The Tartar Steppe

Wesley So – Hikaru Nakamura
61th U.S. Chess Championship; Saint Louis, April 6, 2017
Catalan Opening E08

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 0-0 7. 0-0 Nbd7 8. Qc2 Ne4 9. Bf4 c6 10. Nc3 g5 11. Bc1 f5. Nakamura accomplishes his planned transposition into a Dutch Stonewall. 12. b3 b6!? Black’s novelty seems to be perfectly sound. It was a long time ago that Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik “The Patriarch” stuck Tigran Vartanovich Petrossiàn in “The Tartar Steppe”: 12. ... Bf6 13. Bb2 Bg7 14. Rad1 Rf7 15. Nxe4 fxe4 16. Ne1 Nf8 17. f3 exf3 18. Bxf3 Bd7 19. Nd3 Be8 20. Qc1 Rc8 21. Qe3 Rcc7 22. Ne5 Rf5 23. Bg2 Rxf1+ 24. Rxf1 Qe7 25. Bh3 h5 26. Bg2 Ng6 27. Nd3 Bf7 28. Qf2 b6 29. e4 dxc4 30. bxc4 c5 31. dxc5 bxc5 32. Bxg7 Kxg7 33. e5 Nf8 34. Qf6+ Qxf6 35. exf6 Kg8 36. Ne5 Nd7 37. Nf3 Nxf6 38. Nxg5 Kg7 39. Re1 Rd7 40. Nxe6+ Bxe6 41. Rxe6 Rd1+ 42. Bf1 a5 43. Re3 Ng4 44. Ra3 a4 45. h3 Nh2 46. Kxh2 Rxf1 47. Rxa4 Rf2+ 48. Kg1 Rc2 49. Ra3 Rxc4 50. Rf3 Rc2 51. a4 Ra2 52. Rf4 Ra3 53. Kf2 Ra2+ 54. Ke1 Ra3 55. Rf5 h4 56. gxh4 Rxa4 ½ : ½ T. V. Petrossiàn – Botvinnik, Moscow 1963, World Chess Championship match game 9. 13. Bb2 Bb7 14. Rad1 Qe8 15. Nd2 Nd6 16. Ba3 Rc8 17. Rfe1 Nf7 18. Qb2 Nf6 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. b4 Rfd8 21. e3. 21. c5 Ba6 22. Qa3 Qb7 doesn’t seem to offer any advantage, too. 21. ... g4 22. cxd5 cxd5

23. b5 Rc7 24. Rc1 Rdc8 25. Ne2 Nd6 26. Rxc7 Rxc7 27. Rc1 Rxc1+ 28. Nxc1 Nfe4 29. Bxe4 dxe4 30. Ne2 Bd5 ½ : ½. An ideal Dutch – at least from Black’s point of view. So increased his unbeaten streak to 63, but, if he wants to win the U.S. title, more sooner than later – I guess – he will have to play to win.

Wesley So vs. Hikaru Nakamura
Photo: Lennart Ootes (@CCSCSL)