Sinquefield 06: Nakamura Brilliant!

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/30/2015 – In a showing of excellent attacking chess, Nakamura took So's deep preparation, shredded it over the board and won a brilliant game with multiple sacrifices. So simply seemed to have no clue where the ball was rolling today and was properly punished for it. It was not the only important win today, as MVL and Grischuk also won their games. This puts MVL, Naka and Giri 0.5 from the leaders.

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2015 Sinquefield Cup

This super-GM single Round Robin brings together some of the best players in the world. This is the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour.

The players – Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Viswanathan Anand (India), Wesley So (USA).

The venue is the Chess Club and Scholastic Center at 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108. Tickets can be purchased at the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Round Six

Round Six
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander 2771
1-0
Caruana, Fabiano 2808
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
1-0
Topalov, Veselin 2816
Giri, Anish 2793
½-½
Anand, Viswanathan 2816
So, Wesley 2779
0-1
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
Aronian, Levon 2765
½-½
Carlsen, Magnus 2853

Daniel King shows the game of the day from round 6: So vs Nakamura

The hall was packed...

So was downstairs...

and even outside!

What a way to reignite the tournament after the rest day on Friday. The players took it easy and had time to heavily prepare for today’s round. This is an approach that not every grandmaster takes, as some think that too heavy of preparation is counterproductive. Something that we actually had the pleasure of witnessing today!

It is not every day that in a super grandmaster tournament there are so many sacrifices in one round. MVL’s sacrificed a pawn, Caruana sacrificed a piece, but the brilliancy of the round was clearly Nakamura’s sacrifice of basically every piece he had!

The first couple of results of round six were far from interesting. Many predicted that while Aronian would push slightly against Carlsen, he would try to do so with minimal risk and minimal chance of succeeding. In effect, the World Champion was able to equalize without difficulties and the game was drawn.

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.29"] [Round "6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2853"] [Annotator "Ramirez alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. a3 Re8 10. b4 Bf8 11. Nd2 Be6 12. Bb2 {A normal version of a reversed Dragon, though there are no games in the database with this exact position!} Qd7 13. Nce4 Bh3 {Trading off the dragon bishop is very normal. Black wastes some time on this operation, but it is more than acceptable.} 14. Bxh3 (14. b5 Nd4 15. Bxh3 Qxh3 16. a4 {was not to Aronian's liking.}) 14... Qxh3 15. Qb3 Qd7 16. Nf3 a5 17. b5 Nd4 18. Nxd4 (18. Bxd4 exd4 {gives Black the ability to pressure a3 (after a4 from Black) and e2, which should give him enough counterplay.}) 18... exd4 19. a4 Qd5 {Carlsen mentioned he didn't know what else to do, this leads to a draw after many trades.} 20. Qxd5 Nxd5 21. Bxd4 f5 22. Nc3 Nxc3 23. Bxc3 Rxe2 {so far forced. White has to take care of the active rook.} 24. Rfe1 {no Rae8 because a5 is hanging} Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Bb4 { more trades} 26. Rc1 {forced} (26. Bxb4 axb4 {gives Black an obvious edge in an endgame.}) 26... c6 27. bxc6 bxc6 28. Bxb4 axb4 29. Rxc6 Rxa4 {the game is very obviously drawn.} 30. Rb6 Ra1+ 31. Kg2 Rd1 32. Rxb4 Rxd3 1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian discussing the game with Maurice Ashley

Giri seemed to obtain a slightly more pleasant position from the opening due to his pair of bishops. However, Anand was ultra-solid behind his Slav setup. His control of key dark squares also helped him out in the game. Giri misplayed his position very slightly and allowed Anand to exchange one of his bishops which then resulted in a dead drawn endgame.

Anand's position was uncomfortable for a small amount of time

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.29"] [Round "6"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2816"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. e3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. g4 Bg6 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. Nxg6 hxg6 9. Bg2 {White's pair of bishops guarantees him long-term prospects, but Black will always remain solid.} e6 10. Nd2 g5 11. O-O Be7 12. Re1 Nf8 13. e4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Rxe4 Ng6 {White's advantage in the center is somewhat offset by Black's dark-squared control.} 16. Be3 O-O 17. d5 {White has to break through at some point, of course.} cxd5 18. cxd5 e5 {Black wants to keep the center closed to restrain the light square bishop.} (18... Qxd5 19. Qxd5 exd5 20. Ra4 $1 {Will eventually regain the d5 pawn, with a slight advantage.}) 19. Qd2 a5 20. d6 (20. a3 {was considered by Giri, keeping the tension, but it is unclear how to proceed after Qd6.}) 20... Qxd6 21. Qxd6 Bxd6 22. Bxg5 (22. Rd1 Be7 23. Rd7 (23. Rc4 $1 {is some computer find that gives Giri some opportunity for an edge.}) 23... b5 $6 (23... b6 $1 {close to equal.}) 24. Rxe7 $5 Nxe7 25. Rxe5 {with chances for the advantage as all of Black's pawns are hanging.}) 22... Rac8 23. Re2 b6 24. Rd1 Bc5 {White's pair of bishops unfortunately will be neutralized by a strong knight on f4. Then the opposite colored bishops makes the position closer to a draw than anything else, even if White retains a small advantage.} 25. Be4 Nf4 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Kg2 Rfd8 28. Red2 Rxd2 29. Rxd2 g5 30. Rd7 Re8 31. Kf3 Re7 {White has no good way of making progress.} 32. Rxe7 1/2-1/2

Wesley So having a dark tournament

Wesley So played a very strange game. He confidently blitzed out twenty moves of theory, clearly prepared. Unfortunately, after that every move he played lasted at least fifteen minutes and were rather unconvincing. At one point it was clear that he had violated a couple of positional rules, or maybe twenty, and he was punished with a brilliancy. Nakamura sacrificed everything, including the kitchen sink, and mated So on g6 in a must-see game.

a masterpiece

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.29"] [Round "6"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E99"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2814"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. f3 f5 11. Be3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Nd3 Ng6 14. c5 Nf6 15. Rc1 Rf7 16. Kh1 h5 17. cxd6 cxd6 18. Nb5 a6 19. Na3 b5 20. Rc6 {Up to this point So had played instantly. This is surprising as he has achieved nothing on the queenside. Nakamura continues his kingside attack.} g4 21. Qc2 Qf8 22. Rc1 Bd7 23. Rc7 $2 {I don't like this move at all. Releasing the tension on d6 and a6 is too lenient on Black's position. Asked after the game what they thought of Wesley's play, most of the players agreed that it looked completely wrong and anti-positional. "If it was White to move, I would consider playing Rc6 here" - Anish Giri.} (23. Nb4 $1 Bxc6 (23... Bh6)) 23... Bh6 24. Be1 {removing the bishop from potential g3 moves with tempo.} h4 {here the pawn on g4 is clearly poisoned to an experience KID player.} 25. fxg4 {picking up the gauntlet, this is not good. That being said, I don't know what else he could have done.} f3 26. gxf3 Nxe4 27. Rd1 $2 {This makes things esay for Nakamura to calculate as almost every line wins.} (27. Rxd7 {was a much better try.} Rxf3 $1 {works anyway} (27... Rxd7 28. fxe4 $16) 28. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 29. Qg2 Qxd3 30. Rd1 Bd2 $3 { is the key move. Nakamura did not see this, but he would have found that h3 instead of Bd2 was favorable for Black, and upon reaching this position probably would have found Bd2.} 31. Bxd2 Nf4 {and White is getting mated.}) ( 27. Nf2 Nxf2+ 28. Bxf2 Bxc1 29. Qxg6+ Rg7) (27. Nc5 $1 dxc5 28. Rxd7 Rxd7 29. Qxe4 Bxc1 30. Qxg6+ Rg7 $19) 27... Rxf3 28. Rxd7 (28. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 29. Qg2 Bxg4 { is completely winning.}) 28... Rf1+ $1 29. Kg2 Be3 $1 {A very nice resource. There were other winning moves, but this is fantastic.} (29... h3+ 30. Kxh3 Rf2 {was even more fantastic, and just as winning.} 31. Bxf2 Qxf2 32. Nxf2 Nf4+ 33. Kh4 Bg5#) 30. Bg3 (30. h3 Nf4+ 31. Kh2 Nxd3 {and with the elimination of the knight on d3 White's dark squares fall apart.}) 30... hxg3 31. Rxf1 Nh4+ 32. Kh3 Qh6 {White is up a rook, but his position is hopeless. He is simply getting mated.} 33. g5 Nxg5+ {The rest is a forced mating sequence.} 34. Kg4 { every move wins here.} Nhf3 35. Nf2 Qh4+ 36. Kf5 Rf8+ 37. Kg6 Rf6+ $1 {pretty but not the only way.} 38. Kxf6 Ne4+ 39. Kg6 Qg5# 0-1

Naka is 1/2 behind the leaders, same as Giri and MVL

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was able to outplay Topalov in a very clean game. It was almost a perfect Berlin endgame from White in which Black’s pieces were never able to coordinate. White got a brilliantly timed e6 break, and everything just went south for the Bulgarian. MVL cleaned up without problems.

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.29"] [Round "6"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2816"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ne7 12. Nd4 (12. b3 {was the famous game Caruana-Carlsen from Norway this year. MVL has other ideas in mind. }) 12... Ng6 13. f4 Bc5 14. Be3 h5 15. Ne4 Bxd4 16. Rxd4 h4 (16... Bf5 17. Ng3 Bxc2 18. Rc1 h4 19. Rxc2 hxg3 20. Kf1 $13) (16... b6 17. Rad1 Bf5 18. Ng3 Bxc2 19. Rc1) 17. Rad1 Bf5 18. e6 {It is unclear if the players knew so, but this has been all played so far. Considering that MVL spent 50 minutes to get to this position, it is unlikely that he knew it, but Maurice Ashley thinks that MVL had prepped it all! I digress, however.} Bxe6 (18... fxe6 19. Nc5 b6 20. Na6 Rc8 (20... e5 21. fxe5 Rc8 22. e6) 21. Rd7 e5 22. Nxc7+ Kf8) 19. Nc5 Rh5 ( 19... b6 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rd7 Ne7 22. Rxc7 {was clearly better for White in Saric-Sulava, 2011.}) (19... Bc8 20. Nxb7 $16) 20. Nxb7 Rd5 (20... Rb5 21. Nd8 Bd5 22. c4 Rxb2 23. cxd5 Rxd8 24. Re4+ Kf8 25. f5 Nh8 26. Rxh4 Kg8 27. Bd4 Rxd5 28. Rg4) 21. b3 Rb8 22. Rxd5 cxd5 23. Nc5 {This is very unpleasant for Black. h4 is a long term weakness, his bishop is bad and his a7 pawn is also weak.} c6 24. Rd4 Bc8 25. Ra4 Ra8 {no one ever wants to play this, but life sucks sometimes over the board.} 26. c4 dxc4 27. Rxc4 Bf5 28. Nb7 Kd7 29. Rd4+ {even the king feels unsafe. Not a good thing with opposite colored bishops in the position.} Kc7 30. Nd6 Bb1 31. Nxf7 Re8 32. Kf2 Bxa2 33. f5 Nf8 {Black's position is clearly collapsing. He has no coordination, his king is weak, his pawns are falling. MVL has his choice of coup de grace.} 34. Ra4 Bxb3 35. Rxa7+ (35. Bf4+ {was even easier.}) 35... Kb8 36. Nd6 Rd8 37. Rxg7 1-0

MVL admitted to not knowing the Saric game in the postmortem

Last to finish was a thrilling battle between Grischuk and Caruana which left the American player unhappy. He played a strong and resourceful piece sacrifice to shatter his opponent’s structure and obtain a lasting initiative, but his misplayed it badly. His move b5?! simply helped his opponent’s queen to improve, and though it is true that the correct continuation was scary, he simply had to go for it. As the game progressed, it became obvious that White was simply up a piece.

You know something is up when Grischuk has more time than his opponent

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.29"] [Round "6"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2771"] [BlackElo "2808"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 {1} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Ne4 8. a3 {Grischuk played this move very quickly, but it is not the most logical move. The move itself doesn't threaten b4 yet, but it does cover against b6 since b4 is not available for the bishop on e7.} (8. Qc2 {and}) (8. Rc1 {have been seen before, in this tournament included.}) 8... Nxc3 9. bxc3 c6 10. Qa4 g5 $1 11. Bg3 f5 {This expansion seems completely justified. White loses development time and Black grabs space.} 12. h3 f4 13. Bh2 e5 14. Be2 e4 $1 15. Nd2 Nxc5 $1 {Excellent decision making from Caruana. This piece sacrifice nets him two pawns and a strong initiative, using his pawns as spear points. Grischuk was playing quickly up to this point, but went into a long thin after accepting the knight.} 16. dxc5 Bxc5 17. O-O $5 (17. exf4 gxf4 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Qxe4 {is incredibly messy, with both kings feeling unsafe.}) 17... b5 $6 { After a very long thing, Caruana played this move which seems bizarre to me. Why improve White's queen?} (17... fxe3 18. Nxe4 $8 dxe4 19. fxe3 (19. Qb3+ Kg7 20. Be5+ Kh6 (20... Kg6 21. fxe3 Qd5) 21. fxe3) (19. Qxe4 exf2+ 20. Kh1) 19... Bxe3+ $6 (19... Be6 $1 {Perhaps Caruana missed this. After which Black has all the trumps in the position, for example} 20. Qxe4 Qd5 $15) 20. Kh1 {gives Black two extra pawns but the position remains very unclear. White's initiative is real.}) 18. Qb3 Qe7 19. Kh1 Be6 {Again after a long thing. Black has compensation for his missing piece but his initiative evaporated.} 20. a4 $1 {Allowing d4, which actually doesn't do anything.} d4 21. Qd1 d3 22. Bg4 Bd5 23. axb5 cxb5 24. Nb3 fxe3 (24... Bb6 25. Nd4 $16) 25. Nxc5 Qxc5 (25... e2 26. Bxe2 dxe2 27. Qxd5+ {doesn't work.}) 26. fxe3 {At the end of the day, White simply has an extra bishop.} Qxe3 27. Re1 Qf2 28. Bg1 Qf7 29. Qd2 Qg6 30. Ra6 $1 {A nice touch.} Rf6 (30... Qxa6 31. Qxg5+ Qg6 32. Qxd5+ {basically gets mated.}) 31. Rea1 $1 {Salt in the wound.} Re8 32. Rxf6 Qxf6 33. Rxa7 h6 34. Be3 Qe5 35. Qe1 Bc4 36. Bd4 Qf4 37. Rg7+ Kf8 38. Qa1 b4 {This move was on the board, but not played. Caruana flagged before he could make his move, but he was getting mated anyway.} 1-0

Standings

Round Six Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos by Lennart Ootes

Pairings

Round One
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Giri, Anish 2793
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander 2771
So, Wesley 2779
0-1
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
Aronian, Levon 2765
1-0
Caruana, Fabiano 2808
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
0-1
Topalov, Veselin 2816
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
1-0
Anand, Viswanathan 2816
Round Two
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander 2771
1-0
Anand, Viswanathan 2816
Topalov, Veselin 2816
1-0
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
½-½
Aronian, Levon 2765
Giri, Anish 2793
½-½
So, Wesley 2779
Caruana, Fabiano 2808
0-1
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
Round Three
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
So, Wesley 2779
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander 2771
Aronian, Levon 2765
½-½
Giri, Anish 2793
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
1-0
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2808
Anand, Viswanathan 2816
½-½
Topalov, Veselin 2816
Round Four
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander 2771
½-½
Topalov, Veselin 2816
Caruana, Fabiano 2808
½-½
Anand, Viswanathan 2816
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
Giri, Anish 2793
½-½
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
So, Wesley 2779
0-1
Aronian, Levon 2765
Round Five
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Aronian, Levon 2765
½-½
Grischuk, Alexander 2771
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
1-0
So, Wesley 2779
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
½-½
Giri, Anish 2793
Anand, Viswanathan 2816
½-½
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
Topalov, Veselin 2816
0-1
Caruana, Fabiano 2808
Round Six
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander 2771
1-0
Caruana, Fabiano 2808
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
1-0
Topalov, Veselin 2816
Giri, Anish 2793
½-½
Anand, Viswanathan 2816
So, Wesley 2779
0-1
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
Aronian, Levon 2765
½-½
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
Round Seven
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Carlsen, Magnus 2853   Grischuk, Alexander 2771
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814   Aronian, Levon 2765
Anand, Viswanathan 2816   So, Wesley 2779
Topalov, Veselin 2816   Giri, Anish 2793
Caruana, Fabiano 2808   Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
Round Eight
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander 2771   Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731
Giri, Anish 2793   Caruana, Fabiano 2808
So, Wesley 2779   Topalov, Veselin 2816
Aronian, Levon 2765   Anand, Viswanathan 2816
Carlsen, Magnus 2853   Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
Round Nine
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814   Grischuk, Alexander 2771
Anand, Viswanathan 2816   Carlsen, Magnus 2853
Topalov, Veselin 2816   Aronian, Levon 2765
Caruana, Fabiano 2808   So, Wesley 2779
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731   Giri, Anish 2793

Games start at 1 p.m. local time (20:00h CEST, 22:00h Moscow, Thursday 12:30 New Delhi, 03:00h Tokyo, 04:00 Canberra – check your location here).

Playoffs, if necessary, will be on the 2nd at 1pm.

The games will be broadcast live on Playchess, with expert analysis (see schedule below).

Broadcast Schedule

Day Date Time Event German
English
Sunday Aug. 23 1 PM Round 1 Thomas Luther   
Mihail Marin
Monday Aug. 24 1 PM Round 2 Calrstedt/Pähtz
Mihail Marin
Tuesday Aug. 25 1 PM Round 3 S. Siebrecht  
Simon Williams
Wednesday Aug. 26 1 PM Round 4 S. Siebrecht  
Simon Williams
Thursday Aug. 27 1 PM Round 5 S. Siebrecht  
Simon Williams
Friday Aug. 28 Rest Day
Saturday Aug. 29 1 PM Round 6 Reeh/Breutigam
Y. Pelletier
Sunday Aug. 30 1 PM Round 7 Reeh/Breutigam
Y. Pelletier
Monday Aug. 31 1 PM Round 8 S. Siebrecht  
Daniel King
Tuesday Sept. 1 1 PM Round 9 Y. Pelletier
Daniel King
Wednesday Sept. 2 1 PM Playoffs  
 

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
 

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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