Gibraltar Rd5: Brilliant Nakamura

by Alejandro Ramirez
1/31/2015 – Hikaru Nakamura is the only person in Gibratar to keep his perfect score, and he did so with uncompromising and aggressive chess. Baskaran Adhiban simply was not up to the challenge: he got lost in the complications and by move 18 Naka's deadly pawns reached the 3rd rank (!). Tomorrow will be a showdown of monsters, as Nakamura takes on the top player with 4.5: Veselin Topalov.

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Round Five

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg
1 Adhiban B. 2630 4 0 - 1 4 Nakamura Hikaru 2776
2 Vazquez Igarza Renier 2592 4 ½ - ½ 4 Wei Yi 2675
3 Anton Guijarro David 2617 3½ 0 - 1 3½ Topalov Veselin 2800
4 Bologan Viktor 2608 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ Svidler Peter 2739
5 Lalith Babu M.R. 2537 3½ 0 - 1 3½ Yu Yangyi 2724
6 Harikrishna P. 2723 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ Lenderman Aleksandr 2614
7 Oparin Grigoriy 2551 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ Hou Yifan 2673
8 Howell David W L 2670 3½ 1 - 0 3½ Salem A.R. Saleh 2603
9 Chirila Ioan-Cristian 2548 3 0 - 1 3 Vitiugov Nikita 2735
10 Jakovenko Dmitry 2733 3 ½ - ½ 3 Muzychuk Anna 2544
11 Spraggett Kevin 2538 3 ½ - ½ 3 Rapport Richard 2716
12 Matlakov Maxim 2695 3 0 - 1 3 Muzychuk Mariya 2520
13 Debashis Das 2503 3 ½ - ½ 3 Cheparinov Ivan 2681
14 Rodshtein Maxim 2680 3 1 - 0 3 Al-Sayed Mohammed 2516
15 Shyam Sundar M. 2489 3 ½ - ½ 3 Motylev Alexander 2665
16 Tari Aryan 2487 3 ½ - ½ 3 Edouard Romain 2638
17 Pichot Alan 2480 3 0 - 1 3 Bachmann Axel 2629
18 Salgado Lopez Ivan 2628 3 ½ - ½ 3 Stefanova Antoaneta 2515
19 Sethuraman S.P. 2624 3 ½ - ½ 3 Donchenko Alexander 2511
20 Melia Salome 2473 3 0 - 1 3 Naroditsky Daniel 2622

With his fearless play Hikaru Nakamura bested...

Baskaran Adhiban

Hikaru Nakmura emerges as the only leader after a very exciting game against Baskaran Adhiban from India. How often do you see two connected passed pawns on the 3rd rank after only 18 moves?

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.Nc3 a6 this ultra-sharp line has attracted a couple of people in the past few years. If this line is actually sound remains to be seen, but it is clear that it is difficult to navigate all the complexities of the position over the board. 6.axb5 cxb5 7.Nxb5 If White doesn't take on b5, nothing makes sense. axb5 8.Rxa8 Bb7 9.Ra1 e6 The first time I personally heard of this variation was when Eouard used it against Hammer in May of last year. Since then there have been a few games, particularly Mameadyarov-Kasimdzhanov, October 2014 and Wojtaszek-Nakamura, June 2014, even though the latter was "just" a blitz game. 10.Ne2?! Even if White doesn't want to defend his e4 pawn he should at least develop the knight more naturally to f3. 10.f3 is regarded as critical by Edouard according to his annotations for ChessBase Magazine. I tend to agree. 10...Bxe4 11.b3?! Nc6 Already Black's counterplay is very strong. The threat of Nb4 and Nc2+ is very real. 12.Nc3?! 12.f3! Was the last chance to make the game complicated. Bd3∞ 12...Nb4!? Was completely possible as well! 13.fxe4 Nd3+ 14.Kd2 Nf6 Black has compensation for his rook (!) but it is unclear what the exact continuation for both players should be from now on. 12...Bb4 13.Bd2 Bxc3 14.Bxc3 b4! White is already in big problems. 15.d5 Trying to confuse matters, but it does not work. 15.Bd2 c3 16.Be3 Nge7 gives Black too much compensation. After Black 0-0 Nakamura would have a strong passed pawn on c3, control over d5, better development and a dream position. 15...bxc3 16.dxc6 Qxd1+ 17.Kxd1 cxb3 Blacks pawns are simply queening .Adhiban finds a way to survive for a few moves. 18.c7 Kd7? As Nakamura points out, this just lets his opponent survive longer. 18...Ne7! 19.Bb5+ Kf8 20.Ke2 b2 21.Rad1 g6 22.Bd3 Bxg2 23.Rhg1 Bb7 with Nd5 and Ke7 to follow up. 19.Ra3! b2 20.c8Q+ Kxc8 21.Rxc3+ If the king could go to e7 this move the game would be over, but alas it has the unpleasant choice of going to the b-file, where it allows Rb3+, or the d-file, which allows... Kd7 22.Bd3 b1Q+ 23.Bxb1 Bxb1 24.Rb3 The point here is that once the pin on the 8-rank happens, untangling is no trivial task. Be4 25.Rb8 g5 26.Ke2 Ke7 27.h4? Too slow! 27.Rc1 Kf6 28.Rcc8 Kg7 29.g3 e5 30.Re8 looks very hard to win. f6 31.f4! 27...gxh4 28.Rxh4 Bc6 29.Rc4 Be8 The bishop arrives right on time to block the h-file, slowly untangling the position. 30.Rc7+ 30.Rcc8 Nf6 31.Ke1 Rg8 32.g3 Rg5-+ 30...Kd6 31.Ra7 Ne7! 32.Rd8+ 32.Raa8 Bb5+-+ 32...Ke5 33.Rb7 Kf6 34.Rdb8 Ng6 35.Rb6 h5 36.f3 Ba4 Black has untangled and the rest is easy. The two pieces with the extra pawn should have no problems beating a rook. 37.Rxh8 Nxh8 38.Ke3 Ng6 39.Ra6 Bb3 40.Ra5 Bd5 41.Ra7 e5 42.Ra5 Be6 43.Rb5 h4 44.Rb1 Kg5 45.Rb5 f6 46.Rb7 Nf4 47.Kf2 Nh5 48.Rb6 Bf5 49.Rb8 Bg6 50.Rb4 Nf4 51.Ra4 Bf7 52.Ra7 Kg6 53.Ra1 Bd5 54.Rd1 Kg5 55.Rd2 f5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Adhiban,B-Nakamura,H-0–12015D20Gibraltar Masters 20155.1

On board two it looked as if Renier Vazquez Igarza had a very good position against Wei Yi. Slowly, the Spaniard let go of his advantages until he started to lose what seemed like an unlosable endgame. Eventually the players arrived to this position:

Wei Yi almost got to 5.0/5, but not quite

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49...h6? This endgame is not as trivial as it looks. Black wanted to keep the pawn on g5 for the blockade, but he really had no choice but to take on h4. 49...Rxh4! 50.Kf5 h6 51.g3 Rh1 52.f4 gxf4 53.gxf4 And White is simply not in time to push his f-pawn and capture the enemy h-pawn. For example: Kb4! 54.Rb2+ Kc3 55.Rb6 55.Rb8 a3 56.Rc8+ Kb2 57.Rb8+ Ka1 58.Kg6 Rb1 59.Ra8 Rb6+-+ 55...h5! 55...a3 56.Ra6 Kb2 57.Rb6+ Ka1 58.Ke4 and now the rook is attacking h6, a very important detail. There is no 58. ..Rb1. 56.Ra6 Kb4 57.Rb6+ Ka5! 58.Rb8 a3-+ 50.hxg5 hxg5 51.Ra1 Kb4 52.Rf1! a3 53.g3 Rc4 54.f4 With the creation of this passed pawn White can feel safe. Worst case scenario he sacrifices his rook for the a-pawn and pushes the f-pawn, forcing Black to sacrifice his rook for the passer. gxf4 55.gxf4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vazquez Igarza,R-Wei,Y-½–½2015A15Gibraltar Masters 20155.2

Topalov is now only half a point behind Nakamura after he defeated the talented Spaniard Anton Guijarro. The two highest rated players in the event will duke it out tomorrow!

Also on 4.5/5 are Yu Yangyi, who beat Babu Lalith and David Howell who defeated Saleh Salem.

Nikita Vitiugov demolished Cristian Chirila and moves to 4.0/5

Lawrence Trent (left) continues unblemished in this tournament

Saleh Salem lost to David Howell. Salem is one of a few players
that went to Gibraltar straight from Wijk aan Zee.

Kevin Spraggett from Canada

Anna Muzychuk is half a point behind the female leaders,
Hou Yifan and her sister Mariya Muzychuk

Alex Lenderman with a strong 2700 performance

Yu Yangyi scored an important victory with the black pieces

Round Five Standings

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts.
1 Nakamura Hikaru USA 2776 5.0
2 Topalov Veselin BUL 2800 4.5
3 Yu Yangyi CHN 2724 4.5
4 Wei Yi CHN 2675 4.5
5 Howell David W L ENG 2670 4.5
6 Vazquez Igarza Renier ESP 2592 4.5
7 Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2551 4.0
8 Harikrishna P. IND 2723 4.0
9 Roiz Michael ISR 2592 4.0
10 Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2735 4.0
11 Adhiban B. IND 2630 4.0
  Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2463 4.0
13 Wagner Dennis GER 2501 4.0
14 Svidler Peter RUS 2739 4.0
15 Rodshtein Maxim ISR 2680 4.0
16 Hou Yifan CHN 2673 4.0
17 Lenderman Aleksandr USA 2614 4.0
18 Bologan Viktor MDA 2608 4.0
19 Nabaty Tamir ISR 2579 4.0
20 Naroditsky Daniel USA 2622 4.0

Pairings Round Five

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg
1 Nakamura Hikaru 2776 5   4½ Topalov Veselin 2800
2 Yu Yangyi 2724 4½   4½ Vazquez Igarza Renier 2592
3 Wei Yi 2675 4½   4½ Howell David W L 2670
4 Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2595 4   4 Harikrishna P. 2723
5 Rodshtein Maxim 2680 4   4 Roiz Michael 2592
6 Hou Yifan 2673 4   4 Mareco Sandro 2583
7 Muzychuk Mariya 2520 4   4 Adhiban B. 2630
8 Bachmann Axel 2629 4   4 Nabaty Tamir 2579
9 Naroditsky Daniel 2622 4   4 Sandipan Chanda 2574
10 Lenderman Aleksandr 2614 4   4 Oparin Grigoriy 2551
11 Wagner Dennis 2501 4   4 Bologan Viktor 2608
12 Jakovenko Dmitry 2733 3½   4 Vishnu Prasanna. V 2463
13 Rapport Richard 2716 3½   3½ Boruchovsky Avital 2517
14 Cheparinov Ivan 2681 3½   3½ Stefanova Antoaneta 2515
15 Motylev Alexander 2665 3½   3½ Debashis Das 2503
16 Popilski Gil 2522 3½   3½ Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo 2649
17 Edouard Romain 2638 3½   3½ Shyam Sundar M. 2489
18 Donchenko Alexander 2511 3½   3½ Sutovsky Emil 2637
19 Tari Aryan 2487 3½   3½ Salgado Lopez Ivan 2628
20 Smith Axel 2483 3½   3½ Sethuraman S.P. 2624

The match of the day without a doubt will be between American Hikaru Nakamura and ex World Champion Veselin Topalov. A tough fight can be expected as both players will try their hardest to win. Boards two and three will determine if the Chinese delegation can keep putting pressure on the leaders.

Replay Masters games - Round Five

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All photos by Sophie Triay and John Saunders from the Official Website

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Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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