Chaos Clock

Garry Kimovich Kasparov – Hikaru Nakamura
3rd Fischerandom Chess (Online) Showdown; Lichess, September 12, 2020
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Position #665

1. f4 d5 2. g4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qg1 Be7 5. d3 Bd6 6. Bd2 Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. e4! dxe4 9. dxe4 Bb4 10. e5. Kasparov came out with a big strategic advantage, and Nakamura must already jump through hoops for his survival. 10. ... Nd7 11. a3 Be7 12. Be2 f6 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Ne4 Bg6 15. Nxf6 gxf6 16. 0-0-0. 16. Nd4! was also very strong. 16. ... 0-0-0 17. Bc4. White was yet in time for 16. Nd4! going for a big result. 17. ... Qg8 18. Qe3 Bf7 19. Qc3. If nothing else, Her Majesty’s artificial maneuver just serves to illustrate what Kasparov himself called one of the trickiest parts of chess. 19. ... Nc5 20. Qxf6 Ne4 21. Qh4 e5

22. Bd3? But — what a tremendous mistake! 22. Bxf7 Rxf7 23. Qe1 more or less would hold everything together. It is obvious, however, that Kasparov overlooked Black’s next move: 22. ... Bg6!−+ (Δ ... Qg8-a2) 23. Kb1 Nxd2+ 24. Rxd2 e4 25. f5 exd3 26. fxg6 dxc2+ 27. Rxc2 Qxg6 28. Qe1 Qxg4 29. Rcf2 Rf4 30. Ka1 Re4 31. Qc3 Rde8 32. Rc1 Kb8 33. Qf6 Rc4 34. Rd1 Rf4 35. Qc3 Ref8 36. Rd3 Qh5 37. Re3 Nd4 38. Re7 Nc6 39. Re3 a5 40. Rd3 a4 41. Re3 Na5 42. Ne5 Qd1+ 0 : 1.

Once again, after dominating the very early middle game — as the openings in Fischerandom chess may be termed — Kasparov fell through tiredness, losing another bitter game. Screenshot from the live stream.