Chess960: Nakamura flags Carlsen to keep match close

by Macauley Peterson
2/13/2018 – In a truly bizarre turn of events, Magnus Carlsen turned a match that should have been all but over into an exciting blitz battle on the final day, with Nakamura just two points behind. The World Champion literally threw away a half point, evidently disgusted that he did not manage to convert his clearly winning position earlier. One of the stranger spectacles you will ever see. Both games are analysed by GM Daniel Fernandez. Eight blitz games are played Tuesday beginning at 17:00 CET (11:00 AM EST). | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

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Nakamura's new lease on life

After losing game seven, and trailing 9 : 5, Hikaru Nakamura was in a must win situation if he had any hope to close the gap in the blitz session, where wins only count for one point. But as game eight unfolded, that looked increasingly unlikely. Magnus was in the driver's seat and commentators Yasser Seirawan and Anna Rudolf were predicting almost certain defeat for the American.

Yet, as the second time control ticked by, the players traded down into a rook-and-bishop-versus-rook ending which is notoriously difficult to win, even with ample time on the clock. Carlsen was trying to do it with under two minutes on his. Nakamura kept moving quickly, until at some point everyone thought that surely Magnus would give up and offer a draw. There was just no time left to keep playing. Amazingly he continued moving and as his clock approached zero both players heartrates spiked — Magnus' pulse was over 100, a rare occurrance in this match.

The playing hall has limited standing room, necessitating a queue | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com 

The final position is a theoretical draw, but also came 50 moves after the last pawn move or capture, such that Carlsen could have simply claimed a draw and been leading the match 10 : 6 heading into the blitz. Then, he would have needed just 2½ in the eight game blitz match to ensure overall victory. Instead his margin remains at two points, which gives Nakamura real chances to catch up in the blitz.

Game 7

Annotations by GM Daniel Fernandez
 
Starting position for Day 4
Games 7 and 8

Position 558 in Chess960 — Play through the moves on the live diagram!

1.f4 f6 2.e4 e5

Both players have abandoned any kind of hypermodern approach — when there is no theory, or you don't know the theory, you can't go for the equivalent of a Gruenfeld, there is simply no choice but to play classically as that is the most reliable style. Put pawns in the centre, and pieces behind them.

3.fxe5 fxe5 4.Nbc3 Ne6 5.Nd5 It's not clear to me what White wanted to acheive by this knight leap, except if he wanted c3 and
d4 (and if so, then why his 4th?) (5.Bc4 was a good 'classical' move.)

5...c6 6.N5e3 d6 7.g3 Nd7 The initial position used this time was quite an equal one, and White has played a bit lackadaisically, so maybe Black is more comfortable already. 8.Bh3 O-O-O

 
Nakamura vs Carlsen, game 7
Position after 8.O-O-O

9.d3 Kb8 =/+ 10.Qf2 Ndc5 11.Nc3 Nd4 Thinking of ...d5. 12.Ne2 (12.O-O-O g6 doesn't really help; here Black probably changes tack and plays without ...d5.) 12...Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 d5 14.exd5 cxd5 15.Ng4 (15. O-O-O could have been a good try with the centre opening up, though Black is better after say Qa4 !? =/+)

15...d4 16.Bg2 Bd6 17.h3 Rc8 18.Bf2 Trying to evacuate the king, which in this case is quite a creative defence! (18.Nf2 was consistent, but too slow: Qb5 with the idea of ...Na4 forces major concessions and Black is close to winning.) 18...h5 19.Nh2 e4! (19... Qb5 20. O-O !! is the point, and while Black's position is still more pleasant he has no real attack as such. 20.O-O

 
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Carlsen during game 7

And this was during the game he won! | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

Game 8

Nakamura really did need to win this game to keep the excitment factor high in the final day of the match, but nobody would have predicted that he would score the point in the manner that transpired!

Annotations by GM Daniel Fernandez
 
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8.O-O-O

 
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19...O-O-O! Black has played the last five moves perfectly and it seems that things are gradually becoming less clear.

 
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Carlsen flags

Carlsen loses on time in a strange game he'll be eager to forget! | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

GM Jonathan Tisdall, writing on the official site called it "a miracle":

"Watching this, my only thought was that I had witnessed the flip side of the secret of Carlsen’s success — a will to win so extreme that it just could not be physically disarmed...To me it looked like a man in the grip of his basic urge."

Live commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan and IM Anna Rudolf


Daniel King analyses Games 7 and 8


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Snowy knight outside

A very pretty scene outside the playing venue | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

Carlsen leads 9 : 7

So, eight more games to play, at a time control of 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move, and this time the players will receive just half a point for a draw and one point for a win. The "short rapid" or "long blitz" games begin at 17:00 CET (11:00 am) start time.

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

Discuss

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stephen brady stephen brady 2/14/2018 02:21
@HanPolo According to the coverage, the Arbiter said if Carlsen would have claimed a draw, he would have granted it.
mstefa mstefa 2/14/2018 02:07
Carlsen could have exchanged the rook and secure the draw multiple times during the 50 moves of R vs RB
Naka offered rook exchanges few times. He really was trying to win.
celeje celeje 2/14/2018 12:37
@peterfrost:
What do you find weird about other starting positions? It seems to me you're just uncomfortable with them because you've got used to the traditional one. Try keeping an open mind. This match has shown that it's the same game and rewards the same skills.
decredico decredico 2/14/2018 09:29
Why you pimping this silliness?
peterfrost peterfrost 2/14/2018 07:32
Do people actually like these weird starting positions? It seems to me that chess960 is an over the top reaction to the excessive opening preparation issue. I agree that's a problem, but there are more sensible ways to tackle it which haven't been tried yet. For example, the "New York 1924" approach, where the draw for each day's round was only made a few minutes prior to play starting. So players never knew who their opponent would be on a given day (except for the very last round) or what colour they would get against any given opponent. Significant preparation before the event is still possible, but it's a lot harder to remember lines looked at a fortnight ago than the night before, and half of one's preparation will be wasted because the player won't get that colour against that opponent in the whole tournament. Surely simpler solutions such as this are better than turning the game as we know it upside down...or am I overlooking something?
genem genem 2/14/2018 06:35
The Seirawan & Rudolf video is over 5 hours long. The especially interesting portion begins around 4:57:00 .
KOTLD KOTLD 2/14/2018 12:47
Thanks for the great article. Needs proofreading, though.
SambalOelek SambalOelek 2/13/2018 07:52
Carlsen wants to have fun in the chess game and doesn't calculate for drawish games ala Giri...

Kudoos for this...at least Chess is becoming slowly a more a risky, poker game!
aryanchess2004 aryanchess2004 2/13/2018 06:50
Karsten Mueller will explain game 3 of blitz. Carlsen vs Naka.
lol
Frits Fritschy Frits Fritschy 2/13/2018 05:19
HanPolo,
The tournament regulations can be found on the tournament site. I can't find any indication there that the Guidelines will be used. So Rapid play rules with adequate supervision are in place, with one rather strange addition (see tournament rules), that a player wanting to claim a draw (by checking the arbiter's score sheet) should do so with his clock running. That's not in the FIDE Handbook. I guess that made Carlsen go on - he wasn't sure whether he had played 50 moves and checking it might have lost him the game immediately.
macauley macauley 2/13/2018 05:00
@boorchess - Unfortunately our normal web game view doesn't yet support the Chess960 castling rules, necessitating this workaround. But you can make the moves on the live diagram, for the early moves of the game.
HanPolo HanPolo 2/13/2018 04:32
According to FIDE regulations for QuickPlay finish for Magnus to ask for a draw from the Arbiter these guidelines have to be announced as part of the match regulations:

Guidelines III. Games without increment including Quickplay Finishes

"The Guidelines below concerning the final period of the game including Quickplay Finishes, shall only be used at an event if their use has been announced beforehand."

Was their use announced beforehand? If not then Carlsen can only get a draw by the 50 move rule.

Is this correct?
boorchess boorchess 2/13/2018 04:28
I can not even click through the games. The split diagram style makes this hard to follow. USCF236 FIDE 2250ish.
stephen brady stephen brady 2/13/2018 04:21
wow. Let me start by saying Magnus Carlsen is a great player and the best of the young generation. that being said, it is so strange to see Carlsen playing without a plan. it's even stranger that it is one of Carlsen's usual plans to exert time pressure on an opponent. Perhaps it is because Carlsen so seldom is in time pressure that he didn't consider all his options i.e. claiming the draw. it's so much "easier" to claim the draw with just R v R, but his brain was just focused on creating a win on the board. good 'learning experience' for the world champion
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