Gibraltar Rd5: Brilliant Nakamura

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2015"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2015.01.27"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D20"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2015.01.27"] 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 $6 {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 $6 Nc6 {Already Black's counterplay is very strong. The threat of Nb4 and Nc2+ is very real.} 12. Nc3 $6 (12. f3 $1 {Was the last chance to make the game complicated.} Bd3 $13 (12... Nb4 $5 {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 $1 {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 $2 {As Nakamura points out, this just lets his opponent survive longer.} (18... Ne7 $1 19. Bb5+ Kf8 20. Ke2 b2 21. Rad1 g6 22. Bd3 Bxg2 23. Rhg1 Bb7 {with Nd5 and Ke7 to follow up.}) 19. Ra3 $1 b2 20. c8=Q+ 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 b1=Q+ 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 $2 {Too slow!} (27. Rc1 Kf6 28. Rcc8 Kg7 29. g3 e5 30. Re8 {looks very hard to win.} f6 31. f4 $1 $15) 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 $19) 30... Kd6 31. Ra7 Ne7 $1 32. Rd8+ (32. Raa8 Bb5+ $19) 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

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2015"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2015.01.27"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Vazquez Igarza, Renier"] [Black "Wei, Yi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A15"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/7p/8/1k2K1p1/p4r1P/5P2/R5P1/8 b - - 0 49"] [PlyCount "12"] [EventDate "2015.01.27"] 49... h6 $2 {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 $1 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 $1 54. Rb2+ Kc3 55. Rb6 (55. Rb8 a3 56. Rc8+ Kb2 57. Rb8+ Ka1 58. Kg6 Rb1 59. Ra8 Rb6+ $19) 55... h5 $1 (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 $1 58. Rb8 a3 $19) 50. hxg5 hxg5 51. Ra1 Kb4 52. Rf1 $1 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 1/2-1/2