[Event "CHN-chT"] [Site "China"] [Date "2017.11.04"] [Round "18.1"] [White "Bai, Jinshi"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2585"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2017.04.18"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "22"] [EventCountry "CHN"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2019"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2018.10.10"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.10.10"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Hangzhou"] [BlackTeam "Zhejiang"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] {[%evp 0,64,21,21,24,16,16,15,26,26,36,18,27,28,28,14,7,-13,-4,-8,-3,-33,-33, -33,0,0,22,22,54,70,68,17,60,35,33,-5,-5,0,-102,-136,-144,-144,-165,-151,-153, -270,-288,-299,-293,-329,-483,-484,-484,-484,52,0,-118,-62,-62,-145,-568,-539, -540,-29991,-29992,-29993,-29994] Ding's Immortal Game.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. e3 cxd4 7. Qxd4 {Not as bad as it looks, but it is in no danger of supplanting the more natural 7.exd4.} Nc6 8. Qd3 h6 9. Bh4 d5 10. Rd1 (10. a3 Bxc3+ 11. Qxc3 g5 12. Bg3 Ne4 13. Qc2 $11) (10. Rc1 $11) 10... g5 11. Bg3 Ne4 12. Nd2 Nc5 13. Qc2 d4 $1 {Best, but what about the pin on the d-file after White's next move?} 14. Nf3 e5 15. Nxe5 {Black has sufficient compensation after normal moves like 15...Qa5 or 15...Qf6. The game would have been exciting there, too, but not as exciting as what we're about to see.} dxc3 $1 16. Rxd8 cxb2+ 17. Ke2 $2 {Now Black is winning, but Black has to play like a genius to prove it. He does!} (17. Rd2 $1 {had to be played. } Rd8 18. Bd3 Nxe5 19. Bh7+ $8 Kf8 20. Bxe5 Rxd2 21. Qxd2 Bxd2+ 22. Kxd2 $11) 17... Rxd8 18. Qxb2 Na4 19. Qc2 Nc3+ 20. Kf3 {So far, so good. Now it's time for something that isn't obvious.} Rd4 $3 {Threatening mate in two starting with 21...g4+.} 21. h3 (21. exd4 Nxd4+ 22. Ke3 Nxc2+ $19) 21... h5 22. Bh2 g4+ 23. Kg3 {White's pieces look ridiculous, but he's up material and Black's pieces are loose. There's only one good move here.} Rd2 $3 24. Qb3 (24. Qxd2 Ne4+ $19) 24... Ne4+ 25. Kh4 Be7+ $1 26. Kxh5 Kg7 $1 {Taking h6 from White's king, and clearing the eighth rank for a winning rook check.} 27. Bf4 Bf5 28. Bh6+ Kh7 29. Qxb7 Rxf2 $1 30. Bg5 (30. Qxc6 Ng3# $1 {Sneaky!}) 30... Rh8 $1 31. Nxf7 Bg6+ 32. Kxg4 Ne5+ $1 (32... Ne5+ $1 33. Nxe5 Bf5+ 34. Kh5 Kg7+ 35. Bh6+ Rxh6# {What a game!}) 0-1 [Event "Wch Rapid"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2016.12.27"] [Round "9"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Bortnyk, Olexandr"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A49"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2581"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2016.12.26"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [SourceTitle "CBM 176"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2017.01.17"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2017.01.17"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,57,21,20,69,64,55,27,45,45,41,-10,-5,0,-6,13,23,14,19,2,19,-26,7,6,6, -26,-21,-4,33,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,127,105,73,121,-11,-33,1777,29977,29978,29979, 29980,29981,29982,29983,29984,29985,29986,29987,29988,29989,29990,29999,-30000] } 1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 Bf5 7. c4 Qc8 8. h3 c5 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Rc1 {So far, it's a typical opening situation. Both players have made normal moves, and the evaluation is somewhere between equal and a little better for White. Now Black tries to prove that White's last move was inaccurate...and is forced to learn a lesson.} Bh6 $2 {Probably assuming that White will play the slightly undesirable e3, when the combination of g3 and e3 leave White's light squares a little loose, at least potentially. But Radjabov has a much better idea.} 11. d5 $3 $18 Bxc1 12. Qxc1 Nd4 {Now what? Taking on d4 is nothing special, so Radjabov needs a different idea.} 13. g4 $1 Bd7 14. Qh6 $1 {Now things are getting clear. White wants to play Ng5 and then Nce4, to chase the Black knight away from f6 to deliver mate on h7. The g4-pawn takes f5 away from Black's knight, bishop, and even the queen. Black's extra exchange is useless here.} Nxf3+ 15. Bxf3 Ne8 16. Ne4 ({The immediate} 16. h4 $1 {was even stronger, but proving it requires a number of stunning, brilliant moves.} Bxg4 17. h5 $1 Bf5 18. Bg4 $3 {Spectacular! The bishop is overloaded, defending the queen (from the Bg4) and the g-pawn (so that hxg6 won't be followed by Qxh7#).} Nf6 (18... gxh5 19. Rxh5 Bg6 20. Bxc8 $18) 19. Ne4 $3 { Not the only winner, but who could resist playing this?} Bxe4 20. Bxc8 Bxh1 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Bxb7 Rab8 23. Bc6 $18) 16... f6 17. h4 $6 (17. Ng5 $1 fxg5 18. Be4 $1 Rf7 $8 19. Bxg6 $1 Nf6 20. Bxf7+ Kxf7 21. h4 gxh4 22. Bxf6 exf6 23. Qxh7+ Ke8 24. Qxh4 $18) 17... Bxg4 18. h5 $1 gxh5 19. Ng5 $1 fxg5 $2 {Giving Radjabov a second chance, and now he finishes in style.} (19... Rf7 {was forced. White is better but not winning after} 20. Nxf7 Qf5 $1 21. Qe3 $1 Kxf7 22. Be4 $1 Qg5 23. Qxg5 fxg5 24. f3 Bd7 25. Rxh5 $16) 20. Qxg5+ Kf7 21. Qxh5+ $1 {Bortnyk must have missed this move.} Bxh5 22. Bxh5+ Kg8 23. Rg1+ Ng7 24. Rxg7+ Kh8 25. Rxe7+ Rf6 (25... Kg8 26. Rg7+ Kh8 27. Rg6+ Rf6 28. Bxf6#) 26. Bxf6+ Kg8 27. Rg7+ Kf8 28. Rxh7 Qf5 29. Rh8# {A wonderful attacking game, especially for rapid chess.} 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 9th"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2021.09.17"] [Round "10"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2021.09.07"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [EventCategory "21"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2022"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2021.10.06"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.10.06"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,63,21,25,40,51,51,45,45,47,63,57,57,78,85,62,55,63,42,59,32,-4,20,-62, -77,-77,-120,-127,-52,-36,11,-73,-64,-73,-94,-71,-82,-69,-81,-81,-41,-57,0,0, 97,21,181,163,181,176,256,256,241,79,79,270,231,231,247,256,291,314,335,364, 360,362]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nd4 {A very risky line, with a bad reputation. Rapport has proved over and over in his career that seemingly bad lines may not be so bad, and that those that aren't so good are trickier to handle than one might think. So the burden of proof is on Firouzja to prove that theory is right.} 5. e5 Nxb5 6. Nxb5 Nd5 7. O-O a6 8. c4 $1 Nb4 9. Nc3 d6 10. d4 $5 {Normally Rapport is the guy with the crazy ideas in the opening, but this time it's Firouzja, who offers a rook for a massive initiative.} (10. exd6 $1 Qxd6 11. d4 cxd4 12. Ne4 Qc6 13. Re1 $16) 10... cxd4 11. Qxd4 $146 { Not forced, but this was Firouzja's intent with his previous move.} Nc2 12. Qe4 Nxa1 13. Bf4 Be6 $1 14. Rxa1 Rc8 15. Nd5 $6 (15. b3 $44) 15... dxe5 16. Nxe5 f6 $1 17. Nf3 Bxd5 $6 (17... Qd7 $1 18. Rd1 Kf7 $1 $17 {leaves White with some compensation, but probably not enough for the exchange.}) 18. cxd5 Rc5 19. d6 $1 Qd7 $1 20. b4 Rc6 21. Re1 $44 Kf7 $2 {A difficult move to resist, but it's a mistake.} (21... e5 $1 {is begging for a sac on e5, but it turns out that Black survives after} 22. Bxe5 Kd8 $1 23. a4 $1 Bxd6 24. b5 Rc7 25. Bxd6 Qxd6 26. bxa6 Qxa6 $8 27. Nd4 $44 {with a complicated mess that's probably easier for White to handle.}) 22. Nd4 $1 $18 e5 (22... Rxd6 23. Bxd6 Qxd6 24. Ne6 $18) (22... exd6 23. Qd5+ Kg6 24. Bh6 $3 gxh6 25. h4 h5 26. Re3 Rc1+ 27. Kh2 h6 28. Ne6 f5 29. g4 $3 {wins. For example:} hxg4 30. h5+ $1 Kf6 31. Qd4+ Kf7 32. Qxh8 $18) 23. Qd5+ Kg6 24. Bxe5 $1 Rxd6 (24... fxe5 25. Nf3 $1 Bxd6 26. Nxe5+ Bxe5 27. Qxd7 $18) 25. Bxd6 Bxd6 26. Qe4+ Kf7 27. Qd5+ Kg6 28. g3 {The dust has settled. Material is equal, but Black cannot solve both his shaky king and the pin on the d-file. One or the other, but not both.} h6 29. Rd1 Re8 30. Nf3 Re6 31. Nh4+ Kh7 32. Qd3+ {Next is Nf5, and White wins the bishop.} 1-0 [Event "Olympiad-43"] [Site "Batumi"] [Date "2018.10.05"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Bacrot, Etienne"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2768"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2018.09.24"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "GEO"] [SourceTitle "CBM 187"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2018.12.11"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] {[%evp 0,47,21,18,26,14,5,10,16,15,11,2,9,9,0,-5,32,-3,27,10,-21,-1,0,-3,35,35, 36,18,7,2,2,7,25,54,160,189,271,244,268,269,269,300,530,530,529,542,877,860, 902,903]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. h4 {This has become popular, but Nepo was the first to play this.} (8. Qc2 {is a normal and popular move; Nepo goes for something more immediately combative.}) 8... b6 (8... Nc6 {is common now, and if} 9. Qb1 {then} f5 {.}) 9. Qb1 {Intending Ng5.} h6 {This stops Ng5, but creates a hook for the g-pawn.} 10. g4 $1 Bb7 11. Rh3 Nd7 12. g5 h5 13. Bd3 (13. g6 f5 14. Bc4) 13... Nb4 $2 ( 13... Nxc3 14. Bxc3 Qc7 $11) 14. Bh7+ $1 Kh8 15. Be4 Nd5 16. Ne2 f5 $2 (16... Bd6 $16 {was best, to swap off White's knight if it moves to g3.}) 17. gxf6 N7xf6 18. Ng5 $18 Nxe4 19. Qxe4 Bxg5 20. hxg5 Nf4 {Perhaps Black was counting on this, but Nepo finds a clear refutation.} (20... Qxg5 21. Rg3 $18) 21. Qxb7 Nd3+ 22. Kf1 Nxb2 23. Rxh5+ Kg8 24. g6 $1 {The immediate threat is 25.Rh8+ followed by Qh1+ and Qh7#. Putting the queen on h1 even without the rook sac will win, too, so Bacrot throws in the towel. A typical Nepo game: an aggressive and original opening, vigorous pursuit of the initiative, and powerful attacking play to finish the job.} 1-0 [Event "EU-ch 15th"] [Site "Yerevan"] [Date "2014.03.06"] [Round "4"] [White "Khismatullin, Denis Rimovich"] [Black "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2563"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2014.03.03"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ARM"] [SourceTitle "CBM 160"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2014.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,64,21,25,40,48,74,57,46,30,36,21,68,31,23,17,29,25,32,-13,29,29,51,51, 51,49,49,22,23,15,0,0,39,30,61,49,110,106,77,67,89,118,118,118,118,60,117,36, -4,0,0,-275,-202,-213,-213,-310,-310,-192,-192,-350,-327,-29993,-29994,-29995, -29994,-29997,-29998]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 (7. Nde2 {is the most popular move, but the text and 7.Nf3 are also common.}) 7... Be6 8. f4 Nbd7 9. g4 b5 $2 {A mistake, but it's immediately forgiven.} (9... Rc8 $142) (9... exf4 $142) 10. Bg2 $2 (10. f5 Bc4 11. g5 $16 {/+-}) 10... Nb6 $2 (10... Rc8) (10... h6) 11. g5 $16 Nfd7 12. f5 Bc4 13. Na5 Rc8 14. Qd2 $2 (14. Nxc4 Rxc4 15. O-O $16) 14... b4 (14... h6 $1) 15. Nd1 Bb5 16. a3 d5 $5 {Duda makes the position as confusing as possible, and it works against his higher-rated opponent.} 17. exd5 $1 Nc4 18. Nxc4 Rxc4 19. a4 $1 Rd4 $8 20. Qf2 Bc4 21. Be3 $2 {A natural move, but it gives up the advantage.} (21. Qg3 $1 Bc5 22. Ne3 $1 Nb6 23. b3 Bxd5 24. Bb2 $1 $16) 21... Bc5 $1 $11 22. Bxd4 $2 exd4 $1 $19 23. Qf4 O-O {White is up the exchange, but his sorry development and his uncastled king will be his undoing.} 24. Nf2 b3 $1 25. c3 (25. cxb3 Bb4+ 26. Kd1 Bxb3+ 27. Ke2 Bc4+ 28. Kd1 Re8 $19) 25... Re8+ 26. Ne4 dxc3 27. O-O-O {The king won't be safe here, obviously, but on e1 too Hobbes' line would still apply: its life would have been solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.} Qb8 28. d6 Qb4 29. Nxc5 (29. Nxc3 Be3+) 29... Re2 $1 { White's extra loot will not save his king.} 30. Rhe1 (30. Nxd7 Qxa4 {and mate on a1 cannot be prevented (at least not by chess moves).}) 30... cxb2+ 31. Kb1 Bd3+ $5 (31... Qa3 32. Nxb3 Bxb3 {is a move faster, as White cannot even delay 33...Qa1#.}) 32. Nxd3 (32. Rxd3 Qxe1+ 33. Rd1 Qxd1+ 34. Qc1 bxc1=Q# {gives Black a small material plus to go along with the mate.}) 32... Qa3 {It's mate next move. It wasn't a masterpiece, perhaps, but it was an impressive bit of bamboozling by the 15-year-old GM against 2700 opposition.} 0-1 [Event "Tata Steel-A 79th"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2017.01.22"] [Round "8"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A12"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2840"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.01.14"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "NED"] [EventCategory "21"] [SourceTitle "CBM 177"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2017.03.16"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2017.03.16"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,65,21,16,16,-12,-6,-14,-2,-10,1,1,-5,-48,4,-9,3,11,0,5,20,-8,4,-16,6, 11,11,-9,11,0,30,30,29,18,18,18,18,23,23,18,16,11,29,0,0,0,78,67,77,78,113,108, 153,153,153,158,158,166,187,104,222,239,270,295,295,300,300,299]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 {Rapport chess from the beginning: Just because your opponent is Magnus Carlsen doesn't mean that you have to play "proper" openings.} Bf5 3. Bb2 e6 4. d3 (4. g3 {is more common, developing the kingside before determining the disposition of the c-, d-, and e-pawns.}) 4... h6 5. Nbd2 Nf6 6. c4 (6. g3) 6... c6 7. g3 Be7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 10. a3 a5 11. Qb1 {Supporting both e2-e4 and b2-b4.} Bh7 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Qb6 14. Bc3 Rxa1 15. Qxa1 Bxb4 16. Bxb4 Qxb4 17. Rb1 Qd6 18. Rxb7 e5 {The position is still approximately equal, as White's active rook and Black's pawn center more or less cancel each other out.} 19. d4 $5 (19. Bh3) 19... exd4 20. Nxd4 c5 21. N4b3 d4 22. Bh3 d3 $6 { Carlsen gets too aggressive. That's part of his chess DNA, and on balance it more than pays off. Sometimes it's backfires on him, though, and this is one of those cases.} (22... Bc2 $142 $11) (22... Rb8 $142 $11) 23. e3 Ne5 $6 24. Bg2 $16 Rc8 $2 25. f4 $18 {Here comes White. Black has more material clustered in the area of White's king, but he can't do anything with it.} Neg4 26. e4 Re8 27. e5 Nxe5 28. fxe5 Rxe5 29. Rb6 Qe7 30. Rb8+ Ne8 31. Bc6 $1 {A nice finishing touch.} Re1+ 32. Qxe1 Qxe1+ 33. Nf1 {Black's queen can't run away from the e-file because 34.Rxe8 would be mate, so the best Black can do is enter a piece-down ending where both his queenside pawns will fall.} 1-0 [Event "Sinquefield Cup 2nd"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2014.08.29"] [Round "3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "2877"] [BlackElo "2801"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2014.08.27"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "23"] [SourceTitle "CBM 162"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2014.09.17"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.09.17"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,68,21,25,25,20,7,-11,17,21,16,15,40,4,1,-9,23,16,19,-9,-9,-2,-9,-9,-8, -8,6,-26,-34,-34,-11,-18,-4,-8,-16,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,74,-61,-61,-78,-34,-78,-14, -109,-109,-111,-45,-40,-51,-36,-135,-122,-126,-129,-137,-129,-129,-1313,-1321, -1335,-1335,-1337,-1337,-1337,-498] This was the third of Caruana's seven consecutive wins at the start of the Sinquefield Cup, one of the greatest tournament performances of all time, if not the greatest.} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg5 $6 (7. O-O) (7. Nbd2) 7... dxe4 8. dxe4 h6 9. Bh4 Qe7 $15 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Bg3 $6 (11. O-O $142) 11... Bc7 12. O-O Nh5 13. h3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Nc5 $15 {/-/+} (14... Nf6 $17) 15. Bxf7+ $6 { A good practical try.} Kxf7 16. Nxe5+ Kg8 17. Ng6 Qg5 $1 $19 18. Rf8+ Kh7 19. Nxh8 Bg4 $1 20. Qf1 Nd3 $6 (20... Rxf8 $1 21. Qxf8 Be6 $1 $19 {is best.}) 21. Qxd3 Rxf8 22. hxg4 Qxg4 $6 (22... Kxh8 $1) 23. Nf3 $6 (23. Nb3 $142) 23... Qxg3 24. e5+ Kxh8 $19 25. e6 $1 {White is almost out of danger. Objectively he's lost, but Black must make several precise moves, or else White will be completely okay.} Bb6+ $1 26. Kh1 Qg4 $1 27. Qd6 Rd8 $1 28. Qe5 Rd5 $1 29. Qb8+ Kh7 30. e7 {Now Black has only one move that doesn't lose!} Qh5+ $1 31. Nh2 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33. Nf1 Qxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qg1+ {Next up, 35...Qe3+ and 36... Qxe7, when there's clearly no reason for White to continue.} 0-1 [Event "WchT 7th"] [Site "Bursa"] [Date "2010.01.09"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E97"] [WhiteElo "2761"] [BlackElo "2708"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2010.01.05"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "TUR"] [SourceTitle "CBM 134"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2010.01.18"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2010.01.18"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Israel"] [BlackTeam "US of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ISR"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] {[%evp 0,66,21,21,24,14,37,37,37,31,31,31,37,37,35,32,58,53,62,45,50,32,28,13, 56,52,84,86,124,118,116,131,131,91,95,88,116,93,131,90,183,80,146,-26,20,-63, 190,6,38,-140,-136,-140,-136,-136,-269,-252,-252,-252,-269,-261,-327,-327,-342, -329,-327,-327,-325,-344,-311]} 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 {Around this time, Nakamura played the King's Indian on a regular basis, and won a number of brilliant and spectacular wins with it. This may be the greatest of the series.} 9. Nd2 Ne8 ( 9... a5 10. a3 Nd7 11. Rb1 f5 12. b4 Kh8 {is considered the best way to play the line, and Nakamura also had success with this, against Kramnik.} 13. f3 f4 14. Nb5 b6 15. Qc2 a4 16. Rd1 g5 17. g4 h5 18. h3 Rf6 19. Bb2 Rh6 20. Kg2 Ng6 21. Rh1 Bf8 22. Kf2 Nf6 23. c5 dxc5 24. Nc4 Bd6 25. Bc3 Kg7 26. Qb2 cxb4 27. axb4 Qe7 28. Rbg1 Bd7 29. Nbxd6 cxd6 30. h4 hxg4 31. hxg5 Nxe4+ 32. fxe4 Rxh1 33. Rxh1 f3 34. Nxb6 g3+ 35. Kxf3 Rf8+ 36. Ke3 Qxg5+ 37. Kd3 Bb5+ 38. Kc2 Rf2 39. Bd2 Rxe2 40. Qc3 g2 41. Rg1 a3 42. Kc1 Rxd2 43. Qxd2 a2 44. Kc2 Qxd2+ 45. Kxd2 Bf1 {0-1 (45) Kramnik,V (2785)-Nakamura,H (2774) Monte Carlo 2011}) 10. b4 f5 11. c5 Nf6 12. f3 ({Another King's Indian against another World Champion, and another win for Nakamura.} 12. a4 g5 13. Nc4 h6 14. f3 f4 15. Ba3 Ng6 16. b5 dxc5 17. Bxc5 Rf7 18. a5 h5 19. b6 g4 20. Nb5 cxb6 21. axb6 g3 22. Kh1 Bf8 23. d6 a6 24. Nc7 Rb8 25. Na5 Kh8 26. Bc4 Rg7 27. Ne6 Bxe6 28. Bxe6 gxh2 29. Nc4 Qe8 30. Bd5 h4 31. Rf2 h3 32. gxh3 Rc8 33. Ra5 Nh4 34. Kxh2 Nd7 35. Bb4 Rg3 36. Qf1 Qh5 37. Ra3 a5 38. Be1 Rxc4 39. Bxc4 Bxd6 40. Rxa5 Bc5 41. Be2 Bxb6 42. Rb5 Bd4 43. Bd1 Bxf2 44. Bxf2 Nxf3+ 45. Bxf3 Qxf3 46. Rb1 Rg6 47. Rxb7 Nf6 48. Rb8+ Kh7 49. Rb7+ Kh6 {0-1 (49) Anand,V (2811)-Nakamura,H (2758) London 2011}) 12... f4 13. Nc4 g5 14. a4 Ng6 15. Ba3 Rf7 16. b5 (16. a5 h5 17. b5 dxc5 18. b6 g4 19. bxc7 Rxc7 20. Nb5 g3 21. Nxc7 Nxe4 22. Ne6 Bxe6 23. dxe6 gxh2+ 24. Kxh2 Qh4+ 25. Kg1 Ng3 26. Bxc5 e4 27. Ra4 Rc8 28. Bxa7 $2 {Missing Nakamura's next, brilliant move.} b5 $3 {Chess players have some sort of weird blind spot when it comes to en passant tactics. White can escape the fork by taking the pawn, but that blocks the Ba7, allowing a speedy mate.} 29. Rb4 (29. axb6 Bd4+ 30. Ne3 (30. Qxd4 Nxe2#) 30... Bxe3+ 31. Rf2 Qh1#) 29... bxc4 30. Bxc4 Qh1+ 31. Kf2 e3+ 32. Bxe3 fxe3+ 33. Kxe3 Nxf1+ 34. Bxf1 Qg1+ {0-1 (34) Beliavsky,A (2662) -Nakamura,H (2710) Amsterdam 2009}) 16... dxc5 17. Bxc5 h5 {We're not following any further Nakamura games, but there are still 179 other games from here in the database.} 18. a5 g4 19. b6 g3 20. Kh1 Bf8 21. d6 axb6 22. Bg1 { There are still 18 other games that have reached this position, almost all of which were played after this one. Strangely, no one else has played Nakamura's next move, even though it still seems to hold up.} Nh4 23. Re1 Nxg2 $1 24. dxc7 $2 (24. Kxg2 {had to be played.} Rg7 25. dxc7 gxh2+ 26. Kh1 $1 (26. Kxh2 $2 Ng4+ 27. fxg4 Qh4+ 28. Kg2 hxg4 $19) 26... hxg1=Q+ 27. Rxg1 Qxc7 28. Nxb6 Rb8 $14 {/=}) 24... Nxe1 $1 25. Qxe1 (25. cxd8=Q $2 g2#) 25... g2+ $1 26. Kxg2 Rg7+ 27. Kh1 Bh3 $1 28. Bf1 (28. cxd8=Q $2 Bg2#) 28... Qd3 $3 ({To be fair,} 28... Qxc7 {and}) (28... Bxf1 {also win. Still, Nakamura's move is not only the most spectacular option, but also the best.}) 29. Nxe5 (29. Bxd3 $2 Bg2#) 29... Bxf1 $1 30. Qxf1 (30. Nxd3 Bg2#) 30... Qxc3 31. Rc1 Qxe5 32. c8=Q Rxc8 33. Rxc8 Qe6 {Black is up a full piece, so White resigns.} 0-1