12/15/2016 – In a round with a lot of exciting chess Fabiano Caruana played the most brilliant game by defeating Hikaru Nakamura with a positional queen sacrifice. Wesley So crushed Veselin Topalov with a violent kingside attack and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave countered Levon Aronian's optimistic winning attempts. Anish Giri chased Vishy Anand's king across the board but had to content himself with a draw. Vladimir Kramnik and Michael Adams played a relatively sober draw. Report and games.
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London Chess Classic 2016, Rd. 6
Round 6, Fabiano Caruana - Hikaru Nakamura / Notes by Michal Krasenkow
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1.e4
1,180,950
54%
2421
---
1.d4
956,910
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
285,509
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,270
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,857
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,569
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,946
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,897
50%
2383
---
1.b4
1,788
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,247
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,080
49%
2409
---
1.d3
965
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
465
54%
2381
---
1.c3
438
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
While the tournament leader, Wesley So, scored another victory against
out-of-form Veselin Topalov, two of his chasers, said to be the most probable
challengers for the world title in 2018, clashed in a principled battle.1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3a6Nakamura played the Najdorf
System against Caruana in their latest resultive classic game (US Championship,
Saint Louis, April 2016)... and lost! Since then Fabiano and Hikaru only met
in rapid (or semi-rapid, as in the "Champions Showdown" last month) and blitz
events, and Nakamura always replied 1...e5 to 1.e4. Does he think that the
Najdorf is a "more serious" opening than 1...e5 :-)?6.Bg5This "main" move
is a rare guest in Caruana's practice. He plays various systems against the
Najdorf but lately his main weapon was the English Attack, starting with 6.f3
(that's what he played against Nakamura in Saint Louis). However, it looks
like Hikaru was not surprised.e67.f4h6Apparently, Nakamura had never
played this line before the present game. However, Caruana didn't miss it when
preparing to play 6.Bg5.8.Bh4Qb6This aggressive continuation is probably
more popular on move 7 but it is by no means new in this position, too.9.a3One of the main theoretical moves. White indirectly protects his b2 pawn and
prepares to oust Black's queen by means of Bh4-f2.9.Qd2, sacrificing the
b2 pawn, is the main alternative.9...Be7Of course,9...Qxb2??
loses the queen due to10.Na49...Nbd79...Nc6and even9...Bd7
are the other moves frequently seen in practice.10.Bf2Qc711.Qf3Nbd712.0-0-0b513.g4Both sides have made typical attacking knight pawn moves;
however, their impet is slowed down by the rook pawns, which have already
moved to a3 and h6...g5...and besides, Black has a possibility to strike a
sudden counterblow, with an obvious idea to gain the e5 square for his knight.14.h4!?gxf415.Be2This apparently strange sequence of moves was seen for
the first time in a correspondence game and later, at the super-GM level, in
Giri - Vachier-Lagrave (Stavanger 2016). White creates the g4-g5 threat and
protects the g4 pawn in case of ...Nd7-e5 Qf3xf4.b4!?Played instantly,
which means that this move was prepared at home. In his annotations for
ChessBase Magazine, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave examines a lot of moves but not
this one! However, it was obviously not secret for yesterday's opponents.
The French Grandmaster played15...Rg8in the above-mentioned game, to
which, according to his analysis, White could have sacrificed a pawn:16.g5!with a powerful attackinstead of16.Rdg1, played by Anish GiriTo understand the idea of 15...b4, we must take a look at the following line:
15...Ne516.Qxf4Nexg4!17.Bxg4e5(looks very strong but White has an
adequate riposte)18.Nd5!Nxd519.Qf3- White avoids serious material
losses and keeps a strong attack at Black's uncastled king, e.g.Bxg420.Qxg4Nf621.Qf3exd422.Bxd4regaining the piece sinceQd8?is clearly bad
due to23.e5(Indicated by Vachier-Lagrave).16.axb4Ne517.Qxf4Nexg418.Bxg4e5Now we see the difference.In case of18...e519.Nd5Nxd520.Qf3Black can simply playNxb4. White's d4 knight can't retreat, the
only way for him to avoid losing a piece is21.Be1a522.Bxb4axb4,
opening the a-file for Black, after which the latter obtains an excellent
counterplay. However, White has another option...19.Qxf6!This queen
sacrifice is not difficult, in fact, but what followed next was really amazing.
Bxf620.Nd5Qd821.Nf5‼After this move Hikaru fell into a deep thought
for the first time in this game!In his analysis he obviously expected21.Nc6Bxg422.Nxd8Bxd8This endgame is unclear, both sides have their merits
and drawbacks. Black has more weaknesses but his bishop pair should not be
underestimated. Instead, Fabiano renounces restoring the material balance! I
must say that such "real" queen sacrifices are an Achilles' heel of analytic
engines. They almost always evaluate positions with, say, two minor pieces for
a queen in favour of the strongest piece, while in reality, in human play,
there may be a more than sufficient compensation for the material. Therefore
such positions should be analysed and evaluated "manually", and kudos to
Caruana and his team for doing that!21...Rb8?!Black prevents 22.Bb6 but
allows 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Nxd6+ (or 23.Rxd6), which proves to be fatal for him.He could have parried both threats by just trading White's dangerous knight:
21...Bxf522.Bxf5Rb8but then the weakness of light squares around his
king could have become decisive. Computer engines show equality here, which
means that Black's position is almost hopeless :-). White could have played23.Rd3with idea Ra3 or Rc3or simply23.c422.Nxf6+Qxf623.Rxd6?!Alas, White fails to find the strongest but very difficult continuation,
which means that either Caruana did not analyse 21...Rb8 at all or forgot his
analysis. I bet for the former suggestion since the variations are really
amazing and must stock up in one's memory:23.Nxd6+!Ke7to23...Kf8
White has an amazing move24.Bf5‼followed by Bf2-c5, and Black's king,
"pressed against the ropes", is completely helpless23...Qxd6is hopeless
due to24.Rxd6Bxg425.Rxa6with a decisive material advantage for White24.Bc5‼Qf4+(forced)24...Bxg425.Nb5+followed by mate on c725.Kb1Qxg425...Bxg4again leads to a mate after26.Nf5+26.Nxc8+Ke826...Kf627.Rhf1+Kg728.Rg1+-with decisive material gains for White27.Nd6+Kd7(again the only move)27...Ke728.Nf5+Ke829.Rhg1+-
- Black's queen can't retreat in view of Nf5-g7#28.Nxf7+Kc7(other
retreats are worse)e.g.28...Ke629.Nxh8Rxh830.Rhf1with an
inevitable deadly check on d629.Bd6+Kb7(once again, there are no better
king moves)30.Bxb8Rxb831.Nxe5, and White keeps a rook, knight and
three pawns for the queen, which is quite enough to win, sinceQxe4?!32.Nd7loses an exchange, after which two rooks easily deal with Black's lone queen.23...Be6Black is ready to castle. However, his position is still poor.24.Rhd1Another way to meet Black's castling was24.Be3Rxb4!if24...0-0then25.Nxh6+Kh825...Kg726.Rg126.Nxf7+!Qxf727.Rxe6
, and Black's king is helpless.an attempt to free Black's queen:24...Qg6fails to25.Rxe6+‼fxe626.Bh5!Qxh527.Ng7+25.Rxa60-0
in case of25...Bxf526.Rxf6Bxg427.Bxh6Rxe4White keeps an extra pawn
and good winning chances26.Nxh6+Kh827.Bf5!27.Nxf7+Qxf728.Rxe6
is now premature due toRxe4; White must prepare that blow27...Qd828.Nxf7+!Rxf729.Rxe6Rxf5!(Black must get rid of White's terrifying
bishop)30.Rh6+30.exf5Rg4!is less clear30...Kg831.Rg1+Kf732.Rh7+Ke633.exf5+Kxf5±Despite an approximate material parity, White has
a clear advantage: a passed h4 pawn, and Black's "centralized" king is in
danger; still, the outcome of the game is not quite certain.24...0-025.h5!(threatening 26.Bh4)Qg5+Black didn't bring himself to put his queen
to the corner by25...Rfe826.Bh4Qh8but that was the most stubborn
defense. White should probably continue positionally:27.Ne3!27.Ne7+
is not enough due toRxe728.Bxe7Bxg429.Rd8+Rxd830.Rxd8+Kh731.Rxh8+Kxh8, and Black should not lose this endgame with opposite-coloured bishops27...Qg728.Rg1Kf829.Rdd1±Black's position is very difficult to
defend, of course.26.Be3Qf6Of course, not26...Qxg427.Nxh6+27.Nxh6+Kh828.Bf5Caruana spent some time calculating the blow on f7 but
finally prefered a strong positional continuation, making Nxf7+ a more
powerful threat.28.Nxf7+was possible but Black had the following defense:
Rxf729.Rxe6Qh4!30.Bf5(threatening 31.Rh6+ since Black will be
unable to reply 31...Rh7)Rxf5!(here, too, Black must eliminate this
bishop)31.exf531.Rh6+was a good alternative:Kg832.Rg1+Kf733.Rh7+Ke634.exf5+Kxf535.Rf1+Ke636.Rh6+Kd537.Bd2±with a favorable
position, similar to the one examined in the 24.Be3 line31...Qxb4, and
the forced line32.Rh6+Kg833.Rg1+Kf734.Rh7+Kf635.Rg6+Kxf536.Rf7+Ke437.Rg4+Kxe338.Rxb4Rxb4leads to a rook endgame with an extra pawn
for White, which, I believe, should be winning for him despite Black's passed
e-pawn. But, of course, calculating this line and evaluating the final
position is a very difficult task over the board.28...Qe7?Nakamura
succumbs to the pressure. His move doesn't parry the Nxf7+ threat.28...Rxb4?29.Nxf7+Qxf730.Rxe6was obviously hopeless28...Rbd8doesn't work
due to the simple29.Rxd8Rxd830.Rxd8+Qxd831.Bxe6, and White gets a
third piece for the queen;Qh4doesn't help here due to32.Nxf7+Kg7or32...Kh733.Kb133.Bh6+!Kh734.b3: Black can't take the e4 pawn in
view of the knight fork; well, he can take the h5 pawn but White keeps a
decisive material advantage anywayto28...Qh4White can reply29.Rg1!threatening 30.Bg529.Nxf7+Rxf730.Rxe6Rxf5leads to a position
arising after 28.Nxf7+29...Qxh5(what else?)30.Nxf7+!Rxf730...Bxf7is also hopeless due to31.Rh6+Qxh632.Bxh6Rg833.Rh131.Rxe6Rg732.Rd1- Black will never survive with such a poor king!28...Rfe8
was the most stubborn defense. White can continue29.Rg1or29.c3
but not29.Rxa6?Ra8, and Black obtains counterplay29...Rxb430.Rxa6with a huge advantage.29.b5?!The idea of this move is either to close
the b-file or to deflect Black's rook from the 8th rank. However, such
"niceties" were excessive!Black prepared to meet29.Nxf7+Rxf730.Rxe6
withQxb4followed by31.Rh6+Kg832.Rg1+Rg7but not32...Kf833.Rh8+Ke734.Rxb8Qxb835.Bc5++-33.Be6+Kf8. Here both players missed
the excellent move34.Bc5+‼instead of the obvious34.Rh8+Ke735.Rxg7+Kd6!36.Rd7+Kxe637.Rxb8Qxb8±, which both definitely
calculated and concluded that Black could successfully continue resistance34...Qxc535.Rh8+Ke736.Rxg7+Kd637.Rxb8Qe3+37...Kxe638.Rb6+!Qxb639.Rg6+- a simple skewer combination38.Kb1Qe1+39.Ka2Qa5+40.Kb3Kxe6(the bishop can be taken now but White simply queens his h-pawn)41.h6+-29...Qe8?Here are the lines demonstrating White's idea:29...axb530.Nxf7+Rxf731.Rxe6, and in case ofQb432.Rh6+Kg8White can
simply play33.c3parrying all future threats29...Rxb530.Nxf7+Rxf731.Rxe6Qb432.Rd8+(the pointe! The invasion of this rook breaks Black's
defenses)Rf833.Rh6+Kg7or33...Kg834.Be6+Kg735.Rd7+34.Rd7+Rf735.Rg6+Kh835...Kf836.Rd8+Ke737.Bg5+36.Rd8+Rf836...Kh737.Rc6+Rxf538.Rc7+and mate37.Rxf8+Qxf838.Bg5with an inevitable deadly
check on f6Black could have parried the Nxf7+ threat by means of29...Rbe8but with the passed a-pawn after30.bxa6, White should win.30.Nxf7+Rxf731.Rxe6Qxb5The same defense as after the immediate 29.Nxf7+ but
here Black's queen is placed worse than on b4.32.Rh6+BLACK RESIGNED
forseeing the following line. Nakamura's opening surprise (15...b4) was met
with an excellent counter-surprise (21.Nf5!!). Black's queen was absolutely
powerless against White's minor pieces. Of course, the unsafe position of
Black's king made the greatest contribution to his defeat. Unfortunately,
Caruana didn't find the simplest paths to a win at several occasions but he
never let his advantage slip and finally brought it home. Fabiano didn't
manage to catch the leader but keeps closely chasing him. Last three rounds of
the tournament are going to be exciting!After32.Rh6+Kg833.Rg1+Rg734.Be6+Kf835.Rh8+of course, the beautiful35.Bc5+wins here, too,
but it is unnecessary now35...Ke736.Rxg7+Kd6Black is not threatening
mate on e1, and ...Qxb2+ will be completely harmless; therefore, White can
simply continue37.Rh6+-with decisive threats.1–0
Michal Krasenkow's commentary will also be in the next ChessBase Magazine #176, together with all the games of the London Chess Classic, a lot of them annotated - and much more. ChessBase Magazine #175, the current issue, also contains a wealth of material and annotated games by Vladimir Kramnik, Wesley So, David Navara, Pavel Eljanov, Simon Williams, Daniel King any many other exclusive authors. Have a look!
The Highlights of round 6 by Daniel King
Photos: Lennart Ootes
Round 6 was amazing. After the rest day the players did not appear rested and calm but charged with energy.
This #LondonChess Classic is like a protest against the style of the World Championship.
To say Topalov is not in good shape in London is an understatement. Topalov drew one of his first five games and lost four. Wesley So, however, is in splendid shape and leads the tournament.
Topalov vs So
Topalov had White and tried an Italian but So was unimpressed and improved a previous game these two had played. So pushed his kingside pawns forward to gain space but a few moves later still castled kingside and soon mounted a strong attack against White's king. This culminated in a violent mating attack and after 27 moves it was game over.
Topalov is bleeding Elo-points in London and is currently no longer among the top 20
Maxime Vachier Lagrave-Levon Aronian
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian also followed the trend and played an Italian game. After the topical 6.a4 - which had been played twice in the World Championship match between Carlsen and Karjakin - Aronian countered with 6...a5, an idea only a few players have tried before. The game quickly became tense. Aronian pushed in the centre which made Vachier-Lagrave sacrifice a piece which led to a position in which he had queen, rook and bishop against queen and two rooks.
Aronian pushed too hard
Objectively the position was perhaps equal but Aronian wanted to win at all costs. And while he tried to attack the white king with his major pieces Vachier-Lagrave took all the black pawns on the queenside - and after Aronian's attack came to a halt the white pawns on the queenside carried the day.
Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scores a first victory in this event after Aronian overpressed a pleasant position. Photo: @LennartOotespic.twitter.com/QG9ksfCinz
Fabiano Caruana must have been inspired by the spirit of Rashid Nezhmetdinov, who was born exactly 104 years ago, on December 15, 1912; how else to explain Caruana's queen sacrifice on f6?
Help from above?
In one of his brilliancies the great tactician Nezhmetdinov once sacrificed a queen on f6 for two minor pieces. And this is what Caruana did today in a sharp line of the Najdorf:
White to move...
Caruana took on f6 and got two knights and a very strong initiative for his queen.
Maurice Ashley explains what is going on
A good choice which the engines fully supported. Black had trouble to find a safe place for his queen but even more trouble to find a safe place for his king. Caruana attacked with powerful patience and Nakamura found no defense. After this impressive victory Caruana is only about ten points behind Carlsen in live-ratings.
A brilliant win by Caruana
Vishy Anand-Anish Giri
Vishy Anand and Anish Giri also debated the pros and cons of the Sicilian. The game began with a Najdorf but after Anand's 6.h3 it transposed into a Keres Attack in the Scheveningen. Anand castled queenside, Giri came up with a novelty (15...Nc5) and attacked White's king. Anand countered by sacrificing his knight on b5. Giri returned the compliment with a sacrifice of his own which made White's king run from the queenside to seek shelter on the kingside. The black pieces followed closely but Black could not find a mate and had to agree to repetition of moves and a draw.
Anish Giri might have a good chance
Vladimir Kramnik-Michael Adams
Currently Kramnik abstains from theoretical opening discussions and prefers simple solid lines. Today he chose the Zukertort-System 1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.e3. Adams opted for symmetry and after some minor tactical skirmishes the players forced a draw with a perpetual.
Johannes FischerJohannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
2nd Move Anti-Sicilian Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12090 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 874 are annotated.
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12092 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 1276 are annotated.
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