Nakamura best game: Gelfand-Nakamura 2010 King's Indian Defense

 

Gelfand-Nakamura best game 2010

Hikaru Nakamura 

Hikaru's Vienna Weapon against Naroditsky

 Hikaru played 1e4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3f4!? and won an instructive game against GM Narodistky in a blitz game played on Oct 30, 2020

Fire on the board: playing the Nf3,e3,b3 system

 The Nf3,e3,b3 system is a great weapon in blitz. White puts one bishop on d3, another one on b2, and attacks the kingside.

White is literally setting the board on fire, and can bring the whole point quickly.

and here are the arrows to display where your pieces go.

and here is how Nakamura used this system to win a blitz game against Alireza Firoujza in 21 moves.

The entire game is annotated with variations and comments

 

US Chess Championship 2020: Xiong-Nakamura game

https://www.uschesschamps.com/2020-us-championships/2020-us-championship/the-field

Official Website US chess Championship 2020 won by Wesley So with 9 points out of 11.

Lets take a look at a remarkable game between J. Xiong and H. Nakamura. Xiong demonstrated excellent skills a few days shy of  his 20th birthday. A name to watch in the coming years !

And here's the game

Hikaru Nakamura against Alireza Firouzja

 Hikaru won the Speed Chess Championship today on chess.com

He just signed with TSM https://tsm.gg/ 

White to play (Hikaru is White, Alireza Firouzja is Black)

Replay here

He just signed with TSM https://tsm.gg/  

My game against Hikaru Nakamura : PGN and Animated replay

Replay available here

My blitz game against Hikaru Nakamura Aug 2020- Scandinavian

 got the privilege to play in a Hikaru arena and got faced with GM Hikaru Nakamura himself in a blitz 3 minutes for each player.

needless to say, I lost but this is quite an instructive loss I think.

[White "thechesscorner64"][Black "Hikaru"][WhiteElo "2402"][BlackElo "3218"]

[Result "0-1"][ECO "B01"][Date "2020.08.22"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 c5

here Hikaru surprised me with 4..c5. The best answer is 5 Nc3 to develop a piece followed by Bf4. I played 5c4 and 6 d5 which is ok.

 5. c4 Qd8 6. d5 g6 7. Nc3 Bg4 8. Be2 Bg7 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nbd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Bf4

we reached the following position with Black to play.

Here Nakamura uncorked 12..Ne8!An excellent idea ! Black plans to relocate knight from e8 to d6. from there, Black will play Ra8-b8 and a6-b5 creating pressure on my queenside pawn. This move opens the diagonal h8-a1 for the bishop on g7. 

I suggest to replay the moves in the app below.

We reached the following position after 17..Nf6, White to play 

it was time to start white's counterplay on the kingside with f4-f5, starting with 18 f4! instead I played 18 Rfe1 and Black started to put further pressure

18..b5 19. cxb5 axb5 20. Rad1 b4 21. Na4 Black to play

Hikaru played 21..c4 and I cannot capture the pawn as I need to protect the knight on a4. I had to play 22Qf4! attacking b4 if he pushes the c pawn further. Instead I played 22 Re3 and 22.c3 give Black a large advantage which Black converted without trouble.

Here's the replay from 21 Na4

Final position after 31..c2!

Hikaru wins critical Ruy Lopez game on day 7 to level the score : details inside

Hikaru went for a sharp version of the anti-berlin 4d3. 

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. h3 Nd7 8. Nc4 a5 9. g4 Re8 10. Rg1! a411. Ne3 Bxe3 12. Bxe3 Nf8 13. h4 Qd6 14. Qd2 c5 15. h5 b5 16. Nh4 Qc6 17. Nf5!

www.chess24.com for full coverage 

 

incredible win in Nimzo by Hikaru Nakamura against Magnus Carlsen

Armageddon game today. Hikaru must draw, Magnus must win for day 5.

 official site: http://www.chess24.com 

  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Ne2 b6 9. e4 Ne8!

a very important move to prepare f7-f5 and the knight will go back to f6 or d6. Black wants to play Ba6 pressuring c5. Magnus had played this against Giri and Anand in the last months so Hikaru was prepared.

  

  10. O-O Ba6 11. f4 f5! 

White to play

 

The game continued and Hikaru increased his advantage with Black. After his move 30..Nd2! we reached the following 

White to play

If white takes the knight 31 Nxd2 31..Qe3+ wins it back with attack against the king. Magnus pieces ( queen and rook) are too far to defend the lone white king. Magnus played 31 Rd8 but the following occured:31. Rd8 Nxf1 32. Qxf1 Qe3+ 33. Kh2 Re4

www.chess24.com for full coverage 

Berlin Defense rapid games between Nakamura(white) and Carlsen(black) annotated

In this entry, I will analyze Nakamura versus Carlsen game the Ruy Lopez ( Spanish) Berlin Defense with White getting a better opposite bishop ending

  www.chess24.com for full coverage 

 
Great example where White built pressure

Berlin Wall destroyed: Hikaru Nakamura wins in 22 moves against Magnus Carlsen day 3 chess24.com finals

 Berlin Wall is the position after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 in the www.chess24.com finals.

Hikaru chose anti-berlin 4 d3 on which Carlsen plays the most popular and active 4..Bc5 

6. Nbd2 O-O (6..Bg4 was played by Carlsen before)  7. Qe2

White hasn't decided where his king will castle

7..Re8 8. Nc4 Nd7 9. Bd2 b5 10. Ne3 Nf8 11. h4 Ne6? (11..a5 was safer) 

White to play , what did Magnus miss with Black ? I am sure he intended 12..Nd4 but white has 13Nf7! Ne2 14Nd8 with  2 pawns up

12. Nxe5 a5? 13. Qh5! g6 14. Qf3 f6 15. Nxc6! Qd7 16. Qxf6 Qxc6 17. Bc3 

Position after 17 Bc3!

White threatens 18 Qh8+ and h7, and has already 3 pawns for the piece. White can continue the attack with h4-h5 as well as 0-0-0 followed by d3-d4

17...Rf8 18. Qh8+ Kf7 19. Qxh7+ Ke8 20. Qxg6+ Kd7 21. d4 b4 22. dxc5 1-0

very convincing win by Hikaru today in the berlin 

Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen trade wins in Berlin Defense: Day 3 chess24 chess tour finals

Featuring the new pgn viewer from chesstempo.com along many other features you can find on the website like tactics training, database games, play online, guess the move, and much more.

 

I encourage you to check it out !

we want show here games between Magnus and Hikaru on day 3  

They played the Berlin Defense several times, with white and Black. Hikaru lost game 1 with white, drew with Black easily in game 2 and won game 3.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O

  

and replay with my comments below 

[Event "Carlsen Tour Final 2020"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2020.08.16"] [Round "3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [Annotator "thechesscorner,@gmail.com"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2020.08.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Qe2 (7. Nc4 Nd7 8. O-O f6 9. a4 a5 10. Be3 b6 11. h4 Qe8 12. g3 (12.Nfd2) 12... Be7 13. Ne1 Nc5 14. Ng2 Be6 15. b3 Qd7 16. Qe2 Rae8 17. f3 (17. f4) 17... Bxc4 18. dxc4 Qh3 19. Kf2 Qe6 20. Kg1 f5 21. exf5 Qxf5 22. Rad1 Qh3 23.Bf2 Bd6 24. Rfe1 Re7 25. Qe3 Ref7 26. f4 exf4 27. gxf4 Qg4 $17 28. Qe2 Rxf4 29.Qxg4 Rxg4 30. Rd4 Rg6 31. h5 Rh6 32. Rh4 Rf5 33. Be3 Rhxh5 34. Rxh5 Rxh5 35.Bf4 Bxf4 36. Nxf4 Rf5 37. Ne6 Nxe6 38. Rxe6 c5 39. Re7 h5 40. Rxc7 Kh7 41. Kg2 Kh6 42. c3 Rf6 43. Rc8 Kg5 44. Rd8 Kg4 45. b4 h4 {0-1 game 1 day 3 Magnus won with Black}) 7... Re8 8. Nc4 Nd7 9. h4 a5 10. h5 b5 11. Ne3 Nf8 12. Bd2 (12. h6 g6) 12... Ne6 13. a4 b4 $6 (13...Nf4 14. Qd1 f5) 14. b3 Ba6 $2 (14... Nf4) 15. g3 Bxe3 16. Bxe3 f5 17. Rh4 $1 f4 18. Bd2 Nd4 $2 (18... Qf6 19. O-O-O Rad8) 19. Nxd4 Qxd4 20. Rc1 fxg3 21. fxg3 (21. Rg4 gxf2+ 22. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 23. Kxf2 Re7) 21... Qg1+ 22. Qf1 Qxg3+ 23. Qf2 Qxf2+ 24. Kxf2 $14 Re6 25. Rg1 Rf8+ 26. Ke1 Bc8 27. h6 g6 28. Bg5 Ree8 (28...c5 29. Ke2) 29. Rh2 Rf3 30. Rf2 Rxf2 (30... Rh3) 31. Kxf2 Rf8+ 32. Ke3 Kf7 33.Rf1+ Ke8 34. Rxf8+ Kxf8 35. Bd8 c5 36. Bxc7 Ke7 37. Bxe5 Kd7 38. Bf6 Bb7 39.Kf4 Bc6 {1-0 (39) Nakamura,H-Carlsen,M chess24.com INT 2020} 1-0

Breaking news: Nakamura defeats Magnus Carlsen in day 1, game 2 for Magnus tour finals on chess24.com

official coverage chess24.com

Critical position where Magnus sacrificed the exchange on move 19 with 19Rg7?!

2nd Critical position where Hikaru played 36..Kg7 with a clear plan to activate rooks as indicated by arrows and explanation below. turning point of the game 2 with Hikaru(Black) in the driver seat

Hikaru Nakamura wins against Danil Dubov on Magnus Final Tour tournament

 Hikaru Nakamura played a quite instructive game against Daniil Dubov and scored a key win in his match.

This is a rapid game played online in the chess24.com chess24 Magnus Finals tournament, in August 2020.

The Sveshnikov Variation has become very popular in master level chess

Hikaru is White, and Dubov is Black.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7

Nakamura continued with 10Bf6

They reached the following position after Black played 19..Qe8 to prevent b4-b5

White has a passed pawn on the b column and played 20 Be2. Dubov started counterplay with f7-f5 which is standard in this sicilian opening.

Eventually, they reached the following with white to play 

Hikaru played 31 Ne3! the best move of the game. It deprives black from the bishop pair and targets the d6 pawn. Also the knight will jump to c4-a5-c6 which will be hard to defend against, as the dark square bishop is weaker than White's knight

and here is the final key moment, White to Play

Here Hikaru played 38 Rdc1! with the idea Nc6. Black tried 38..Bf4. Hikaru continued 39 Qc8+ Rd8 40 Qxd8 queen sacrifice with advantage but either 39 Qc7 or 39Nc6 was winning on the spot .

Here's the full replay

and the game notation (PGN)

[Event "Carlsen Tour Final 2020"]

[Site "chess24.com INT"]

[Date "2020.08.10"]

[Round "1.23"]

[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]

[Black "Dubov, Daniil"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B33"]

[WhiteElo "2736"]

[BlackElo "2699"]

 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4

cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6

Bxf6 11. c3 Rb8 12. Nc2 Bg5 13. a4 bxa4 14. Ncb4 Nxb4 15. cxb4 Bd7 16. Bxa6 O-O

17. b3 axb3 18. Qxb3 Kh8 19. O-O Qe8 20. Be2 f5 21. exf5 Bxf5 22. b5 Be6 23.

Ra6 Qf7 24. Bc4 Rfd8 25. Rd1 e4 26. b6 Rf8 27. Ra2 Bd8 28. Rb2 Qh5 29. Qc2 Bf5

30. Qd2 Be6 31. Ne3 Bxc4 32. Nxc4 Bf6 33. Rbb1 Rfd8 34. b7 d5 35. Na5 Be5 36.

g3 Qg6 37. Qc2 Rd6 38. Rdc1 Bf4 39. Qc8+ Rd8 40. Qxd8+ Rxd8 41. Rc8 Qe8 42.

Rxd8 Qxd8 43. gxf4 1-0

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

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

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

also available here

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

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