Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter

Hikaru Nakamura – Alexander Igorevich Grischuk
3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, September 1, 2015
Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. 0-0 a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Re1 Rc8 9. a4 b4 10. a5 Qc7. For 10. ... e6 11. d3 bxc3 12. bxc3 Be7 13. h3 0-0 14. Nbd2 Qc7 15. Nf1 Rfd8 see Sivuk – Artemiev, 21st Russian Team Chess Championship, Loo 2014. 11. d3 bxc3 12. bxc3 e6 13. h3 Be7 14. Bf4 0-0 15. Nbd2 Bc6 16. Nc4 Bb5 17. Nfd2 Rfd8 18. Bg3 Ne8 19. Kh2 Rb8 20. Ne3 Ne5 21. Qe2 Nc6 22. Nb3 Ne5 23. Nd2 Nc6 24. Ndc4 Nf6 25. Kh1 Ne5 26. f4 Nxc4 27. dxc4 Bc6 28. Nd1 g6 29. Bh2 Nh5 30. Qe3 Bh4 31. g3 Be7 32. Kg1 Re8 33. e5 Ng7 34. g4 f5 35. exf6 Bxf6 36. Nf2 Bh4? Quite illogically, Black decides to part with the Bishop pair. We would have preferred 36. ... Rb2 37. Re2 Ba8 with satisfactory play for Black. 37. Re2 Bxf2+ 38. Rxf2 Rf8 39. Bg3 Rbe8 40. Kh2 Rf7 41. Rd1 Rd7 42. Rfd2 Qd8 43. h4. “I didn’t see a clear win, but intuitively it felt like the right decision”, then Nakamura said. 43. ... Rf8 44. Rf2 Kh8 45. Rb1 Qxa5 46. h5! Nakamura launches an assault in order to break up Black’s castled position pointing out the strength of his Bishop pair. 46. ... gxh5 47. f5! exf5 48. gxf5 Qd8 49. f6 Ne8 50. Bh4. Naturally, White tightens the noose. 50. ... Rdf7 51. Qh6 Rg8

52. Re1? Nakamura on the right track, but his Rook to the wrong square! The right way was 52. Rg1! (with the deadly threat of Rg1-g7), e.g. 52. ... Rxg1 (or 52. ... Qc7 53. Rxg8+ Kxg8 54. Bf5 winning easily) 53. Kxg1 Nc7 54. Qg7+! forcing an elegant win. 52. ... d5 53. Qxh5 Qd6+ 54. Re5 d4 55. cxd4? The last winning chance would have been 55. Bg3! Nxf6 56. Qxf7 Ng4+ 57. Kg1 Qh6 58. Qxh7+ Qxh7 59. Bxh7 Kxh7 60. Rc7+ and White should prevail in the short-mid-long run. 55. ... Qxd4 56. Re7 Rxe7 57. fxe7 Qd6+? When afterwards asked what about 57. ... Qg7, Nakamura winced. “I didn’t see 57. ... Qg7 at all. I would’ve probably had a heart attack”, he said. When, indeed, after 58. Bg5 the situation remains unclear. 58. Kh3 Bd7+? The last chance lay in 58. ... Qe6+, although after 59. Qf5 Rg6 60. Qxe6 Rxe6 61. Bf5 White retains good chances. 59. Bf5 Qd3+ 60. Rf3 Bxf5+ 61. Qxf5 Qxf5+ 62. Rxf5. White is a Pawn behind, but the e7-Pawn is worth a Queen! 62. ... Kg7 63. Bg3 h6 64. Be5+ Kh7 65. Rf7+ Kg6 66. Rf8 Kh7 67. Bf4. Nakamura exhibits an elegant technique. 67. ... a5 68. Bxh6 a4 69. Be3 a3 70. Bxc5 a2 71. Bd4 Nc7 72. Ba1 Ne8 73. c5. Or – as a “dual” – 73. Kh4 Nc7 74. Kh5 Ne8 75. c5 Nd6 76. cxd6 Rxf8 (hoping for stalemate) 77. d7! and wins. 73. ... Nc7 74. c6 Ne8 75. Kh4 Nc7 76. Kh5 Ne8 77. c7 1 : 0.

Hikaru Nakamura (R.) vs. Alexander Igorevich Grischuk (L.)
Photo: chess24.com (@chess24com)