With a key win over his archrival, U.S. GM Hikaru Nakamura has booked a slot in next spring’s eight-grandmaster Candidates Tournament in Toronto, for a chance to take on reigning Chinese world champ GM Ding Liren.
Nakamura, boosted by a penultimate-round win over fellow U.S. GM Fabiano Caruana, finished alone in second at the just-finished FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament behind rising Indian star GM Vidit Gujrathi, snagging one of the two Candidates’ berths on offer. It was a banner result for Indian chess as 22-year-old IM Vaishali Rameshbabu won the Women’s Grand Prix, qualifying for the women’s Candidates Tournament along with Chinese GM Tan Zhongyi. Rameshbabu’s brother Praggnanandhaa has already clinched a slot in the Toronto tourney, making them the first brother-sister tandem ever to accomplish the feat.
Caruana, like Praggnanandhaa, has already secured a slot in the Candidates Tournament next year with his high finish at the Chess World Cup earlier this year, but he has to be concerned about his chances of holding off Nakamura, who won his third straight game between the two top-rated American players at classical time controls. Given the stakes and the tournament situation, Nakamura’s win at the Grand Swiss might be his most impressive of all.
White sidesteps the Petroff’s for a Scotch Four Knights Game, saying after the game he had some experience with this line as a younger player. After 8. exd5 0-0, for example, White can get into early trouble with the greedy 9. exd6?! Bg4 10. f3 Re8+ 11 Kf1, and Black’s positional chips are worth the two pawns.
It’s still a well-known position after 14. Bg5 Ne4 (Qxc3?? 15. Bxh7+), but there’s a greater level of discomfort for Black after 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qg3 — opposite-colored bishops may be drawish in the ending, but in the middlegame they can be a boost for the attacking side, which is clearly White here.
Black lets his guard down ever so slightly after 17. a4 Rfe8 18. Rd6! (the subtle point here, as Nakamura noted later, is that Black’s queen is being shut out of the game from her perch on a5, with the rook and White pawns not allowing her back into the play) h6?! (very committal, as will be seen, but Black was already bailing water here: 18…f6 19. Bf4, and seeking trades with 19…Rad8? falls to 20. Rxe6! Rxe6 21. Bc7, with a neat skewer) 19. Bf4 Re7 20. Qe3 (Re1! was another strong choice here; e.g. 20… Qxa4? 21. Bxh6 gxh6 22. Qh4 Rd7 23. Qxh6+ Kg8 24. Re3 Rxd6 25. Rg3+ Bg4 26. Qxd6 and wins) Rc8 (see diagram), and now White pulls the trigger.
After 21. Bxh6! (Nakamura looked long and hard at the computer’s preferred 21. Be5!, since 21…f6 loses to 22. Bxf6! gxf6 23. Qxh6+, with lines like 23… Kg8 24. Rad1 Rce8 25. Qg6+ Kh8 26. Qxf6+ Kg8 27. R1d5!! Bxd5 28. Qg6+ Rg7 29. Qxe8+ Kh7 30. Qh5+ Kg8 31. Qxd5+, but said he feared some lines led to a long drawn-out ending and he preferred a quicker win) f6 (and not 21…gxh6? 22. Qxh6+ Kg8 23. Qg5+ Kf8 24 Qf6! Ree8 [the only way to stop mate on h8] 25. Qh6+ Ke7 26. Rxe6+! fxe6 27. Qg7+ Kd6 28. Rd1+ Kc6 29. Qd7+ Kc6 29. Qd7+ Kb6 30. Rd6+ Rc3 31. Rxc6 mate) 22. Qxe4 Qxc3 23. Rad1 Rce8 24. Rd8, and Black’s position is under tremendous pressure.
Short on time, Black defends tenaciously and nearly claws back into the game: 25. Qh4 Qxc2 26. R1d3! (blocking the queen’s path back to defend the kingside) Bh7 (gxh6 27. Qxh6+ Bh7 28. Qxf6+ Kg8 29. Rg3+) 27. R3d7 (a neat-looking fourpack of rooks) g5 (Rxd7 28. Rxe8+ Bg8 29. Bxg7+! Kxg7 30. Qg3+ Kh6 31. Rxg8 Qd1+ 32. Kh2 Qh5 33. Rg4 Rd4 34. Qe3+ Kh7 35. Qe7+ Kh8 36. Qg7 mate) 28. Qg3?! (Qg4, guarding the a-pawn was more precise), and now 28…Rxd7 29. Rxd7 Qxa4! 30. Qd6 Qa1+ 31. Kh2 Qe5+ 32. Qxe5 Rxe5 33. Bg7+ Kg8 34. Bxf6 Rf5 would have offered distinct drawing possibilities, though White is still much better.
Caruana lets the chance slip and it’s effectively over on 30. Rxe7 Rxd8 31. Qc7!, threatening not just the Black rook but 32. Re8+! Rxe8 33. Qg7 mate. Black parries with 31…Qf4+ 32. Qxf4 gxf4, but the ending turns out to be hopeless after 33. Bg7+ Kg8 34. Bxf6 Bb1 35. Rg7+! Kf8 36. Bxd8 Kxg7 37. Bg5 f3 38. g4! (one last finesse to preserve the connected passed pawns; 38. gxf3?? is a draw) f3 38. g4 c4 39. Kg3 Be4 40. Bd2, and Black resigned. White will plant his bishop on c3 and advance his g- and h-pawns up the board for the win.
England hasn’t boasted a world chess champion since Howard Staunton claimed the then-unofficial title in the 1850s. But the U.K. can now boast of two new champions: English GM Michael Adams claimed the 31st World Senior 50+ Championship in Terrasini, Italy, over the weekend, while compatriot GM John Nunn took the world senior title for players over 65. Adams nipped GM Suat Atalik on tiebreaks for the title, catching the veteran Turkish star with a last-round win over Slovakian GM Martin Mrva.
The Vienna Game (3. Bc4) is another oldie-but-goodie opening getting a respectful new hearing these days. White’s loss is instructive here — perhaps intimidated by his better-known, more accomplished opponent, he essentially fritters away five moves beginning with the nervous retreat 16. Re1?! (d4 exd4 17. cxd4 Qe7 18. N1d2 is perfectly playable), letting Adams take over the play.
Things go from bad to lost on 22. exd5?! (there was still time for 22. Qb4 Rc7 23. Rab1 Rff7 24. Rbc1, with equality) Nxd5 23. Qc4? (Nxe5?? Ne3+ 24. Kg1 Qg2 mate; 23. Re4, blocking the long diagonal, was the only plausible defense here, as 23…Ngf4+ [Nf6 is also very playable)] 24. gxf4+ Nxf4+ 25. Kg1 Nxh3+ 26. Kg2 Nf4+ 27. Kg1 Nxd3 28. Qc4 Qd5 29. Rb1 Rc7 30. Qxd5 exd5 31. Re3 e4 is strong for Black but not yet winning), as the half-open f-file, the well-posted Black knights and the dominance on the long diagonal lead to a winning shot.
Thus: 23…Rxf3! 24. Nxf3 (Qxc6 Rxf2+ 25. Kg1 bxc6 wins material) Ndf4+! 25. gxf4 (any king retreat just loses the knight on f3) Nh4+! 26. Kf1 (Kg3 Qxf3+ 27. Kxh4 Rxf4+ 28. Qxf4 Qxf4+ 29. Kh5 Qg5 mate) Qxf3 27. Qxe6+ Kh7 — Black is still down an exchange and a pawn, but his attack is too strong to survive.
It’s over quickly on 28. Qg4 Qxd3+ 29. Re2? (losing at once, but things were almost equally bleak after 29. Kg1 [Qe2 Qxh3+ 30. Kg1 Qg2 mate] Rxf4 30. Qg3 Nf3+ 31. Kh1 Nxe1 32. Rxe1 Rf3 33. Qxe5 Rxh3+ 34. Kg1 Qg6+ 35. Kf1 Rh1+ 36. Ke2 Rh4) Rxf4 30. Qg3 (Qg1 Qxh3+ 31. Ke1 Qxc3+ 32. Kf1 33. Re1 Qc3 and wins) Qxg3, and the White queen goes by the wayside; Mrva resigned.
Nakamura-Caruana, FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, Douglas, Isle of Man, November 2023
- e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. O-O cxd5 10. h3 Be6 11. Qf3 c5 12. Rd1 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qa5 14. Bg5 Ne4 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qg3 Kh8 17. a4 Rfe8 18. Rd6 h6 19. Bf4 Re7 20. Qe3 Rc8 21. Bxh6 f6 22. Qxe4 Qxc3 23. Rad1 Rce8 24. Rd8 Bg8 25. Qh4 Qxc2 26. R1d3 Bh7 27. R3d7 g5 28. Qg3 Qb1+ 29. Kh2 Qf5 30. Rxe7 Rxd8 31. Qc7 Qf4+ 32. Qxf4 gxf4 33. Bg7+ Kg8 34. Bxf6 Bb1 35. Rg7+ Kf8 36. Bxd8 Kxg7 37. Bg5 f3 38. g4 c4 39. Kg3 Be4 40. Bd2 Black resigns.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Mrva-Adams, 31st World 50+ Senior Championship, Terrasini, Italy, November 2023
- e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 a6 6. a4 Ba7 7. O-O d6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. h3 h6 10. Re1 Be6 11. b4 Ne7 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Nf1 Ng6 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Rxe3 Rf7 16. Re1 Qe7 17. g3 Raf8 18. N1h2 d5 19. Kg2 c5 20. bxc5 Qxc5 21. Qb3 Qc6 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Qc4 Rxf3 24. Nxf3 Ndf4+ 25. gxf4 Nh4+ 26. Kf1 Qxf3 27. Qxe6+ Kh7 28. Qg4 Qxd3+ 29. Re2 Rxf4 30. Qg3 Qxg3 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
