Ignis fatuus

Alan Tate – Hikaru Nakamura
16th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 23, 2018
Pirc Defence B07

1. Nf3 g6 2. e4 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bd3 Bg7 5. 0-0 0-0 6. Re1 Nc6 7. d5 Nb8 8. c4 e5 9. Nc3 h6 10. c5. After more than half an hour of thinking. 10. ... Ne8 11. b4 f5 12. Nd2 Nd7 13. c6 bxc6 14. dxc6 Ndf6 15. Bc4+. White didn’t play badly so far, but he has only four minutes left on his clock. 15. ... Kh8 16. Nf3? There is no more time for making combinations. 16. ... fxe4 17. Nxe5 Kh7! 18. Nf7? White’s will-o’-the-wisp finally turns on its sparks. However, after both 18. Bb2 Bf5 and 18. Qd2 Qe7! Black would also gain the upper hand. 18. ... Qe7 19. Qb3

19. ... d5! 20. Nxd5 Qxf7 21. Nb6 Nd5! 0 : 1. A brilliant touch.