Cover Story / Nakamura, Krush are champs recovered with 41 ⁄2 out of the next 5 to
momentarily overtake his top-seeded rival. He needed only a draw to retain the lead, while a win would guarantee him first place with a round to spare. At stake was his- tory—a third consecutive title has not been accomplished since GM Walter Browne won a trio in the mid 1970s (Reshevsky and Bobby Fischer have also done it, with Fis- cher winning four in a row twice and Reshevsky winning five in a row at the tournament’s inception). Kamsky and Nakamura had played five
times previously, all draws. For this meet- ing, the organizers separated the game from the other ten players by placing the table on the opposite side of the room (the women had a rest day, opening up their half of the playing hall). “Basically people want to see blood, that’s the reality,” Naka- mura said. In their last encounter, at this year’s Tata Steel tournament, Nakamura had black as well and chose the Sicilian Dragon. He won a pawn and pressed for the win, but missed some chances and set- tled for a draw. For this meeting Nakamura chose a
favorite shirt—a polo with a gleaming red Canadian maple leaf that occupied one entire half. He arrived clean-shaven and eager. Nakamura repeated the Sicilian, but instead chose the Najdorf. Kamsky picked the continuation 6. a4, which he has played in about one out of every four games recently. But he became noticeably more methodical after Nakamura’s 11. ... Na5 (he spent 30 minutes before finding a reply). As the game continued, Kamsky sighed heav- ily on several occasions and covered his face with both hands. He removed them to find the same problems as before the blinding. In a sign of confidence, Nakamura paced away from the board for much of the game. When on move, he often looked quizzically at the board, as if to suggest he could not find resources for his opponent. After the exchange of bishop for knight, Nakamura got the imbalance he needed and a strong initiative on the c-file. Like at Wijk aan Zee, his pressure netted a pawn, but unlike the previous game, he was able to con- vert. Kamsky played on out of inertia but could not find a meaningful answer as Nakamura pushed his passed pawn down the runway in consecutive moves.
Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation (B90) GM Gata Kamsky (2741) GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) 2012 U.S. Championship (10) Notes by IM Daniel Ludwig
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4
This move is not considered a critical 18 August 2012 | Chess Life
test against the Najdorf, but Kamsky has a lot of faith in this line and has used it against some of the best Najdorf players in the world.
6. ... e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bc4 0-0 9. 0-0 Be6 10. Bb3 Nc6
This is a drawback of the early 6. a4 variation. Black plays his knight to c6 because a5 is important to prevent and the b4-square is weakened. In these struc- tures, ideally White waits until Black plays ... Nbd7 before playing a2-a4 so that a4- a5 is easier to play and ... Nb4 is also impossible.
11. Bg5
Thus far both sides have developed naturally, and White is undergoing the usual plan of weakening the d5-square. However, in less than ten moves White’s position will be passive and clearly worse.
11. ... Na5! Everything in this position revolves
around White’s ability to play Nd5. This move undermines White’s plan, and it also prepares ideas on the ‘b’ and ‘c’ files.
12. Bxf6 Bxf6
ably slightly better due to the backwards d6-pawn.
13. ... Rc8 14. Nd2 Qc7 15. Re1 Bg5! This not only activates the bad bishop,
it restricts White’s key maneuver, Nd2-f1- e3-d5. Now White’s position is already unpleasant.
16. Nf1 Qb6 17. Rb1 Nc4 18. Qe2 Bh6 Nakamura later questioned this move,
but it is quite acceptable, as are many other moves. Kamsky was quickly plum- meting into time pressure as he was unable to come up with a long-term plan. In situations like this, sometimes patient moves like ... Bh6 can be the best because they force the opponent to find some- thing useful while low on time.
19. h4 Qb4 20. g3 Rc7 21. Kg2 Nb6 22. Bb3! Black is going to win a pawn, and there
are many ways White can choose to give one up. Objectively, Bb3 was the best choice. This move changes the nature of the position, and allows White some extra activity.
22. ... Bxb3 23. cxb3 Qxb3 24. a5 Na4
Better is 24. ... Nc4 when the knight is
13. Bd5? This is one of the game’s key positions.
This move looks nice, but it is little more than a moral victory. The bishop on d5 does not restrict any of Black’s play. Instead it limits White’s ideas on the d-file and the bishop occupies the key square for a knight. The most consistent idea is 13. Nd5 Nxb3 14. cxb3 Rc8 15. Qd3. It is easy to understand why Kamsky avoided this, though objectively this position is clearly better than what he received. This position may not be aesthetically pleas- ing for White, but on the plus side, at some point Black must trade his good bishop to try and make progress. The move 13. Ba2 deserves some considera- tion because it leaves the d5-square free without damaging the queenside pawn structure. 13. ... Rc8 14. Nd5 Nc4 15. b3 Bxd5 (15. ... Nb6 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 17. Qxd6) 16. Qxd5 Both sides have bad bishops here, but White’s position is prob-
on a central square defending d6 and threatening a5.
25. Nh2? After 25. Nd5! Rc2 26. Qd1 Nxb2 27.
Ne7+ Kh8 28. Qxd6 this position is unclear, but likely equal with best play. White’s queenside has disintegrated, but now the black pieces are clumsy, not White’s.
25. ... g6! This move avoids a long and relatively
forced variation that leads to an endgame that is possibly holding for White. The move 25. ... g6 keeps the tension in the position, and also forces White to make more critical decisions with little time. 25. ... Nxc3 26. bxc3 Qxc3 27. Ng4 Qxa5 (27. ... Qd2 28. Qf3 Rc3 29. Qd1) 28. Red1 Qc5 29. Nxh6+ gxh6 30. Rdc1 Qxc1 31. Rxc1 Rxc1 32. Qg4+ Kh8 33. Qd7 Rcc8 34. Qxb7 Ra8 35. Qe7 f6 36. Qxd6 a5 37. Qa3 The black king is slightly
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