Sicilian Rossolimo: Anand shows the way !

In this entry, I will look at a blitz game from Anand versus Nakamura in the London 2014 event.

The Rossolimo variation starts after 1 e4 c5 2Nf3 Nc6 3Bb5

one of the key points is to accelerate white's development. White typically plays 0-0 and starts to occupy the center. Hikaru picked 3..d6 which is less common than 3..g6 or 3..e6. Maybe he wanted to avoid Anand's prep.

And here is the position they reached after 20 Qc3! attacking f6.

White has achieved a winning position in 20 moves. 

Knights cannot be captured.

If Black tries 20..exf5  21 ef5+ Kd7 22 Nf6+ Kc7 23 Qa5 Checkmate

If Black tries 20..exd5 21 exd5+ Kd7 22 dc6+ Rc6 23 Qd4! with checkmate threats.

If 20..e5 to stop Nf6+ then 21 Qa3! and c4-c5 will open up lines for White's attack.

Hikaru played 20..Rh6  but giving up the exchange did not work out.

Full game replay with annotations .

Great example where Anand quickly built pressure againt Nakamura using 3Bb5 against the sicilian

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 a6 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Rc8 9. c4 [#] White has given up the bishop pair but has astrong grip on the center ( Maroczy bind c4 and e4) 9...  Nf6 10. Nc3 Bd7 ( 10... e6 11. b3 Be7 12. Bb2 O-O 13. Qd2 Re8 14. Rad1 += ) 11. b3 b5?! fighting back against whites center but Black hasnt finished to develop his kingside ( 11... e6 ) 12. Bg5 Anand is happy to give up a pawn to accelerate hisdevelopment 12...  bxc4 13. Nd5! This move prevents ..e6 and ..g6, therefore Black needs to find alternative plans. 13...  h6? ( 13... Nxd5 the best move here 14. exd5 c3 15. Rc1 ) ( 13... e6 14. Nf5! ) ( 13... g6 14. Bxf6 exf6 15. Nf5! Be6 16. Qd4 ) 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qf3 [#] ( 15. Nf5!? ) 15...  h5 ( 15... Rg8 16. Nf5 Rg6 17. h4 Qa5 ( 17... cxb3 18. axb3 [%csl Ga6] ) ( 17... e6 18. bxc4 knights cannot be captured ) ) 16. h3 Bh6 17. Nf5! [#] White knightsdominate the bishop pair and the black king is stuck in the center. White only invested 1 pawn to get a dream position out of the opening 17...  Bf8 ( 17... c3 18. Qxh5 Bxf5 19. exf5 c2 20. b4 Kf8 21. Rac1 Kg7 22. Qg4+ Kf8 23. f4 ) 18. bxc4 ( 18. Nxd6+! exd6 19. Nxf6+ Ke7 20. e5! dxe5 ( 20... d5 21. Nxd5+ Ke6 22. Nf4+ Ke7 23. Rad1 +- ) 21. Rad1 ) 18...  e6 19. Rab1! Bc6 ( 19... Rg8 20. Rb7 Rc6 21. Qxh5 Rg6 22. Qh8 Qc8 23. Rb2 a5 24. h4 ) 20. Qc3 knights cannot be taken, and White is targetting f6. Great attacking play by Anand. ( 20. Nxf6+! wins on the spot 20... Qxf6 21. Nxd6+ Ke7 22. Nxc8+ ) 20...  Rh6 desperate measures ( 20... e5 21. Qa3 a5 22. Red1 h4 23. c5 dxc5 24. Nb6 Qc7 25. Nxc8 Qxc8 26. Qxa5 ) ( 20... exf5 21. exf5+ Kd7 22. Nxf6+ Kc7 23. Qa5# ) ( 20... exd5 21. exd5+ Kd7 22. dxc6+ Rxc6 23. Qd4 ) 21. Nxh6 Bxh6 22. Nxf6+ Ke7 ( 22... Kf8 23. Nxh5 ) 23. Nd5+! Bxd5 ( 23... exd5 24. exd5+ Kd7 25. Qf3 Kc7 26. dxc6 ) 24. exd5 e5 25. Rb7+ Kf8 26. Qf3 +- [#] White is an exchange up with a devastating attack 26...  Rc7 27. Reb1 Qe7 28. Rxc7 Qxc7 29. Qxh5 Kg7 30. Qg4+ Kh7 31. g3 ( 31. Rb3 ) 31...  a5 32. Rb3 a4 33. Rb4 ( 33. Rf3 Bg7 34. Rf5 ) 33...  Qa7 34. Kg2 Bd2 35. Rb5 Bc3 36. c5! dxc5 37. d6 Bd4 38. Qe4+ Kg7 39. Rb7 Qa6 40. Qg4+ 1-0

Opening Traps : Sicilian Defense

Here I want to cover 2 openings

1 e4 c5 2 d4 cd4 3c3 Morra-Smith Gambit . Morra was a french player from Nice,France (1900-1969) who studied the opening and played it in correspondence games. 

 1e4 c5 2Nf3 Nc6 3Bb5 is the Rossolimo (You could play Bb5 against d6 as well).

and here you could see 21 lines containing many traps and quick wins in the morra gambit as well as in the Rossolimo opening.

Tactics: Try to solve 5 puzzles with increasing difficulty

You can click on links to go to lichess.org and turn on chess engine (stockfish) to check solutions
leave a comment if you are stuck !

Recent GMs Game with comments/variations explained

Dubov master of the attack: Dubov-Artemiev with game analysis

Dubov delays castle, mounts an attack using Rh1 as well as rook Lift Ra1-a3 and rook over Ra3-g3 (ROVER attack).


Official Website here chess24



Tournament featuring Magnus Carlsen, Vladislav Artemiev, Daniil Dubov, Maxime Vachier Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Grischuk,etc
chess24.com chessable rapid online tournament

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Rc1 O-O ( 8... Ne4!? 9. Ncxe4 dxe4 10. Bh4 ) 9. Be2 Bxc3 10. Rxc3 Qxa2 11. Qc1! idea is Ra3 trapping the queen 11...  Qa5 12. Ra3 Qd8 13. e4!? [%cal Ya3h3][#] This opens the 3rd rank and the rook on a3 can move over g3 and h3. Rook over or Rover manouver ! 13...  h6 14. h4! starting the attack 14...  Qe8 ( 14... e5!? preventing 15e4-e5 and opening the center: White has not castled yet. 15. Rg3 ( 15. f4 exd4 16. e5 ) 15... Kh8 with a very complex position 16. exd5 exd4 17. Ne4!? ) ( 14... hxg5? taking the bishop loses right away. 15. hxg5 Ne8 16. Rah3 f5 17. g6! wins ) 15. e5! Nh7 16. Rg3 [#] White has a strong attack.Rook lift or Rover completed 16...  Kh8 ( 16... hxg5 17. hxg5 g6 18. Rgh3 Nxg5 19. Rh6 Qd8 20. Nf3 +- ) 17. Nf3 with Bxh6 the main threat. Black is playing without Ra8 and Bc8, and all white pieces are targetting Blacks kingside. 17...  f5!? This move occurs in similar positions stemming from french defense. We reached a critical moment in the game ( 17... Rg8 18. Bd3 ) 18. exf6 ( 18. Bxh6!? more direct 18... gxh6 19. Qxh6 Qf7 ( 19... Rf7!? probably the best defense 20. Ng5!? ) 20. Rhh3 second rook joins the attack 20... f4 21. Rg6 Rg8 22. h5 giving here an example showing White is actually winning 22... Ndf8 23. Rxg8+ Qxg8 24. Qxf4 Qg7 25. Rg3 Qe7 26. Bd3 +- ) 18...  Ndxf6 19. Bxf6 ( 19. Bxh6!? ) 19...  Nxf6 20. Ne5 [#] White has full compensation for the pawn. Knight on e5 can go to g6and Black has not fully developed his pieces ( Ra8,Bc8). Dubov went for a more positional play without sacrificing on h6. 20...  Ne4 ( 20... Kg8 21. Qxh6 ) 21. Re3 ( 21. Rg6!? ) 21...  c5 ( 21... Rxf2? 22. Rxe4 ) ( 21... Nxf2 22. O-O! this move is legal and wins the knight ! ) 22. dxc5 Rf5 [#] 23. Rxe4!? Exchange sacrifice which wasnt forced 23...  dxe4 24. Qc3 b6? a big mistake, ..Bd7 was called for as this was faster to activate queenside pieces. ( 24... Bd7 25. g4 Rf8 26. h5 Kh7 27. b4 ) 25. g4! Rxe5 Giving back the exchange ( 25... Rf8 26. c6! ) 26. Qxe5 Qc6?! ( 26... Bb7 27. g5 e3 ) 27. g5 h5 ( 27... e3 28. f3! ) 28. O-O +- castling at last 28...  Qxc5? ( 28... bxc5? 29. g6! and Qh5+ is next ) ( 28... Bb7 29. b4 e3 30. f3! ) 29. Qxe4 Rb8 [#] 30. Qg6! [%csl Ye8,Yh5][%cal Ye2d3] This move is stronger than Bxh5. Qe8+,Qh5+ and Bd3 are threats 30...  Qf5 31. Qe8+ Kh7 32. Rd1! Main threat is Qh5+ followed by Rd8+.also Bd3 winning the queen is very strong. Blacks position collapses. 32...  Bb7 33. Qxb8 Qe4 34. Bd3 wins the queen. 1-0

Magnus wins brilliancy game ( Zugwang masterpiece) against Dubov with Black: Chessable tournament Group A : June 22, 2020

Great positional game ( Zugwang Domination) by Magnus Carlsen with Black against Daniil Dubov.

Yasser Seirawan and Peter Svidler commented the game live on chess24.com

You can see Dubov on the left and Carlsen on the right  at the start of the game

PGN Here:

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. g3 Nbd7 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 b6 9. Re1 Ba6 10. Nd2 Rc8 11. Bb2 c5 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. b4 Nce4 14. Ncxe4 dxe4 15. b5 Bb7 16. e3 Bb4

17. Re2 Qd3 18. Rb1 Bc3 19. Ba3 Rfd8 20. Rb3 Qxc4 21. Qe1 Qd5 22. Bb4 Qxb3 23.axb3 Bxb4 24. Bf1 a5 25. Qd1 h6 0-1

Full game with replay and annotations below :

Brilliant positional game by Carlsen who squeezed Dubov and crowned its plan with a queen sacrifice on move 20, and won in 25 moves with Black. he must have been happy after losing 3 games to Dubov in recent online tournaments

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. g3 Nbd7 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 b6 9. Re1 [#] E07: Closed Catalan: Main Line (5 Nf3 0-0 6 0-0 Nbd7). 9...  Ba6 10. Nd2 Rc8 11. Bb2 c5 12. dxc5 [#] ( 12. e3 dxc4 13. bxc4 cxd4 14. exd4 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 Rxc4 16. Rc1 b5 17. Bf1 ( 17. Nxb5 Rxc1 18. Qxc1 Qa5 ) ) 12...  Nxc5 ( Predecessor: 12... dxc4 13. c6 Nb8 14. Nxc4 Nxc6 15. Rc1 Bc5 0-1 (48)Zaremba,A (2348)-Shaposhnikov,E (2557) chess.com INT 2017 ) 13. b4 Nce4 14. Ncxe4 dxe4 15. b5 Bb7 16. e3? ( 16. Qc2 ) 16...  Bb4! White cannot get out of the pin 17. Re2 this rook is passive! 17...  Qd3! 18. Rb1 Bc3 [#] 19. Ba3? ( 19. Bxc3 = and White has nothing to worry. 19... Qxc3 20. Rc1 ( 20. Rb3 Qe5 ) 20... Qd3 21. Bf1 ) 19...  Rfd8! with a deadly pin 20. Rb3? [#] ( 20. Bb4 Bxb4 21. Rxb4 Rxc4 22. Rxc4 Qxc4 ) 20...  Qxc4! 21. Qe1 ( 21. Bb2 Ba5 ) 21...  Qd5 22. Bb4 [#] ( 22. Rxc3 Rxc3 23. Bb2 Rc2 24. Bxf6 Rxd2 25. Bxd8 Rd1 ) 22...  Qxb3! Black will keep white pieces tied up after giving up the queen ( 22... Bxb4 23. Rxb4 Qe5 -/+ ) 23. axb3 Bxb4 with Rook and Bishop for the Queen, Black maintains the pin on d2 24. Bf1 a5 -+ [#] looking to improvepieces, as White has no useful moves, positional domination !! 25. Qd1 h6 [#] ( 25... h6 26. h3 ( 26. Qb1 Rxd2 27. Rxd2 Bxd2 28. Kg2 Ne8 -+ ) 26... Rc5 27. Kh2 Rd7 ( 27... Rcd5 28. Qc1 Rxd2 29. Rxd2 Rxd2 ) 28. g4 ( 28. Qe1 Rcd5 ) 28... Rcd5 29. Kg1 Bxd2 30. Qa1 Nh7 31. h4 ( 31. Kh2 Ng5 ) 31... Nf6 32. Bh3 Bxe3 ) 0-1

www.chess24.com to follow the tournament

Nakamura-Dubov Chessable chess24.com GroupA analysis

Round 10 : Hikaru wins against Dubov and qualifies on June 22, 2020.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 Re8 9. f4 d6 10. Qf3 Bd7 11. O-O Ng4 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bd2 d5 14. f5 Ne5 15. Qf2 e6 16. f6 Ng4 17. Qf3 Qxf6 18. Qxg4 Qd4+ 19. Rf2 f5 20. Qf3 fxe4 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. Qxd7 Rad8 23. Qxc6 Rf8 24. Be1 Qe3 25. Qxe6 Bd4 26. Nxd5 Qe2 27. Qe5+ 1-0

Great Attacking skills by Hikaru who deviated from previous games with 9.f2-f4!?

Dubov-Nakamura Round 10: Chessable Group A

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 Re8 B35: Sicilian: Accelerated Dragon with 5 Nc3: main line. 9. f4!? ( 9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. h3 Qc7 11. f4 b5 12. e5 b4 13. Na4 Nd5 14. Qf3 Nxe3 15. Qxe3 a5 16. O-O-O Qa7 17. Qe4 Bf5 0-1 (44) Nakamura,H (2736)-Dubov,D (2699) chess24.com INT 2020 ) ( 9. O-O d6 10. h3 Bd7 11. f4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bc6 13. e5 dxe5 14. fxe5 Nd5 15. Qf3 Nxc3 16. Bxf7+ Kh8 17. Qxc3 Rf8 18. Rad1 e6 1/2-1/2 Nakamura,H (2786)-Carlsen,M (2832) chess.com INT 2018 ) 9...  d6 ( 9... e5 10. fxe5 Nxe4 11. O-O d5 12. exd6 Nxd6 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Bc5 ) ( 9... d5 10. e5 Ng4 11. Bg1 ) 10. Qf3 [#] ( 10. h3 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. O-O b4 1/2-1/2 Kuhne,D (2391)-Glatzel,H (2318) ICCF email 2017 ) 10...  Bd7 The position is equal. ( 10... Ng4 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd2 ) ( 10... Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bg4 12. Qf2 a5 ) 11. O-O ( 11. h3 Nxe4! 12. Qxe4 Bxd4 13. Bxd4 Bf5 14. Qe3 e5! ) 11...  Ng4 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bd2 d5! 14. f5 starting the attack on the kingside 14...  Ne5 ( 14... gxf5 15. exf5 Nf6 ) 15. Qf2 [%mdl 2048] White is getting ready to attack on kingside 15...  e6? creating too many weaknesses on the kingside ( 15... Rf8! 16. Rad1 ) 16. f6! [#] 16...  Ng4 ( 16... Bf8 17. Qg3! with attack 17... Qc7 18. Bf4 Bd6 19. Qg5 Kh8 20. Bxe5 Bxe5 21. Qh6 Rg8 22. Rf3 ) ( 16... Bh8 17. Qh4 Rb8 18. Qg5 Nc4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. e5 ) 17. Qf3! Qxf6? [#] ( 17... Nxf6 +/- might work better. 18. e5 Ne4 19. Nxe4 ( 19. Qxf7+ Kh8 = ) 19... dxe4 20. Qxf7+ ( 20. Qxe4 Qc7 += ) 20... Kh8 21. Qf4 c5 22. Qxe4 and the fight goes on ) 18. Qxg4 +- Qd4+ 19. Rf2 f5 20. Qf3 fxe4 ( 20... dxe4 21. Qg3 ) 21. Qf7+ Kh8 [#] 22. Qxd7 Rad8 ( 22... e3 23. Bxe3 Qxe3 24. Raf1 Bd4 ( 24... Qc5 25. Na4 ) 25. Kh1 ) 23. Qxc6 white is two pieces up and Black had to play 23..e3 to regain one piece 23...  Rf8?? ( 23... e3 24. Bxe3 Qxe3 25. Raf1 Rf8 26. Nd1 ) 24. Be1! White is clearly winning. clever move to remove the pin without losing material ( 24. Nd1 Rxf2 25. Be3 ) 24...  Qe3 ( 24... e3 25. Rxf8+ Rxf8 26. Ne2 ) 25. Qxe6 Bd4 26. Nxd5 Qe2 27. Qe5+! ( 27. Qe5+! Bxe5 ( 27... Kg8 28. Ne7# ) 28. Rxe2 White is winning here with two extra pieces 28... Bd4+ 29. Bf2 Rxf2 30. Rxf2 Rf8 31. Raf1 h5 ( 31... Kg7 32. Nc3 ) 32. Nc3 Kg7 33. Nxe4 ) 1-0

also available

Previous Game on this opening: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/lindores-abbey-rapid-challenge-2020-final-8/3/3/4

Novelty prepared by GM Riazantsev, " Game 4 was actually a very important moment, and first of all I want to praise my friend and coach Sasha Riazantsev, who managed, while I was losing like an idiot with White, to come up with this completely new idea of c5, so it was just prepared by him between the games and I think he did a brilliant job"

chess24.com Dubov Interview Lindores Abbey with links to sicilian dragon opening

Carlsen win against Nakamura

White to play

16.Ndc6! 

Full analysis link here

Snapshot Magnus

Chessable Chess24.com Round 1 : Group A and Group B highlights

Key positions focus Round 1 Group A and B


Official Website here



Games featuring Magnus Carlsen, Vladislav Artemiev, Daniil Dubov, Maxime Vachier Lagrave
chess24.com chessable rapid online tournament

1. Artemiev, Vladislav vs Harikrishna, Pentala 1-0 Rnd:1.1 chess24.com INT 2020.06.202. Artemiev, Vladislav vs Dubov, Daniil 1-0 Chessable Masters GpA Rnd:2.3 chess24.com INT 2020.06.203. Harikrishna, Pentala vs Carlsen, Magnus 0-1 Chessable Masters GpA Rnd:2.1 chess24.com INT 2020.06.204. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime vs Caruana, Fabiano 1-0 Chessable Masters GpB Rnd:3.2 chess24.com INT 2020.06.215. Radjabov, Teimour vs Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 1/2-1/2 Chessable Masters GpB Rnd:2.2 chess24.com INT 2020.06.21

27. Rb8+! Kh7 ( 27... Rc8 28. Rxc8+ Bxc8 29. Bb3 Bishop Pair dominates. the idea for white is Bd8 attacking a5 ) 28. Bb3! White has used the strenghth of the bishop pair and the knight on the rim can barely escape while pawns in a5 and c5 will fall 28...  Bxb3 ( 28... Nc4 29. Rb5 ) ( 28... Rc7 29. Bd6 ) ( 28... c4 29. Bd1! ) 29. Rxb3 Nc4 ( 29... Nc2+ 30. Kd2 ) 30. Rb5! attacking a5 and c5 30...  Rc7 31. Bxc5 f6 32. Ke2 and Artemiev converted with white. 1-0

Carlsen swindles Aronian

Clutch Chess June 11 2020 Game : Carlsen with White swindles Aronian who had a -3.21 advantage few moves ago

Carlsen-Aronian Clutch Chess St Louis Tournament Online

34. Rg4 ( 34. Re4 is a betterdefense. 34... Qe7 35. Ree1 ) 34...  Qxe5? ( 34... Qe7 -+ 35. Re4 Rxb3 ) 35. Re4 Qh5? ( 35... Qg5 = 36. Rxe6 Qf5 37. Qxf5 gxf5 ) ( 35... Qd6 36. Qf6 Qxg3+ ( 36... Rxf2 37. Rxf2 Qxg3+ 38. Kf1 Qh3+ 39. Ke1 Qh1+ 40. Rf1 Ra1+ 41. Ke2 Qg2+ ) 37. fxg3 Rg2+ ) 36. Qf6 +- Qxh6 37. Rxe6 1-0

Maxime Vachier Lagrave wins Speed Championship tuesday against Firouzja on chess.com- June 2020

Let's go the key moments of the last game. MVL is white, Firouzja is Black, they play a 3 minutes + 1 second increment

First position. MVL is white and has an interesting possibility to start an attack. can you find it?

____

the answer is 16 Rxd7! sacrificing the exchange

Position 2. Firouzka played ..Qe7 to bring his queen to the defense. Thats logical but he missed White's strong reply White to play can you find it ?

_______

the answer is 19e5! threatening exf6 and if Black answers 19..fe5, White goes 20Ng5!

Position 3. Game continued and reached the last critical position on move 28. What would you play with white ?

MVL decided to go for 29 Qxf6 exchanging queens, but Nxf6 or N6xc5 followed by Nxf6 was winning on the spot. He converted in the rook endgame with 2 pawns up. MVL was pushing the entire game and Black never equalized.

Full Game Replay Here

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Qxc4 b6 11. Bg5 Bb7 12. Nc3 Nbd7 13. Rfd1 Rc8 14. Qh4 Qe7 15. e4 h6 16. Rxd7 Qxd7 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Qxh6 Qe7 19. e5 fxe5 20. Ng5 f6 21. Qg6+ Kh8 22. Bxb7 Qxb7 23. Nxe6 Rf7 24. Qh6+ Kg8 25. Qg6+ Kh8 26. Ne4 Qe7 27. Qh5+ Rh7 28. Qf5 Rg8 29. Qxf6+ Qxf6 30. Nxf6 Bxf2+ 31. Kg2 Rg6 32. Nxh7 Rxe6 33. Ng5 Rg6 34. Nf7+ Kg7 35. Nxe5 Re6 36. Kxf2 Rxe5 37. Re1 Rf5+ 38. Kg2 Rc5 39. Kf3 Rc4 40. Re4 Rc2 41. Re2 Rc4 42. b3 Rc1 43. h4 Kh6 44. Re6+ Kh5 45. Rxb6 1-0

Armageddon Dubov-Nakamura chess24 LindoresAbbey #Heritage Chess Key Moments with Analysis

Dubov is white and must win. Nakamura is Black and must draw or win. Opening was 1e4 e5 2Nc3 Vienna Opening. 

Position 1

Here the normal variation should be 12Nf4 Nf4 12Bf4 0-0 13 Qh5 with a += assessment. white's a bit better but the game goes on. Instead, Daniil Dubov chose 12.Bd5! after thinking for 30 seconds which brings us here 

Position 2 

 Now Black had to play 12..fg3+ 13 Ng3 Bd5 14 Qh5 Ne7 with White being better. the point of white's play is that Bd5 and Bc5 are hanging while Black hasn't castled yet. 15 Nd5 Qd5 16 Qd5 Nd5 17Rf5! 0-0-0 18c4! wins the bishop in c5. Black has only two pawns for a piece. But Nakamura doesn't sense the danger and replied 12..Bd5 instantly . He is definitely trying to play fast the opening. Logically the game goes on as this from diagram 12..Bd5?? 13 Nf4 

 Position 3 

 White is attacking the bishop in d5. if you retreat: 13..Be6 14 Ne6 fe6 15Qh5+ Kd7 16 Qc5 wins a piece. The bishop on c5 is loose. So Hikaru spent 15 seconds and played 13..Ne7 on which Dubov replied 14 Qh5 c6 15Ncxd5 cd5 which brings us to the final position 

Position 4 

Can you spot the winning move ? with simple moves, Dubov achieved a winning position in 16 moves. Answer is 16Ne6!

Position 5

 Black is lost here. 16..Qd6 17Ng7+Kd7 18 Rf7! and White converted easily. Replay full game here.

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=yCQrbjry9upl44yoJtmIS6Si6WRQRfF9UrjdPyKspFJnpYXHqRk7LTjHFqt++hk7

Dubov won because he sensed this was a critical position at move 12 and invested 30 seconds to calculate and choose a dangerous move. Nakamura played instantly the obvious reply but this is lost by force. Speed is important but speed at all cost wasn't the right strategy. 

Kudos to Dubov who won the event, after Nakamura eliminated Carlsen in the semi-finals. Dubov had to win against Sergey Karjakin who was also very strong in this format.

Armageddon Game: Dubov wins against Nakamura #LindoresAbbey # Heritagechess

Lindores Abbey Heritage Chess Final Game 5 : Dubov upsets Nakamura by winning Armageddon Game.

 He tried 1e4 e5 2Nc3 Vienna Opening and reached a winning position after 16 moves.

 

Nakamura tried to play too quickly and spent no time on 12..Bd5?? which loses by force. Instead Dubov invested 30 seconds into playing 12Bd5! which was a strong move and not the natural and obvious 12Nf4. 

He saw this would cause problems for Black who hasn't castled. Nakamura failed to sense this was already a key moment and had to solve his issue around being behind in development.

 

Dubov-Nakamura Final Game 5- 3/6/2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Bc5 4. Bg2 Nf6 ( 4... d6 5. Nge2 h5!? 6. h3 a6 7. d3 Be6 8. O-O Qd7 9. Kh2 Nge7 10. Nd5 Nd4 11. Nxd4 Bxd4 12. c3 Ba7 13. f4 f6 14. Nxe7 Qxe7 15. d4 O-O-O 0-1 (48) Artemiev,V (2746)-Aronian,L (2758) chess.com INT 2019 ) 5. Nge2 d6 6. d3 a6 7. O-O ( 7. h3 h6 8. O-O O-O ) 7...  Be6 ( 7... h5!? 8. Bg5 h4 9. gxh4 Ne7 ) 8. h3 h6 9. Kh2 to prepare f4! 9...  d5 ( 9... g5 10. Nd5 g4 11. h4 ) ( 9... Qd7 10. f4 ) ( 9... O-O 10. f4 ) ( 9... Nd4 ) 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. f4!? exf4? ( 11... O-O? 12. f5! ) ( 11... Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bd5 13. Bxd5 Qxd5 14. fxe5 O-O-O 15. d4 ) ( 11... Nde7 12. fxe5 ) 12. Bxd5! [#] played after a 30seconds thought, Dubov had only 5 minutes in this armageddon game ( 12. Nxf4 Nxf4 13. Bxf4 O-O 14. Qh5 ) 12...  Bxd5?? played at tempo. at times Hikaru focuses too much on the clock while Dubov tried to understand the position ( 12... fxg3+ 13. Nxg3 Bxd5 14. Qh5 Ne7 15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. Qxd5 Nxd5 17. Rf5! O-O-O 18. c4! Winning the Bishop in c5 18... Nb4 19. Rxc5 f6 20. Rf5 Nxd3 21. b3 Nxc1 22. Rxc1 +/- ) 13. Nxf4 +- White is winning here 13...  Ne7 15 seconds on this move 14. Qh5!? ( 14. Nfxd5 Nxd5 15. Qh5 wins a piece 15... O-O ( 15... Ne7 16. Qxc5 ) 16. Nxd5 ) 14...  c6 45 seconds on 14..c6: Hikaru realizes his position is close to lost. 15. Ncxd5 cxd5 16. Ne6! [#] played after 5 seconds: Dubov accelerates as he has rightly identified the critical moment. 16...  Qd6 ( 16... g6 17. Qe5 fxe6 18. Qxh8+ +- ) 17. Nxg7+ Kd7 18. Rxf7 Raf8 19. Bf4 Rxf7 best practical chance for Black is to give up the queen 20. Bxd6 Rf2+ 21. Kh1 Bxd6 22. Re1 White needs to convert, there is no increment in this blitz game. Nakamura tried to stay in the game somehow ( 22. Qg4+ ) 22...  Rhf8 23. Qg4+ Kc6 24. Ne6 R8f6 25. Nd4+ Kb6 26. Re2 Rf1+ 27. Kg2 Nc6 28. Nxc6 bxc6 29. c3 R1f5 30. b4 Kb7 31. Qg7+ Rf7 32. Qxh6 Bc7 33. Qe3! Bb6 34. d4 Bc7 35. h4 a5 36. a3 a4 37. Qd3! idea is b4-b5, Black tried to close lines around his king but the white queen is too strrong. Dubov did a good job securing his king with Qe3 Re2 and h4. 37...  Rf1 38. b5 R1f6 39. bxc6+ Kxc6 40. Qa6+ Bb6 41. Qxa4+ Kb7 42. Qe8 threatens Re7+ 42...  Rf8 43. Re7+ Bc7 44. Qb5+ Rb6 45. Rxc7+! followed by Qc5+ double attack winning the rook on f8.Hikaru resigned. Dubov won the Lindores Abbey Rapid in the Armageddon (5th game) on the 3rd match. This was an exciting online tournament on chess24.com;#heritagechess 1-0

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https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=yCQrbjry9upl44yoJtmIS6Si6WRQRfF9UrjdPyKspFJnpYXHqRk7LTjHFqt++hk7

Match2 HeritageChess Lindores Abbey Rapid: Nakamura-Dubov Game 1 June 2nd 2020

Lindores Abbey Heritage Chess Final Game 1 : Dubov upsets Nakamura by winning first game with Black. Sicilian Alapin B22

Dubov-Nakamura Final Game 1- 2/6/2020

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 c4 7. Bc2 d5 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. O-O Bg4 10. Qe2 O-O-O 11. Na3 Qe6 12. Qxe6+ Bxe6 13. b3 Bd5 14. bxc4 Nxc4 15. Nxc4 Bxc4 16. Re1 Bd3 17. Bxd3 Rxd3 18. Re3 Rd7 19. Ba3 e5 20. Bxf8 Rxf8 21. h4 f6 22. h5 Rfd8 23. Kf1 b6 24. g3 Kb7 25. Kg2 Ne7 26. Re4 Rd3 27. a4 Nc6 28. Re2 Na5 29. Ra2 Nc4 30. g4 R8d5 31. Nh4 Rxd2 32. Nf5 Rxa2 33. Rxa2 g6 34. hxg6 hxg6 35. Ne7 Rd7 36. Ng8 f5 37. gxf5 gxf5 38. Nh6 Rg7+ 39. Kf3 Rg5 40. Nf7 Rh5 41. Kg3 Rh7 42. Ng5 Rd7 43. Kh4 Rd3 44. Kh5 Rxc3 45. Kh6 Kc6 46. Kg6 f4 47. Ne4 Ra3 48. Rc2 Rxa4 49. Kf5 b5 50. Rc1 Ra3 51. Rd1 b4 52. Rd8 Nb6 53. Kxe5 b3 54. Rd6+ Kb5 55. Rd1 Kb4 56. Kd4 Ra5 57. Nc3 0-1

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Dubov-Nakamura Game 4 (1/2-1/2) on Match 2 : Dutch Opening By Hikaru

Lindores Abbey Heritage Chess Final Game 4 : Hikaru must win with Black but was held to a draw by Dubov

Dubov-Nakamura Finale Game 4- 2/6/2020

1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nd2 Nc6 5. Ngf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 d5 8. c4 e6 9. b3 Ne4 10. Bb2 g5 11. Rc1 g4 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 c6 14. f3 Nxd2 15. Qxd2 h5 16. f4 h4 17. c5 Kf7 18. Bd4 Rh8 19. Kf2 Bd7 20. Rc3 Bf8 21. Rg1 Be7 22. Ke1 Qc7 23. Kd1 b6 24. Qe3 Qb7 25. Rc2 Rab8 26. Ke1 Qa6 27. Kf2 h3 28. Bf1 bxc5 29. Bxc5 Rb5 30. Bxe7 Kxe7 31. Qd2 Qa3 32. e3 Ra5 33. Bd3 c5 34. Rgc1 Rb8 35. Be2 Rb6 36. Bf1 Bc8 37. e4 d4 38. Bd3 Bd7 39. Re1 Qb4 40. Qxb4 cxb4 41. exf5 exf5 42. Ree2 Be6 43. Red2 Rb7 44. Bc4 Rc7 45. Bxe6 Rxc2 46. Rxc2 Kxe6 47. Ke2 Kd5 48. Kd3 Ra6 49. Re2 Re6 50. Rc2 Ra6 51. Re2 Ke6 52. Kxd4 Rc6 53. Ke3 Rc3+ 54. Kd2 Rf3 55. Re3 Rf1 56. Re1 Rf2+ 57. Re2 Rg2 58. Kd1 Ke7 59. Kd2 Kd7 60. Kd1 Ke6 61. Kd2 Kd5 62. e6 Rxe2+ 63. Kxe2 Kxe6 64. Kd3 Kd5 65. Ke3 a6 66. Kd3 Kc5 67. Ke3 Kd5 68. Kd3 a5 69. Ke3 Kc5 70. Kd3 Kd5 71. Ke3 Kc5 72. Kd3 Kd5 1/2-1/2

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Speed Chess Championship Titled Tuesday

Today Vladislav Artemiev won the Titled Tuesday Blitz on chess.com they renamed it Speed Chess Championship (SCC) Grand Prix and takes place every Tuesday. Speed of play is 3 minutes+ 1 second increment. www.chess.com

Titled players play a swiss open and the first 8 qualify for Knock-Out tournament phase. There were strong players like Giri and Fedoseev but not Nakamura as he was playing the Abbey Rapid against Dubov.

 Artemiev won the tournament, facing Sergey Karjakin in the final. He eliminated Oparin and Giri before, his online blitz rating is 3175.

 Here's the final game, he plays the Sicilian Kan/Taimanov with Black. Karjakin had the advantage, could not convert, was running low on time and lost !

 Artemiev username is SibElephant. Probably means the elephant from Siberia. Sergey goes by SergeyKarjakin.

Artemiev(SibElephant) Black

 

Karjakin(SergeyKarjakin) White

Carlsen-Nakamura Armageddon (Lindores Abbey Online Rapid) #HeritageChess

Hikaru with Black won the decisive game, and the 3rd match ( he lost first match 0-3, won second 2.5-1.5, and had tied 3rd match 2-2). Hikaru will play Daniil Dubov in the final starting June 1st. https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/lindores-abbey-rapid-challenge-2020

Screen Capture from the game