[Event "Playoffs"] [Site "https://www.chess.com"] [Date "2025.05.21"] [Round "4.1"] [Board "1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "2925"] [BlackElo "2813"] [PlyCount "144"] [GameId "2180160466151470"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] [WhiteTeam "NOR"] [BlackTeam "USA"] {[%evp 0,144,19,16,8,10,41,32,52,35,26,22,67,36,38,55,85,44,83,74,64,133,141,139,102,91,43,87,101,98,69,210,57,84,70,3,49,57,38,27,101,98,56,32,136,-96,11,-144,-112,-127,-146,-111,-107,-115,-144,1,-138,-136,1,-120,-74,-107,-108,-118,-52,-109,-119,-103,-115,-111,-102,-90,-120,-64,-108,-56,-65,-16,-80,56,-80,-84,-84,-60,-14,-107,-49,28,-22,82,-28,103,-15,-25,1,-64,-34,-51,-57,-58,-52,-60,-60,-56,-48,-69,-47,-59,-37,-59,-44,-41,-14,-18,62,0,1,10,1,-4,0,-75,-5,-103,-1,-123,-1,-37,-41,-43,-44,-43,-43,-47,-43,-63,-40,-63,-55,-79,-44,-55,-145,-39,-39,-31,-148]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c5 {A Nakamura specialty.} 3. cxd5 Nf6 4. e4 $1 Nxe4 5. dxc5 Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Nxd2 7. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 8. Nxd2 g6 9. Ngf3 Bg7 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Bc4 Bg4 12. Rhe1 Nd7 13. h3 ({Carlsen played} 13. b4 {in game 3; apparently he had forgotten his prep at this point.}) 13... Bxf3 14. Nxf3 Nxc5 15. Rxe7 Bf6 16. Re2 Rac8 {White's extra pawn gives him what chances there are, but with accurate play Nakamura can hold the balance - which he does. The opposite-colored bishops and the nearly unopposed play he enjoys the dark squares are what enables Black to demonstrate equality.} 17. Rc2 Na4 18. b3 Nc3 19. Rd3 Ne4 20. d6 {The pawn may be lost, but if he doesn't push the knight will be a brilliant blockader on d6.} Rfd8 21. d7 Rc6 $11 {Carlsen had a three minute lead around here, and went into the tank on this move (to the extent one can in a 10-minute game with no increment). He produced a blunder:} 22. Nd2 $4 Bg5 {Oops! Carlsen then thought for another minute and found an incredible defense, showing not just his strength but his resilience.} 23. f4 $3 Bxf4 24. Rd4 $1 Bxd2+ 25. Kd1 {White will regain the piece, and rather than being down the exchange, which is what seemed inevitable after 22...Bg5, he'll be down a pawn in an opposite-colored bishop ending with excellent chances to draw.} Ba5 26. Rxe4 Rxd7+ 27. Ke2 Rcd6 28. a4 {With literally all his material on light squares, there's nothing for Black's bishop to do. Of course it's not an automatic draw, but it's close. Carlsen had a time advantage by this point as well, and the game already felt as if it was heading for a draw. In the end Carlsen managed to achieve the draw without much difficulty - see you in game 2.} Kg7 29. Kf3 Rf6+ 30. Rf4 Rfd6 31. g4 a6 32. Re2 Bd2 33. Rfe4 Bg5 34. Kg2 Rd1 35. Rf2 Bh4 36. Rfe2 Rb1 37. Rf4 f6 38. Rf1 Rxf1 39. Kxf1 Kh6 40. Kg2 Kg5 41. Kf3 Rc7 42. Rd2 Kh6 43. Rd6 Re7 44. Re6 Rd7 45. Rb6 Bg5 46. Ke4 Re7+ 47. Re6 Rxe6+ 48. Bxe6 a5 49. Bg8 b6 50. Kf3 Bc1 51. h4 Kg7 52. Bc4 Ba3 53. h5 Bc5 54. hxg6 hxg6 55. Bd3 f5 56. gxf5 gxf5 57. Bxf5 Kf6 58. Ke4 Bb4 59. Bd7 Kg7 60. Bb5 Kf8 61. Kd5 Kg7 62. Kc6 Kf8 63. Kxb6 Kg7 64. Bc4 Kh8 65. Kb5 Kh7 66. Kb6 Kh6 67. Kb5 Kh5 68. Kb6 Kg5 69. Kb5 Kh4 70. Kb6 Kg5 71. Kb5 Kh4 72. Kb6 Kg5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Playoffs"] [Site "https://www.chess.com"] [Date "2025.05.21"] [Round "4.2"] [Board "2"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "A17"] [WhiteElo "2815"] [BlackElo "2923"] [PlyCount "94"] [GameId "2180160466151471"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] [WhiteTeam "USA"] [BlackTeam "NOR"] {[%evp 0,94,12,13,9,7,6,61,8,5,6,16,17,7,2,-10,7,13,18,-7,0,10,18,7,0,4,24,19,84,31,24,36,25,21,12,14,26,33,29,25,21,22,24,27,20,28,25,23,12,12,28,25,26,35,34,-1,30,28,1,29,29,36,42,43,72,50,11,29,28,33,-1,28,17,46,33,46,46,29,142,78,70,14,16,0,0,0,49,27,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 a6 5. b3 c5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. d4 Nc6 8. Bb2 Bg4 9. Be2 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 cxd4 11. exd4 Bb4 12. O-O Bxc3 13. Bxc3 O-O {White has two bishops vs. two knights, but the pawn structure isn't all that helpful for the Bs.} 14. Re1 Re8 15. Qd3 Qd7 16. h3 Rxe1+ 17. Rxe1 Re8 18. Rxe8+ Qxe8 19. Bd2 Ne4 20. a3 Nxd2 21. Qxd2 Qe6 22. g3 g6 23. Kg2 Kg7 24. b4 b6 25. Qd3 h6 26. h4 g5 27. hxg5 hxg5 28. Qd2 Qf6 29. Bxd5 Nxd4 30. Bb7 Qe5 31. Qe3 (31. Bxa6 $6 Qe4+ {immediately regains the pawn, as all king moves lose.} 32. f3 (32. Kf1 $4 Qh1#) (32. Kg1 $4 Nf3+ $19) (32. Kh2 $4 Nf3+ $19) (32. Kh3 $4 Qh1+ 33. Kg4 f5+ 34. Kxg5 Qh6#) 32... Qxf3+ $11 (32... Nxf3 $11)) 31... Qxe3 32. fxe3 Nc2 33. Bxa6 Nxa3 34. Bd3 {For a moment this might seem dangerous for Black as his knight is dominated. But Carlsen has accurately calculated (or assessed) that there's no real danger here, as we'll see.} Kf6 35. Kf3 Ke5 36. Kg4 b5 $5 37. Kxg5 Nc4 {Of course the knight can't be captured - White would lose as he can't prevent Black's c-pawn from promoting after the trade.} 38. e4 Nd6 39. g4 Kd4 40. Bb1 Ke5 $1 {The only move not to lose.} 41. Bc2 f6+ 42. Kg6 Nc4 43. Bd3 Ne3 44. Bxb5 Nc2 45. g5 fxg5 46. Kxg5 Nxb4 47. Kh6 Kxe4 {A clean game, and an easy hold for Carlsen.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Playoffs"] [Site "https://www.chess.com"] [Date "2025.05.21"] [Round "4.3"] [Board "3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "2921"] [BlackElo "2817"] [PlyCount "105"] [GameId "2180160466167856"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] [WhiteTeam "NOR"] [BlackTeam "USA"] {[%evp 0,105,9,37,12,12,11,31,56,31,35,27,43,58,44,48,93,89,77,118,122,121,136,112,103,118,93,36,176,75,13,41,96,28,-8,59,36,37,69,69,59,52,87,83,155,69,194,163,183,180,165,135,151,151,158,151,146,137,45,173,184,125,126,132,59,128,168,-110,83,137,211,183,210,251,243,164,100,126,134,73,123,142,144,144,144,144,113,148,153,162,134,155,156,229,135,251,287,275,336,250,359,263,346,356,308,360,388,390]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c5 3. cxd5 Nf6 4. e4 Nxe4 5. dxc5 Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Nxd2 7. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 8. Nxd2 g6 9. Ngf3 Bg7 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Bc4 Bg4 12. Rhe1 Nd7 13. b4 (13. h3 {was played in game 1.}) 13... a5 $2 {Immediately going astray - it's not only Carlsen who can forget his prep.} (13... Bc3 $1 {has to be played.} 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Nxf3 $1 Bxb4 $1 (15... Bxe1 $2 16. Rxe1 {is pretty terrible for Black, so much so that his best try is to give up a piece for counterplay:} Nxc5 17. bxc5 Rac8 18. Bb3 Rxc5+ 19. Kb2 Re8 {Nevertheless, his "reward" is a lost position.}) 16. Rxe7 $1 Nxc5 {White is still fighting for an edge with 17.Kc2 or 17.d6, but with accurate play Black should hold.}) 14. Rxe7 $2 (14. c6 $1 $18) 14... axb4 $1 15. h3 Bxf3 16. Rxd7 $1 Bxd1 17. Kxd1 Bd4 18. Ne4 Bxc5 $1 {Aside from the exchange of errors, both sides have played very well. This move is an objective equalizer, but Carlsen finds a way to keep posing problems.} 19. d6 $1 (19. Nxc5 Rfc8 $11) 19... b6 (19... b5 $1 {was a little better.} 20. Bd5 b3 $1 21. Bxb3 Bd4 22. Rb7 Ra7 23. Rxb5 Rd8 $11 {Not a particularly human line.}) 20. Ng5 Kg7 $2 {A clever idea. White has a bit of a bind, so Black offers the exchange to activate his king. Carlsen's reply is brilliant.} (20... b5 $1 21. Bxf7+ Rxf7 $1 22. Nxf7 Rxa2 $11) 21. f4 $3 $16 {/+- Carlsen aims to immobilize Black's army, starting with the king. He is in no rush to cash in, particularly since Black's pieces have nowhere to go in the meantime. (Fun note: Carlsen's f4 in game 1 [on move 23] was also brilliant.)} (21. Ne6+ $2 Kf6 22. Nxf8 Rxf8 $11 {Black will manage to safely eliminate the d-pawn, after which the draw will be straightforward.}) 21... h6 $2 (21... Bxd6 $3 22. Rxd6 h6 23. Nf3 Rfd8 24. Rxd8 Rxd8+ {was the only way to stay in the game.}) 22. Ne6+ Kf6 23. Nxf8 Rxf8 24. Ke2 $1 g5 25. Kf3 $1 $18 {The king is just in time to replace the pawn on f4, keeping Black's king bottled up. Were it not for this resource, Black would only be a touch worse.} gxf4 26. Kxf4 {Carlsen shows good technique the rest of the way. Maybe he could have won more quickly, but the important thing is that he never let Nakamura off the hook.} h5 27. g4 hxg4 28. hxg4 Kg6 29. Bb3 Bg1 30. Bc2+ Kf6 31. Bb3 Bh2+ 32. Ke4 Kg5 33. Kd5 Kxg4 34. Re7 Rc8 35. d7 Rc5+ 36. Kd4 Bc7 37. Rxf7 Rc6 38. Rf8 Rd6+ 39. Ke4 Kg5 40. Ba4 b5 41. Bxb5 Rd2 42. Rc8 Bb6 43. Ra8 Bc7 44. Ra6 Bd8 45. Ra8 Bb6 46. Ke5 Bc7+ 47. Ke6 Kg6 48. Rg8+ Kh7 49. Rc8 Bb6 50. Ra8 Kg7 51. Bc4 Bc7 52. Rc8 Bb6 53. Bd5 {Now White will queen, winning the bishop. As Black will not be able to get rid of White's a-pawn at the cost of anything less than his rook, the game is lost.} 1-0 [Event "Playoffs"] [Site "https://www.chess.com"] [Date "2025.05.21"] [Round "4.4"] [Board "4"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2811"] [BlackElo "2927"] [PlyCount "64"] [GameId "2180160466167857"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] [WhiteTeam "USA"] [BlackTeam "NOR"] {[%evp 0,64,22,29,14,0,21,27,21,14,4,9,6,13,19,0,-151,-14,-24,-2,1,0,-33,-2,-43,-23,-24,18,-3,3,158,-46,-32,-48,-35,-50,-4,-45,-45,-94,0,-22,-5,-16,-86,7,72,2,-15,-10,7,-13,-121,-45,0,7,7,1,45,22,94,-76,261,259,344,365,306]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b6 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. d3 c5 5. e4 d6 6. O-O g6 7. Ng5 h6 8. Nh3 Nc6 9. f4 e6 10. c3 Bg7 11. Qe2 O-O 12. g4 b5 13. g5 Nh7 14. gxh6 Bxh6 15. Qg4 b4 16. Qg3 bxc3 17. bxc3 Ba6 18. Nd2 Qa5 19. Bb2 Qb5 20. Nc4 Na5 21. Nxa5 Qxb2 22. c4 e5 23. f5 Qd2 24. fxg6 fxg6 25. Qxg6+ Kh8 26. Nb3 Qe3+ 27. Kh1 Rg8 28. Qh5 {The game has been eventful, but we'll start here. Nakamura needs to win this game to send the match to an Armageddon game, and while he doesn't have any advantage at the moment he has succeeded in creating a messy position. Now Carlsen comes up with a clever combination. The bad news? It loses. The good news? It won!} Rxg2 $4 (28... Raf8 $11) 29. Kxg2 Rg8+ 30. Kh1 Bc8 {Threatening both ...Bxh3 and ...Bg4.} 31. Rf3 $1 Qe2 32. Rg1 $1 Bg4 $1 {Two things happened when Carlsen played this move. First, he realized - only now, too late - that his combination has a massive hole in it, and he's losing. Second, Nakamura *thought* he realized that he had blown the game and was now lost. After a few moments of despair and with plenty of time on the clock, he resigned. A moment or two later, he too realized what was wrong with Carlsen's idea. Too late.} (32... Bg4 $1 33. Rfg3 $1 {wins, as taking the queen allows 34.Rxg8#. Carlsen acknowledged said afterwards that between the time when he realized that he had blundered and Nakamura's resignation that he was searching desperately for a way out, considering the move ...Rg5. It's clever, but not good enough.} (33. Rxg4 $4 Qxf3+ {wins everything.}) 33... Rg5 (33... Bxh5 34. Rxg8#) (33... Qf3+ 34. Rxf3 Bxh5 35. Rxg8+ Kxg8 36. Rf2 $18) 34. Qe8+ (34. Rxg4 Qf3+ 35. R1g2 Qxg2+ 36. Kxg2 Rxh5 37. Rg6 Bf8 38. Na5 $18) 34... Rg8 35. Qf7 Rg7 36. Qf2 $18 {is White's best.}) 0-1