Nakamura beats Caruana, wins Chessable Masters

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/8/2023 – An exciting pair of matches, featuring seven decisive games, saw Hikaru Nakamura beating Fabiano Caruana twice to win the Chessable Masters. Nakamura played the Smith-Morra Gambit twice with white, including a game in which he only needed a draw. In Division II, Nodirbek Abdusattorov got the better of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to secure a spot in Division I of the next Champions Chess Tour event.
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Seven decisive, thrilling games

Much like in the American Cup, the Chessable Masters saw two players facing each other three times in the deciding phases of the tournament. And, once again, it was Hikaru Nakamura who emerged victorious.

Unlike what happened in the American Cup, though, Nakamura came from behind this time around. The 5-time US champion lost the final in the winners’ bracket against Fabiano Caruana, but then beat Magnus Carlsen in the final of the losers’ bracket to get a rematch against his compatriot. Since he came from the losers’ bracket, Nakamura needed to beat Caruana twice in a row to win the event, and that is precisely what he did, in an eventful pair of matches.

In the first, 4-game match, the contenders traded wins with black in the first two encounters. Nakamura then grabbed two wins in a row to force the rematch. Playing black in game 3, the famed streamer prevailed in an endgame position with queens and bishops of opposite colours. Caruana was two pawns down when he made the final, losing mistake.

 
Caruana vs. Nakamura - Game #3 (Grand Final)

Due to the presence of opposite-coloured bishops in a position with both kings open, White still had hopes to find a perpetual check to save a draw. Caruana’s 52.Qe8 was not the way to do it here, though — the one move that kept the fight going was 52.Be5, preventing the black queen from manoeuvring along the all-important long diagonal.

After the text, Nakamura found 52...Qb2+ 53.Kg1 Qd4+ 54.Be3 Qg7+

 

Caruana resigned, since his king has no escape from the mating attack that Black is ready to construct with his queen, bishop and h4-pawn.

All games - Grand Final

 
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1.d4 4 Nf6 5 2.c4 2 e6 0 3.Nc3 1 Bb4 2 4.Qc2 1 0-0 2 5.a3 2 Bxc3+ 0 6.Qxc3 1 d5! 0       is currently scoring better than 6...b6. 7.cxd5 3 E36: Nimzo-Indian: Classical: 4...d5 5 a3. Ne4 9 8.Qc2 2 exd5 1 9.Bf4! 2 The position is equal. Nc6 6 9...Qh4 10.e3 10.e3 2 Bf5!? 2       A promising side line. 10...Re8!? 11.Bd3! 8 Threatens to win with f3. Re8 1 ...Nxd4! is the strong threat. 12.Nf3 2:28 Qf6 1:21 13.0-0 30
Weaker is 13.Bxc7 Rac8 14.Be5 14.Bxe4? Bxe4       Discovered Attack 15.Qe2 Rxc7-+ 14...Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qg6 13...Nd6N 3:21 Predecessor: 13...Rad8 14.Rac1 h6 15.Qb3 Nd6 16.Bxf5 Qxf5 17.Bxd6 Rxd6 18.Qxb7 Qd7 19.Qb3 Rg6 20.g3 Re4 21.Kg2 h5 22.Rc5 Rd6 23.h4 Qf5 24.Qc2 Qf6 25.Ng5 1-0 Enchev,I (2443)-Grimm,J (1939) Hofheim Spring op-A 2nd 2014 (3) 14.Rac1 26 Bxd3 46 15.Qxd3 3 Nc4 14 16.Bxc7 2:12 Rac8 1:42 17.Bf4 6 Qg6 29 18.Qc3 1:07 Qe6 46 19.b3 26 Nd6 12 20.Qd3 52 Ne4 7 21.Rc2 1:31 Ne7 7 22.Rfc1 6 Rxc2 7 23.Rxc2 0 Rc8 0 24.Nd2 1:17 g5 1:57 25.Bg3 24 Rc6 1:15 26.Nf1 1:47 Qf5 58 aiming for ...Nxg3. 27.Rxc6 7 Nxc6 0 28.Qd1 56 Nc3 2 29.Qd2 21 Ne4 5 30.Qb2 11 h5 12 31.h4 41 31.f3± Nxg3 32.Nxg3 31...g4 1:00 Black should try 31...gxh4 32.Bxh4 Qg4 32.Bf4± 2 Ne7 1 33.Ng3 28 Nxg3 2 34.Bxg3 1       Endgame KQB-KQN Qc8 14 35.Kh2 3 f5 8 35...Nf5± was called for. 36.Qe2 4 Qc6 7 37.a4 3 a6 3 37...Kf7± 38.Qd2 Qb6 38.Qd3 1 Kf7 1 39.Be5 1 Ke6 2 40.Bg3? 9 40.Qd2!± 40...Ng8? 2 40...Kf7!= 41.Qd2+- 2 Nf6 1 42.Qb4 3 Kf7 5 43.Qa5! 2 Ke7 21
44.Bf4? 4 44.b4!+- and the rest is easy. 44...Ne4± 2
45.Bg5+ 8 45.b4!± 45...Ke6 6 46.Qd8 4 Qd6+ 3 47.Qxd6+ 1 Kxd6= 1 KB-KN 48.f3 4 gxf3 1 49.gxf3 1 Nd2 0 50.Kg3 0 Nxb3 2 51.Kf4 1 Ke6 0 White must now prevent ...Nc1. 52.Bd8? 4 52.e4= Nxd4 53.exd5+ Kxd5 54.a5 52...b5-+ 1 53.axb5 2 axb5 0       Hoping for ...b4. 54.Kg5? 8 54.Bb6 54...b4 4 55.Kxh5 1
55...Nxd4! 13       ( -> ...b3!). Clearance, Promotion 56.Ba5 6
56.Kg6 b3 56...b3! 1 57.Bc3 1 Nxf3 0 58.Bb2 1
58...f4! 13       Black mates. 59.Kg4 5 Ne5+ 1 60.Kxf4 4 Nd3+ 0 Black used his chance. Weighted Error Value: White=0.49/Black=0.16 (very precise) 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2766Nakamura,H27680–12023E36Chessable Masters Div 1 2023100.1
Nakamura,H2768Caruana,F27660–12023C77Chessable Masters Div 1 2023100.2
Caruana,F2766Nakamura,H27680–12023E36Chessable Masters Div 1 2023100.3
Nakamura,H2768Caruana,F27661–02023B21Chessable Masters Div 1 2023100.4
 

Grand Final Reset

The organizers have dubbed the match following the Grand Final — only necessary if the victor of the winners’ bracket loses — the Grand Final Reset. Once again Nakamura got black in the first game, and once again the contenders traded wins with black. In the ‘Reset’, only two games are played ‘in regulation’. Following the pair of draws, Nakamura won with black in Armageddon to secure tournament victory.

Caruana was a worthy opponent, and he got to play a remarkable move in the second game of the Reset. This position was reached from a Smith-Morra Gambit, an opening Nakamura confessed to have prepared for Magnus Carlsen (who did not play the Sicilian in their Thursday’s encounter)

 
Nakamura vs. Caruana - Game #2 (Reset)

27...Qa3+ is a beautiful killer blow! Nakamura resigned after 28.Ka1 Bxd1 — he had calculated that 28.Kxa3 fails to 28...Nd3+ (discovered check) 29.Ka4 Rb4+ 30.Ka3 Rbxd4+ (diagram).

 
Analysis diagram

Black will checkmate his opponent on the next move.

All games - Grand Final Reset

 
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1.c4 3 Nf6 4 2.Nc3 2 e5 1 3.Nf3 2 Nc6 1 4.e4 2 4.d3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.g3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Bc5 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 Bb6 10.Bg5 Qd6 11.Nd2 Qg6 12.Be3 Be6 13.a4 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Qh6 15.e4 Na5 16.Rb1 b6 17.Nf3 0-1 Caruana,F (2776)-Nakamura,H (2768) Saint Louis Blitz 2022 (10) 4...Bb4 6 5.d3 2 d6 6 6.a3 2 A28: English Opening: Four Knights Variation. Bc5! 3 The main line 6...Bc5 scores better than 6...Bxc3+. 7.b4 1 Bb6 0 8.h3 2 The position is equal. Nd4 11
9.Be3N 11 Predecessor: 9.Na4 Nxf3+ 10.Qxf3 Bd4 11.Bb2 Bxb2 12.Nxb2 a5 13.b5 0-0 14.Qd1 Nd7 15.a4 0-1 Llovera Pujol,R-Oms Pallisse,J (2427) Balaguer op 2001 (1) 9...Nxf3+ 6 10.Qxf3 9 Bxe3 17 11.Qxe3 12 0-0 10 12.g3 22 c6 1:03 13.Bg2 4 Qb6 1 14.Qd2 33 a5 18 15.b5 14 cxb5 14 16.Nxb5 7 Bd7 2 17.Nc3 26 Bc6 2 18.0-0 6 Nd7 1 19.Rab1 19 Qc5 14 20.Rb3 43 Rfe8 1:18 21.Kh2 28 Nf8 1:56 22.f4 1:23 f6 12 23.f5 25 Nd7 2 24.g4 7 Ra6 1:35 25.Ne2 2:02 25.a4 25...Rb6= 11 26.Rxb6 3 Qxb6 13 27.h4 20 Qc5 8 28.g5 35 28.Qa2= keeps the balance. 28...Qxa3 30 29.Ng3 6 Qb4! 40 30.Qe2 13 Qb6 20 31.Nh5 10 Qd8 6 32.Rg1 56 Kh8 1 32...fxg5 33.Bh3 33.Bf3 47 Rg8 37 aiming for ...fxg5. 34.Qd2 3 a4 16 35.Bd1 46 Qe7 58 36.Qa5 1:07 36.g6 was worth a try. 36...g6 49 37.fxg6 44 hxg6 0 38.Ng3 4 fxg5 5 39.h5 1 g4 7 40.Kg2 28 40.Rh1 40...gxh5-+ 1:34 40...Qh4 41.Rh1 Qg5 42.hxg6+ Kg7 43.Rh5± 41.Nxh5 16 Rg6? 59 41...Qh4? 42.Rh1+- 41...Qg5-+ Threatens to win with ...Rf8. 42.Rh1 Rf8 43.Nf6+ Kg7 42.Ng3 19 White should play 42.Bxa4 b6 43.Qb4 Bxa4 44.Qxa4 42...Qf8 12 And now ...Kg8 would win. 43.Rh1+ 40 43.Rf1 Rf6 44.Rh1+ Kg8 45.Qd2 43...Kg8 1 Hoping for ...Nc5. 44.Rh5 21 44.Qc7 44...Nc5 17 45.Rf5 25 Qe7 1 46.Be2 24 Ne6 3 46...Qh4? 47.Qa8+ Kh7 48.Rf7+ Rg7 49.Rxg7+ Kxg7 50.Nf5+ Kf7 51.Nxh4+- 47.Kf2? 14 47.Qa8+ Qe8 48.Qxe8+ Bxe8 49.Rf1 47...Nd4 9 48.Rh5 3 Bd7 22 49.Bd1 6 Kg7 18 49...b6? 50.Qxb6 Rf6+ 51.Kg1-+ 50.Kg2 7 Kg8? 13 Better is 50...Rh6-+ ...Rxh5 would be deadly. 51.Rxh6 Kxh6 51.Bxa4 3
51.Kf2!= 51...Qf8 3 52.Bd1? 4      
52.Bxd7= and White stays safe. Qf3+ 53.Kh2 Qf2+ 54.Kh1 Qf3+ 55.Kh2 Qf2+ 56.Kh1 Qf3+ 57.Kh2 52...Ne6! 2       53.Kg1 3 Nf4! 0 54.Rh2 4 Nh3+ 2 54...Nxd3 55.Qd5+ Re6 56.Qxd3+- 55.Kh1 0 Rh6 12 ...Nf2+ is the strong threat. Don't go for 55...Nf2+? 56.Rxf2 Qxf2 57.Qd8+ Kh7 58.Qe7+ 58.Qxd7+? perishes. Kh6-+ 58...Kg8 59.Qd8+ Kh7 60.Qe7+ 60.Qxd7+? Kh6-+ 60...Rg7 61.Qh4+ Kg8 62.Qd8+ Qf8 63.Qxf8+ Kxf8 64.Kg1 56.Qd2 3 But not 56.Qd5+ Be6 57.Qxb7 Nf2+ 58.Kg2 Rxh2+ 59.Kxh2 Nxd1 56...Qf4 1 57.Qe1 5 57.Qxf4 exf4 58.Kg2 fxg3 59.Kxg3 57...Nf2+ 3 Black is clearly winning. 58.Kg2 1 Rxh2+ 0 59.Kxh2 1 Nxd1 1 A cool game by Nakamura. Weighted Error Value: White=0.59/Black=0.44 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2766Nakamura,H27680–12023A28Chessable Masters Div 1 2023101.1
Nakamura,H2768Caruana,F27660–12023B21Chessable Masters Div 1 2023101.2
Caruana,F2766Nakamura,H27680–12023A23Chessable Masters Div 1 2023101.3
 

Nakamura’s recap: “Dear YouTube, YESSSSSSSSSSS!!”

Abdusattorov wins Division II

Similarly to Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave gained a rematch against the player who had beat him in the winners’ bracket final. To get his spot in the Grand Final, MVL defeated Anish Giri on Thursday. The Frenchman, however, could not force a Reset, as he was defeated by Nodirbek Abdusattorov for a second time in three days, this time by a 2½-1½ score.

With his win, Abdusattorov gained a spot in Division I of the next Champions Chess Tour event (Nakamura, Caruana and Carlsen also qualified). The Uzbek prodigy had a remarkable performance, convincingly beating Giri, Arjun Erigaisi and Denis Lazavik before getting the better of MVL twice in a row.

MVL did get to play a nice final move in game 2 of the match, though.

 
Vachier-Lagrave vs. Abdusattorov - Game #2

36.Qxe8+ prompted Abdusattorov’s resignation, since 36...Kxe8 would be replied by 37.Ng5+ and White will emerge with an extra rook.

GM Karsten Müller analysed the very interesting ending played in the fourth game of the match. Beautiful breakthroughs below!

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 Bf5 9.0-0-0 Qd7 10.Bc4 0-0 11.Kb1 Rae8 12.h3 Be4 13.Rhe1 Bf6 14.Bd5 Qf5 15.Bxe4 Rxe4 16.Qd3 h6 17.Re2 Rfe8 18.Rde1 Qg6 19.g4 Ne5 20.Nxe5 R4xe5 21.Qc4 c5 22.a4 b6 23.Bf4 d5 24.Qb5 Rxe2 25.Rxe2 Rxe2 26.Qxe2 Qe4 27.Qxe4 dxe4 28.Bb8 a6 29.Ba7 Bd8 30.c4 a5 31.c3 g6 32.b4 axb4 33.cxb4 cxb4 34.Kc2 f5 35.gxf5 gxf5 36.c5 bxc5 37.Bxc5
Beautiful breakthroughs. Pawn majorities can sometimes be converted by a breakthrough: 37...f4? Now not enough black pawns remain on the board. 37...Ba5! wins, e.g. 38.Kb3 38.Be3 Kg7 39.Kb3 Kg6 40.Kc4 Kh5 41.Kb5 b3 42.Bd4 Be1 43.a5 Bxf2-+ 38...f4 39.Bxb4 39.Kc4 Kf7 40.Kb5 b3 41.Bd4 e3 42.fxe3 f3-+ 39...Bxb4 40.Kxb4 Now a beautiful breakthrough follows: e3 41.fxe3 f3-+ 38.Bxb4 Bb6 39.f3! This stops Black's majority. However, not 39.Be1? f3 40.a5 Ba7 41.Kc3 Kf7 42.Kc4 Ke6 43.Kb5 Kf5 44.Kc4 Kf4 45.Kd5
And again Black's majority can be converted in an unconventional way: 45...Bxf2 46.Bxf2 e3 47.a6 exf2 48.a7 f1Q 49.a8Q Qxh3-+ 39...exf3 40.Kd1 Kf7 40...f2? even loses after 41.Ke2+- 41.a5 Be3 42.Ke1 Ke6 43.Kf1 Kd5 44.h4 h5 45.Be1 Kc6 46.Bc3 Kb5 47.Be1 Bc5 48.Bd2 Be7 49.Kf2 Bxh4+ 50.Kxf3 Bd8 51.Kxf4 Bxa5 52.Bxa5 Kxa5 53.Kg5 h4 54.Kxh4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2736Abdusattorov,N2731½–½2023C42Chessable Masters Div 2 2023100.4
 

All games - Grand Final

 
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1.d4 18 Nf6 6 2.c4 2 g6 1 3.g3 2 c6 1 4.Bg2 0 d5 0 5.Nf3 1 Bg7 1 6.0-0 0 0-0 0 7.Qb3 1 a5 1 8.Rd1 1 D78: Fianchetto Grünfeld: 6 0-0 c6. a4 0 9.Qb4 1
9...Nbd7N 1 9...dxc4 looks sharper. 10.Qxc4 Bf5 11.Nh4 b5 Predecessor: 9...Re8 10.Bf4 dxc4 11.Qxc4 Be6 12.Qc1 Qb6 13.Na3 Nbd7 14.Qc2 Bd5 15.Ne5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 1-0 Svane,R (2619)-Wagner,D (2580) Speed Chess Q2 blitz 2022 (2) 10.cxd5 37 The position is equal. Nxd5 25 11.Qe1 2 Qa5 1:21 12.e4 44 Qxe1+ 7 13.Nxe1 1 Nc7 52 14.Nc3 22 Nb6 36 15.Nc2 1:19 Bg4 21 16.f3 9 Bd7 11 17.Bf1 19 Rfd8 23 18.Bf4 9 Ne8 58 19.Rac1 1:08 Be6 14 20.Kf2 1:08 Nc4 1:32 21.Bxc4 5 Bxc4 5 22.g4 20 Nd6 1:14 22...Kf8= 23.Ne3 20
Bxd6 would be deadly. 23...Be6 18 24.d5 1:03 a3 8 25.b3 47 25.dxe6? is the wrong capture. axb2 26.Rb1 26.exf7+? Kxf7 27.Rb1 Bxc3-+ 26...Bxc3 27.Bxd6 Rxd6 28.Rxd6 exd6-+ 25...Bd7 20 25...Bxc3± was necessary. 26.Rxc3 cxd5 26.e5+- 19 Ne8 3 27.Nc4 10 cxd5 2:31 28.Nb6 3 And not 28.Rxd5 Nc7= 28...e6 1 29.Nxa8 16 Rxa8 0 30.h4 27       Bf8 41 31.Ne2 21 h6 13 32.Nd4 8 Kg7 4 32...Bg7± is a better defense. 33.Re1 Bf8 33.h5 32 g5 2 34.Be3 9 Be7 13 35.f4 10 gxf4 34 36.Bxf4 0 Bd8 8 37.Rg1 29 Kh7 35 38.g5 17 hxg5 5 39.Bxg5 0 f6 0 39...Bb6 was called for. 40.exf6 17 Nxf6 1 And now ...Ne4+ would win. 41.Ke2 44 aiming for Rcf1. Be8 1:13 42.Nxe6 1:27 Bxh5+ 1 43.Kd3? 33 43.Kf1+- and the rest is easy. 43...Bg6+± 14 44.Ke2? 0 White has more active pieces. 44.Kd2± Ne4+ 45.Ke2 Bh5+ 46.Kd3 Nf2+ 47.Kd2 47.Kd4 Bb6+ 48.Nc5 Ne4± 47...Ne4+ 48.Kd3 Nf2+ 49.Kd4 Bb6+ 50.Nc5 50.Kxd5 Ra5+ 51.Kd6 Ne4+       Discovered Attack 52.Ke7 Bxg1 44...Bh5++- 7 A strong pair of Bishops. 45.Kf1 1 Bb6? 0 45...Kg6 keeps fighting. 46.Nf4+ Kf5 47.Bxf6 Kxf4 46.Rh1 42 Kg6 39
47.Bxf6! 3 Bf3 2 48.Rh8 3 Kxf6 14 49.Rxa8 15 Kxe6 1 50.Rxa3 1 d4 8 51.b4 2 Bd5 9 52.Ke2 4 Ke5 2 53.Ra8 6 Bf7 5 54.Rb8 14 Ke4 1 55.Kd2 3 Bd5 7 56.Re1+ 2 Kf4 2 57.Rf8+ 0 Weighted Error Value: White=0.19 (very precise) /Black=0.38 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Abdusattorov,N2731Vachier-Lagrave,M27361–02023D78Chessable Masters Div 2 2023100.1
Vachier-Lagrave,M2736Abdusattorov,N27311–02023C42Chessable Masters Div 2 2023100.2
Abdusattorov,N2731Vachier-Lagrave,M27361–02023D78Chessable Masters Div 2 2023100.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2736Abdusattorov,N2731½–½2023C42Chessable Masters Div 2 2023100.4
 

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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