The 25th Hour

Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura
6th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 27, 2018
Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0-0 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Ba6 9. Qe2 Bxc4. In the 2015 Tata Steel Tournament, as Black, Carlsen preferred instead 9. ... Qc8 10. 0-0 c5 11. Nb5 Nbd7 12. Rac1 Qb7 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. b4 Nce4 15. Nfd4 Rac8 16. a3 Nd5 17. Bd3 Bxb5 18. Nxb5 Nxf4 19. exf4 Nf6 20. f5 exf5 21. Bxf5 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 a5 23. Rc7 Qd5 24. Bd3 Bd8 25. Bc4 Qg5 26. Rxf7 Qc1+ 27. Qf1 Qxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Rxf7 29. Nd6 axb4 30. Nxf7 Be7 31. Nd8+ Kf8 32. Ne6+ Kf7 33. Nc7+ Kg6 34. axb4 Bxb4 35. Nd5 Nxd5 36. Bxd5 ½ : ½ 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Carlsen, 77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2015. 9. ... Bxc4 10. Qxc4 c5 11. dxc5 bxc5!? 11. ... Bxc5 is probably even more circumspect; for instance: 12. 0-0 Nbd7 13. Rfd1 Qc8 14. Ng5 Be7 15. Qe2 Qb7 16. Rac1 Rac8 17. Qf3 Qa6= Cheparinov – Domínguez Pérez, 51st Capablanca Memorial, Varadero 2016. 12. 0-0 Nc6 13. Rac1. 13. Rfd1 Qb6 14. Na4 Qb4 15. Qa6 Rfc8 16. a3 Qa5 doesn’t look like anything special for White, Lê Quang Liêm – Zherebukh, 62th Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, Cleveland 2015. 13. ... Rc8!? The first new move of the game. Previously Black had managed, somewhat laboriously, to hold a draw after 13. ... Qa5 14. Rfd1 Rfd8 15. a3 Rac8 16. h3 h6 17. Bg3 Rxd1+ 18. Rxd1 Qb6 19. Qe2 Qb7 20. Rd2 Rd8 21. Rxd8+ Bxd8 22. Bd6 Be7 23. Qb5 Qxb5 24. Nxb5 Bxd6 25. Nxd6 Kf8 26. Nd2 Ke7 27. Nb7 Nd7 28. Kf1 Nd8 29. Na5 Kd6 30. Ke2 Kc7 31. Ne4 f5 32. Nd2 Nf7 33. Nac4 Nd6 34. Kd3 Kc6 35. e4 fxe4+ 36. Nxe4 Nxc4 37. Kxc4 Ne5+ 38. Kc3 Kd5 39. Nd2 g5 40. Nf1 ½ : ½ Dreev – Zherebukh, 26th National Open, Las Vegas 2016. 14. Ne5 Qb6 15. Nxc6 Rxc6 16. b3 h6 17. Rfd1 Qb7 18. h3 Rfc8 19. Na4 Nd7 20. Rd2 Nb6 21. Nxb6 Rxb6 22. Rcd1 Bf6 23. Rd7 Qa6 24. Qe4 e5!? Stockfish gives 24. ... Qxa2 25. Be5 (25. Bxh6!? Qe2!∞) 25. ... Rb4 26. Qf3 Bxe5 27. Qxf7+ Kh7 28. Qxe6 Rf8 29. Qxe5 Qxf2+ 30. Kh2 Rf7 with equality.

25. Bxh6! Re8. The Bishop is taboo: 25. ... gxh6?? 26. Rxf7! Kxf7 27. Qh7+ and mate in a few moves. 26. Qg4 Qxa2 27. e4 Qxb3! Of course, 27. ... Rxb3?? 28. R7d6 loses on the spot. 28. Be3 Rb7 29. R7d6 Be7 30. R6d5 Bf8 31. Bxc5 Bxc5 32. Rxc5 Qe6 33. Qe2 Rd7 34. Rxd7 Qxd7 35. Rd5 Qc7 36. Qd2 Ra8 37. Rd7 Qc4 38. f3 Qc5+ 39. Kh2 Qc6? This is not a mistake itself, but it’s certainly a strange way to save time. Much simpler seems to be 39. ... a5 40. Qa2 Qf8 for if 41. Qd5 then 41. ... a4 42. Rxf7 Qxf7 43. Qxa8+ Kh7 44. Qxa4 Qf4+ and draw by perpetual check. 40. Rd6 Qc5 41. Ra6! Qe7 42. Qe3 Kh7 43. Kg3 Qb7 44. Qa3 f6 45. Kh2 Qc7 46. Qa1 Qb7 47. Qa5 Qd7 48. Qa2 Qe7 49. Qf2 Qb7 50. Qa2 Qe7 51. Qd5 Rb8 52. Qa5 Rb7 53. Qe1 Qd7 54. Qh4+ Kg8 55. Qf2 Qf7. There’s nothing wrong here either — when, however, Black could have repeated with 55. ... Kh7 (56. Qh4+ Kg8). 56. Qa2 Qxa2 57. Rxa2. “Queens are off the board! In an ideal world, Magnus Carlsen would love to get a Rook on a6, King on f5, and Pawn on h6, where Black’s structure could potentially crumble. However, this should be an easy draw for Hikaru“, the U.S. Chess Federation tweeted. 57. ... Kh7. 57. ... g5! 58. Kg3 Kg7 59. Kg4 Kg6 60. g3 Rb1! 61. Rxa7 Rg1 was then given by Carlsen as an easy and plain draw. 58. Ra6 Kg6 59. h4 Kh5 60. Kh3 Rf7 61. g4+ Kh6 62. Kg3 g5? Of course, Caïssa did not forget his favourite hero! After 62. ... Kg6 White can hardly make progress; in his report for Chess.com Mike Klein gives a pretty drawing line: “62. ... Kg6 63. g5 Kh5 64. gxf6 gxf6 is one way to avoid White’s King’s advancement. 65. Kh3 Rf8! 66. Rxa7 Rg8 and here’s one fun line: 67. Ra6 Rg1! 68. Rxf6 Rg3+! 69. Kh2 (69. Kxg3 stalemate, and we’re not done with that idea!) 69. ... Rg8! 70. Rf5+ Kxh4 71. Rxe5 Rg2+! (again!) 72. Kh1 Ra2 and it’s a draw due to the mate threats coming up after ... Kh4-g3. Amazing”. 63. h5 Kg7 64. Kf2 Rb7 65. Ra3 Kh6 66. Ke3 a5? And so Nakamura condemns himself to lose a dramatic ending, recently occurred at least two times in the games Safarli – Golichenko, 49th World Junior Chess Championship, Chotowa 2010 and Gajewski – Vachier-Lagrave, 28th Open, Reykjavík 2013. It’s very unlikely that White could ever have won without this last mistake. 67. Rxa5 Rb3+ 68. Kf2 Rb2+ 69. Kg3 Kg7 70. Ra7+ Kg8 71. Ra1 Kg7 72. Rf1 Ra2 73. Rf2 Ra3 74. Rd2 Ra7 75. Kf2 Kf7 76. Ke2 Rb7 77. Rd3 Ra7 78. Kd2 Ke6 79. Kc3 Ke7 80. Kc4 Rc7+ 81. Kb5 Rc1 82. Rb3 Kf7 83. Kb6 Rc2 84. Kb7 Rc1 85. Kb8 Kg8 86. Rb6 Kg7 87. Rb7+ Kg8 88. Rc7 Rb1+ 89. Kc8 Rb3 90. Kd7 Rxf3 91. Ke6 Rf4 92. h6 Kh8 93. Rb7 Kg8 94. Rg7+ Kh8 95. Kf7 Rxe4 96. Kg6 Ra4 97. Rh7+ 1 : 0.

16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen can finally spread his wings and fly like a butterfly after his 97-move victory against Hikaru Nakamura, which elected him as an ex æquo first-prize winner of the 6th Sinquefield Cup. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.