Bilbao: Nakamura beats Carlsen

by André Schulz
7/13/2016 – The first round of the Masters in Bilbao started with a bang. For the first time in his career Hikaru Nakamura won against Magnus Carlsen in a game with classical time control. World Champion Carlsen played too aggressively and an unimpressed Nakamura countered. The two other games were drawn. Wei Yi successfully defended a difficult ending against Anish Giri while Sergey Karjakin and Wesley split the point after some excitement in the middlegame.
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Follow the games live and with commentary on playchess.com

Friendly gestures before the start of the
game between Wesley So and Sergey Karjakin

Fully focused: Hikaru Nakamura

For a long time it seemed as if Hikaru Nakamura was cursed when playing against Magnus Carlsen. No matter how good the American stood in some games, before Bilbao he had never managed to beat Carlsen in classical chess.

But Bilbao is not the first tournament in which
Carlsen started badly - and often he has won in the end.

Hikaru Nakamura

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 A move-order finesse. Depending on Black's reply White may refrain from playing d4 and then his knight might be better placed on e2 than f3. d6 3.Nbc3 a6 Inviting White to a Najdorf. 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.0-0 0-0 Now a position from the Fianchetto-Variation of the Dragon Sicilian is on the board. 9.b3 Nc6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bb2 Qa5 12.Na4 Bg4 13.Qe1 Qh5 14.f3 Bh3 15.g4!? Solid alternatives were 15.Rd1 or 15.c4 15...Qh6 16.Rd1 g5 17.Bc1 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qg6 19.h4 19.Nb6!? Rab8 20.Nc4 h5 21.h3 19...gxh4 20.Qxh4 d5
21.g5? Too optimistic. Less risky was 21.exd5 cxd5 21...Qxc2+ 22.Rd2 Qg6 23.dxc6 Rac8= 22.Qg5 Qxc2+ 23.Rd2 Qc6 24.Bb2= with an equal position. 21...dxe4 22.f4 White has not enough play for his pawn. The knight on a4 in particular is too far away from the action. After 22.fxe4 Nxe4 Black is a pawn up and White's king is vulnerable. 22...e6 23.c4 Rfd8 24.Rde1 Ne8 25.Nc5 Nd6 26.Qf2 f5 27.Bb2
27...Nf7 Sooner or later Black will be able to play ...e5 to make his pawn majority in the center felt. 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Qg3 Rd6 30.Rd1 Rad8 31.Rxd6 Rxd6 32.Qc3+ Kg8 33.Rf2 Qh5 33...e5!? 34.fxe5 Or 34.Qg3 Qh5 with the idea 35.-- Rd1 36.-- Qh1# 34...Qxg5++- 34.Qh3 Qd1 35.Qe3 e5 36.Qg3 36.fxe5 Rg6! After 36...Nxe5 White may try 37.Nxe4 fxe4 38.Qxe4 . After Qg4+ 39.Qxg4 Nxg4 40.Re2 Black still has to work a bit. 36...Rg6 37.Kh2 exf4 38.Qxf4 White's position is in ruins. Qh5+ 39.Kg1 Qd1+ 40.Kh2 Qh5+ 41.Kg1 Nxg5 42.Qb8+ Kg7 43.Qe5+ Kh6 44.Qf4 Qd1+ 45.Kh2 Qd4 46.b4 Kg7 47.Qc7+ Kh8 48.Qc8+ Rg8 49.Qxf5 Nf3+ 50.Kh3 Qd6 50...Qd6 51.Rg2 Qh6+ leads to mate. 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2855Nakamura,H27870–12016B919th Masters Final 20161

 

Sergey Karjakin at the start of his game against Wesley So

Wesley So on his way to Berlin

Anish Giri played with White against Wei Yi and thanks to the bishops pair he had a slight endgame advantage. However, against Wei Yi's tenacious defense he failed to convert this advantage into a full point.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Nbd2 0-0 9.Re1 Ne7 10.Nf1 Ng6 11.Bb3 c6 12.h3 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 15.Kxf2 Nxe5 16.d4 Ng6 17.Kg1 Qh4 18.Bd2 Bd7 19.Qf3 Rae8 20.Ng3 Re6 21.Nh5 Rfe8 22.Rf1 Qe7 23.Qg3 Re2 24.Rae1 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Qh4 26.Rxe8+ Bxe8 27.Qxh4 Nxh4
The pair of bishops secures White an endgame advantage. 28.c4 Ne7 29.Kf2 Nhf5 30.d5 Nd4 31.Ba2 cxd5 32.cxd5 Bxa4 33.Bc3 Bb3 34.d6 Nec6 35.Bxd4 Another try was 35.Bxb3!? Nxb3 36.Nxg7 f6 37.Nf5 Kf7 38.Nxh6+ Ke6 39.Ng8 35...Bxa2 36.Bxg7 Kh7 37.Bc3 Be6
38.Nf6+ 38.g4!? to activate the king was another possibility. b5 39.Ke3 b4 40.Bf6 38...Kg6 39.d7 a5 40.g4 b5 41.h4 b4 42.Be5 a4 43.h5+ Kg7 44.Ne4+ Kh7 45.Bd6 f5 46.Nc5 a3 47.bxa3 b3 48.Be5 Bxd7 49.Bc3 Bc8 50.Nxb3 fxg4 51.Kg3 Ne7 52.Nc5 Nf5+ 53.Kxg4 Nd4+ 54.Kh4 Nf5+ 55.Kh3 Ng7+ 56.Kh4 Nf5+ 57.Kh3 Ng7+ ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2785Wei Yi2696½–½2016C549th Masters Final 20161

 

Results of round 1

Board Title Name ELO Result Title Name ELO
1 GM Sergey Karjakin 2779 ½ - ½ GM Wesley So 2775
2 GM Magnus Carlsen 2851 0 - 1 GM Hikaru Nakamura 2787
3 GM Anish Giri 2790 ½ - ½ GM Wei Yi 2694

Games

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Bd3 Ng6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nbd2 c6 12.Nf1 d5 13.Bg5 dxe4 14.Rxe4 h6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Re3 Bf5 17.Bxf5 Qxf5 18.Ng3 Qd7 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Rxe5 Rxe5 21.dxe5 Qe7 22.Qh5 g6 23.Qe2 Qg5 24.Kf1 Kf8 25.Re1 Re8 26.Qd3 Rxe5 27.Qd6+ Re7 28.Ne4 Qf5 29.Re2 Bc7 30.Qd4 Qe5 31.Qxa7 Qh2 32.Ng3 Bxg3 33.Rxe7 Qh1+ 34.Ke2 Kxe7 35.Qe3+ Kf6 36.Qxg3 Qb1 37.Qf4+ Kg7 38.Qd4+ Kg8 39.Qb4 Qxa2 40.Qxb7 Qc4+ 41.Ke3 Qc5+ 42.Kf3 Qd5+ 43.Kg3 Qg5+ 44.Kh2 Qf4+ 45.Kg1 Qc1+ 46.Kh2 Qf4+ ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2773So,W2770½–½2016C659th Masters Final 20161
Carlsen,M2855Nakamura,H27870–12016B209th Masters Final 20161
Giri,A2785Wei Yi2696½–½2016C509th Masters Final 20161

Standings after round 1

  Title Name Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts. TB
1 GM Hikaru Nakamura 2787           1 1.0 / 1  
2 GM Anish Giri 2790         ½   0.5 / 1 0.25
3 GM Sergey Karjakin 2779       ½     0.5 / 1 0.25
4 GM Wesley So 2775     ½       0.5 / 1 0.25
5 GM Yi Wei 2694   ½         0.5 / 1 0.25
6 GM Magnus Carlsen 2851 0           0.0 / 1  

Tournament page...

André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.