Hikaru Nakamura
Tal Memorial 2013 / Round 4
by National Life Master Loal Davis
After having lost the first round, Nakamura has come back fighting, slugging, and WINNING every came since then. This currently puts him at the top of the pack, if only by a half point – BUT – What a fighter – Congratulations.
| # | Name | ELO | Pts | S-B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nakamura, Hikaru | 2784 | 3 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2753 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Gelfand, Boris | 2755 | 2.5 | 4.75 | |
| 4 | Andreikin, Dmitry | 2713 | 2 | 4 |
| Caruana, Fabiano | 2774 | 2 | 4 | |
| Anand, Viswanathan | 2786 | 2 | 3.75 | |
| Carlsen, Magnus | 2864 | 2 | 2.75 | |
| 8 | Karjakin, Sergey | 2782 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| Morozevich, Alexander | 2760 | 1.5 | 2.75 | |
| 10 | Kramnik, Vladimir | 2803 | 1 | 2 |
Nakamura Knocked Out Caruana in the 4th Round. It was the only decisive game of the round – but- What a Game !
Nakamura playing Black executed the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense (Diagram Top/Left) – arguably one of the most combative openings known today.
On move 25 (Diagram Top/Right shows position just before this move) Caruana played f4 and the opening of lines appears to have benefited Black, not to mention the newly weakened g4 square.
On move 35 Caruana played g5 and Black comfortably settled his Queen into f5. This was immediately followed by a dubious Pawn advance of 36 c5. (Diagram Bottom/Left shows the position just before this last move).
In the final position (Diagram Bottom/Right) Nakamura has just played his King to g7 – Oh Oh – here comes a Rook on the h file. With the avalanche reaching its zenith, Caruana resigns.
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Tal Memorial 2013 / BLITZ
by National Life Master Loal Davis
Hikaru Nakamura
Nakamura won the Blitz Kick Off of the Tal Memorial Tournament of 2013.
All nine rounds were fiercely contested by all participants. Decided by blunders, time, slips, brilliance, luck, stealth, pressure, control – all at a very high level and quality of play – yes – even the blunders. It was an exciting affair.
I’ve selected two games played in the earlier rounds (2 and 5) to give an idea of the fighting elements shown throughout all of the blitz games.
Mamedyarov vs Anand
Round TwoCaruana vs Carlsen
Round 5
# Name ELO Pts S-B 1 Nakamura, Hikaru 2784 7 27.5 2 Anand, Viswanathan 2786 6.5 26.5 3 Kramnik, Vladimir 2803 5.5 22.75 4 Gelfand, Boris 2755 4.5 20.75 Carlsen, Magnus 2864 4.5 19.75 6 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2753 4 16 Andreikin, Dmitry 2713 4 13.5 8 Karjakin, Sergey 2782 3.5 13.5 9 Morozevich, Alexander 2760 3 12.5 10 Caruana, Fabiano 2774 2.5 10.75
Thessaloniki FIDE Grand Prix /Round 8
by National Life Master Loal Davis
Gata Kamsky won a crushing game against Hikaru Nakamura in the 8th round of the Thessaloniki Grand Prix. Kasmky is the newly crowned U.S. Champion; Nakamura was the prior U.S. Champion and is the highest rated player in the United States.
Click On the Diagram to step through the Annotated Game.
| Rank after round 8 | ||||||||||
| Rank | SNo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts | Res. | vict | SB | Koya | |
| 1 | 2 | GM | Kamsky Gata | 2741 | USA | 6 | 0 | 4 | 22,75 | 3 |
| 2 | 11 | GM | Dominguez Perez Leinier | 2723 | CUB | 5½ | 0 | 4 | 17,75 | 1½ |
| 3 | 10 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2774 | ITA | 5½ | 0 | 3 | 18,00 | 1½ |
| 4 | 12 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2779 | RUS | 4½ | 0 | 1 | 16,75 | 1½ |
| 5 | 6 | GM | Kasimdzhanov Rustam | 2699 | UZB | 4 | 1 | 2 | 15,00 | 1½ |
| 6 | 3 | GM | Ponomariov Ruslan | 2742 | UKR | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15,75 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | GM | Svidler Peter | 2769 | RUS | 3½ | 0 | 2 | 11,50 | 1 |
| 8 | 8 | GM | Bacrot Etienne | 2725 | FRA | 3½ | 0 | 1 | 13,75 | 1½ |
| 9 | 1 | GM | Topalov Veselin | 2793 | BUL | 3½ | 0 | 1 | 12,50 | 2 |
| 10 | 9 | GM | Morozevich Alexander | 2760 | RUS | 3½ | 0 | 1 | 11,75 | 1 |
| 11 | 7 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2775 | USA | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12,50 | 1 |
| 12 | 4 | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2755 | UKR | 1½ | 0 | 0 | 7,00 | 1 |
http://thessaloniki2013.fide.com/en/main-page
Thessaloniki FIDE Grand Prix /Round 7
Gata Kamsky,Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura won their games in round 7 of the Thessaloniki Grand Prix . Vassily Ivanchuk draws with Alexander Grischuk in a Symmetrical English both players started repeating moves as early as move 10. Game ended in less than an hour.
Rd7 GM Kasimdzhanov(2699)- GM Kamsky (2741) 0-1
[Leningrad Dutch]
Rd7 GM Nakamura (2775)-GM Topalov(2793) 1-0
[Sicilian -Najdorf ]
Standings after 7 rounds…………………..
| # | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Pts | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kamsky,G | 2741 | 2911 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5 | 16.5 | |||||
| 2 | Caruana,F | 2774 | 2906 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5 | 13.75 | |||||
| 3 | Dominguez Perez,L | 2723 | 2846 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4.5 | 11.75 | |||||
| 4 | Ponomariov,R | 2742 | 2812 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4 | 13.75 | |||||
| 5 | Grischuk,A | 2779 | 2806 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4 | 13 | |||||
| 6 | Topalov,V | 2793 | 2751 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 10.75 | |||||
| 7 | Morozevich,A | 2760 | 2754 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | 9.5 | |||||
| 8 | Nakamura,H | 2775 | 2700 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3 | 11.25 | |||||
| 9 | Kasimdzhanov,R | 2699 | 2706 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 3 | 10.25 | |||||
| 10 | Bacrot,E | 2725 | 2652 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 2.5 | 9 | |||||
| 11 | Svidler,P | 2769 | 2649 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 2.5 | 8.75 | |||||
| 12 | Ivanchuk,V | 2755 | 2533 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1.5 | 6.25 |
rd7 Ivanchuk - Grischuk /Anastasiya Karlovich courtesy of FIDE
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qa5 9. Nb3 Qh5 10. Bf3 Qh3 11. Bg2 Qh5 12. Bf3 Qh3 13 Bg2 ……… 1/2 – 1/2 [Vassily Ivanchuk - Alexander Grischuk]
Ivanchuk lively at the Press confrence after the game …
“I must say I miscalculated because normally when Alexander plays against me he refuses a draw, whether he is worse or has less time or not! It’s very surprising, but normally this brings success against me. Maybe he uses some poker tricks I don’t understand!”………
Official site : http://thessaloniki2013.fide.com/
Norway Chess 2013 / Round 8
The 8th Round of the Norway Chess tournament saw four decisive games and surprisingly the top two players Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen were both defeated. Karjakin still holds the lead with one round to go..
Nakamura played a sharp game with white against Radjabov’s sicilian defense ..who after the game says he may cancel his next tournament: the FIDE Grand Prix which starts in a few days in Thessaloniki.
Rd8 GM Nakamura (2775) – GM Radjabov (2745)
standings after 8 rounds..
| # | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | Pts | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karjakin,S | 2767 | 2900 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | 19 | ||
| 2 | Carlsen,M | 2868 | 2837 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18.25 | ||
| 3 | Anand,V | 2783 | 2856 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 17.25 | ||
| 4 | Svidler,P | 2769 | 2812 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 4.5 | 18.25 | ||
| 5 | Nakamura,H | 2775 | 2829 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.5 | 17.5 | ||
| 6 | Aronian,L | 2813 | 2792 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5 | 15.5 | ||
| 7 | Wang Hao | 2743 | 2724 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 3.5 | 14.75 | ||
| 8 | Topalov,V | 2793 | 2719 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 3.5 | 13 | ||
| 9 | Radjabov,T | 2745 | 2632 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | 7.25 | ||
| 10 | Hammer,J | 2608 | 2530 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1.5 | 5.25 |
Norway Chess 2013 / Rnd 4
by National Life Master Loal Davis
Hikaru Nakamura won a game in the fourth round of Norway Chess against the World Champion Viswanathan Anand.
Anand was unrecognizable. Bad form? I’m at a loss to explain so many slips in a row. Explanation or not, Nakamura was right there to pick up the pieces and he put the game away very strongly.
In the first Diagram (Top/Left) the position appears flat equal. Here – Black to play – Hikaru tried 24. b4.
If the Pawn was simply ignored and met by centralization – say 25. Rd2 (Diagram Top/Right) then Black has many problems to solve; back rank, Pawn on e5, and the newly offered Pawn on b4.
Even after the Pawn was taken 24. …. b4 25. cxb4 Nc6 26. Rd2 could still have been played.
Instead Anand opted for 26. Ba4 which resulted in 26. …. Nxb4 27. Qxe5 Qe7 28. Qh5 (Diagram Bottom/Left).
Here I think 28. Qc3 may have been better. There’s a lot to be said for going after that isolated c Pawn.
After 28… Nxa2 there was a chance to play 29. Ne5 which still appears flat equal.
Instead Anand played 29. g3 and after 29. …. Nc1 30. Rc2 Nd3 Diagram (Bottom/Right) Nakamura had a bone in White’s throat that could not be removed.
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Black went on to win the game.
A World Champion taken down hard. Congratulations to Nakamura.
Renova Group Grand Prix
The FIDE - Renova Group Grand Prix in Zug, Switzerland April 18-30 …
Players: Radjabov, Karjakin, Caruana, Topalov, Nakamura, Mamedyarov, Morozevich, Leko, Kamsky, Ponomariov,Giri, Kasimdzhanov.
Round 1.. Nakamaura fights with his Bishops to a very long end game ..
| 1 | GM | Morozevich Alexander | 2758 | 1 – 0 | GM | Kasimdzhanov Rustam | 2709 | 12 |
| 2 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2766 | ½ – ½ | GM | Ponomariov Ruslan | 2733 | 11 |
| 3 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2772 | 1 – 0 | GM | Radjabov Teimour | 2793 | 10 |
| 4 | GM | Karjakin Sergey | 2786 | ½ – ½ | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2767 | 9 |
| 5 | GM | Giri Anish | 2727 | ½ – ½ | GM | Topalov Veselin | 2771 | 8 |
| 6 | GM | Leko Peter | 2744 | ½ – ½ | GM | Kamsky Gata | 2741 | 7 |
| Round 2 on 2013/04/19 at 14:00 | ||||||||
| SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
| 12 | GM | Kasimdzhanov Rustam | 2709 | - | GM | Kamsky Gata | 2741 | 7 |
| 8 | GM | Topalov Veselin | 2771 | - | GM | Leko Peter | 2744 | 6 |
| 9 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2767 | - | GM | Giri Anish | 2727 | 5 |
| 10 | GM | Radjabov Teimour | 2793 | - | GM | Karjakin Sergey | 2786 | 4 |
| 11 | GM | Ponomariov Ruslan | 2733 | - | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2772 | 3 |
| 1 | GM | Morozevich Alexander | 2758 | - | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2766 | 2 |
Tata Steel 2013 / Round 12
Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen is on a roll. He defeated (rather convincingly) Hikaru Nakamura today on the White side of a Sicilian – See Diagram.
This means that Carlsen has effectively won the tournament with a round to spare; no one can catch him.
There just doesn’t appear to be any type of game that he doesn’t play well, and more importantly, seem completely comfortable doing so.
The World Champion Anand,won his game against L’Ami, Hou won her game against Sokolov and Van Wely won his game against Caruana who has now lost his second game in a row.
Click on Diagram to step through the game.
For the other decisive games of Round Twelve – See Comments.
Tata Steel 2013 / Round 7
Two wins today.
World Champion Anand won against Van Wely’s Scandinavian defense.
Click on the Left Diagram.
Wang lost to Nakamura in a Semi-Slav defense.
Click on the Right Diagram.
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http://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Tata Steel 2013 / Round 2
All games drawn today.
Tremendous efforts though as the Nakamura/Sokolov game (below) illustrates.
http://www.tatasteelchess.com/
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