Cover Story / Nakamura, Krush are champs
tually won after mistakes by both sides. Hikaru’s choice is more critical. 12. ... Rc8 is another logical move, but after 13. Nb5!, with ideas of Nxa7 and Nd4, White has been doing well.
13. h4 Nfd7
Black may or may not want to take the f3-pawn. The main idea is just stopping Bh6. 13. ... Nc4 14. Bxc4 Qxc4 15. Bh6 is slightly better for White.
14. f4 14. h5 was still possible, since 14. ...
Nxf3!? (14. ... Nc4 is also possible, and after 15. Bxc4 Qxc4 16. hxg6 hxg6 the position isn’t completely clear, since Black can often run with his king to the center if necessary.) 15. Nd5! is a nice blow. I had thought this was better for White, but Black seems to get a reasonable position in any case. 15. ... Nxd2 (15. ... exd5 16. Qxd5+ Rf7 [16. ... Kh8? 17. hxg6 Nf6 18. Rxh7+ Nxh7 19. Qh5 and Black gets mated or loses too many pieces.] 17. Bxf3 when White is a little better) 16. Nxe7+ Kf7 17. Nxc8 Raxc8 18. Rxd2 Ke7 Black shouldn’t really have problems due to his dark-square control. A sample is 19. hxg6 hxg6 20. Bg5+ Bf6 21. Rh7+ Rf7 22. Bxf6+ Kxf6 23. g5+ Ke7 24. Rxf7+ Kxf7 25. Rxd6 Ne5 and Black has good com- pensation.
14. ... Nc4 15. Bxc4 Qxc4 16. e5 I had actually completely missed this
when I took on f4. For some reason I thought he was forced to exchange queens.
21. ... Qxh2 22. Rxh2 Rf8 Still, the position isn’t as bad as it
looks for Black. I am quickly getting some counterplay with ... Rf4, and if I eventu- ally activate my bishop with ... e5-e4 I will have counterplay. Also, the tripled pawns aren’t as bad as they seem, since after White takes one of them they will only be doubled.
23. Ne4 The computer recommends the inter-
esting 23. b3 Rf4 24. Ne2, with the idea of 24. ... Rxg4 25. Rd8+ Kf7 26. Rb8 when the knight on e2 is doing a good job preventing Black from getting counter- play.
23. ... Rf4 24. Ng5 It made more sense to go to c5 and take
the b7-pawn. The pawn on e6 isn’t com- pletely useless, but the one on b7 looks much tastier. 24. Nc5 Rxg4 25. Nxb7 and White has good winning chances.
24. ... Rxg4 25. Nxe6 Bf6 I wasn’t sure whether or not I should be
afraid of Nxg7. The bishop could be a strong piece in the future, though, so I think 25. ... Bf6 makes sense.
26. b3 Now White just wants to play c2-c4,
when my knight will have major issues. Therefore, ...
26. ... Nc8 27. c4 27. Rd8+ Kf7 28. Nc5 Nd6 29. Rh7+
Bg7 doesn’t give White anything. 27. Rf2!? was an interesting try to prevent Black’s knight from getting into the game. After 27. ... b6 (27. ... Nd6? 28. Rxd6) 28. c4 Kf7 29. Nc7 e4 Black still has good chances of saving the game.
I knew I had seen this position before,
but unfortunately I didn’t remember the right way.
16. ... Nb6
16. ... Rad8 is probably the best move, when the position is still unclear. 17. h5 Now White gets a big and easy attack.
17. ... dxe5 18. hxg6 hxg6 19. Qh2 Rxf4 Unfortunately the only move. 19. ...
exf4 20. Bd4 is simply crushing for White. 20. Bxf4
20. Kb1 Nd5 is good for Black. 20. ... Qxf4+ 21. Kb1
24 August 2012 | Chess Life
27. ... Nd6 28. c5 Nb5 29. Rd7 I was in time trouble at this point, so
Hikaru was playing quite quickly. I should mention that Hikaru played the whole game while hardly consuming any time.
29. ... Kf7 I had thought this was a mistake, but
now I think that 37. ... Re1+ was the decisive error. The move 29. ... e4! was probably also good enough to hold. 30. Rxb7 Rg1+ 31. Kc2 Ra1! This is the whole point. Now 32. Rxb5 looks critical, which leads to an amazing line. After 32. ... Rxa2+ 33. Kc1 Rxh2 34. c6 e3 35. c7 (35. Nf4 leads to a draw after 35. ... Rh1+ 36. Kc2 Rh2+, since 37. Kd3 allows 37. ... Rd2+ 38. Kxe3 Rc2, when Black is
slightly better.) 35. ... Rh1+ 36. Kc2 e2 37. c8=Q+ Kh7 38. Nf8+ Kg7 (38. ... Kh6?? fails to 39. Qe8 Rg1 40. Qf7) 39. Ne6+ (39. Qe8 now Black can escape to h8, and after 39. ... e1=Q 40. Qxg6+ Kh8 41. Rh5+ Rxh5 42. Qxh5+ Kg7 he actually wins.) 39. ... Kh7 40. Re5 (40. Rb8 Rc1+ [40. ... e1=Q?? 41. Qg8+ Kh6 42. Qh8+! Bxh8 43. Rxh8 mate] 41. Kxc1 e1=Q+ 42. Kc2 Qe2+ with a perpetual.) 40. ... Bxe5 41. Qf8 (41. Ng5+ Kg7 42. Nf3 [42. Qb7 e1=Q 43. Qxe7+ Kh6 44. Nf7+ Kh7 45. Nxe5+ Kh6 46. Nf7+ Kg7 is just a draw.] 42. ... e1=Q [42. ... e1=N+!?] 43. Nxe1 Rxe1 44. Qd7 Bd6 45. Qxa7 Re4 and it will end as a draw.) 41. ... Bf6 42. Qf7+ Kh6 43. Nf8 e1=N+ Somehow Black makes every move with check, and so he can survive. 44. Kd2 Nf3+ 45. Ke2 Nh4 and Black guards g6 while protecting the rook from Qh7+; 29. ... Rg1+ could trans- pose to the 29. ... e4 line shown above after 30. Kc2 Na3+ 31. Kb2 Nb5 32. Rxb7 e4+.
30. Rxb7 The following sequence of moves seems
forced.
30. ... Rg1+ 31. Kc2 Na3+ 32. Kb2 Nb1 33. Nd8+ Ke8 34. Nc6 e4+ 35. Kc2 Na3+ 36. Kd2 Nb1+ 37. Ke3
37. ... Re1+? This check only helps White’s position.
The right move was 37. ... Nc3!, when Black’s pieces are all coordinating well. The knight does several things well here. First of all, it discourages any immediate captures on e7 due to ... Nd5+ forks. Also, after the black rook gives a few checks, the knight will either help support the advance of the pawn to e2 or go back to d5, where it supports e7 and prepares an e4-e3 advance. 38. Rxa7 (38. Rh7? Rg3+ 39. Kf2 Rf3+ 40. Kg1 Nd5 shows the great activity of the black pieces. Black may already start playing to win here.) 38. ... Rd1 39. Kf2 Rd3!? White should prob- ably just force a draw here. 40. Rh7 (40. Kf1 Rd1+ 41. Kg2 Nd5 could be danger- ous for White.) 40. ... e3+ 41. Kg2 e2 42. Rhxe7+ Bxe7 43. Rxe7+ Kf8 44. Kf2 Rh3 (44. ... Rd1 45. Rxe2 Nxe2 46. Kxe2 is also
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76