Hikaru Nakamura wins the American Cup

by ChessBase
3/27/2023 – Hikaru Nakamura pulled through to become the 2023 American Cup Champion after defeating Wesley So 2½-1½ in a difficult final Elimination Match. The finale started out with three solid draws, but finished abruptly in the fourth game after a blunder by So got his queen trapped inside Nakamura’s territory. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
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Nakamura wins third set

By IM Kostya Kavutskiy / Saint Louis Chess Club

Hikaru Nakamura pulled through to become the 2023 American Cup Champion after defeating Wesley So 2½-1½ in a difficult final Elimination Match. The finale started out with three solid draws, but finished abruptly in the fourth game after a blunder by So got his queen trapped inside Nakamura’s territory.

American Cup 2023

The day started with two 25+10 games in the final Elimination match. The first game saw Nakamura emerge with an extra pawn in a theoretically drawn rook endgame, which So had few problems holding.

In the second game, Wesley was a bit better in a double-bishop endgame, but eventually allowed a draw by three-fold repetition, taking the players to a rapid playoff.

Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So

Game 1 ended in a stalemate | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

In the playoff, So started as White, and after a balanced middlegame he ended up with a very pleasant advantage in a knight ending. But Hikaru defended well and managed to hold the draw.

 
So vs. Nakamura - Rapid game #1

After 33.Ba3, So had good winning chances thanks to the passed b-pawn, but never a clear win.

In the next game Hikaru got a bit of an edge after starting with 1.Nf3, but the game ended rather surprisingly in the middlegame after a devastating blunder by So got his queen trapped with no way out.

 
Nakamura vs. So - Rapid game #2

17…Qxd2?? was an unfortunate blunder, as after 18.Rfd1 Qb2 19.Nc4! Black’s queen was trapped.

HIkaru Nakamura

After three solid draws, Nakamura seized his opportunity to win the game, the match, and the title | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

Wesley So

Second place after a fantastic showing from Wesley So | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

 
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1.Nf3 2 d5 2 2.e3 0 Nf6 27 3.c4 3 e6 13 4.b3 1 Be7 53 5.Bb2 2 0-0 1 6.Nc3 1 c5 1 7.cxd5 1 exd5 9 7...Nxd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 9.d4 Nc6 10.Be2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Qa5+ 12.Kf1 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bf5 14.Bd3 Be4 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.Qg4 Bf6 17.Qxe4 Qa6+ 18.Kg1 Rfe8 19.Qf4 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 Rad8 21.Qb2 Rd5 22.h4 Red8 23.Rh3 Rd2 24.Qe5 1-0 Nakamura,H (2761)-So,W (2754) Abidjan GCT blitz 2019 (8) 8.d4 2 A13: English Opening: 1...e6. Nc6 5 9.Be2 10 Ne4 19 10.dxc5 40 White is slightly better. 10.0-0 simplifies Nxc3 11.Bxc3 b6 12.Rc1 10...Bf6 57 10...Qa5 gains popularity. 11.Rc1 1 Qa5 3 12.Nd4! 1 Nxc5 10 13.Nxc6 1 bxc6 1 14.0-0 3 Ne4 6 15.Qc2 2 Bxc3 17 16.Bxc3 2 Nxc3 2 17.Qxc3 1 Qxa2 1
18.Bf3N 1 18.Rc2!? Qa3 19.Ra1 19.Qxc6 Qxb3 20.Rc3 Bb7= Predecessor: 18.Rc2 Qa3 19.Ra1 Qe7 20.Qxc6 Be6 21.Qc5 Qxc5 22.Rxc5 Rfd8 23.b4 d4 24.exd4 Rxd4 ½-½ Gukesh,D (2684)-Le,Q (2722) Biel blitz 55th 2022 (13) 18...Qa6 7:15 19.Qxc6 23 Qxc6 9 20.Rxc6 1 Be6 2 21.Rd1 1:22 Rab8 34 22.Rc7 46 Rxb3 57 23.Rxa7 1 23.Bxd5? Bxd5 24.Rxa7 Be6-+ 23...Rfb8 30 24.Raa1 37 24.Bxd5? too greedy. Bxd5 25.Rd7 Rd3-+ 24...R3b5 33 25.h4 10 g6 1 26.Kh2 18 Kg7 7 27.Kg3 25 Kf6 8 28.Ra6 2 R8b6 23 28...Ke5= 29.Rxb6± 9 Rxb6 1 30.Bxd5 2 White is more active. Bxd5 7 31.Rxd5 1       Endgame KR-KR h5 1 32.Rd2 9 Rb4 8 33.f3 1 Ra4 5 34.e4 2       Ra1 2:01 35.Kf4 8 Rh1 3 36.g3 6 Rg1 25 37.e5+ 54 Kg7 47 38.Rd7 6 Re1 9 39.Ra7 15 Re2 3 40.Ra3 16 Re1 13 41.Ra5 14 Re2 17 42.Ra6 22 Re1 11 43.Ra4 51 Re2 3 44.Re4 4 Ra2 15 45.Re1 28 Ra4+ 6 46.Ke3 2 Ra3+ 2 47.Kf2 3 Kf8 9 48.Re3 36 Ra5 1:58 49.f4 7       Ke7 23 50.Rb3 2 Ra1 24 51.Rb7+ 18 Ke6 23 52.Rb6+ 3 Ke7 1 53.f5 24 Ra2+ 34 The position is equal. 54.Kf3 1:03 Ra3+ 1 55.Kf4 20
Rb7+ would be deadly. 55...Ra4+ 1 56.Kg5 16 Rg4+ 4 57.Kh6 1 White threatens f6+ and mate. gxf5 1 58.Rf6 11 Rxg3 4
( -> ...Rg6+!) 59.Rxf5 1 Ke6 2:07 60.Rf6+ 6 Kxe5 2 61.Rxf7 1 Strongly threatening Rf8! Ke6 2 62.Ra7 8 Kf6 31 63.Kxh5 1 Rg8 14 64.Rh7 7 Rg2 26 65.Rh6+ 6 Kf7 2 66.Rg6 6 Rxg6 4 Weighted Error Value: White=0.04 (flawless) /Black=0.05 (flawless) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2768So,W2761½–½2023American Cup Champions 20235.1
So,W2761Nakamura,H2768½–½2023American Cup Champions 20235.2
So,W2761Nakamura,H2768½–½2023American Cup Champions 20235.3
Nakamura,H2768So,W27611–02023American Cup Champions 20235.4
 

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