U.S. Chess Champ Hikaru Nakamura (Part 2)
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
Read
part one here
"A knowledge of tactics is the foundation of positional play," claimed
Richard Reti, a chess philosopher and one of the leading players of the 1920s.
And tactics can crack strong positional walls and take them down. Tactics would
fail Seirawan time to time in his successful career.
Seirawan has reached a point in his career when he plays with"ambition
without ammunition, " to use Boris Spassky's favorite expression. Yasser
suffers in the openings, being out-prepared and out-analyzed by the younger
players. But give him an equal position without queens on the board and he will
shine.
Kamsky's style has evolved from being a staunch defender to a freelance attacker,
capable of creating brilliant tactical gems. He didn't have to think too much
against Seirawan. Everything was served up on a platter for him and he just
picked the best moves prepared three years ago against Veselin Topalov. The
victory briefly catapulted Kamsky into first place.
[Event "ch-USA 2012"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2012.05.17"] [Round "9"]
[White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Seirawan, Yasser"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2643"] [Annotator "GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington
Post"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2012.05.08"] [SourceDate "2012.01.12"] 1.
e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4
Nf6 15. Qd3 O-O 16. Kb1 c5 17. g4 $5 {White is going for a "blitzkrieg," storming
the black king with bold sacrifices.} Nxg4 18. Qe2 $1 {Killing two birds with
one stone: the queen protects the pawn on f2 and at the same time prevents black
from playing f7-f5. One can also play more daringly.} Kh8 {A new move. The king
goes out of the line of fire: the g-file. But other moves were played here with
success:} 19. Rhg1 Nf6 20. dxc5 Qc7 21. Ne5 Bxc5 $2 { Diagram [#]} ({Seirawan
overlooks a pretty combination. Tactics was always his weaker side.} 21... Rad8
{was the proper answer.}) 22. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 23. Rd7 $3 {The point of the sacrifices.
White deflects the knight from the defense of the black king. Kamsky admitted
he had prepared all this for his World Chess Challenge match against Veselin
Topalov in 2009 in Sofia.} Qxd7 (23... Nxd7 24. Qd2 Kh7 25. Ng4 {and black can't
defend the pawn on h6 and gets mated.}) (23... Qb8 24. Rxf7) 24. Nxd7 Nxd7 (24...
Rg8 25. Rxg8+ Rxg8 26. b4 $18) 25. Qd2 {The game is basically over and Kamsky
plays the rest well.} Kh7 26. b4 (26. Qxd7 Bxf2 27. Qd3+ Kh8 28. Qc3+ e5 29.
Rf1 $18) 26... Rad8 27. bxc5 Nf6 (27... Nxc5 28. Qf4 Rd5 29. Qf6 $18) 28. Qf4
Ne8 29. Qe4+ Kh8 30. Qxb7 Ng7 31. Qxa7 Rc8 32. Rd1 Nf5 33. Rd7 Kg7 34. a4 Kf6
35. a5 1-0
Nakamura began the most important game of the tournament with a half-point
handicap. But he equalized rather quickly with the black pieces in the Sicilian
Najdorf and had Kamsky under pressure throughout the game. Hikaru had a slim
but important lead going into the last round.
[Event "ch-USA 2012"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2012.05.18"] [Round "10"]
[White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington
Post"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2012.05.08"] [SourceDate "2012.01.12"] 1.
e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bc4
O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Bb3 Nc6 11. Bg5 Na5 $5 {Nakamura begins the battle for the
square c4. The knight move made Kamsky unhappy and he took almost a half-hour
before he played his next move.} 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Bd5 {Landing both the bishop
and the knight on the outpost d5 at the same time would have been ideal for
white. It would free the queenside pawns and they could step into action. But
chess does not work this way. Black is able to create a typical Sicilian counterplay
along the c-file, but the chances are roughly equal.} (13. Nd5 Nxb3 14. cxb3
Rc8 15. Nxf6+ gxf6 $11) (13. Ba2 Rc8 14. Nd5 Nc4 $11) 13... Rc8 14. Nd2 {Kamsky
covers everything he can, but not for long.} Qc7 15. Re1 Bg5 $1 16. Nf1 Qb6
$1 {It is interesting how quickly white's game detoriates. Kamsky played rather
passively and it is not easy for him to find a good play. Nakamura, on the other
hand, has a green light on the queenside.} 17. Rb1 Nc4 18. Qe2 Bh6 (18... g6)
19. h4 Qb4 20. g3 Rc7 (20... Nxb2 21. Nd1) 21. Kg2 Nb6 { Nakamura outplayed
his opponent and is ready to cash in. After 21 moves only, Kamsky is in trouble
with the white pieces and has to give up a pawn.} 22. Bb3 Bxb3 23. cxb3 Qxb3
24. a5 Na4 25. Nh2 (25. Nd5 Rc2) 25... g6 ({Nakamura decides to escape with
his bishop and who could blame him. After} 25... Nxc3 26. bxc3 Qxc3 27. Ng4
Qxa5 28. Nxh6+ gxh6 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Qf5 Qa2 31. Red1 { white is three pawns
down, but his rooks are very active.}) 26. Ng4 Bg7 27. Nd5 (27. Ne3 f5 28. exf5
gxf5 29. Qd1 Qxd1 30. Rexd1 Nxc3 31. bxc3 {white has a good play for a pawn.})
27... Rc2 28. Qe3 Nc5 (28... Qxe3 29. Ngxe3 Rxb2 30. Rxb2 Nxb2 31. Rb1 Na4 32.
Rxb7 {the chances swung in white's favor. Black has two weak pawns: a6 and d6,
and white's knights dominate.}) 29. h5 ({ Threatening to win with 30.h6, but
black can defend it easily. Kamsky could have tried} 29. Ngf6+ $1 Kh8 30. Nd7
$1 Rd8 31. Nxc5 Qxe3 32. Rxe3 Rxc5 33. b4 $11 {and the strong knight on d5 fully
compensates the small material deficiency.}) 29... Qxe3 30. Ngxe3 Rd2 31. Nc4
Rd4 32. Nxd6 Rd8 33. b4 Nd3 34. Nxb7 Nxe1+ 35. Rxe1 Ra8 36. f3 ({White misses
his chance to make it more difficult for black. After} 36. hxg6 hxg6 37. Ne7+
Kf8 38. Nd5 {it is not easy for black to improve his position, for example}
Ra7 39. Nc5 Kg8 40. Ra1 Bf8 41. Nxa6 $3 Rxa6 42. b5 {and white is a rook down,
but his extra passed pawns should not be underestimated.}) 36... Bf8 37. Rc1
(37. Nc5 gxh5) 37... Bxb4 38. Rc7 (38. h6 Bf8 39. Rc7 Bxh6 40. Nd6 Bg7) 38...
gxh5 39. Kh3 Kg7 40. Kh4 $2 ({ With the last move before the time control Kamsky
allows an unpleasant pin.} 40. Nxb4 Rxb4 41. Nd6 {was better.}) 40... Ra7 41.
Kxh5 Rxd5 $1 {Simplifying into a winning position with unstoppable a-pawn.}
42. exd5 Bxa5 43. Re7 Bb6 ( 43... Kf8 44. d6 Bb4 45. Rd7 Bxd6 46. Rxd6 Rxb7
47. Rxa6 Rb3 48. Kg4 h5+ 49. Kxh5 Rxf3 {is not that clear.}) 44. d6 a5 45. Kg5
({Now the a-pawn is free to run. The only chance was a knight maneuver:} 45.
Nd8 a4 46. Ne6+ Kf6 47. Nc7 Bxc7 48. dxc7 Ra8 49. Rd7 Rc8 50. Rd6+ Ke7 51. Ra6
Rxc7 52. Rxa4 $17) 45... a4 46. Kf5 a3 47. Nd8 a2 48. Ne6+ Kh6 49. Ng5 a1=Q
50. Nxf7+ Kg7 0-1
Nakamura's victory in the last round was the title clincher. He surprised Seirawan
already with his second move and continued to gain advantage with unorthodox
play. Yasser fell again under heavy tactical blows.
[Event "ch-USA 2012"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2012.05.19"] [Round "11"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Seirawan, Yasser"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2643"] [Annotator "GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington
Post"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2012.05.08"] [SourceDate "2012.01.12"] 1.
e4 e6 2. f4 {A shocker for Seirawan. He faced this uncommon move for the first
time.} d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 Nge7 6. Na3 Nf5 7. Nc2 h5 ({When he faced
Stripunsky with the black pieces two years ago, Nakamura played:} 7... d4 8.
Bd3 Qb6 9. Qe2 Nfe7 10. Be4 Nd5 11. g3 Bd7 12. c4 Ndb4 13. d3 Nxc2+ 14. Qxc2
f5 15. exf6 gxf6 16. Nh4 f5 17. Bg2 O-O-O 18. Nf3 Bd6 19. Bd2 Rdg8 20. O-O-O
h6 21. Rde1 Kb8 22. Re2 Rg6 23. Rhe1 Rc8 24. Kb1 a5 25. Ka1 Kc7 26. Nh4 Rf6
27. Bxc6 Qxc6 28. Bxa5+ b6 29. Bd2 Qa8 30. Rf2 Bc6 31. Qd1 b5 32. b3 bxc4 33.
bxc4 Rb8 34. Bc1 Ba4 35. Qd2 Kc8 36. Ree2 Bc7 37. Qe1 Ba5 38. Bd2 Bc2 39. Bxa5
Qxa5 40. Rf1 Rb1+ 41. Qxb1 Bxb1 42. Rxb1 Qc3+ 43. Reb2 Rf7 44. Nf3 Rb7 45. Ne5
h5 { 0-1 Stripunsky,A (2570)-Nakamura,H (2733)/Saint Louis 2010}) 8. Bd3 {Blocking
the d-pawn may look strange, but Nakamura is only delaying the central pawn
play.} g6 9. O-O Be7 10. Bxf5 gxf5 {Capturing towards the center is usually
a good idea, but here it isolates the h-pawn.} 11. d4 h4 (11... b6 12. Qe2 a5
13. Qf2 Ba6 14. Rd1 h4) 12. dxc5 Bxc5+ 13. Be3 Be7 {Exchanging the dark bishops
would leave black with a bad bishop.} 14. h3 b6 15. Qe2 Nb8 {Seirawan is anxious
to occupy the diagonal a6-f1 and is willing to retreat with his pieces. But
he also has in mind to re-route his knight to g6. All this costs time.} ({ After}
15... a5 {comes} 16. b4 $5) ({Unfortunately, the idea of} 15... Bb7 { ,to open
up the long diagonal with d5-d4, runs into problems after} 16. Rfd1) 16. Rfd1
Ba6 17. Qe1 Nd7 18. b4 Nf8 19. a4 Bc4 20. Ncd4 Qd7 21. b5 {Creating a nice outpost
for the knight.} Ng6 22. Nc6 Kf8 {Trying to finish an artificial castling by
placing the king on g7. How could Seirawan have known that he is walking into
an ambush?} ({Sacrificing an exchange for the pesky knight} 22... Rc8 23. Nd2
Rxc6 24. bxc6 Qxc6 {was an option.}) 23. Nd2 Bd3 24. c4 $1 {An excellent way
to open up the position, using a pin along the d-file.} Kg7 25. cxd5 exd5 ({After}
25... Qxd5 26. Nxe7 Nxe7 27. Nf3 Rad8 28. Ra3 Qe4 29. Ng5 Qc4 30. Rc3 Qb4 31.
Rc7 {wins.}) 26. Nb1 Bc4 ({After} 26... Bxb1 27. Raxb1 Rhc8 28. Qc3 Qe6 29.
Qb3 {white wins the d-pawn.}) 27. Qc3 $1 {Threatening 28.e6+.} Qe6 {the queen
is a poor blocker, but white was also threatening 28.Qxc4.} 28. Nd2 ({A clever
move. After the immediate} 28. Nd4 {comes} Qc8) 28... Rhc8 $2 { The rook takes
the last escape square for the queen, allowing a brutal finish.} ({But after}
28... Kh7 29. Nxc4 dxc4 30. Rac1 {white should win anyway.}) 29. Nd4 Qd7 30.
e6 $1 {(The diagonal a1-h8 opens up for the final blow: 31.Nd4xf5+ double-check.}
1-0
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