Reggio R6: Nakamura increases lead as fighting chess continues

Hikaru Nakamura increased his lead in Reggio Emilia to 4 points on Monday. In the 6th round the American grandmaster beat Nikita Vitiugov with White while his closest pursuers Alexander Morozevich and Vassily Ivanchuk both lost, to Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri respectively.

A 4-point lead for Nakamura in Reggio Emilia | Photo © 54th Torneo di Capodanno

The 6th round couldn't have gone better for Hikaru Nakamura. He played an excellent game himself and won against Vitiugov, while both Morozevich and Ivanchuk, trailing by one and three points respectively, lost. The American now has a 4-point lead, which comes down to a bit more than one win.

Unlike against Ivanchuk, Nakamura didn't need any luck in his game against Vitiugov. The American started the new year with a Karpovian win - a game that could have been played by the young, 1.e4 Karpov. Just when White seemed to be starting an attack on the enemy king, Nakamura traded queens and went for a solid but long-term endgame advantage. He kept on controlling the whole board and left his opponent without a chance to survive.

[Event "54th Reggio Emilia"]
[Site "Reggio Emilia ITA"]
[Date "2012.01.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Vitiugov, Nikita"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2729"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2011.12.27"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2
O-O 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. Kb1 b6 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11... a6 12. h4
b5 13. Qf2 Na4 14. Nxa4 bxa4 15. h5 Rb8 16. h6 g6 17. Bc5 a5 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19.
Nd4 Nxd4 20. Qxd4 Bd7 21. c3 Rfc8 {Ledezma Alvarez,J (2015)-Lerari,S/ICCF
email 2008}) 12. Bb5 Bb7 13. h4 Na5 14. Bd4 Rac8 15. Ng5 Nc4 16. Qe2 h6 17.
Bxc4 dxc4 18. Bxc5 Bxc5 19. Nge4 Bb4 20. Nd6 Rcd8 21. Rh3 {A pawn sac...} Bxd6
{...which Black accepts.} (21... a6 {might have been better:} 22. Rg3 (22. Nxc4
Bxg2 $1 23. Rg3 Rxd1+ 24. Nxd1 Bb7 25. Qg4 g6) 22... Bxd6 23. exd6 Rxd6 24.
Rxg7+ Kh8 $1) 22. Nb5 $1 Qc6 23. Nxd6 Qxg2 24. Qe3 {The strong knight and open
g-file provide enough compensation.} Be4 25. Rc1 f5 (25... Bf5 $5 26. Rg3 Qh2)
26. Rg3 Qh2 27. Qg1 $1 {A strong way to win back the pawn.} (27. Nxc4 $2 {
would in fact lose because of} Rd1 $1) 27... Qxg1 28. Rcxg1 Rd7 29. Rg6 {The
point.} Re7 30. Rxh6 c3 31. bxc3 Bf3 32. Rhg6 Bg4 33. Rg5 Kh7 34. h5 Kh6 35.
Rh1 Rd8 36. c4 {White dominates the position.} Bf3 37. Rh2 Bg4 38. Kb2 Rb8 39.
Kc3 Rd8 40. Kd4 Rb8 41. Ke3 Kh7 42. Kf2 Rh8 43. Kg3 Kg8 ({Otherwise} 43... Rd8
44. Kh4 Rg8 45. Rg6 Bf3 46. Kg5 {and 47.h6.}) 44. h6 Rh7 45. Rg6 Bd1 46. c3 Bg4
47. Kf2 Kf8 48. Ke3 ({Nakamura doesn't want to allow his opponent's pieces
become too active:} 48. hxg7+ Rexg7 49. Rxh7 Rxh7 (49... Rxg6 50. Nc8) 50. Rxe6
Rh2+ 51. Ke3 Rxa2 {However this might be winning as well after} 52. Re8+ Kg7
53. Re7+ Kg6 54. Rf7 $1 $18) 48... gxh6 49. Rhxh6 Rxh6 50. Rxh6 Kg7 51. Rh2 Rd7
52. Kd4 Bf3 53. Rh3 Bg4 54. Rh1 Bf3 55. Rg1+ Bg4 56. c5 bxc5+ 57. Kxc5 Rc7+ 58.
Kb4 Rc6 59. Nb5 Kf8 60. a4 a5+ 61. Kxa5 Rc4 62. Nd4 Rxc3 63. Rb1 Rc8 64. Rb6
Kf7 65. Nxe6 Rc4 66. Ng5+ 1-0

New Year's Eve in Reggio - Hikaru Nakamura, still lucky?

Alexander Morozevich had many opportunities to draw his game against Fabiano Caruana. However, probably as a result of the football score and his ambition to win this tournament, he played for a win until there was no way back.

[Event "54th Reggio Emilia"]
[Site "Reggio Emilia ITA"]
[Date "2012.01.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D80"]
[WhiteElo "2762"]
[BlackElo "2727"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2011.12.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Ne4 5. h4 Bg7 6. e3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxc3 8. bxc3
Qxd5 9. Qf3 Qxf3 10. Nxf3 Nc6 11. Rb1 Na5 $146 (11... b6 12. Bb5 Bd7 13. Ke2
cxd4 14. cxd4 Nd8 15. Bxd7+ Kxd7 16. h5 h6 17. Bf4 g5 18. Be5 f6 19. Bh2 Rc8 {
Jobava,B (2678)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2730)/Warsaw 2011}) 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Ke2 Rc8
14. Bxd7+ Kxd7 15. Rb5 b6 16. dxc5 Rxc5 17. Rxc5 bxc5 18. Rd1+ Ke6 19. e4 Bxc3
20. Be3 Bf6 21. h5 $5 {Playing for a win, but it's risky.} (21. Bxc5 Rc8 22.
Bxa7 Ra8 23. Be3 Nc4 $11) 21... Rc8 22. h6 Nc4 23. Bf4 Nb2 24. Rd5 (24. Rd2 Nc4
25. Rc2 Nd6 26. e5 g5) 24... c4 25. Ra5 Nd3 26. Be3 Rb8 27. Nd4+ Kd7 28. Kd2 ({
It's hard to understand why Morozevich refrained from} 28. Rxa7+ {but perhaps
after} Ke8 29. Kd2 {he wanted to avoid} Nc5 {when} 30. f3 {fails to} Rd8) 28...
Rb7 29. g4 e6 (29... Bh4 $5) 30. f3 Bd8 31. Ra4 Nb2 32. Ra6 Bb6 33. Nc2 Nd3 34.
Bxb6 axb6 35. g5 Nf4 36. Ne3 Kc6 37. Ng4 Kb5 38. Ra8 Rc7 39. Nf6 $2 ({White
should have played} 39. Kc2 $1 c3 40. Ne5 $1 Ne2 {and now} 41. Kd3 $1 {might
still draw because} c2 42. Kxe2 c1=Q (42... Rc3 $1 43. Nd3 Rxd3 $1 44. Rc8 $1)
43. a4+ {even wins for White!}) 39... c3+ 40. Kc2 Ne2 $1 {Black is winning.}
41. Rd8 Kc4 42. Nd7 Nd4+ 43. Kc1 c2 44. Nxb6+ Kd3 0-1

Fabiano Caruana, here celebrating the new year, beat Alexander Morozevich in round 6

After struggling a bit in the first four rounds, Anish Giri won two games in a row. His scalp in round 6 was none other than Vassily Ivanchuk and, well, let's call this victory one à la Capablanca. Like the great Cuban did so often, Giri outplayed his opponent from a slightly better ending, with patience and persistence.

[Event "54th Reggio Emilia"]
[Site "Reggio Emilia ITA"]
[Date "2012.01.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2714"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2011.12.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 a5 5. g3 d6 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. Bg5
exd4 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Qxf6 gxf6 13. a3 Bc5 14. Nc3 c6
15. e3 $146 (15. Rac1 Be6 16. Ne4 Ke7 17. Rfd1 Rhd8 18. e3 a4 19. Bf1 Ra5 20.
Rd2 Bb6 21. Nc3 Bc7 {Postny,E (2649)-Riff,J (2487)/Evry 2008}) 15... Ke7 16.
Na4 h5 17. h4 Rg8 18. Rfc1 Ra7 19. Bf3 Bg4 20. Bxg4 Rxg4 21. Kf1 Ra8 22. b3 Ke6
23. Nc3 Ke7 24. Ne2 Rgg8 25. Nf4 Rh8 26. Nd3 Bb6 27. Rab1 Kd7 28. Rc2 Bc7 29.
Nf4 Rae8 30. b4 axb4 31. axb4 Ra8 32. b5 Ra4 33. Rbb2 Ra5 34. Kg2 Ra4 35. Kf3
Raa8 36. Ra2 Rxa2 $6 ({The passive} 36... Rab8 37. Ra7 Kc8 {might have been
more tenacious although White is probably winning anyway, e.g.} 38. c5 d5 39.
Ne2 Be5 40. Kg2 $1 (40. bxc6 bxc6 41. Rxf7 Rb7 42. Rxb7 Kxb7) 40... Re8 41. f4
Bc7 42. Kf3 Re4 43. Nd4 cxb5 44. Rb2) 37. Rxa2 d5 ({Ivanchuk decides to
sacrifice a pawn beause a waiting strategy wouldn't work, e.g.} 37... Bb6 38.
bxc6+ bxc6 39. Ke4 Bc7 40. Kf5 Rh6 41. Ra8) 38. bxc6+ bxc6 39. cxd5 c5 (39...
cxd5 40. Nxd5 Be5 41. Ke4 {is also hopeless.}) 40. Ra6 Bxf4 (40... f5 41. Rf6)
41. Kxf4 Rc8 42. Rc6 $1 {The pawn ending is winning.} Rxc6 43. dxc6+ Kxc6 44.
g4 c4 45. e4 $1 (45. gxh5 $2 c3 46. h6 c2 47. h7 c1=Q 48. h8=Q Qb2 $1 {and
it's not clear whether White is winning.}) 45... Kd6 $1 {The best try.} 46. f3
$1 {The only move that wins!} (46. gxh5 Ke7 47. Ke3 Kf8 48. Kd4 Kg7 49. Kxc4
Kh6 50. Kd5 Kxh5 {would be a draw.}) 46... Ke6 47. Ke3 Ke5 48. gxh5 f5 49. h6
$1 f4+ 50. Kd2 Kf6 51. h5 $1 ({In fact the prosaic} 51. Kc3 Kg6 52. Kxc4 Kxh6
53. Kd5 {also wins.}) 1-0

Anish Giri at New Year's Eve, with his family and press officer Martha Fierro next to him, and some interesting drinks. Did he just find himself a sponsor to finance working with Kasparov?? ;-)