Nakamura-Carlsen Open Variation Ruy Lopez #HeritageChess #LindoresAbbey

Lindores Abbey Heritage Chess Semi-Final. Match 3 Game 2 : Hikaru is white and prepared based on a game played by Caruana against Giri in Shamkir 2016. Magnus Carlsen was probably aware of the game but took time to find the moves. Eventually he played a different move which wasn't losing but Hikaru increased the pressure.

Nakamura-Carlsen Semi-Final Game 2- 3rd Match 5/30/2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 O-O 11. c4 bxc4 12. Bxc4 Bc5 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Qb8 15. Bb3 Na5 16. Nd4!? [#] ( 16. Nbd2 Qa7 17. Nxe4 Qxe3 18. fxe3 Nxb3 19. axb3 dxe4 20. Nd4 ) 16...  c5 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. f3 c4 19. fxe4 cxb3 20. exd5 bxa2 21. Rxa2 Nc4 22. Qd4 Qb3 [#] 23. Nc3 Nxb2 ( 23... exd5 24. e6 ) ( 23... Rac8 24. Rb1 ( 24. dxe6 Nxb2 25. e7 Rfe8 26. Qd5+ Qxd5 27. Rxd5 ) 24... Ne3! 25. Qxe3 Rxc3 26. Qxc3 Qxa2 27. Rd1 exd5 28. Qd4 ( 28. h3 ) 28... Re8 29. Rc1 h6 30. h3 Kh8 31. e6 Rxe6 32. Rc8+ Kh7 33. Qd3+ Re4 34. Qf1 Re5 35. Qd3+ Re4 36. Qf1 Re5 37. Qd3+ Re4 38. Qf1 1/2-1/2 (38) Caruana,F (2804)-Giri,A (2790) Shamkir 2016 CBM 173 [Pavlovic,M] ) 24. Rb1 Qc4 ( 24... Rac8 25. Raxb2 Qxc3 26. Qxc3 Rxc3 27. dxe6 Rc6 ) 25. Qxc4 ( 25. Ra4 Qxd4+ 26. Rxd4 Rac8 ) 25...  Nxc4 26. dxe6 Rf5 [#] ( 26... Nxe5 27. Nd5 Ra7 28. Rba1 Rfa8 29. h4 ) ( 26... Rfe8 27. Nd5 ) 27. Nd5 Rxe5 28. Rxa6 Re8 ( 28... Rd8 29. e7!? ) ( 28... Rf8 29. Ne7+ Kh8 30. h3 ) 29. Nc7 Rd8?? ( 29... Rf8 ) ( 29... Rc8 30. Rc6 ( 30. Rc1 ) 30... Nd2 31. Rbc1 ) 30. Rc6 Ne3 ( 30... Na3 ) 31. Rd6! Rc8 32. Rd7 h6 ( 32... Nf5 33. g4 Ne3 34. e7 ) 33. e7 Kh7 34. Re1 1-0

also available

Carlsen-Nakamura World Blitz 2019 Tie-Break Game reply/annotated

Magnus Carlsen- Hikaru Nakamura World Chess Blitz Championship 2019 Tie-Break Final 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. Bxd6 Qxd6 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8.c4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. Rc1 Qe7 11. O-O b6 12. Qe2 Bb7 13. Rfd1 Nbd7 14. Ba6 Nc5 15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16. Ne5 Ncd7 17. Qf3 Qa6 18. Nc6 Kh8 19. Nc4 Qxa2 20. g4 Nc5 21. Nd6 Nb3 22. Rc2 Qa4 23. Rc4 Qa6 24. g5 Nd7 25. Rh4 Nbc5 26. Nxf7+ Rxf7 27.Qxf7 Qe2 28. Rxd7 Nxd7 29. Qxd7 Rf8 30. Rf4 1-0

Video of the game courtesy of Chessbase India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7ZpPDrOOo

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 [#] 5...  Bd6!? going straight to exchange bishops 6. Bxd6 Qxd6 7. dxc5 ( 7. c3 Nc6 8. Bd3 e5!? Black is close to equalize ) 7...  Qxc5 8. c4! [#] Brings game close to a queens gambit accepted line, without the dark bishops 8...  dxc4 ( 8... O-O 9. cxd5 Qxd5 10. Bc4 Carlsen-Anand 2017 ) 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. Rc1 [#] gaining a tempo on the queen 10...  Qe7 11. O-O b6 12. Qe2 Bb7 13. Rfd1 Nbd7 [#] White has a slight pull. Typical of Carlsen, trying to exploit the smallest advantages. Black hasnt equalized ( 13... Rd8 ) 14. Ba6 White will gain access to c-file if the light squaredbishops are exchanged. 14...  Nc5?! ( 14... Bxa6 15. Qxa6 Nc5 This was better forBlack 16. Qe2 ( 16. Qc4!? Qb7 ) 16... e5 17. a3 ) 15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16. Ne5 [#] White will try to play b4-b5 and maybe put a knight on c6 ( 16. b4 Nce4 ) 16...  Ncd7 ( 16... Rac8 17. Ndc4 Qc7 18. Nd6 ) 17. Qf3!? [#] White wants to gain access to c6 and c7 squares with knights and rooks being more active thantheir counterparts. ( 17. Nc6!? Nc5 18. Nd4 Rac8 19. a3 ) 17...  Qa6? [#] the first mistake by Nakamura. Black queens is targetting a2 but white,pieces are centralized. it was better to play 17..Nd5 or even exchange Queens ( 17... Qxf3 18. Ndxf3 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Rfd8 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Kf1 Ne8 22. Ke2 f6 Black holds ) ( 17... Nd5 18. Nxd7 Qxd7 19. e4 Nf6 20. Nc4 Qb5 21. g3 += ) 18. Nc6! Kh8 ( 18... Qxa2 19. Nc4! Nc5 ( 19... h6 20. b4 ) 20. Nd6 Qxb2?? ( 20... e5 21. Nxe5 Qxb2 22. Nc6 ) 21. Ne7+! Kh8 22. Nxf7+ Rxf7 23. Qxa8+ ) 19. Nc4 Qxa2 [#] 20. g4!? very spirited play by Carlsen. He is targetting the f7 pawn, Ne7+ and the black knight on f6 after g4-g5 has no good squares. ( 20. Rd3!? Idea was Ra3 capturing the queen ) 20...  Nc5 ( 20... b5!? this wasthe best try as it blocks the c4 square which could be used for a rook lift byWhite. 21. Nd6 Qxb2 22. Rb1 ( 22. g5 Nd5 = 23. Nxf7+?? Rxf7 24. Qxf7 Rf8 ) 22... Qc3 23. g5 Nd5 24. Rbc1 Qb2 ) ( 20... Qb3 21. g5 Nd5 22. Nd6 Qxb2 23. Rc4 Nc3 24. Rh4 Qc2 25. Rd2! Qg6 26. Qg3 +/- ) ( 20... h6? This loses on thespot 21. g5! hxg5 22. Qh3+ Nh7 23. Rxd7 +- ) 21. Nd6 ( 21. g5?! Nfe4! 22. h4 Rac8 ) 21...  Nb3? second mistake. Black had to play 21..Qb2 to try tobring queen back to the rescue to defend the kingside ( 21... Qxb2! 22. Ne7 h6 and here White can play Rb1-c1 with draw, but not clear if Carlsen has more than a draw. 23. Rb1 Qc3 24. Rbc1 Qb2 = ) 22. Rc2! ( 22. Rc3 Nc5 ) 22...  Qa4 ( 22... h6 23. g5! ) ( 22... Nc5 23. g5 Nfd7 24. Rcd2 a5 25. Nxf7+ ) 23. Rc4! Rook lift with tempo: very precise play by Carlsen 23...  Qa6 [#] 24. g5 [#] White is winning 24...  Nd7 25. Rh4! Black pieces are not coordinated andWhite is mounting a crushing attack against the king. Nakamura grabbed a pawn on the queenside but paid to high of a price as his pieces were not yet developed 25...  Nbc5 [#] 26. Nxf7+ this wins but Carlsen missed a beautiful finish 26 Rh7+ with checkmate in 3 moves ! ( 26. Rxh7+!! Kxh7 27. Qh5+ Kg8 28. Ne7# [#] ) 26...  Rxf7 27. Qxf7 Qe2 ( 27... Rf8 28. Rxh7+ Kxh7 29. Qh5+ Kg8 30. Ne7# ) ( 27... Nf8 28. Ne7 ) 28. Rxd7 ( 28. Rdd4! ) 28...  Nxd7 29. Qxd7 Rf8 30. Rf4 [#] and there is no perpetual for Black. Nakamura resigned and Carlsen wins the Blitz World Championship in 2019, after winning the World Rapid few days ago. The Classical World Chess Champion is #1 in all speeds: regular,rapid and blitz. Even Garry Kasparov didnt manage to be so dominant. 1-0

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. Bxd6 Qxd6 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8.c4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. Rc1 Qe7 11. O-O b6 12. Qe2 Bb7 13. Rfd1 Nbd7 14. Ba6 Nc5 15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16. Ne5 Ncd7 17. Qf3 Qa6 18. Nc6 Kh8 19. Nc4 Qxa2 20. g4 Nc5 21. Nd6 Nb3 22. Rc2 Qa4 23. Rc4 Qa6 24. g5 Nd7 25. Rh4 Nbc5 26. Nxf7+ Rxf7 27.Qxf7 Qe2 28. Rxd7 Nxd7 29. Qxd7 Rf8 30. Rf4 1-0 note to self " no ' like he didn't in pgn string for chesstempo pgn viewer and no extra space" 1-0

Banter Blitz Chess24: Levon Aronian Rossolimo Win

LeeVaugn-Russian Beast May 2020

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. Qd2 ( 9. O-O b6 10. Nh2 Nf8 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6!? 13. Rf2 h6 14. Qd2 g5 15. Raf1 Qd6 16. Ng4 O-O-O =+ ½-½ (115) Caruana,F (2832)-Carlsen,M (2835) London 2018 World Chess Championship ) 9...  h6 10. O-O b6 11. Nh2 Nf8 ( 11... Nf6 12. a3 Be6 13. b4 Nd5 14. exd5 cxd5 15. Qe1 d4 16. Bd2 dxc3 17. Bxc3 f6 18. f4 1/2-1/2 (33) Dominguez Perez,L (2763)-Abasov,N (2632) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019 ) ( 11... g5 12. Ne2 Nf8 13. Ng3 Ng6 14. a3 O-O 15. b4 cxb4 16. axb4 Nh4 17. f3 f5 18. exf5 Nxf5 19. Nxf5 Bxf5 20. Ra6 Qe7 21. Ng4 ½-½ (44) Caruana,F (2787)-Nakamura,H (2793) Saint Louis 2015 ) 12. f4 exf4 13. Rxf4 Ne6 14. Rf2 Nd4 15. Raf1 ( 15. a4 a5 16. Raf1 Be6 17. Bf4 Qd7 18. e5 g5 19. Bg3 Nf5 =+ 0-1 (38) Van Foreest,J (2612)-Sebenik,M (2540) chess.com INT 2019 ) 15...  Be6 16. b3!? ( 16. Ng4 f5 ) 16...  Qe7 17. Ne2 O-O-O? Black had to exchange the knights as White threatens Ne2-f4 ( 17... Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 O-O-O = ) 18. Nf4! Bd7 [#] Here Levon found a tactical way to get the advantage. White to play ( 18... Rd7 19. Kh1 h5 20. Nxe6 Qxe6 21. a4 ) 19. Nxg6! fxg6 20. Rf7! Winning back the bishop in g7 20...  Qe5 ( 20... Qd6 21. Rxg7 g5 22. Rff7 Ne6 23. Rf6 ) 21. Bf4 Qe8? ( 21... Qh5 22. Rxg7 Rhf8 threatens Rf4 and Ne2+ 23. Kh1 Ne6 ) 22. Rxg7 Ne6 23. Bxh6! Nxg7 ( 23... g5 24. Ng4! ) 24. Bxg7 Rg8 25. Bf6! +- played quickly by levon. winning back the exchange. Black is very weak on the dark squares after white captured the bishop in g7 25...  Qe6 ( 25... g5 26. Bxd8 Kxd8 27. Qf2 g4 28. Qf6+ Kc8 29. Nxg4 ) 26. Bxd8 Kxd8 27. Qg5+ Kc8 28. Rf6 Qe8 29. Nf3 Kb7 30. Ne5 Rg7 31. Rxg6 3rd extra pawn 31...  Re7 32. Nc4 Qf8 33. Rg8 Black resigned as Qf7 is met by Nd6+. a fine blitz banter game by levon 1-0

also available

Colle Zukertort Yusupov Style Part II: theory against g6,Bg7

and simply your task is to put fire on the board. play the attack from the very beginning don't hold back.

Again, we are exploring the key ideas of this system for White in this second post. Here we will review what to do when Black plays a King's Indian or Fianchetto g6,Bg7. Once again, Nakamura plays this line quite often in blitz and rapid games.

1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. b3 Bg7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Be2  brings the following position

Position After 6Be2

Here White plays more a positional pressure type of game, no direct attack against Black's king.
Notice that the Bishop in c8 has no good squares so typically Black opts for a double fianchetto.
Let's follow a recent game from Hikaru.

Nakamura-Caruana - Magnus Invitational 2020 Game 4.

6... Nbd7 7. O-O b6 8. c4 Bb7 9. Qc2 

Position after 9Qc2

White controls the center and now Caruana tries to prepare e6-e5 by playing e7-e6 and Qe7. but White has an easier play with more space by developing Nb1 to c3 and bringing the rooks in files c and d.

9..e6 10. Nc3 Qe7 11. e4 e5 12. dxe5 dxe5 13.Nd5

Position after 13 Nd5.
Here Black had to take on d5 and White recaptures with c-pawn. Hikaru only needed to draw this game 4 as he was in the lead and his play was influenced by the fact.

The full game is available here with my notes and analysis.


Now for other key ideas you should look at 6..c5 as a major alternative for Black.
And also in the game above , Black can try to get e7-e5 faster without going for the b6,Bb7 second fianchetto. This is a little more active for Black and here how you should meet this plan

7... Re8 8. c4 e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10. Qc2

Position after 10.Qc2.
Again White puts his queen on c2, defending Bb2 and there's always e3-e4 should Black try Bf5. This allows for rooks to come into play while Black has to figure out where to put her queen.

 10..Ngxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Nc3 += followed by rook activation.

These lines give a positional plus but for a player going for the King's Indian as Black, this may require patience and careful play to equalize. The ideas are fairly straighforward for White which I think it is the easier side to play.


I will put here the main game Nakamura-Caruana until the 26th move if you don't have a chessboard to replay game.

Colle-Zukertort Yusupov style d4,b3,Bb2 and Ne5

Opening prep

Showing a few lines about the Yusupov pet line d4,b3,Bb2 set-up

The system looks like this for White

The idea is to develop along these lines for white and pretty much go for the attack.
Good repertoire for blitz/rapid or even bullet.

and this is what it leads to when played right

__________________________________________________________
Lets see 4 critical positions

POSITION 1

POSITION 2

POSITION 3

Position 4:

and now the 4 games in full

Anand wins against Nepomiatchi in 17 moves

played on chess.com nations cup ( FIDE event)

Anand prepared Bd2!? against Gruenfeld and Nepomiatchi fell into the trap.

Anand wins a miniature in 17 moves. Replay below

Slow replay here
https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=YTLKSyhiOBijWYDdMuH8bRuZ8XxVOCD2mMAdcEYBWhrg/Ae3eili/HrmmWmJyJJW

the losing move is 14...d4??. The winning move takes time to be found by engines. Black had to play 14..Rd8 and fell for the trap.

Nakamura-Carlsen Game 4 Annotated Magnus Carlsen Invitational 2020

Hikaru with White must win to tie the match 2-2. He is trailing 1-2 in a rapid match of 4 games played online at chess24.com

First key moment

Black (Magnus) to play

Here Magnus saw that 16..c5 worked and would allow Black to equalize. Opening the position will favor the bishop pair.

Second key moment

White (Hikaru) to play 

Here Hikaru played 22bc5!? . He saw 22.Nc5 Nc5 23 bc5  Rdc8 with an extra pawn but the position has opposite bishops. Magnus would put his pieces on black pieces and his next moves would be easy to find. By playing 22bc5!? White keeps more pieces on the board.


Third key moment

White to play

Here Hikaru has an extra pawn and Knight versus Bishop instead of opposite bishops. Magnus drifted as the position was near equal around move 22. The position is now between draw and win for white and chess24.com commentators thought White had good chances to convert.
Here White rushed by playing 41.Ne5 on which Black played Bxe5 to enter the rook endgame. It was much stronger to play 41.a5 or 41 Kg2 to activate pieces. Black is passive and cannot start counterplay so White should improve his position patiently.


Fourth key moment

White to play

Here white played 43 Kg2?. This is a mistake from Hikaru as Magnus replied 43..g5 and later on ..h5 and ..g4. If Hikaru had played the best move 43 h4! , Magnus could have tried 43...h6  on which White would respond 44a5 g5 46 h5!. by not exchanging the h pawns, White would have another target the h6 pawn, on top of the threat of advancing the a pawn. This rook ending is winning for white.


in the end after 43 Kg2 g5! they continued but the game ended up in a draw by perpetual check. full game below.

[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational Final 4"]
[Site "chess24.com "]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D52"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 dxc4 8.
Bxf6 Nxf6 9. Nxc4 Qc7 10. Be2 Be7 11. a3 O-O 12. b4 Rd8 13. O-O b6 14. Bf3 Ba6
15. Qb3 Rac8 16. Rac1 c5 17. dxc5 Bxc4 18. Qxc4 bxc5 19. Na4 Nd7 20. Qb5 Qb8
21. Qxb8 Rxb8 22. bxc5 Rdc8 23. c6 Ne5 24. Rc3 Nxf3+ 25. gxf3 Kf8 26. Rd1 Ke8
27. Rd7 Bf6 28. Rc5 Rxc6 29. Rxa7 Rxc5 30. Nxc5 Be7 31. Ne4 f5 32. Ng3 g6 33.
a4 Kf7 34. Ne2 Kf6 35. Ra6 Rb2 36. Nf4 Kf7 37. Nd3 Ra2 38. Ra7 Kf6 39. f4 Bd6
40. Ra6 Ke7 41. Ne5 Bxe5 42. fxe5 Kd7 43. Kg2 g5 44. Rd6+ Ke7 45. Ra6 Kd7 46.
a5 h5 47. Rd6+ Ke7 48. a6 h4 49. Rb6 Kd7 50. Rd6+ Ke7 51. h3 Ra5 52. f4 g4 53.
Rb6 Ra2+ 54. Kh1 Ra1+ 55. Kg2 Ra2+ 56. Kf1 Ra1+ 57. Kg2 Ra2+ 1/2-1/2

Animated Game below

Carlsen-Nakamura Game 3 Analysis : Magnus Carlsen Invitational

after 2 games score was 1-1. Magnus is white against Hikaru. They play a Queen's Gambit again.

[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational Final 3"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2863"]
[BlackElo "2736"]


1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 dxc4 8. O-O c5
9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bxc4 a6 11. Ng5 b5

Here's the  first key moment after 11..b5

Magus prepared this line and uncorked 12 Be6! fe6 13Ne6 forking the Queen and Rook. Magnus gets Rook and two versus Bishop and Knight.

Second key moment after 17..Qd5 : can you guess what White (Magnus) played ?

18 f3! The point is that White needs to get f3,e4 in motion and play 4 pawns versus 2. Giving the a2 pawn is no big deal, as the two pieces against rook will struggle against pawn advances.

Position after Queens were exchanged (24...Ne8). White to play: what is the best move ?

Here Magnus played 25 Bb4! Excellent move, as praised  by Alexander Grischuk on air (chess.24 commentary with Jan G and Peter Svidler). White locks down pawns a6 and b5 and gets ready to get his kingside pawns rolling. Nakamura said it was a brilliant move by Magnus in his stream recap.Chess engines evaluation don't reflect the fact  it is very hard to defend and save for Black.

 Position after 25.Bb4!

Magnus kept pressing and here's another key moment after 34..a5, White to play

Magnus spotted the best move 35 Rd5! attacking b5 and h5. Hikaru thought a5-a4 was a threat but White is in time to grab several pawns. Next moves were 35..a4? 36 Rxh5 Nef4 37 Rg5

Last key position after 44...Bd3, White to play :

Here Magnus played 45.Kg6! threatening h5-h6 and avoiding 45 e5? Kf7 with Black trying to achieve a blockade on dark squares.

White ended up winning the game in 52 moves , 2-1 in the match with Hikaru in a must-win situation with White in Game 4.

[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational Final 3"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2863"]
[BlackElo "2736"]

 1. d4Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 dxc4 8. O-O c5
9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bxc4 a6 11. Ng5 b5 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Nxe6 Qe7 14. Nxf8 Qxf8
15. Ne4 Bb7 16. Nxc5 Qxc5 17. Rc1 Qd5 18. f3 Qxa2 19. e4 Nf8 20. Rf2 Rc8 21.
Rxc8 Bxc8 22. Qd8 Qe6 23. Bd6 Qe8 24. Qxe8 Nxe8 25. Bb4 Ne6 26. Rd2 Kf7 27. Kf2
Nf6 28. Ke3 g5 29. Rd6 Nd7 30. g3 Ne5 31. b3 h5 32. h4 gxh4 33. gxh4 Ng6 34.
Be1 a5 35. Rd5 a4 36. Rxh5 Nef4 37. Rg5 axb3 38. h5 Nf8 39. Bc3 b4 40. Bb2 N8e6
41. Rf5+ Kg8 42. Rxf4 Nxf4 43. Kxf4 Ba6 44. Kg5 Bd3 45. Kg6 Bb5 46. f4 Be8+ 47.
Kg5 Bc6 48. e5 Bd5 49. f5 Kh7 50. e6 Bc4 51. Kf6 Be2 52. Ke7 1-0

Nakamura- Carlsen Game 2 Final Magnus Carlsen Invitational

After losing the first game, Hikaru wins the second game in a positional game where he put pressure on Carlsen right from the beginning. I would say that Hikaru with White played in a Carlsen style.

[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[ECO "D37"]


1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5

Clearly Hikaru is trying to put pressure on the queenside with 7.c5!? in the Queen's Gambit opening. Magnus replied with 7..Nh5 to capture the dark square bishop. All of this is theory and Hikaru revealed he drew Grischuk years ago with Black in a long game.

Key moment #2

Here Magnus has played 26..Nb8. What is the right plan for white ?

Hikaru understood this position, and remembered how Grischuk played against him as the pawn structure was the same.

Hikaru played 27 Nc1! which is to me the key move in the entire game. The knight on e2 is not doing much and  Black is passive without any counterplay : White is repositioning his knight on d3 on which he can go to b4 to attack the c6 pawn or go to e5 being supported by the other knight. This is typically what Magnus does against his opponents but here he is on the defending end.

Key moment #3

This is the last key moment of the game. Magnus played 35..Qf5 proposing to play the knight ending. 

Hikaru goes for it and played 36 Qf5. How should black recapture ? in the game Magnus played 36..ef5?? which  loses after 37 Kf3 as pawn endings with knights exchanged are lost for him. Magnus was hopeing 37..f6 would help but white simply takes and repositions his knight via Nf3-e5 with all pawn and king endings winning for White.

The key was to play 36..gf5! followed by 37..Ng6 attacking h4. Black should be able to hold.

GM Hikaru Nakamura

full replay with annotations here  chessbase replay link with pgn file

Carlsen Nakamura Final MCI Game 1 key moments

[Event "Carlsen Inv Final Game 1 "]
[Site "chess24.com "]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2863"]
[BlackElo "2736"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3  O-O 

Carlsen played an english 1 c4 and Nakamura played 1..e5

First key moment 

Magnus has the advantage here. Black has a weakness on d4 and the knight can jump around on e4,d6 while the black bishop has no target.  Hikaru defended quite well from here

Second key moment : White to play

Magnus attacked the Bishop on g5 by playing Rb5 in the previous move. Hikaru played 30..Kg6 leading the diagram above. Can you guess the next move ?

Magnus played 31 f4 which must taken otherwise f4-f5+ wins. Therefore 31..gf3 32 Kf3 led to White pressing as Magnus created space around his king reducing Black counterplay. White will win b6 and b7 shortly.

Third key moment : White to play and win

Here Hikaru played 67..Kf4 and has been defending for 30+ moves.  He thought he was close to holding as he planned to answer 68 Rg5 by 68..Re1+ King moves and 69..Bxh4
He also saw 68 Nxg3 Rg2+ to shield the white king and then take back the knight on g3.

However, Magnus played here a brilliant move securing the win. Can you guess the move ( white to play ) ?



_____
_____
in the 3rd and last diagram . Magnus played
68 Rh8! with threats of checks on the back rank and also 69.h5



Full game here:

positional win Carlsen-Nakamura game 3 MCI Final

Carlsen-Nakamura Rapid Magnus Invitational game 3 today

Positional win : analysis here

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=GQRXjYuKajTrZWbL+23Cv3u4SpUbqKz/QgVxABwwp1C0CTrMpyO/MEIKHXbaI2H3


Automated replay of game below

Game 4 Ding Liren versus Magnus Carlsen - MCI chess24.com semi-final game 4

Here is the critical position game 4 white to play.

Ding Liren is White, Carlsen is Black. This is their 4th rapid game in their match played today

Ding Liren chose to play an intermediary move (Ne6) and lost quite quickly. He could have repeated the moves earlier on but tried to win this game as Carlsen would be favorite in blitz tie-breaks

Here is where to replay the game with annotations.
https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=kRVYGfeSB4mIuC9d1TEhYK6uVvtsvhGXHR4fQ80Y8hV/f6dt2GAgbapzeXiX5rf1


and here the GIF animated game starting from move 1

Carlsen-Ding MCI Semi-Final Game 1 : May 2, 2020 chess24.com

Here is the game featuring Magnus Carlsen versus Ding Liren, Magnus Online tournament semi-final Game 1. opening was the London  (d4, Bf4) which Carlsen plays quite a bit in rapid and blitz, for instance world blitz 2019 against Nakamura.

Here the position after 14..Nf6, White to play

The possibilities are 15 0-0-0 or 15 Qg2. Carlsen chose 15 a3!?

Here is where you can replay the full annotated game

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=HW3sNkHzg5/Fj9X9CMesvzBdmhgEziqNUqK8pqBZS/TR9wQ8ktaPnLNb7Mb81iI0