaps the most important but also the most difficult challenge, in order to achieve the miracle that Bobby Fischer once managed . As far as that icon of American chess is concerned , Nakamura would in no way like to become like him: "Having a gift, being so great at chess. It's really n ice , but also the

Ibid, pp.28/39 See Live Chess Ratings at http://www.2700chess.com/ s In an interview with the Italian journalist Janis Nissi in SCHACH 1 0/201 o , p. 1 5 s The conversation was published as a video on the tournament homepage: http://www. ippogrifoscacchi. it/tornei_capodanno/54/index.htm

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Epilogue

chance to inspire kids in the U . S . to get into chess. Hopefully some of them will become really strong. I feel that it's part of my role now to be a role model for kids. It motivates me to be better at chess and to be better as a person every day", according to Nakamura in his hour of victory in Wijk aan Zee 201 1 . 7 So the question is not whether Hikaru Nakamura will be the next Bobby Fischer. "Whatever he's doing, I'd like him to be really happy," said his mother Carolyn Weeramantry, adding prophetically: "I don't think he' ll be playing chess forever. I also don't think he'll ever j ust quit chess." 8

I n any case her younger son has chosen a clear path for himself. And he is perhaps encouraged in living his dream by the fact that, for example, today's greatest stars in world sport, such as the twice German Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel and the three-times world footballer of the year Lionel Messi were, like him, born in that year of giants, 1 987. I n the apposite words of the former Fi rst Lady of the USA, Eleanor Roosevelt: ''The futu re belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams . . . "

P. S . It may well be that this snapshot in time from 3 1 .08.20 1 2 will only represent a footnote in the chronicles of chess history. But on that final Friday in August, in the 4th round of the Olympiad in Istanbul, Hikaru Nakamura won with White against the I ndian player Krishnan Sasi ki ran , who with an Elo rating of 2707 is certainly no chess lightweight. But it was not the actual win that was important. At a time when he was fifth in the world rating list, Nakamu ra was in fact setting a new American record for the best ever Elo rating, even if at fi rst this was only valid on the Live Chess Ratings site. He had replaced his compatriot Robert James Fischer, who in July 1 972 scored his highest ever Elo rating of 2785 . 9 As the internet site www.2700chess.com announced , Hikaru had achieved exactly 2786.3 Elo points. However, when Fischer posted his best ever rating he was al ready 29, so Nakamura still has almost five years to press forward into totally uncharted waters . . .

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New In Chess 3/201 1 , p. 1 4 I n an article by Keiley Whipple "Hikaru Nakamura is the next Bobby Fischer ", Riverfront Times, Saint Louis, 2 1 st July 201 1 Bobby's "Elo world record" remained unequalled until January 1 990. I t was only then that the honour was granted to the reigning champion Garry Kasparov to be the first player in the world to improve on that score by reaching exactly 2800. . . .

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SOLUTIONS Endgame test (see page 97)

A knight goes walkabout H. Nakamura - L.-D. Nisipeanu Kings Tournament, Medias 2011

76.'t>xe5 i.g3+ 76 ....ic3+ 77.'it>e4 i.e1 78.b6 'it>d7 79.~d4 i.f2+ 80.~c3 ~ca 81.~b4 'it>b7 82.'it>b5 with an equally sad ending for Black.

77.~d4 .if2+ 78.~c3 And in view of 78 ... 'it>d7 79.b4 i.e1+ 80.'it>a4 ~c7 81 .b6+ ~b7 82.'it>b5 Black resigned. 1-0

The knight in the corner H. Nakamura - M. Wahls Mallorca Trophy [blitz], playchess.com 2004

How did Hikaru break open the black stronghold?

66.96! This simple pawn move is Nakamura's skeleton key to unlocking the black fortress.

66 ... i.xg6 66 ...i.g8 does not help since the bishop is then dominated, e.g. 67.lbh2 i.e7 68.~f3 i.h4 69.lbg4 i.e7 (69 ... i.e1 70.lbf6+) 70.lbe3 i.f6 71 .lbc2, and the b5-pawn falls first, followed by Black's entire house of cards.

67.i.xg6+ 'it>xg6 68.'it>e4 ~ 69.lbd2! The point. The knight will travel via d2-b1a3 to win the b5-pawn.

How does the rook win against the pawn?

Of course, mating threats are required to put Black in zugzwang ...

81 .::tg5+! A deadly intermediate check! On the other hand 81.l:f.h5?~g2 82.l:tg5+~h1 (or82 ...~f1) and 81.l:f.f1? ~g2 both give away the win.

69... i.fS 70.lbb1 i.h6 71.lba3 i.c1 72.lbxb5 i.d2 73.lbd6 .ixc3 74.b5 cJile7 75.lbxc4 i.e1

81 ... ~h3

Black also cannot escape his fate with 75 ...'it>f6, since there follows 76.b6 i.d4 77.b7 i.a7 78.lbxe5.

The point, forcing Black to promote his rook pawn to a knight in the corner (even if it doesn't suffice for a draw!).

a1 .. .~h4 a2 ..:.ga h1'i' 83.l:tha+.

82.~f2!

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82 ... h1lb+ Black also loses after 82 ... h1'iV 83.l:r.h5+ 'it>g4 84.l:txh1 or 82 ... 'it>h4 83 ..l:r.gB 'it>h3 84.Ith8+. 83. 'it>f3 'it>h2 If 83 ... 'it>h4, then 84.l:tg8. 84Jig8 and Black resigned. 1-0

Liquidated ... R. Ponomariov - H. Nakamura 1st match game, Saint Louis 2011

.

game. After 41 ...'iVd3+? 42.'it>h41i'e4+ 43.g4 Nakamura would also be better, but the queen check is not nearly as good for Black as the game continuation.

42.'it>h4 If 42.g3, then 42 ... 1i'e6 is decisive, as pointed out by Ftacnik in CBM 143. 42 ... 'ii'e7+ 43.'it>g3 'iVg5+ In view of 44.Kh3 1i'f5+- Ponomariov resigned. 0-1

By the back door H. Nakamura - S. Kudrin Western States Open, Reno 2004

How did Hikaru realise his advantage?

In queen endings there are in principle a few important criteria to be taken into account. These include: whose move it is, the safety of the king, passed pawns and threats of perpetual check. As for the specific position from the match between ex-FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov and Hikaru Nakamura, the US grandmaster playing Black has an extra pawn which in addition is even a passed pawn. So for him there is only one strategic plan which needs to be examined: how can he transform the material advantage into a won pawn ending? 41 ...'iVe3+! This forces the exchange of queens, which puts an end to White's chances of holding the

How did Hikaru storm the black position?

The heading "By the back door" was our decisive tip, and of course Hikaru did not pass up the invitation ...

79.'it>cB! The king forces its way in from behind. On the other hand, both 79.'it>d6? 1'.d4 and 79.1'.f4? 'it>b7 80.'it>d6 ..id4 would be wrong, because Black then simply closes the doors and there is no longer a win. 79... ..tes 80.1'.gs 'it>a5 81 ...idB+ 'it>b4 82.b6 'it>xc4 83.b7 'it>d3 84.1'.c7 ..ixc7 85.'it>xc7 c4 86.bB'iV c3 87.'it>c6 c2 88.'ilff4, and Black resigned. 1-0

ltJ

Solutions

221

Tactics test (see page 105)

Clearance

Pinning

A. Karpov - H. Nakamura CCAS Trophee, Cap d'Agde 2008

H. Nakamura - B. Miller Bermuda Open, Southampton 2003

How did Hikaru beat ex-world champion Karpov?

How did Hikaru punish 12...0d5xd4?

Clearance sacrifices are a popular tactical motif. And on this specific occasion ex-world champion Anatoly Karpov is the victim:

Pins belong to the typical array of tactical motifs along with forks, discovered attacks and skewers, and in this position it was a pin which Hikaru used to punish Black's greedy pawn grab with 12...lbf5xd4:

36....i.bS+! After this the h-pawn has the marshal's baton in its knapsack! 37.
13.lbfxd4 lbxd4? After the text move he goes down without a fight. 13... lbxe5 14..i.e2 .i.d7 15..i.e3, on the other hand, puts up more resistance. 14..i.e3 .i.c5 15.b4! .i.xb4 If 15...lbxc2, then 16..i.xc51i'd8 17.'i!fxc2, and Black has his back to the wall. 16.lbxd4 ~c5 17.l:tb1 1i'c7 18.1i'c2 b6 19.lbb3 .i.b7 20.lbxc5 bxc5 21.1i'xc5 'ii'd7 22.'i!fd6, and Black decided he had seen enough ... 1-0

222

~

Solutions

Exposed king

Intermediate move H. Nakamura - K. Lie Gjovik Aker CC [rapid], Gjovik 2009

H. Nakamura - D. Fridman Canarias en Red [blitz], playchess.com 2004

Has Hikaru anything better than 34.llxa 1?

How did Hikaru exploit the exposed state of the king?

We must admit that the intermediate move you are looking for is really a "higher class" piece of tactics and is often enough overlooked. Not by Hikaru, though, who found something better than 34 ..l:!xa1 here:

We have deliberately saved for the end of this tactical test a magical example of Hikaru Nakamura's art. We are absolutely certain that the inventor of "la petite combinaison", Jose Raul Capablanca, would definitely have enjoyed this one. Once again everything happens at lightning speed and you will certainly pluck the little combination out of the hat just as inventively as Nakamura did to stun Daniel Fridman:

34JWh4!

A genuinely destructive zwischenzug. After the automatic 34Jixa1? 1i'd4 Black would have a clear advantage. Black can still defend against 34.fxg6? with 34 ... ii'e3 35.:be1 ii'xe1 36 ..l:!xe1 .id4 37.l:th1 l:bb8=. Lie admitted defeat on account of 34 ... l2Jxe6 35.it'h7 mate. 1-0

27.'ii'eS+!

On the other hand, 27.ii'h7+? backfires: 27 ... ta 28.it'hS+ e7 29.ii'xca .ixd4+. 27... it'ta 28 ..ih7+ xh7 29.ii'xta l2Jxd4 30.it'xca

And Fridman resigned, because his discovered checks with the knight achieve nothing. 1-0

lL)

223

Important Tournaments, Matches and Team Competitions 1. Tournaments We have deliberately not included the results of numerous national junior and open tournaments as well as those of countless blitz and rapid chess duels in which Hikaru Nakamura participated not least on the internet, since the reader will not find such statistics particularly meaningful. However, from the yearly increase of his activities in Europe it is possible to deduce that there is absolutely no other way for him to reach the very top than by taking part in such high level chess events. Nevertheless that also requires of the young American grandmaster excellent performances so as to continue receiving the much-desired invitations to the elite tournaments. Event

Place

Points/Games

+

=

1997 SuperNationals: School Championships, Knoxville Junior World U10 Championship, Cannes Hawaii Open, Honolulu

1

7 out of 7 6 out of 11 3 out of 8

7

0

0

29 49-51

6

0

5

3

0

5

54

5% out of 11

5

1

5

13

7 out of 11

6

2

3

4 31-46 6 5

6% out of 11 5% out of 9 6 out of 11 8 out of 11

5 5 4 6

3

3 3 3

1 12-20 10

6 6 7 7

3 0 4 1

2

7Y2 out of 9 6 out of 9 2 out of 9 7% out of 9 8% out of 11

1-3 2-3 15 5

6 out of 9 8% out of 13 5 out of 7 5 out of 9

5 8 4 3

1998 Junior World U12 Championship, Oropesa del Mar

1999 Junior World U12 Championship, Oropesa del Mar

2000 Esther Elekes Memorial (IM Tournament), Budapest World Open, Philadelphia First Saturday (IM Tournament), Budapest Junior World U14 Championship, Oropesa del Mar

4 4

2001 Europe Chess, Eger Bled Open Mayor's Cup, New York US U20 Open, Tulsa Junior World U14 Championship, Oropesa del Mar

o

0 3 5

3

2002 Bermuda A Tournament First Saturday (GM Tournament), Budapest Chicago Open lmre Konig Memorial, San Francisco

2 1 2 4

2 4 1 2

224

~


Event

Place

Points/Games

+

=

9-17 2 10-14 5-6

5% out of 9 7Y2 out of 11 7 out of 10 3 out of 7

3 6 6 2

5 3 2 2

1 2 2 3

4 23 5-9 1

7% out of 13 5 out of 9 6% out of 9 8 out of 10 5% out of 6 7 out of 9 2 out of 2

5 3 4 6 5 5 2

5 4 5 4 1 4 0

3 2 0 0 0 0 0

6--10 3 3-6 4 2 2-3

7 out of 10 6 out of 9 7 out of 9 4% out of 10 4% out of 8 5Y2 out of 9

5 4 5 2 4 3

4 4 4 5 1 5

1 0 3 3 1

3 4 49-60 10-19

6 out of 9 6 out of 9 4% out of 9 6% out of 9

4 5 4 6

4 2

2-4 10-16 1 8-18 1-8 1

7 out of 9 5 out of 9 5% out of 6 7 out of 9 6% out of 9 7 out of 9

6 4 5 5 4 6

2 2 1 2 5 2

1-2

8 out of 10 2 out of 2 9 out of 11 9 out of 11 5% out of 9 13 out of 17 1% out of 2

7 2 8 8 3 10 1

2 0 2 2 5 6 1

2003 US Championship, Seattle Bermuda B Tournament Santo Domingo Open Pamplona Cerrado

2004 International Tournament, Wijk aan Zee (B ) Reykjavik Open Foxwoods Open, Mashantucket Santo Domingo Open Western States Open, Reno US Championship, San Diego Rapid-playoff v. Stripunsky

1-2

2005 Gibraltar Masters Sigeman Turnier, Tournament, Malmo/Copenhagen World Open, Philadelphia International Chess Festival, Biel 6th Young Masters, Lausanne Stepanakert (A)

2006 Cuernavaca/Mexico US Championship, Group A Foxwoods Open, Mashantucket World Open, Philadelphia

1 2 4 2

2007 Gibraltar Masters US Championship, Stillwater Las Vegas National Open US Open, Cherry Hill Miami Open Casino Tournament, Barcelona

3 0 1 0 1

2008 Gibraltar Masters Blitz-playoff v. Bu Xiangzhi FiNet-Open Chess960 (rapid), Mainz Ordix-Open (rapid), Mainz Montreal lnternationales Turnier, Cap d'Agde (rapid) Final v. lvanchuk

1-3 6 2-4 1

1 0

1 0

'L)


Event

Place

225

Points/Games

+

5Y2 out of 8 7Y2 out of 10 7 out of 9 6Y2 out of 9 8Y2 out of 11 3Y2 out of 10 6 out of 7*

5 7 5 4 8 1 0

4 5 1 5 6

2 2 0 0 2 4 1

4-6 4-5 3 4

7Y2 out of 13 8 out of 7** 1 out of 3 6 out of 10 2 out of 2 5outof9 21Y2 out of 38 5 out of 7 10 out of 7*

4 3 0 4 2 1 18 3 2

7 4 2 4 0 8 5 4 4

2 0 1 2 0 0 15 0 1

1 6 4 5 1-8 3 10 2 3

9 out of 13 1OY2 out of 22 4Y2 out of 10 4Y2 out of 10 7Y2 out of 9 12 out of 10* 3 out of 9 15 out of 8* 15 out of 10*

6 5

4

6 11 7 5 3 6 6 3 3

1 6 2 3 0 2 3 1 3

6 1

7Y2 out of 13 6 out of 6 8Y2 out of 11 4 out of 9 16 out of 10* 4 out of 11

3 6 6 1 4 2

9 0 5 6 4 4

1 0 0 2 2 5

=

2009 Aker International, Gjovik (rapid) Gibraltar Masters US Championship, Saint Louis Donestia Chess, San Sebastian Ordix-Open (rapid), Mainz Rising Stars v. Experience, Amsterdam Chess Classic, London

3 3-6 1 1 8 7

2010 International Tournament, Wijk aan Zee (A) US Championship, Saint Louis: Preliminary US Championship, Saint Louis: Final Rising Stars v. Experience, Amsterdam Blitz-playoff v. Giri Tai Memorial, Moscow FIDE Blitz World Championship, Moscow National Chess Open Chess Classic, London

5 2 3

2011 International Tournament, Wijk aan Zee (A) Melody Amber, Monaco Kings Tournament, Medias Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund US Open, Orlando Grand Slam Final, Sao Paulo/Bilbao Tai Memorial, Moscow Chess Classic, London Torneo di Capodanno, Reggio Emilia

2 6 2 0 4

2012 International Tournament, Wijk aan Zee (A) Grand Pacific Open, Victoria/Canada US Championship, Saint Louis Tai Memorial, Moscow International Chess Festival, Biel FIDE Grand Prix 2012/13,1st Tournament, London

9 3 12

* In these tournaments three points were awarded for a win and a single point for a draw. **

In the praliminary round of the US national championship of 2010 two points were awarded for a win and one fOf a draw.

226

<;t>


Event

Points/Games

+

=

2. Matches FIDE Knock-out World Championshiop••• 2004 in Tripolis Nakamura v. Volkov (1st Round) Nakamura v. Alexandrov (2nd Round) Nakamura v. Lastin (3rd Round) Nakamura v. Adams (4th round)

3-1 11h-1h 11h-1h 1h-11h

2 1 1 0

2 1 1 1

FIDE World Cup••• 2005 Khanty Mansiysk Nakamura v. Ganguly (1st Round)

1h-11h

0

1

Chess960-Rapid World Championship 2009, Mainz, Prel. Round Nakamura v. Aronian (Final)

4 out of 6 31h-1h

4 3

0

Other Matches Nakamura v. Karjakin 2004 (classical) Nakamura v. Nepomniachtchi 2007 (blitz) Nakamura v. Ponomariov 2011 (classical) Nakamura v. Ponomariov 2011 (rapid)

41h-11h 141h-51h 31h-21h 3-1

4 14 2 2

1 1 3 2

5 1 0

1 2 2 1

0 0 0

2 0

3. Team Events Olympiad, Turin 2006, Board 3 Olympiad, Dresden 2008, Board 2 Olympiad, Khanty Mansiysk 2010, Board 1 Olympiad, Istanbul 2012, Board 1

7 out of 11 4 61h out of 115 6 out of 10 4 6 out of 9 4

6 3 4 4

World Team Championship, Bursa 2010, Board 1

6 out of 8

5

2

European Club Cup, Ohrid 2009 for Hussek Chess Club Vienna, Board 1

5 out of 7

4

2

1

Japan League 2007, Board 1

7 out of 7

7

0

0

Austrian Bundesliga 2008/09 for Hussek Chess Club Vienna, Board 1

51h out of 115

5

A complete listing of all the tournaments in Hikaru Nakamura's chess career in the USA can be found on the internet site of the US federation under:: http://main.uschess.orglassetslmsa_joomla/XtblMain.php? 199704246590-12650706 Clicking on Nakamura's name and then ''Tournament History'' shows you all of the player's US tournaments with his rating performance, in the case of Hikaru starting from 1995.

*** When giving the overall result of these matches which regularly went beyond two games, the scores

from the tiebreaks (rapid and blitz chess) have also always been taken into account.

lb

Rating development and world ranking of Hikaru Nakamura (born o9.12.19a11 Year/Month

ELO

2261 2281 2356

2007 January April July October

2651 2663 2647 2648

53 38 70 61


2364 2428 2452 2466


2670 2686 2697 2704

46 34 31 30


2430 2465 2494 2504


2009 January April July September November

2699 2701 2710 2735 2715

32 30 26 16 24

2520 2561 2568 2565


2571 2580 2601 2620

2010 January March May July September November

2708 2735 2733 2729 2733 2741

27 17 18 19 15 14

83


2613 2657 2650 2662

100 43 45 42

2011 January March May July September November

2751 2774 2774 2766 2753 2758

10 8 8 10 12 10

2012 January March May July September

2759 2771 2775 2778 2783

12 6 7 7 5

Year/Month 2000 January July October


ELO

2644 2664 2632 2640

Place (Top 100)

65 41 79 69

Place (Top 100)

227

228

\t>

I ndex of ga mes The index contains both games played by Nakamu ra and games between other players. The latter are shown within brackets. The page numbers are indicated. Games in which Nakam u ra had Black are shown in italics, and games with detailed annotations are shown in bold. Aaron, M. (59) Adams, M . 65, 67, ( 1 58) Adu, 0 . 1 1 Akobian, V. (30) , 1 73 Alapin, S. (24) Alekseev, E. 189 Anand, V. ( 1 4) , 70, 71, (84), 1 58, ( 1 6 1 ) , 209 Andersson, U . (1 02) Andreikin, D. (1 50) Andrianov, N. 187 Andriasian, S. 94 Arancibia Rodriguez, W. 188 Arngrimsson , D. 14 Aronian, L. 56, (84), 154, 1 70, 187, 188, 194 Baburin, A. 90 Bacrot, E. 192 Baramidze, D. 40 Barrientos Chavarriaga, S. (25) Barron , M. 28 Beliavsky, A. 196, 203 Benjamin, J. 89 Benko, P. ( 1 1 7) Bhat, V. 192 Bisguier, A. 112 Bonin, J. 1 1 0, ( 1 1 0) Bronstein, D. (1 9), (20) , (1 99) Buhmann, R. (1 51 ) Byrne, D. (1 1 3) Carlsen , M. 30, (78) , 141, 1 9 1 Charbonneau, P. (202) Conquest, S. (20) Cvitan, 0. (201 ) De Firmian , N. 1 5, (59) Djukic, S. 39 Epishin, V. (25) , 25 Erdene, G. 39 Esserman , M . (29)

Fierro Baquero, M. L. 92 Finegold, B. 189 Fischer, R. J . ( 1 1 2) , (1 1 3) , ( 1 1 7), ( 1 1 8) Fridman , D. 1 05, 187, 222 Friedel , J. 1 22 Ftacnik, L. (201 ) Ganguly, S. (58) Gavrilov, V. (1 89) Gelfand, B. ( 1 4) , (75) , 103, (1 60) , 193, 1 96, 201 Giri, A. 84, ( 1 26) , 1 51 Grischuk, A. ( 1 4) , 33 Gustafsson , J. 1 9 1 Har-Zwi, R. ( 1 67) Hebert, J. 193 Hilton, J . (30) Howell, D. 77 Humphrey, A. ( 1 1 2) lbragimov, I . 1 1 4 l brahimov, R. ( 1 4) lvanchuk, V. 72 Jakovenko, D. (66) Jelling, E. 92 Juttler ( 1 6) Kamsky, G. 124, (1 60) , 193 Kaposztas, M . 187 Karjakin, S. 1 8, (66), 75, (84), 90 Karpov (68), (78) , 105, ( 1 6 1 ) , 1 88, 221 Kasparov, G. (68) , (78) , ( 1 6 1 ) Kavalek, L. ( 1 6) Keres, P. (57) Kleiman, J . 187 Korchnoi, V. (57) Kosintseva, T. (22)

Kramnik, V. (34) , 67, 1 81 , 1 93, 1 96 [2], 206, 2 1 0 Krasenkow, M. 198 Kreiman, B. 189 Krush, I. (29) Kudrin, S. 97, 220 L'Ami, E. 106 Leitao, R. (1 62) Leko, P. (75) Leon Hoyos, M . 95 Liberzon, V. (20) Lie, K. 1 05, 222 Macieja, B. 2 1 Malakhov, V. (70) Mamedyarov, S. ( 1 07) Markus, R. 191 Marquez, A. 188 Meier, G. 195 Michalczak, T. ( 1 27) Miljkovic, M . 188 Miller, B . 1 05, 221 Miton, K. 187, 188 Mohring, G. ( 1 6) Morozevich, A. 1 50 Motylev, A. (70) Nadyrhanov, S. (20) Nakamura, A. 47 Navara, D. 1 03 Nepomniachtchi, I. 1 77, 1 93 Ni Hua 13 Nimzowitsch, A. (24) Nisipeanu , L.-D. 97, 21 9 Odehnal, M. (66) Palmiotto, F. ( 1 9) Pelletier, Y. 194 Ponomariov, R. (34) , 97, 98, 1 69, 189, 1 93, 195, 220

ttJ

Index of games

Potkin, V. (34) Predojevic, B. 50 Privman , B. 1 88 Ragger, M. ( 1 50) Rangarajan, S. 42 Renet, 0. ( 1 99) Rogozenco, D. (34) Rombaldoni, A. ( 1 5 1 ) Roussel Roozmon , T. 190, (202) Samsonkin, A. 27 Satonskih, A. (22) Schmaltz, R. (1 67) Shabalov, A. 96, 192 Shimanov, A. ( 1 89) Shirov, A. ( 1 4) , 58, (66) , ( 1 0 1 ), ( 1 02) , ( 1 6 1 )

Short, N . 95 Sjugirov, S. (34) Smeets, J. 74, 1 26 Smirin, I . 1 9 Socko, M . 93 Stein, L. (20) Stellwagen, D. 48 Suba, M. (68) Sutovsky, E. (66) , ( 1 62) Svidler, P. 1 78 Tahi rov, F. 45 Taylor, G. 188 Timman, J. ( 1 02) Tomashevsky, E. (34), 43 Topalov V. ( 1 0 1 ) , (1 61 ) Trabert, B. 53 Trapl, J. ( 1 6) Tseshkovsky, V. (20)

Vachier-Lagrave, M. 1 60, ( 1 6 1 ) Vaganian , R. 195 Vallejo Pons, F. 190 Vitiugov, N. 76 Volkov, S. 1 9 1 Wahls, M . 97, 21 9 Wang Hao 1 83 Wang Yue ( 1 07), ( 1 58) Weeramantry, S. ( 1 1 0) Wolski , T. 190 YaacovN (v. Smallville) 169 Yanofsky, D. ( 1 1 8) Yu Mingyuan 192 Zacek, J . (66) Zahartsov, V. ( 1 27) Zhu Chen 1 1 7

I ndex of open i ngs I n each case you will find the ECO code (in square brackets) and the page numbers. 8enoni Defence [A62] 1 83, [A66] 1 5 Caro-Kann Defence [81 2] 1 77 Dutch Defence [A85] 28, [ABB] 1 54, [AB9] 56 French Defence [C02] 1 1 0, 1 1 4, [C1 1 ] 2 1 , 24, 48, 1 50 G rOnfeld Defence [D72] 77, [DB5] 30, [DB7] 1 60, [D97] 1 1 3 King's Gambit [C36] 67 King's I ndian Defence 1 86-1 96, [E70] 1 1 2 , [E90] 1 1 2 , [E97] 201 , 203, 209 Nimzo- l ndian Defence [E20] 67, 84, 98, 206 [E32] 1 06 Petroff Defence [C42] 1 5 1 Pirc Defence [806] 47, [809] 1 9, 45 Queen's Gambit [D37] 76, [D3B] 33, [D44] 1 26 Queen's I ndian Defence [ E 1 3] 1 58 Reti Opening [A1 4] 1 9B Ruy Lopez [C67] 70, 71 , 72, 1 8 1 , [C7B] 58, [C89] 65, Scotch Game [C45] 53, [C47] 1 B Sicilian Defence [842] 25, 50, [843] 27, [880] 1 3, 882] 1 1 , [890] 75, [892] 1 41 , [898] 74 Trompowsky Attack [D00] 43 Two Knights Defence [C5B] 1 22 Vienna Game [C26] 1 67 Chess 960: [Startposition 666] 1 70

229

230

�

Bibliog raphy German lang uage sources and secondary literature

Agdestein, S.: Wunderjunge. Wie Magnus Carlsen der jiingste SchachgroBmeister der Welt wurde, Alkmaar 2004, New in Chess Alexander, C. H . O'D . : Spassky - Fischer. Das groBte Schach-Duell der Geschichte, Miinchen 1972, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag Baumbach, F.: 52 - 54 - Stop: Fernschach - Tips und Tricks vom Weltmeister, Berlin 1 99 1 , Sportverlag Bijl, Ch. M . : Die gesammelten Partien von Robert J. Fischer, Hollfeld 1 986, Joachim Beyer Verlag Bosch, J (Redaktion), SOS - Schach ohne Scheuklappen Band 7, Alkmaar 2007, New in Chess Awerbach. J. u. a.: Die Russen lehren Schach, Zi.irich 1 998, Edition Olms Awerbach, J.: Erfolg im Endspiel, Berlin 1 987, Sportverlag ChessBase [Hrsg.]: Mega Database 20 12, Hamburg 201 1 , ChessBase GmbH Dworetski , M.: Geheimnisse gezielten Schachtrainings, 4. Auflage, Zi.irich 2005, Edition Olms Dworetski , M . : Geheimnisse der Schachstrategie, 4. Auflage, Zi.i rich 2006, Edition Olms Dworetski , M.: Moderne Schachtaktik, 5. Auflage, Zi.irich 2005, Edition Olms Dworetski , M ./Jussupow, A. : Angriff und Verteidigung, 2. Auflage, Zi.irich 2004, Edition Olms Dworetski , M ./Jussupow, A. : Positionelles Schach, 4. Auflage, Zurich 2003, Edition Olms Fischer, A , J . : Meine 60 denkwiirdigen Partien, Hamburg 1 970, Verlag Dr. Eduard Wildhagen Florian, T. : Entscheidung in der Schlussrunde, Stuttgart 1 987, Franckh-Schach Gligoric, S . : Fischer - Spasskij, Schachmatch des Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Munchen 1 972, Deutscher Bucherbund Grom, W. : Forrest Gump, Munchen 1 994. Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Kasparow, G. : Meine groBen Vorkampfer, Band 6, Zurich 2007, Edition Olms Kindermann, S.: Leningrader System - Eine Waffe gegen 1 . d4, Munchen 2002, Chessgate Kortschnoi, V. , Mein Leben fiir das Schach, Zurich 2004, Edition Olms Krogius, N . : P sychologie im Schach, Berlin 1 983, Sportverlag Linder, I . : Faszinierendes Schach, Berlin 1 986, Sportverlag Linder, l ./Linder, W. : Das Schachgenie Capablanca, Berlin 1 988, Sportverlag Linder, l ./Linder, W. : Das Schachlexikon, Berlin 1 988, Sportverlag Lowenfisch , G./Smyslow, W. : Theorie und Praxis der Turmendspiele, Heidelberg 1 985, Schach verlag Rudi Schmaus Mednis, E . : Wie schlagt man Bobby Fischer?, Berlin 1 996, Sportverlag Michaltschischin, A./Stetsko, 0 . : Kampfen und Siegen mit Magnus Carlsen, Zurich 201 2, Edition Olms Nunn, J . : Einfiihrung in die Schachtaktik, London 2004, Gambit Schereschweski , M . : Strategie der Schachendspiele, Berlin 1 985, Sportverlag Schirow, A: Board in Flammen 1 997-2005, Nettetal 20o5, Chessgate AG

Bibliography

ltJ

231

Schonberg, H . , Die GroBmeister des Schachs, 1 982 Moewig Stolze, R . : Umkampfte Krone. Die Due/le der Schachweltmeister von Steinitz bis Kasparow, Berlin 1 986, Sportverlag Suetin . A.: Da vid Bronstein - Die Kunst der Schachtaktik, Berlin-FOrstenwalde 1 996, Verlag Bock & Kubler [Where citations from English versions of these books have been used, these are indicated in footnotes on the relevant pages - Editor's note]

Foreign lang uage sources and secondary literature

Desjarlais, Robert A . : Counterplay: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard, 201 1 , University of California Press Goldowsky, H . : Engaging pieces (pp.49-64, I nterview with Hikaru Nakamura and Sunil Weeramantry) , Doawood & Brighton, Canton 2007 Doawood & Brighton. MOiier, K.: Bobby Fischer - The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion, Milford, CT USA 2009, Russell Enterprises I nc. Nakamura, H./Harper, B.: Bullet Chess. One Minute to Mate, Milford, CT USA 2009, Russell Enterprises Inc. Schmaltz, A.: The Complete Chess Server Guide, Ludwigshafen 2004, Schachzentrale Rattmann Sosonko, G. : Russian Silhouettes, Alkmaar 2001 , New in Chess Weeramantry, S./Eusebi, E . : Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, New York 1 993, McKay Chess Library Periodicals

Nummer 69/1 997- 1 1 3/20 1 2 , Beograd , Serbien Zeitschrift SCHACH, Jahrgange 2004 bis Heft 7/201 2, Berlin, Excelsior Verlag GmbH Berlin New in Chess Magazine, Jahrgange 2004 bis Heft 4/201 2, Alkmaar, New in Chess Niederlande Schach Magazin 64, Jahrgange 2004 bis Heft 6/201 2, Bremen, Carl Ed. Schunemann KG ChessBase Magazin, 1 08/2005- 1 47/20 1 2, Hamburg, ChessBase GmbH KARL. Das kulturelle Schachmagazin, 4/2001 und 1 /201 2, Frankfurt Main Schachinformator,

I n addition, for their analysis of games and positions the authors made use of the following programs: ChessBase 1 O and 1 1 Fritz 1 2 and 1 3 Deep Rybka 4 Nalimov's Tablebases with five and six pieces

The sources of quotations taken from articles on various websites are listed in the footnotes; where it makes sense and was possible the internet addresses are given!

Hikaru Nakamura: A chess career in the footsteps of Bobby Fischer This the very first book to focus exclusively on Hikaru Nakamura, the greatest American chess player since the legendary Robert James Fischer. The book features a prologue penned by Lubosh Kavalek, who was none other than Bobby's insider and supporter at the "match of the century" against Boris Spassky in 1972. In ten chapters, the authors focus on the main reasons for the success of Nakamura, who, like arch-rival Magnus Carlsen, was coached for nearly a year by Garry Kasparov. In addition to an exclusive interview, of special interest are contributions by prominent chess greats, such as three-time U.S. national champion Lubosh Kavalek. Kavalek has been following Hikaru's ascent to the summit of chess at close range. Which is why he is ideally placed to deliver a reliable verdict on this exceptional player. Many chess fans admire Hikaru Nakamura·s ·furious attacking talent, and wish him all the best for a successful career.

Progressincnm EDITION OLMS

Fighting Chess with Hikaru Nakamura - Progress in Chess - Karsten Müller, Raymund Stolze - Ed. Olms - 2012.OCR OPT R

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