Sinquefield 02: Nakamura at the top

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2013.09.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] [Result "*"] [ECO "B43"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 {A small surprise. Kamsky has used the Sicilian many times in the past, but he is better known as a Spanish player.} 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 b5 6. Bd3 Bb7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nxc6 Bxc6 {Interestingly, both players have had this position with black.} 9. Re1 (9. Qe2 $6 Bc5 10. e5 Bd4 $1 11. Rd1 Qb6 {with adequate counterplay. Felgaer-Kamsky, 2010}) 9... Qb8 10. a4 (10. Qe2 Bd6 11. e5 Bc7 {was the end of the game in Gashimov-Nakamura, Tata Steel 2012. The game still has lot of life left, of course.}) 10... b4 11. Nd5 {The knight is obviously taboo, but it isn't immediately threatening anything by itself - the main point is that it is supporting the move Bf4.} Bd6 12. Qh5 Ne7 13. Nxe7 Bxe7 14. b3 a5 $6 {Kamsky played this move very quickly, but it is hard to justify exactly why a5 was necessary.} (14... O-O $5 15. Bb2 f6 {looks dangerous, but might be entirely playable as at some point Black might play e5 to close White's bishops, or at least he will be ready to meet e5 with f5 closing the diagonals in that way.}) 15. Bb2 Bf6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. e5 {Black has a lot of weakness and will have to prove that his activity can compensate for this and hold his position together.} Rg8 18. g3 Rg5 19. Qh6 Rxe5 20. Qxf6 Rh5 $1 {An important move, without this Black would quickly lose the h7 pawn without compensation.} 21. Be4 $1 {Nakamura uses the fact that the security of the king is a prime factor in major piece endgames - and it is clear that the e8 king is not a happy camper.} Qd8 22. Qf3 Rc5 23. Qe3 {a strange choice, as now Kamsky could simplify the position significantly.} (23. Bxc6 {was more in tune with White's plans.} dxc6 (23... Rxc6 $2 24. Re4 $1 {and immediately Black has serious problems with his king and the h7 pawn.}) 24. Rad1 Qg5 (24... Rd5 25. Rxd5 Qxd5 26. Qf6 {and again the h7 pawn is the issue.}) 25. Rd6 {and it seems impossible to defend c6, which nets White an extra pawn.}) 23... Qe7 ( 23... Re5 24. Qd4 Rxe4 25. Rxe4 Bxe4 26. Qxe4 h6 $11 {and Black is barely holding, but his counterplay against the weak c2 pawn seems to keep him alive and almost equal.}) 24. Bxh7 $5 {The only way to fight for an advantage. This comes with some risk as the bishop will be trapped and out of play for a long time, while the pawn advantage will not be of use for many moves.} f5 {this is of course Black's point} 25. Bg6+ Kd8 {The king heads to safer grounds, while it will allow the a8 rook to swing back to the game.} 26. Rac1 $5 {a "mysterious" rook move as Nimzowitsch would say. The idea is that a potential c3 break might be very powerful.} Kc7 27. Bh5 e5 $5 {Very optimistic. Black could also have played...} (27... Qd6 $5 28. Rcd1 f4 $1 {and the game turns to be quite interesting as White has to play carefully to not get into hot water.} ) 28. f4 $6 {Not a move that Nakamura wanted to play, but he thought it was necessary to stop Black's play.} (28. c4 $5 {Securing the queenside structure} f4 29. Qe2 e4 $1 {Black obtains a strong attack.}) 28... Qd6 $1 {With Nakamura down to onlny four minutes - an extremely unusual event - Kamsky has secured both good counterplay and dangerous tactical chances against his opponent.} 29. Rf1 exf4 30. Qxf4 Be4 31. Qf2 Rc3 32. Be2 Kb7 $6 {an unfortunate decision. Kamsky was clearly worried about the queen's opportunities on the f2-a7 diagonal, but now his own queen will be tied down to the d7 pawn - not a position it wants to be in} 33. Rcd1 Qe6 34. Bc4 d5 35. Qc5 $1 {Nakamura is such a resourceful player! Here the bishop is poisoned} Rd8 (35... dxc4 $2 36. Rd6 $1 {and the threats will soon be lethal on the king, so Black must give up his queen.}) 36. Qxa5 $1 {Amazing! despite the fact that it looks like White has no time to do this, he is just barely able to take Black's pawns on time.} Rxc2 $2 {Maybe the losing move} (36... Qb6+ 37. Qxb6+ Kxb6 38. Bd3 Kc5 {still is difficult for White as Black is very active.}) 37. Rf2 $1 {Very important not to go for the intermezzo yet} (37. Qxb4+ $6 Qb6+ 38. Qxb6+ Kxb6 39. Rf2 dxc4 $1 {And White will have many problems with the passed b-pawn after} 40. Rxd8 Rc1+ $1 41. Rf1 Rxf1+ 42. Kxf1 cxb3 {with an unclear position that should end in a draw.}) 37... Rxf2 38. Qxd8 $1 (38. Qxb4+ Qb6 39. Qxb6+ Kxb6 40. Kxf2 Kc5 {is still unclear as Black's pieces are very active.}) 38... Rg2+ 39. Kf1 Rb2 (39... Rxh2 {was no better since after} 40. Bxd5+ Bxd5 41. Qxd5+ Qxd5 42. Rxd5 {the b4 pawn cannot be saved.}) 40. Bxd5+ Bxd5 41. Qxd5+ Qxd5 42. Rxd5 1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2013.09.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "*"] [ECO "A85"] [WhiteElo "2813"] [BlackElo "2862"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 f5 {Already something to talk about. The Dutch is not a common guest in top level chess, but two other players in this tournament are known to use it: Kamsky and Nakamura!} 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 {The setups with a quick g3 and b3 are more common, but Aronian has a specific idea in mind.} Bg7 5. Bf4 $5 {A favorite of Hrant Melkumyan, an Armenian that lives in Berlin like Aronian. It is possible that Aronian got the idea from him.} d6 6. e3 Nc6 {basically new, but since Black's only plan is to play e5 anyways the move makes sense.} 7. Be2 (7. d5 e5 $1 {is the typical response against d5 when there is a bishop on f4.} 8. dxc6 exf4 9. cxb7 Bxb7 10. exf4 Qe7+ {gives Black a superior position despite being a pawn down.}) 7... O-O 8. O-O Ne4 $1 {The point of this move is to allow Black to push e5. There are other ways of doing this, like Qe8, but they are far more awkward while this is natural and direct.} 9. h3 e5 {Black has achieved e5 while it is unclear exactly what White has achieved. Carlsen has already equalized.} 10. Bh2 exd4 11. exd4 Ng5 $1 {Taking away the protection of the d4 pawn will force this diagonal open: a nice strategical advantage as the bishop on h2 will not be able to oppose the one on g7.} 12. Nxg5 Qxg5 13. f4 {a strange move as White is at least temporarily burrying his bishop. He hopes to maneouver it soon to g1 for it to regain its power.} Qf6 14. d5 Nd4 15. Kh1 c5 $1 {Securing the diagonal and giving b5 ideas a sharper edge.} 16. Bd3 Bd7 17. Bg1 Rae8 18. Qd2 a6 19. Rad1 {Already Black's position is more comfortable. By induction from the Benoni, it is clear that if Black achieves the b5 break and achieves a powerful bishop on g7 he will be in the driver's seat.} Rb8 20. a4 Qd8 $1 {A smart regrouping of the queen. Black only needs one piece to control the long diagonal.} 21. Rb1 Qa5 22. Qd1 Qb4 23. Bf2 Rbe8 24. Be1 Qb3 {The queen finishes her long journey to b3, and with it she exerts so much power that White has no choice but to trade her off. The problem is that this is a bad trade for White, as the Queen is his best defender. Without the queen White is both planless and in a difficult situation, Black will slowly set up b5 and when that break happens Black's pieces will crash through.} 25. Qxb3 Nxb3 26. Bc2 {Aronian was down to less than ten minutes at this point. He started pacing a lot around this point, while Carlsen stayed at his board constantly thinking.} Na5 {It was tempting to put the knight on d4 again, but both moves are about as problematic for White as now the c4 pawn is not easily defended.} 27. Bd3 $1 Re3 28. Rd1 Rb8 $6 {Black continues with this plan of breaking on b5. Magnus has shuffled his rooks a lot, but they now find themselves in strong positions which is why Aronian takes care of that immediately. However it might have been better to immediately place the knight on a5 back to d4 before anything else.} (28... Rxd3 $5 {was his original idea, but Carlsen didn't see anything clear at the end and decided not to go for the complications.} 29. Rxd3 Nxc4 $13) 29. Bf2 Ree8 30. Ra1 $1 {Aronian is an excellent player, and sometimes it is most important to shine when you are in difficult positions. This important move allows the rook to diminish the effects of a possible b5, as the a-file will be open in its favor.} Bd4 31. Kg1 {Aronian took the opportunity where he felt Black's advantage had slip and the fact that Carlsen had dropped significantly in the clock to offer a draw in this position.} Be3 32. Bxe3 Rxe3 33. Rad1 Rbe8 34. Kf2 Nb3 35. Rfe1 $1 {With the trade of all the rooks, White has nothing to worry about.} Rxe1 36. Rxe1 Rxe1 37. Kxe1 Nd4 38. Kd2 Kf7 39. Be2 Kf6 40. Bd1 a5 1/2-1/2 {A nice save for Levon Aronian.} *