London Rd6: Gelfand leads, four players follow

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix - London 2012"] [Site "London"] [Date "2012.09.27"] [Round "6"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2742"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "ENG"] {I asked an open question on Facebook - why does Wang Hao do so well against Hikaru? "He is tactically opportunistic and can really put the heat on. Nobody likes having to find super accurate defenses against sudden attacks." was the reply of IM Mark Ginsburg. It's hard to conceive that Hikaru is the type of player that gives his opponents too many opportunities, but in this game, he definitely allowed this 'opportunist' to do whatever he wanted with the dark squares.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. b3 {Unorthodox, but when you are 2783 you can do whatever you want and people will think something good of it.} Bg7 5. Bb2 c5 6. c4 d4 7. b4 O-O 8. d3 Nc6 9. b5 Nb8 10. O-O {Basically in this position we have an off-beat variation of the Benko Gambit, with reversed colors, in which White (who is usually Black) has a bunch of extra tempos - mainly the knight c6-b8 tempo loss. I fancy said variation for Black under normal circumstances, so White has to be more than fine here!} Ne8 11. Nbd2 Nd6 12. Nb3 Nd7 13. Qc2 a5 14. Rae1 e5 15. e3 dxe3 {White is faced with a typical Benoni-ish choice: take on e3 with the rook or the pawn? They both come with their own pros and cons. White's lead in development and strong control over d4 makes it seem instinctively that taking with the pawn and trying to push d4 might be a good idea.} 16. fxe3 Qc7 17. Nfd2 $6 {Personally I don't like this move.} (17. Nbd2 f6 (17... Re8 18. Ng5 {with the idea of Ne3-c3 looks dangerous for Black.}) 18. d4 $1 {Leads to complications that should favor White. In either case, even without d4, the knight on d2 is fine and in the game it is very awkward.}) 17... Re8 18. Bc3 (18. Nb1 $5 {Students of IM Greg Shahade - an advocate of backward rerouting knight maneouvers - should instantly find this move. The knight will eventually find its way to d5!}) 18... a4 19. Nc1 Nb6 {After some innacuracies by Hikaru I'd say that Black has equalized. White has an awkward time trying to make use of that knight on c1, but at least he is solid for now.} 20. a3 Be6 21. e4 {This pawn push changes the character of the position by closing the center shut. Now White has a strong control over d5, though no pieces can reach it just yet, and Black has a permanent strong hold over d4, though no pieces can reach it just yet. But eventually they will.} Red8 22. Rf2 Qd7 23. Nf3 f6 24. Bf1 Ne8 25. Bd2 Nc7 26. Be3 Qd6 27. Na2 Bf7 28. Nc3 Ne6 29. Nd2 Nd4 30. Qd1 Be6 31. Nd5 {Many maneouvers later, the knight on c1 is strongly placed on d5, and the knight on d6 managed to get to d4. So both sides improved their knights - now the real game begins.} Rf8 32. Bg2 Rf7 33. Ref1 Nd7 34. Nb1 Bxd5 35. exd5 (35. cxd5 $5 { is an interesting suggestion. The point is to vacate c4, while at the same time suppressing f5. The pawn on b5 falls, but White does get some pressure because of it.}) 35... f5 36. g4 $6 Raf8 37. Bc1 $6 {I don't fully understand White's last two moves.} e4 $1 {A thematic and very instructive break. In some ways, the structure should remind you of the Nakamura-Gelfand game from a couple of days ago. Here Black sacrifices his e-pawn to shut down White's pieces and allow him a blockade. The immediate f4 would've spoiled everything.} 38. dxe4 f4 {Black's knight wants to hop into e5 - his position just kind of plays itself. It's hard to find a constructive plan for White, even though he (technically) has two passed pawns.} 39. g5 f3 $1 {Very forceful. Black didn't have to do this, but before White sets up a counter blockade, he sacrifices his pawns to give life to his pieces.} 40. Bxf3 Be5 {White is in a near zugzwang state.} 41. Kh1 (41. Be3 Bxh2+ $1 42. Kh1 Bg3 $19) 41... Bxh2 {As obvious as it is strong.} 42. Rxh2 {With Bg3 looming, White had no choice.} Nxf3 43. Rh3 Nde5 44. Nc3 Ng4 {Logical.} (44... Nd3 $5 {has the tactical trick of} 45. Qxd3 Ne5 46. Rxf7 Nxd3 47. Rxf8+ Qxf8 48. Rxd3 Qf1+ {and Black wins.}) 45. Nxa4 {It was very hard to come up with a move, and almost everything lost.} Nfh2 46. Rxf7 Rxf7 47. Qe2 Rf2 {The game is obviously over and Hikaru finally resigned - despite being up two pawns for a few moves his position deteriorated very rapidly. With this Wang Hao moves to an impressive 4-0 against Nakamura in tournament games (disregarding draws).} 0-1