CARUANA vs NAKAMURA – SINQUEFIELD CUP 2018 ROUND 4

After two days featuring decisive games lasting almost 7 hours, it was a pleasant change to have one that finished in just over four hours. We now have half the field tried for the lead on plus one. Nakamura languished in last place on minus two.

Caruana hasn’t lost a classical game to Nakamura in the last three years. The opening novelty that lead to victory is what Nigel Short referred to during his match against Kasparov as a condom opening – something to use once, then discard. In this instance it was castling queenside out of a Catalan positional structure. Caruana prepared the line a few months back with the view to perhaps use it in a rapid game.

During the post-game interview, Caruana noted that Nakamura had played completely logical moves. They were just not the best moves in the highly unusual position.

Today’s game features a Catalan Opening that includes some Q&A style annotations.

While playing through the game, scroll slowly so that when you get to the questions you can put some time on the clock (ten to fifteen minutes) and try and find the solution.

Caruana,Fabiano (2822) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2777)

6th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2018 Saint Louis (4), 21.08.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.g3 dxc4 6.Bg2 0–0 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Qa4 c5 12.dxc5 E06: Catalan 
12...Qxc5 13.Be3 Qc7 

XABCDEFGHY
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14.0–0–0N The position is balanced. [14.0–0 Nd5 15.Bd4 Bd7 16.Qa3 a5 17.Rad1 Nb4 18.Bc5 Qxc5 19.Rxd7 Rab8 1/2–1/2 (46) Svidler,P (2763)-Nakamura,H (2780) Palma de Mallorca 2017] 
14...Ng4 15.Rd2 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Rb8 17.Rhd1 a5 18.Kb1 h6 19.Ka1 Rb4 20.Qc2 Rb8 21.Qe4 Bb7 22.Qd4 Ba8 23.e4 Rfc8 24.Qf2 

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Black now has to pay attention to Rd7. 
24...Bc6 25.Qc5 Be8 26.Qxc7 Rxc7 27.Rd6 Kf8 28.Ra6 Rc5 29.Ra7 Rbc8 30.Kb1 Rh5 31.h4 Re5 32.Kc2 g5 33.Rf1 Kg7 34.Rb7 Kg6 35.Kd2 f5 36.hxg5 

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36...fxe4 
Can you find and improvement on what Black played?

00000

[Rather 36...Kxg5² 37.exf5 exf5] 
37.Ke3 
There is a better move available for White. What is it?

00000

[Better is 37.gxh6± e3+ 38.Kc1 Kxh6 39.Rh1+ Rh5 40.Rxh5+ Bxh5 41.Rb6] 
37...Bc6 38.Re7ƒ aiming for gxh6 Black is under heavy pressure. 
38...Rxg5 39.Rxe6+ [39.Nxe4?! Bxe4 40.Rxe6+ (40.Kxe4 Rc6=) 40...Kg7=] 
39...Kg7 40.Re7+ [40.Nxe4?! Bxe4 41.Re7+ (41.Rxe4 Rxg3+ 42.Kd4 c3=; 41.Kxe4 Rb5=) 41...Kg6=] 
40...Kg6 41.Rd1 [41.Nxe4?! Bxe4 42.Re6+ (42.Rxe4 Rxg3+ 43.Kd4 c3=; 42.Kxe4 Rb5=) 42...Kg7=] 
41...Kf6 

XABCDEFGHY
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Find the best continuation for White.

00000

42.Ra7! Ke6 

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43.Rh1 
What would have been wrong with 43.Nxe4?

00000

[Much worse is 43.Nxe4?! Bxe4 44.Kxe4 Re5+ 45.Kf4 Rf8+ 46.Kg4 h5+ 47.Kh3 Rxe2=] 
43...h5 44.g4! [However not 44.Nxe4?! Re5=] 
44...Be8? [44...Rh8±] 
45.gxh5+- Bxh5 [45...Rxh5 is probably better. 46.Rxh5 Bxh5 47.Rxa5 Be8] 
46.Nxe4 White is clearly winning. [Weaker is 46.Ra6+ Kf7+-] 
46...Rf5 47.Ra6+ Ke7 48.Nd6 Re5+ 49.Kd4  1–0

WORLD CHESS CANDIDATES 2018 BERLIN – ROUND 4

I know that my previous reports may have sounded somewhat harsh toward FIDE and their organization level and official website that can’t provide games. The one feature of their website that was working well was the embedded YouTube window where we could follow the superb commentary by Judit Polgar. This was the same great commentary that was broadcast to the players during round one.  I use the past tense because for some reason FIDE chose to “fix” the only part of their website that wasn’t broken. The commentary window is now smaller than a postage stamp and cannot be maximized.

An interesting point has been raised by GM Jan Timman. How many points will a player need to be able to win the Candidates? Tal holds the record with 20/28 (16 wins, 8 draws, 4 losses). That would equate to 10/14 in Berlin. The past three Candidates tournaments have finished with the winner scoring 8.5/14.

Mamedyarov vs So was the first game of the day to finish. It was a Classical Nimzo-Indian where White developed a couple of threats that went nowhere. The game was drawn by threefold repetition in 31 moves.

Next was Karjakin vs Aronian out of a Ragozin Defence in the Queens Gambit Declined. After 21. … Qf6! White was already in trouble. From then on the Armenian GM tightened the screws to take home the full point and bounce back from his loss against Kramnik in round 3.

Then was the Semi-Slav between Grischuk and Ding. The game was a massively unbalanced position that seemed to favour Ding. Then Grischuk seized the advantage, but couldn’t find the key continuation. In the end the game was drawn.

The final game was the one that was billed as an epic clash between two of the main favourites. However, when I saw a Petroff on the board between Kramnik and Caruana  my heart sank. Kramnik’s lacklustre play prompted a tweet from Nigel Short: “Having played yesterday’s brilliancy like Adolf Anderssen on steroids, Kramnik today has chosen to wear his cardigan, smoke his pipe and put his feet up, with a newspaper, in front of the fire.” Indeed, Caruana was able to get the initiative and start pressing an advantage. This snapped Kramnik out of his slumber and he pulled matters back under control, even with some winning chances,  at the cost of vast amounts of time on his clock. By move 58 Kramnik was left with only 3 minutes against Caruana’s half hour. That was why he failed to see the weakness on a1 and dropped the absolute clanger of 59.Rd1 that just simply lost immediately.

Here are the games from round 4:

Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2809) - So,Wesley (2799)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (4), 14.03.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 E37: Nimzo-Indian: Classical: 4...d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 Ne4 

8...Nc6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nf3 Qf6 11.e3 Bg4 12.Be2 0–0 13.0–0 Rfe8 14.Bd2 d4 15.Rad1 Nxd2 

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16.Rxd2N [16.Qxd2 ] 

16...dxe3 17.Rd6 Re6 18.fxe3 Rxd6 19.cxd6 Bxf3 20.Bxf3 Qxd6 21.Qb3 Qe7 22.Bd5 Nd8 23.Rc1 Qd7 24.Qc4 Ne6 

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25.Bxe6 fxe6 26.Qd4 Qxd4 27.exd4= Rf8 28.Rc7 Rf7 29.Rc8+ Rf8 30.Rc7 Rf7 31.Rc8+ Rf8= ½–½

Karjakin,Sergey (2763) - Aronian,Levon (2794)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (4), 14.03.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Nbd7 11.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12.Kf1 gxf6 13.h4 Qb4 D39: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence with 5 Bg5 dxc4 

14.Rb1 [14.Rh3 a6 15.Be2 Ne5 16.Rb1 Qd6 17.Rc3 0–0 18.h5 Rd8 19.Qb3 Bd7 20.Rd1 Qf8 21.Rc7 1/2–1/2 (41) Giri,A (2769)-Harikrishna,P (2758) Shenzhen 2017] 

14...Qd6 15.Rh3 a6 The position is equal. 

16.Be2 

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16...Nc5N [16...Ne5 17.h5 b5 18.Rc3 Bd7 19.Nb3 Qxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Ke7 21.f4 Nc4 22.Nc5 Bc6 23.Bxc4 bxc4 24.a4 Rhc8 25.Rd4 1/2–1/2 (25) Lalith,B (2502)-Bindrich,F (2522) Chotowa 2010] 

17.Rc3 Nxe4 18.Rd3 0–0 Threatens to win with ...Qh2. 

19.Qc1 Qe5 [19...Qh2µ 20.Rh3 Qd6] 

20.Bf3³ Black should prevent Qh6. 

20...f5 21.Qh6 [21.Qe3=] 

21...Qf6!µ 22.Qxf6 Nxf6‚ White is in trouble. 

23.Bxb7 Bxb7 24.Rxb7 Rac8 25.Rg3+ Kh8 26.Rgb3 Ne4! Hoping for ...Nd2+. 

27.Rb2 [27.Re3 keeps fighting.] 

27...Rfd8–+ 28.Nb3 Rd1+ 29.Ke2 Nc3+ 30.Ke3 Kg7 

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Strongly threatening ...Re1+. 

31.g3 Kf6 32.Ra7 [¹32.Kf3] 

32...Rc6 33.Kf3 Nb5! 34.Ra8 e5 [34...Rg1!–+ and Black stays clearly on top. 35.Re2 e5] 

35.Kg2µ e4 36.a4 [36.Re2µ] 

36...Na3 37.Rd2 Rxd2 38.Nxd2–+ 

XABCDEFGHY
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Endgame KRN-KRN 

38...e3! 39.Nf3? [39.fxe3 was the only chance. 39...Rc2 40.Rxa6+ Kg7 41.Kf3 (41.Rd6? Nc4–+) 41...Rxd2 42.Rc6] 

39...Rc2 40.Rxa6+ Kg7 41.Nd4 Rxf2+ 42.Kg1 Nc2 43.Nxc2 Rxc2 KR-KR 

44.Kf1 Rf2+! 45.Ke1 Rg2 46.Rb6 Rxg3 47.Rb4 

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47...Rg2! 48.Rf4 Kg6 49.Rf3 Rg4 50.Rxe3 Rxa4 51.Kf2? [51.Rg3+ Rg4 52.Rh3] 

51...Rxh4 52.Re8 Rg4 53.Kf3 Kg7 54.Re5 Kf6 

XABCDEFGHY
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[¹54...Rg5 55.Rc5 h5] 

55.Re8? [55.Rc5] 

55...h5 56.Rh8 Kg6 57.Kf2 [¹57.Rd8] 

57...Rg5 58.Kf3? [58.Rg8+–+ Kh6 59.Ra8] 

58...Kg7 Black mates. 

59.Ra8 h4 60.Kf2 h3 61.Ra3 

XABCDEFGHY
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61...Rh5! 62.Kg1 Kg6 63.Kh2 f4 64.Ra7 f3 65.Ra1 f2 66.Rf1 Rf5 67.Kxh3 Kg5 68.Kg3 Rf4  0–1

Grischuk,Alexander (2767) - Ding,Liren (2769)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (4), 14.03.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 D43: Semi-Slav: 5 Bg5 h6 

11...Bg7 12.Nxf7 Kxf7 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4! White wants to play Nd6+. 

14...Qb6 15.Nd6+ Ke7! 

XABCDEFGHY
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16.a4N [16.Bg4 h5 17.Bxh5 Raf8 18.Qg4 Bh6 1/2–1/2 (36) Shirov,A (2740)-Karjakin,S (2732) Foros 2008] 

16...Raf8 17.Bf3 a6 18.Bxd5! cxd5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Kh1! Bc6 21.f4 

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21...gxf4? [21...h5= and Black has nothing to worry.] 

22.Rxf4? [22.Bh4++- Bf6 23.Qg4] 

22...Rxf4³ 23.Bxf4 Kd8 [23...Rf8!³ 24.h3 Bxe5 25.Bxe5 Nxe5 26.dxe5 Qe3] 

24.Qg4 Rf8 25.Bd2 Kc7 

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26.h3 [Much worse is 26.Qxg7 Qxd4 27.Bc3 Qd3–+; White should play 26.Ne8+!= Rxe8 27.Ba5 Qxa5 28.Rxa5] 

26...b4! 27.Qxg7 Qxd4 28.Bxb4 Qxb2 29.Ba5+ Kb8 30.Rg1! c3! [Don't blunder 30...Qxe5? 31.Rb1+ Ka7 32.Qxe5+-] 

31.Qe7 c2 32.Bd2 Qxe5 

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And now ...Qf6 would win. 

33.Bxh6 Rg8 ...d4 is the strong threat. 

34.Nf7 Qc3 [Black should try 34...Qf6³ 35.Qb4+ Kc7 36.Qa5+ Kb8 37.Qb4+ Kc8] 

35.Qd6+ Kb7 36.Qxe6 d4 37.Nd6+ The position is equal. 

37...Kb6 Strongly threatening ...Rg6! 

38.Ne4 Nc5 39.Qxg8 Nxe4 40.Kh2 d3 41.Be3+ Kb5 42.Qb8+ Kc4 43.Qc7! Qf6 

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Hoping for ...Qd6+. 

44.Rf1! Qd6+ 45.Qxd6 Nxd6= Endgame KRB-KBN 

46.Rf6 Kd5 Threatens to win with ...Nc4. 

47.Rxd6+! Kxd6 48.Kg3 Kd5 49.Kf2 Kc4 aiming for ...Kc3. 

50.Bd2! Kb3 White must now prevent ...Kb2. 51.Ke3 Bxg2  ½–½

Kramnik,Vladimir (2800) - Caruana,Fabiano (2784)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (4), 14.03.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Nc3 Nxc3 7.dxc3 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2 Nc6  C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves 

9.Be3 Be7 10.0–0–0 0–0 The position is equal. 

11.Rhe1 

XABCDEFGHY
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[11.Rhg1 a6 12.g4 Re8 13.h4 Be6 14.Ng5 Bd7 15.Kb1 Ne5 16.h5 1/2–1/2 (31) Artemiev,V (2697)-Khalifman,A (2614) Moscow 2018] 

11...Bf6N [11...Bd7 12.Nd4 Bf6 13.f4 Rfe8 14.Bf3 a6 15.Bf2 g6 16.g4 1/2–1/2 (35) Lehtinen,P (2180)-Halme,O (2316) ICCF email 2005] 

12.Nd2 Re8 13.Bf3 Ne5 14.Bf4 Kf8 15.Bd5 c6 16.Bb3 Bf5 17.h3 g5 18.Bh2 Kg7 19.c4 g4ƒ Black has some pressure. 

20.Ne4 Bxe4! 21.Rxe4 Bg5+ 22.Kb1 gxh3 23.c5 [23.gxh3³ f5 24.Ree1] 

23...f5!–+ [23...hxg2 24.cxd6 Nf3 25.Rg4=] 

24.Rb4 hxg2 25.Rxb7+ Kh8! 26.cxd6 Nf3 27.Ba4 Nxh2 28.Bxc6 Rad8 aiming for ...Rxd6! 

29.d7 Re2 30.Bxg2 Rxf2 31.Bc6 Ng4? [31...Nf1–+ 32.a3 a6] 

32.Rxa7? [32.c4!³] 

32...Ne3 33.Rg1 h6 [33...Rxc2–+ has better winning chances. 34.Ba4 Rf2] 

34.Rc7µ 

XABCDEFGHY
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34...Kg7 [Not 34...Nxc2? 35.Rxg5! Nb4 36.Rg1+-; 34...Kh7!³ 35.Rc8 Bf6] 

35.a4= Kf7 [Of course not 35...Nxc2?! 36.Rc8±] 

36.Bb5 Ke7 [36...Rd2=] 

37.a5!² 

XABCDEFGHY
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Hoping for a6. White has compensation. 

37...Rf4! 38.c3 Kd6 [38...Nd5= 39.Rc5 Kd6] 

39.Rb7 [39.Rc6++- Ke7 40.a6 Rxd7 41.Rc8] 

39...Rg4 40.Re1 f4 41.a6! h5? [41...f3± was worth a try. 42.a7 f2 43.Rxe3 Rg1+ 44.Kc2 Bxe3] 

42.a7+- Ra8 43.b4 [¹43.c4] 

43...h4 

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44.c4 [¹44.d8R+! Bxd8 (44...Rxd8 45.Rb8) 45.Rd7+ Ke5 46.Bc6 Rxa7 47.Rxa7] 

44...h3± And now ...h2 would win. 

45.c5+ Ke5 46.Rb8 [46.Bc6!² h2 47.d8R Bxd8 48.Rd7 Rxa7 49.Rxa7] 

46...Rxa7= ...Bf6 is the strong threat. 

47.Rg8 Bf6 48.d8Q Bxd8 49.Rxg4 Bf6 50.Rg6 Rb7 51.Be2 Rxb4+ 52.Ka2 Strongly threatening c6. 

52...Nc2 

XABCDEFGHY
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[52...Ke6= keeps the balance. 53.Rb1 Ra4+ 54.Kb3 Ra8] 

53.Rc1!± Nd4 54.Bd3 [Better is 54.Bg4± Black must now prevent Re1+. 54...Ra4+ 55.Kb2] 

54...Ra4+ 55.Kb1 Threatens to win with Re1+. 

55...Nb3 56.Re1+ Kd5 57.Kc2 Nd4+ 58.Kb1 [White should play 58.Kc1!= Be5 59.Rh6] 

58...Nf3!³ 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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[But not 58...Ra1+?! 59.Kxa1 Nc2+ 60.Kb1±] 

59.Rd1? [59.Rxf6µ Nxe1 60.Bf1] 

59...Ra1+–+ Black is clearly winning. 

60.Kc2 Rxd1 61.Ba6 Rd2+ 62.Kc1 Bb2+ 63.Kb1 Kxc5 64.Bb7 Ne5 65.Rf6 f3 66.Rf5 f2  0–1

MASSIVE 2767 PERFORMANCE BY 13 YEAR OLD NIHAL SARIN IN REYKJAVIK

While the attention of the world has been on Berlin and the organizational chaos these past few days, a 13 year old Indian IM has erupted to prominence in Reykjavik.

Young Nihal Sarin has not become intimidated by any of the big names at the tournament. He held GM Richard Rapport to a draw with Black in round 3. Then Sarin held the overall lead in the tournament after round 5. A draw against GM Gata Kamsky in round 6 helped Nihal to secure his second GM norm at the end of round 7 with a performance rating of 2767.

With just 2 rounds to play and a GM norm secure, Nihal Sarin is one of five players tied on 5,5/7. That puts him just half a point behind the leaders – but interestingly only half a point ahead of the other 13 year old Indian prodigy, IM Praggnanandhaa who I wrote about at Gibraltar this year.

We wish Nihal well for his final two games in Reykjavik. I’m sure that we’ll see a lot more of him in the future.

Below are IM Sarin’s games from the first 7 rounds, all annotated, showing his path to a GM norm.

Laustsen,Lars (2201) - Nihal Sarin (2534)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 Reykjavik (1), 06.03.2018

1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.e4 Bb7 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nb4 6.0–0 A40: Unusual replies to 1 d4 

6...Nxd3 [6...g6 7.Nc3 Nxd3 8.Qxd3 Bg7 9.d5 Nf6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.Rad1 Nxg3 14.fxg3 1–0 (37) Caruana,F (2787)-Nakamura,H (2793) Saint Louis 2015] 

7.Qxd3 d6 8.Nc3  White is slightly better. 

8...g6 9.d5N 

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[9.e5 dxe5 10.Nxe5 Bg7 11.Re1 Ne7 12.d5 Nf5 13.g4 Nd6 14.dxe6 fxe6 0–1 (34) Arestanov,T (2245)-Gubaydulin,T (2409) Karaganda 2015] 

9...Bg7 10.dxe6 fxe6 11.Bg5 [White should try 11.Ng5± Qd7 12.Qh3] 

11...Ne7= 12.Rad1 0–0 13.Nd4 Qd7 14.Qh3 Bc8 15.Qh4 Nc6 16.Nxc6 Qxc6 17.Rd3 Rf7 [Black should play 17...Bb7³ ] 

18.b3 Bb7 19.f3 a6 20.Kh1 b5 21.cxb5 axb5 22.Rc1 b4 23.Ne2! Qb5 24.Rd2 d5 25.exd5 exd5 26.Nd4 Qb6 27.Be3? 

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[27.Re1!² keeps the upper hand.] 

27...Re8ƒ Keeping White busy. 

28.Qf2? [28.Bg5µ] 

28...c5–+ 29.Ne2 d4 30.Bg5 h6 31.Bh4 g5 32.Bg3 h5 33.Rdc2? [33.h4 g4 34.f4] 

33...d3 

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Black is clearly winning. 

34.Rxc5 dxe2 [Not 34...Rxe2? 35.Rc8+! Kh7 36.Qxb6+-] 

35.Rxg5 Qxf2 36.Bxf2 Rd7  0–1

Nihal Sarin (2534) - Abrahamyan,Tatev (2369)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 Reykjavik (2), 10.03.2018

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Ndb5 Ne5 8.Bg2 a6 9.Qa4 Rb8 A33: Symmetrical English: 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e6 5 Nc3 Nc6 [9...Neg4 10.0–0 Rb8 11.b4 axb5 12.Nxb5 Kd8 13.h3 Ne5 14.Bf4 d6 15.Qb3 Bd7 16.a4 Nxc4 17.Qxc4 Bxb5 18.Qxb5 Qxb5 19.axb5 1/2–1/2 (56) Grandelius,N (2653) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2794) Germany 2018] 

10.Na3 Bc5 11.0–0 0–0  The position is equal. 

12.Nc2 Qc7 13.Bf4N 

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[13.Be3 d6 14.Rac1 Bd7 15.Qb3 Rfc8 16.Rfd1 Neg4 17.Bd4 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 1/2–1/2 (41) Drozdowski,K (2475)-Stukopin,A (2558) Brownsville 2016] 

13...Nh5 [13...Be7 feels hotter. 14.Rfd1 d6 15.Ne3 Ng6 16.Bg5 b5] 

14.Be3 [14.Bxe5!? Qxe5 15.Nb4=] 

14...f5 15.Bxc5 Qxc5 16.Na3 b6 17.Rad1 Nf6 18.Qb3 Bb7 19.Bxb7 Rxb7 20.Qa4 Ra7 21.Nab5 Raa8 22.Nd6! Ne8 23.Nxe8 Rfxe8 24.Qb3 Qc6 25.Rd4 Ra7 26.Rfd1 Nf7 27.Qa4 Re7 28.Qxc6 dxc6 29.Na4 Rab7 30.c5 bxc5 

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[30...e5² 31.R4d2 b5] 

31.Rc4!± Rb4 32.Rdc1! Reb7 33.b3 Rxc4 34.Rxc4 Endgame KRN-KRN 

34...Rb5 35.Nxc5 [Don't do 35.Rxc5?! Nd8±] 

35...Ne5 36.Rc2 Kf7 37.Nxa6 Rd5 [37...Ra5± keeps fighting.] 

38.Nb4 Rd1+ 39.Kg2 Ra1 40.Rc5 [40.Nxc6?! Nxc6 41.Rxc6 Rxa2±] 

40...Kf6 41.f4 Ng4 42.h3 

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[Don't play 42.Nxc6?! Rxa2 43.h3 Rxe2+ 44.Kf1 Rc2±] 

42...Ne3+ 43.Kf3 Nd5 44.Nxd5+ 

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[Stronger than 44.Nxc6 Rf1+ 45.Kg2 Ne3+ 46.Kh2 Rf2+ 47.Kh1 Rxe2=] 

44...cxd5+- KR-KR 

45.a4 g5 46.a5 h5 [¹46...Ra3 47.Rb5 Ra2 48.fxg5+ Kxg5] 

47.b4 Ra3+ [¹47...g4+ 48.hxg4 hxg4+ 49.Kf2 Ra2] 

48.Kf2 h4? 

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[48...gxf4 49.gxf4 Ke7] 

49.fxg5+ Kxg5 50.gxh4+ Kxh4 51.Rc6 Ra4 52.Rb6 f4 53.a6 e5 54.b5 e4 55.Rd6 Ra2 56.b6  1–0

Rapport,Richard (2715) - Nihal Sarin (2534)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 Reykjavik (3), 07.03.2018

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Ne5 Bb4 D45: Semi-Slav: 5 e3 

7.Bd2 0–0 8.Be2 c5N 

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[8...Nxe5 9.dxe5 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Ne4 11.Qc2 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 f6 13.exf6 Qxf6 14.Qxf6 gxf6 1/2–1/2 (70) Papaioannou, I (2577)-Pavasovic,D (2534) Turin 2006] 

9.0–0 cxd4 10.exd4 dxc4 11.Nxc4 Nb6 12.Bg5 Nxc4 13.Bxc4 Bd7 14.Qb3 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Bc6 16.Rfe1 Rc8 17.Bf1 a6 18.Re3 [18.Bh4 feels hotter. 18...b5 19.Qd1 Kh8 20.Qd2 Qc7 21.Bd3] 

18...Qd5 The position is equal. 

19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Qd1 Threatens to win with c4. 

20...b5 

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21.a4! Kh8 [21...bxa4 22.c4] 

22.axb5 axb5 23.Rg3 

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next Ra7 is good for White. 

23...Rg8 24.Ra7 e5 25.Qd2 exd4 26.cxd4 Rxg3 27.hxg3 Kg7 28.Qb4 Ra8 29.Rxa8 Bxa8 30.Qxb5 Qxd4  ½–½

Nihal Sarin (2534) - Adly,Ahmed (2643)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 Reykjavik (4), 08.03.2018

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0–0 6.a3 D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5 Bf4 [6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bf5 12.Be2 Bf6 13.0–0 Be4 14.Rc1 Ne6 0–1 (38) Mamedyarov,S (2799)-Carlsen,M (2837) Riadh 2017] 

6...b6 7.e3 Ba6 8.Nb5 White has an edge. 

8...Ne8N 

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[8...Bd6 9.Nxd6 cxd6 10.Rc1 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bxc4 12.Rxc4 b5 1–0 (49) Werner,D (2315)-Lamb,H (2139) Berlin 2006] 

9.cxd5 Qxd5 10.Nc3 Qb7! 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.0–0 c5 13.Nb5 Rd8 14.Qa4ƒ White has the initiative. 

14...Bd6 15.dxc5 Bxf4! 16.c6 Qxc6 ...Nec7 is the strong threat. 

17.Qxa6 Bb8 18.Rac1 [Avoid the trap 18.Nxa7? Qa8–+] 

18...Qd5 19.Nbd4 Black must now prevent Nc6. 

19...Nf6 20.Nc6 

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Strongly threatening Ne7+. 

20...Rd7 21.Qa4 b5 22.Qc2 [22.Qa6±] 

22...Qd3² 23.Nfd4 Qxc2 24.Rxc2 Rb7 25.Na5 Rb6 26.Ndc6 Re8 27.Rd1 Kf8 28.f3 Nd5 29.Kf2 f5 30.Nxb8 Rbxb8 31.Nc6 Rb7 32.Nd4! Nf6 33.b4 Rb6 34.Rdc1! e5 35.Nxf5 Ra6 [35...g6 is a better defense.] 

36.e4 Rxa3 37.Nd6 Rd8 38.Nxb5 Ra4 39.Rc8 Ke7 40.R1c7+ Nd7 

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[40...Rd7 was worth a try. 41.Rxd7+ Nxd7] 

41.Rxd8 Kxd8 42.Rxa7 Rxb4+- Endgame KRN-KRN 

43.Nc3 Rb2+ 44.Kg3 Ke7 45.Ra2 Rxa2 46.Nxa2± KN-KN 

46...Nc5 47.Nb4 Kd6 48.h4 Ne6 49.Nd3 Nf8 50.Kg4 Ke6 51.h5 Nd7 52.Kg5 Nb6? [52...Nf6± 53.g3 Ne8] 

53.h6!+- g6 54.f4 Nc4 55.fxe5 Kf7 56.Kf4 Ke7 57.Nf2 g5+ 58.Kxg5 Nxe5 59.Ng4 Nf7+ 60.Kf4 Ke6 61.e5 Nh8 62.Nf6 Ng6+ 

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63.Kg5! White mates. 

63...Nxe5 64.Nxh7 Kf7 65.Kf5 Nc4 

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66.Ng5+! Kg8 67.Kf6 Ne3 68.h7+  1–0

Moradiabadi,Elshan (2535) - Nihal Sarin (2534)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 Reykjavik (5), 10.03.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.e3 0–0 5.Be2 b6 6.0–0 Bb7 7.Nc3 e6 8.b3 d5 9.Ba3 D94: Grünfeld: 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 e3 

9...Re8 10.Rc1 a6 11.Ne5 Nbd7 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Bf3 

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13...Ne4N [13...Rad8 14.Qc2 h5 15.Ne2 Rc8 16.Nf4 Ne4 1–0 (73) Kovalenko,I (2700)-Shabalov,A (2522) Berlin 2015] 

14.cxd5 exd5 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Bg4 f5 17.Be2 b5 18.Qc2 Rec8 19.f4 exf3 20.Bxf3 Bxf3 21.Rxf3 c6 22.Bb4 Qd5 23.Qc5 Bf8 

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[23...Qe4 is more complex. 24.Be1 a5 25.Bg3 a4 26.b4 Bf8] 

24.Qxd5+ cxd5 25.Bc5 Rc6 26.b4 h5 27.a4 bxa4 28.Ra1 Bh6 29.Rxa4 Re8 30.Kf2 Re4 31.g3 h4 32.Ra3 Kf7 33.Kg2 Kf6 34.gxh4 Rxh4 [34...Rce6!µ] 

35.Rc3 And now Be7+! would win. 

35...Kf7 36.Rb3 Re4 37.Rh3? 

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[37.Kf2³] 

37...g5!–+ 38.Rf3 

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38...Kg6! 39.h3 g4 40.hxg4 fxg4 41.Rg3 [41.Rf2 is a better defense.] 

41...Rce6 42.Kf2? 

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[42.b5 was called for. 42...axb5 43.Rxb5] 

42...Kf5 Black is clearly winning. 

43.Ba7 Bg5 44.b5 [¹44.Bb8 Bh4 45.Be5] 

44...Bh4  0–1

Nihal Sarin (2534) - Kamsky,Gata (2677)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 Reykjavik (6), 13.03.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 c6 6.Nf3 0–0 7.0–0 Bg4 8.Be3 Nbd7 9.Nd2 Bxe2 E91: King's Indian: Classical: 6 Be2, unusual replies including 6... c5 and 6...Bg4 

10.Qxe2 a6 11.f4 

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11...Ne8N White is slightly better. [Find the theoretical novelty and annotate with similar games: 11...b5 12.e5 Ne8 13.c5 Nc7 14.cxd6 exd6 15.Nde4 dxe5 16.dxe5 b4 17.Na4 1/2–1/2 (41) Werner,D (2315)-Chernyshov,K (2544) Budapest 2006] 

12.a4 Nc7 13.a5 Rb8 14.e5 f5 15.c5 d5 16.Nf3 Ne6 17.Qf2 [17.Qe1 Nc7 18.b4 e6 19.Qg3 Qe8 20.Qh4] 

17...Rf7 18.Ng5 Nxg5 19.fxg5 Hoping for e6. 

19...Nf8 20.Ne2 Ne6 21.Qh4 Qd7 22.Nf4 [22.Rf3±] 

22...Nxf4² 23.Bxf4 

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Strongly threatening e6! 

23...e6 24.Ra3 Bf8 25.b4 [White should play 25.Qe1± ] 

25...Be7 26.Qh3 Rbf8 27.Rg3 Rg7 28.Qh6 Bd8 29.Qh3 Be7 30.Qh6 Bd8  ½–½

Yilmaz,Mustafa (2619) - Nihal Sarin (2534)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 Reykjavik (7), 12.03.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0–0 8.0–0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Rd1 Qb8 12.e4 e5 D46: Semi-Slav: 5 e3 Nbd7 6 Bd3, Black avoids the Meran 

13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nd4 [14.g3 b4 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Na4 c5 17.Nxc5 Rc8 18.Bf3 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Nxe4 20.Qxe4 Rxc5 1/2–1/2 (55) Le,Q (2703)-Zherebukh,Y (2614) Lubbock 2013] 

14...Ng6 15.g3 Re8 16.Bg5 Be5! 17.Be3 b4 18.Na4 Black must now prevent Rac1. 

18...Nxe4! 

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19.Nxc6N [19.Rac1 c5 20.Nxc5 1–0 (20) Saharinen,P (2074)-Novak,M (2229) ICCF email 2008] 

19...Qc7 20.Rac1 Nc3 21.Nxc3 [Much weaker is 21.Nxe5 Nxe2+ 22.Qxe2 Qxe5³] 

21...bxc3 22.Nxe5 Qxe5 23.bxc3 Qe6‚ Black mounts an attack. 

24.Qa4 

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[24.Rb1= keeps the balance. 24...Qc6 25.Rxb7! Qxb7 26.Rb1] 

24...Ne5!µ Black has strong compensation. 

25.Qf4 h6! [Much less strong is 25...Qxa2 26.Rd2³] 

26.Rd2? [26.Rb1µ Bc6 27.g4] 

26...g5!–+ 27.Qa4 Qh3 

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[27...Qf5!–+ And now ...Nf3+ would win. 28.Rb2 Nf3+ 29.Bxf3 Qxf3 30.Rxb7 Qxb7] 

28.f3µ Nxf3+ 29.Bxf3 Bxf3 30.Bd4 Re6 [Black should try 30...Re7!µ 31.Qb5 Rae8] 

31.Qb5 

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[31.Rf1!=] 

31...Rae8! 32.Qf1 Qh5 Hoping for ...Re2. 

33.h3 g4 34.Rh2 Qg5 ...gxh3 is the strong threat. 

35.hxg4 Qxg4 36.Qh3 

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36...Re1+ [36...Qg6!µ 37.Rb2 Qd3] 

37.Rxe1= The position is equal. 

37...Rxe1+ 38.Kf2 Re2+ 39.Kg1! White wants to play Qxg4+. 

39...Re1+ 40.Kf2 Re2+ 41.Kg1! With the idea Qxg4+. 

41...Re1+  ½–½