New in Chess Classic: Eventful mini-matches

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/30/2021 – Hikaru Nakamura won the first set of his semifinal match against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian drew their first mini-match. Both Carlsen and Nakamura were undefeated before the semis, and both were beaten for the first time in the New in Chess Classic on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Coincidences, traps

It was an eventful day of chess at the outset of the New in Chess Classic semifinals. No draws were seen in Hikaru Nakamura v Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Levon Aronian inflicted Magnus Carlsen’s first defeat of the event in a must-win situation — the Armenian had lost from a drawn position in game 3 and made the most of the world champion’s imprecise play in game 4.

Although Nakamura got a convincing 3-1 victory over Mamedyarov in the first set, he will have a hard time trying to keep things under control in Friday’s second set — as he usually does in these situations — since it seems impossible to prevent Shakh from creating chaos on the board in this tournament. The Azerbaijani has drawn only 8 out of the 26 games he has played so far, in contrast to his American opponent, who has drawn no fewer than 20 times in as many games.

It’s as difficult to make a prediction in the other semi, as Aronian’s creative play in the first set seemed to take Carlsen out of his comfort zone at some points. The Armenian told Kaja Snare:

Every time I play against Magnus I try to do my best, this time I was trying to have some fun while trying to do my best. I took my chances. Of course, my play in the first game was very dubious, but I said to myself, why not, I can play a game like that.

New in Chess Classic 2021

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Aronian 2 - 2 Carlsen

When Aronian referred to his ‘very dubious’ play in game 1, he referred to the variation he entered with black as early as move 5:

 
Game 1

5...Qf6 does appear in the database, but mostly in club-level games or encounters between unrated players. Carlsen got an edge out of the opening, but Aronian quickly managed to get counterplay. The game ended drawn in 43 moves.

Another draw was followed by Carlsen setting what Peter Leko described as “a devilish trap” in a pawn endgame:

 
Game 3

This position arose from an equal queen endgame. As Leko explained, it is clear that Carlsen allowed the queen swap knowing that his opponent might err in the diagrammed position. Black blundered with 43...f6, as quickly getting a passed pawn on the e-file with 44.Kc3 e5 45.fxe5 fxe5 46.Kb4 loses.

 

The white king can stop both passed pawns — they are not far apart enough nor far advanced enough on their way to promotion. Aronian resigned.

Given Carlsen’s unbeaten streak in the tournament, it was somewhat unexpected to see Aronian bouncing back on demand to draw the first set. Carlsen confessed:

I think we got a sort of appropriate result in the end. Obviously, it’s very disappointing to have given away the lead. I don’t think I deserved to win the match today. 

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 d6 5.0-0 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.b4 Bb6 8.a4 a6 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.fxe3 Qh6 11.Qe2 0-0 12.d4 g5 13.Nbd2 g4 14.Ne1 Kg7 15.Nd3 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.d5 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 e4 19.Qxe4 Ne5 20.Be2 Nxd5 21.Qxd5 Qxe3+ 22.Kh1 Qxe2 23.Rfe1 Qf2 24.Ne4 Qf7 25.Qd4 Rae8 26.Ng3 Qg6 27.b5 h5 28.b6 cxb6 29.Ne4 Re6 30.Nxd6 Rxd6 31.Qxe5+ Kh7 32.Rad1 Rxd1 33.Rxd1 Rf7 34.Kg1 h4 35.Rf1 Rxf1+ 36.Kxf1 Qb1+ 37.Ke2 Qc2+ 38.Ke3 Qxg2 39.Qe7+ Kg6 40.Qe6+ Kg7 41.Qe7+ Kg6 42.Qe6+ Kg7 43.Qe7+ Kg6 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2847Aronian,L2781½–½2021C50NIC Classic KO 20212.1
Aronian,L2781Carlsen,M2847½–½2021A46NIC Classic KO 20212.2
Carlsen,M2847Aronian,L27811–02021D35NIC Classic KO 20212.3
Aronian,L2781Carlsen,M28471–02021A46NIC Classic KO 20212.4

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Nakamura 3 - 1 Mamedyarov

Having Leko as a commentator can be very instructive. On Thursday, the former World Championship challenger noticed that the position reached in the first game of the Nakamura v Mamedyarov mini-match resembled an endgame he had seen before — coincidentally, the structure had been seen in a game between the two same players.

 
Mamedyarov vs. Nakamura - 2014 Olympiad (1-0)

The position above was seen in the very last round of the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromso, and Mamedyarov had the white pieces. The Azerbaijani showed good technique to win the game, which was the only decisive game of the match. Thanks to the victory, Azerbaijan finished the tournament with 17 match points, enough to tie with four other teams that got 2 match points less than the winners from China. Azerbaijan had the worst tiebreaker score of the four teams and finished fifth.

Sam Shankland, who was playing board 4 in that match, tweeted:

As Shankland notes, the position which appeared on the board in the New in Chess Classic semifinals had the colours reversed.

 
Nakamura vs. Mamedyarov - Game 1

Much like his colleague almost seven years ago, Nakamura managed to convert this position into a win. GM Karsten Müller analysed the endgame:

 
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1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Nd1 0-0 11.d4 Bd6 12.Qd3 Qc7 13.Ne3 Rfc8 14.b3 b5 15.Qxb5 Qc3 16.Rb1 Qxd4 17.c4 Rab8 18.Qa6 Qb6 19.Qxb6 Nxb6 20.cxd5 Nfxd5 21.Nxd5 exd5 22.Be3 Bc5 23.Bf4 Ra8 24.Rfd1 Rd8 25.Rbc1 Bd6 26.Be3 Rab8 27.Rc6 Be5 28.Rc5 Rd7 29.Rb5 Rbd8 30.a4 d4 31.Rxe5 dxe3 32.Rxd7 exf2+ 33.Kxf2 Nxd7 34.Ra5 g6 35.b4 Nb6 36.Rxa7 Rd2+ 37.Kg1 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 Rd2 39.Kg1 Rd1+ 40.Bf1 Nd5 41.Rd7 Kf8 42.Kf2 Rd2+ 43.Ke1 Rd4 44.Kf2 Rxb4 45.Rxd5 Rxa4 46.Rd7 Kg7 47.Rc7 Ra5 48.Bc4 Rf5+ 49.Ke3 Re5+ 50.Kd4 Rf5 51.g4 Rf6 52.Bd5 h6 53.Ke5 Rf1 54.Rd7 Re1+ 55.Kd6 Rf1 56.Ke7 Rd1 57.Ke8 Kf6 58.Rxf7+ Kg5 59.Bg2 Kh4 60.Rg7 Rd6 61.Kf7 "The wrong rook's pawn and Rauser's drawing zone" - The draw of lone king against bishop and wrong rook's pawn is famous and often causes deep problems: Kg5?! The first step in the wrong direction. 61...h5!? was called for. It does not draw, but White has great technical difficulties due to the wrong rook's pawn, e.g. 62.Bf3 Kg5 63.Be2 Kh6 64.Bb5 Kg5 65.gxh5 Kxh5 66.Rh7+ Kg5 67.Kg7 Rb6 68.Be8 Kf5 69.h4 Rb7+ 70.Bf7 Ra7 71.Rh6 Kg4 72.Kf6 Ra6+ 73.Be6+ Kg3 Now the h-pawn even must be sacrificed to win: 74.Rxg6+ Kxh4 75.Rg4+ Kh5 76.Rb4 Rd6 77.Rb5+ Kh4 78.Rb3+- 62.Be4 Rd7+?! Again 62...h5!? was much more tenacious: 63.gxh5 63.Rxg6+? Rxg6 64.Bxg6 hxg4= 63...Rd7+ 64.Kg8 Rxg7+ 65.Kxg7 gxh5 66.Bc2 Kh4 67.Bf5 Kg5 68.Be6 h4 Black's king can not reach Rauser's drawing zone h7-e4-d5-c4-a6 and so it is lost. This is Rauser's rule by the way. When the defending king can not reach the drawing zone around the safe h8 corner then the attacker always wins. When the king can reach the zone it is of course not automatically a draw. There are certain conditions in that case. But here White of course clearly wins, e.g. 69.Bg4 Kf4 70.Kf6 Ke4 71.Be6! The only winning move. After 71.Kg5? Ke5! 72.Kg6 Kd6 73.Kf7 Kc7= Black's king has reached Rauser's drawing zone and here it indeed is a draw. 71...Kd4 72.Kg5 Ke5 73.Ba2 Kd6 74.Kxh4 Ke7 75.Kg5 Kf8 76.Kg6+- 63.Kg8 Rxg7+ 63...Rd8+ 64.Kh7 h5 65.Rxg6+ Kh4 66.Bf5+- 64.Kxg7 h5 65.Bf3 Kh4 66.Kxg6 hxg4 67.Bxg4 67.Bxg4 Kg3 68.Kg5 Kf2 69.h4+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2736Mamedyarov,S27701–02021B11New In Chess Classic KO 20212.1

Mamedyarov bounced back immediately, winning game 2 with white. Naka scored the third win for the white player and went into game 4 with a 1-point lead. Naturally, Shakh played aggressively in the last game of the set, but his rival’s sharp tactical eye led to yet another win for the American, who thus got a 3-1 victory.

 
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1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Nd1 0-0 11.d4 Bd6 12.Qd3 Qc7 13.Ne3 Rfc8 14.b3 b5 15.Qxb5 Qc3 16.Rb1 Qxd4 17.c4 Rab8 18.Qa6 Qb6 19.Qxb6 Nxb6 20.cxd5 Nfxd5 21.Nxd5 exd5 22.Be3 Bc5 23.Bf4 Ra8 24.Rfd1 Rd8 25.Rbc1 Bd6 26.Be3 Rab8 27.Rc6 Be5 28.Rc5 Rd7 29.Rb5 Rbd8 30.a4 d4 31.Rxe5 dxe3 32.Rxd7 exf2+ 33.Kxf2 Nxd7 34.Ra5 g6 35.b4 Nb6 36.Rxa7 Rd2+ 37.Kg1 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 Rd2 39.Kg1 Rd1+ 40.Bf1 Nd5 41.Rd7 Kf8 42.Kf2 Rd2+ 43.Ke1 Rd4 44.Kf2 Rxb4 45.Rxd5 Rxa4 46.Rd7 Kg7 47.Rc7 Ra5 48.Bc4 Rf5+ 49.Ke3 Re5+ 50.Kd4 Rf5 51.g4 Rf6 52.Bd5 h6 53.Ke5 Rf1 54.Rd7 Re1+ 55.Kd6 Rf1 56.Ke7 Rd1 57.Ke8 Kf6 58.Rxf7+ Kg5 59.Bg2 Kh4 60.Rg7 Rd6 61.Kf7 Kg5 62.Be4 Rd7+ 63.Kg8 Rxg7+ 64.Kxg7 h5 65.Bf3 Kh4 66.Kxg6 hxg4 67.Bxg4 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2736Mamedyarov,S27701–02021B11NIC Classic KO 20212.1
Mamedyarov,S2770Nakamura,H27361–02021E21NIC Classic KO 20212.2
Nakamura,H2736Mamedyarov,S27701–02021B11NIC Classic KO 20212.3
Mamedyarov,S2770Nakamura,H27360–12021E21NIC Classic KO 20212.4

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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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