My Sweet Lord

Wesley So – Hikaru Nakamura
4th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 5, 2016
Catalan Opening E06

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Na3 Bxa3 10. bxa3 Ba6 11. Qd2 Rb8 12. Qa5 Qc8 13. a4 Rd8 14. Ba3. For 14. Qc5 Nd5 15. e4 Nc3 16. Be3 Nxa4 17. Qh5 c3 see 赵骏 (Zhào Jùn) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 43rd Chinese Chess Championship, 兴化 (Xīnghuà) 2012. 14. ... Rxd4 15. Rfb1. Formally a novelty. In the game Efimenko – Sakaev, 4th Serbian Team Chess Championship 1st League, Vrnjačka Banja 2010 was seen 15. Rab1 Rb6 16. Bc5 Rd5 (a double Exchange sacrifice!) 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Bxb6 axb6 19. Qb4 Nd7 20. a5 b5 21. Qe7 c5 22. f4 d4 23. f5 e5 24. f6 gxf6 25. g4 h6 26. Rf5 ½ : ½. 15. ... Rb6 16. Bc5

16. ... Rd7. Nakamura, perhaps fearing some improvement, varied from Sakaev’s double Exchange sacrifice. His solution, however, doesn’t seem any better, since, as things go, Black’s compensation for his single Exchange sacrifice is materially sufficient, but absolutely defective in a purely dynamical way, due to the great deal of mobility of White’s Rook. Whatever it is, we must be content with Hikaru’s explanation afterwards: “I forgot to play my preparation”. 17. Rd1 h6. Hikaru was almost universally criticized for this pointless move, but it’s not clear how much of Black’s next suffering is due to it. 18. Rxd7 Nxd7 19. Bxb6 cxb6 20. Qd2 c5 21. Rd1 Nf6 22. Kf1 Kh7 23. Qc2+ Kg8 24. Qd2 Kh7 25. Qd8 Qxd8 26. Rxd8 c3 27. Ke1 Bc4 28. Kd1 Bxa2 29. Kc2 Bc4 30. e3! Wesley can show both his subtle positional understanding that his very refined technique. Game over. 30. ... b5 31. Kxc3 a6 32. Ra8 Nd5+ 33. Bxd5 exd5 34. a5 b4+ 35. Kd2 Bf1 36. Rc8 c4 37. Rb8 b3 38. Kc3 1 : 0. “I’d like to thank the Lord and my seconds for achieving this victory and preparing this line”, Wesley finally said.

Wesley So
Photo: Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour)

Hikaru Nakamura
Photo: Lennart Ootes