Amor, ch’al cor gentil ratto s’apprende

Hikaru Nakamura – Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, February 1, 2015
Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. a4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Qxd4 a6 8. Be2 b6 9. 0-0 Bb7 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. Bg5 Be7 12. Nd2 h6 13. Bh4 Ne5 14. Nf1 Rd8 15. Bg3 0-0 16. Ne3 Rc8 17. Kh1 Rfd8 18. f3 Nh5 19. Bf2 Nf4 20. Bf1 Nfg6 21. Qd2 Bg5 22. Qe1 Nf4 23. Bg3 Nh5 24. Bf2 Qe7. Topalov decides to vary to avoid a draw by repetition. It’s not certain, however, whether Nakamura would have resigned himself to it after 24. ... Nf4. We guess so, since the same move as in the text 25. Ra3 would be met by the strong rejoinder 25. ... d5! (Deviatkin’s analysis).

25. Ra3! The following elegant Rook maneuver accentuates the weakness of the Black Queenside Pawns. 25. ... Nf4 26. Rb3! Rc6 27. Ne2! Getting rid of the annoying Black Knight. 27. ... Nxe2 28. Bxe2 Rdc8. If 28. ... Bxe3 then 29. Bxe3 Rxc2 30. Rxb6 and White stands much better. 29. c3 Nd7 30. Nc2 d5. Black is too impatient in his attempt to use tactics to solve his problems. Grandmaster Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez suggests 30. ... Nc5 31. Ra3 R6c7 as “perhaps slightly favorable for White but still anyone’s game”. 31. Nb4! Rc5 32. exd5. “Suddenly there is no good way of recapturing on d5. It is unclear to me what Topalov had planned, as 31. Nb4 was quite obvious”, Ramírez Álvarez writes. 32. ... Ra5 33. Nc6 Bxc6 34. dxc6 Rxc6 35. Rb4 Bf6 36. Qf1! Rd6 37. Rxd6 Qxd6 38. Bxa6. “One Pawn finally falls: White has converted his advantage into something tangible”, Ramírez Álvarez writes. 38. ... Nc5 39. Bb5 Qd2 40. Bg1 Ra8 41. Bc6! Rc8 42. Rxb6. White is now two Pawns ahead. 42. ... Bd8 43. Rb5 Rxc6 44. Bxc5 Bc7 45. a5 Qc2 46. f4 f6 47. h3 Kh7 48. f5 exf5 49. Bg1 Be5. After 49. ... f4 the quickest and most elegant is 50. a6! Rxa6 51. Rc5 Ra7 52. Rc4 Rb7 53. Qf3 Qxb2 54. Qd3+ Kg8 55. Rxc7 Rxc7 56. Qd8+ leaving Black helpless (Deviatkin’s analysis). 50. a6 1 : 0.

Hikaru Nakamura vs. Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov
Photo: Sophie Triay