Young Heads on Old Shoulders

Hikaru Nakamura – Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov
4th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 8, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0-0 6. Qc2 c5 7. dxc5 Na6 8. Rd1 Nxc5 9. cxd5 Nxd5!? A very creative novelty by the ever-young Veselin Aleksandrov, who concedes himself the pleasure of offering a Queen sacrifice at 10th move for an unclear but pretty dynamic compensation. “I’m quite relaxed and play natural moves, unfortunately sometimes they’re not the best moves”, then Topalov joked. For the usual continuation 9. ... exd5 10. e3 Be6 11. Be2 Rc8 12. 0-0 Nce4 13. Be5 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Nd7 see Chirila – Kiewra, 24th Open, Chicago 2015.

10. e4. Alea iacta est! “I didn’t want to play e2-e4, but you have to play principled chess”, then Nakamura joked. Unluckily (or luckily) for him, 10. e4 is the only move to not fall into a worse position! 10. ... Nxf4 11. Rxd8 Rxd8 12. Ne5. Most chess engines regard 12. g3 Ncd3+ 13. Bxd3 Nxd3+ 14. Kf1 b6 as a bit more stable line of play, but Nakamura, who is a fighter and an improviser as well, doesn’t want to enter into Topalov’s screenplay as a background actor, and quite rightly he opts for a more active and less predictable role. 12. ... Bf6 13. Nb5! This shows that Nakamura does not fear further complications: White sacrifices a Pawn in order to enhance his own development. 13. ... Bxe5 14. b4 Bxe5 15. bxc5 Bd4 16. Nd6. 16. Nc3 is also answered by 16. ... bxc5 with no particular prospect for the White Knight. 16. ... bxc5 17. Nc4 Bd4 18. g3 Ng6 19. Be2 Bd7 20. 0-0 Bb5 21. Na5 Ne5 22. Rd1 Rab8 23. Kg2. White finally castled! 23. ... Bxe2. Topalov decides to get rid of his Bishop pair – not with a light heart, I guess. A very interesting idea seems to be 23. ... Be8(!), which could work fantastically for Black, provided that everything holds up. 24. Qxe2 Rb5 25. Nb3 h6 26. Rd2 Nc6 27. Qc4 e5. Black is fortressing. 28. a4. White is pushing hard for a win. 28. ... Rb4 29. Qxa6 Rxb3 30. Qxc6 Ra3. Just to not forget the a4-Pawn. 31. Qa6. Only time will tell if White could have played better here. 31. ... Rb8! 32. a5. Now 32. ... Rb4! appears to easily lead to a draw, but Topalov likes difficult and beautiful things: 32. ... c4! 33. Qxc4 Rxa5 34. Kh3 Rc5 35. Qe2 Rcb5 36. f4 Rb4 37. Qd1 Rb1 38. Qh5 R1b5 39. Qe2 Rb4 40. Qd1 Rb1 41. Qh5 R1b5 42. Qd1 ½ : ½. “I should find positions where taking a Pawn is good”, Topalov finally said.

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov
Photo: Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour)