A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura

Champions Chess Tour 2021; 3rd stage; Opera Euro Rapid; Prelims Tournament; time control: 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; chess24.com, February 7, 2021

Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

After a very lazy Sunday hanging around the monitor’s screen, in his last game of day two, Carlsen defeated his archrival, Nakamura, to retain the sole lead in the Opera Euro Rapid. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0-0 6. a3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Be7 9. e3 a5. If 9. ... Nc6 White may transpose to one of Nakamura’s back pages: 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Be2 Be6 12. 0-0 Ne4 13. Rc1 Bf6 14. Na4 Rc8 15. Nc5 Nc3 16. Qd3 Bf5 17. Qd2 d4 18. Nxb7 dxe3 19. Qxe3 Qb6 20. Rxc3 Qxb7 21. Rc5 Rfe8 22. Qc1 Rxe2 23. Rxf5 Nd4 24. Rc5 Nxf3+ 25. gxf3 Rce8 26. Rc6 Bd4 27. Qc4 Bb6 28. Bg3 h5 29. a4 R2e6 30. Rxe6 Rxe6 31. a5 Bd8 32. Rd1 Be7 33. Qd5 Qxd5 34. Rxd5 h4 35. Bb8 Bxb4 36. Kg2 a6 37. Bc7 Be7 38. Bb6 Rg6+ 39. Kh3 Rf6 40. Rd7 Bb4 41. Kg4 Rg6+ 42. Kxh4 Rh6+ 43. Kg3 Rh5 44. Ra7 Bxa5 45. Rxa6 Bb4 46. Be3 Rd5 47. h4 Bd6+ 48. Kg2 f5 49. Bg5 Kf7 50. h5 f4 51. Bh4 Bf8 52. Kh3 Rxh5 53. Kg4 Rb5 54. Kxf4 Rb4+ 55. Kg3 Bc5 56. Bg5 Bd4 57. Be3 Be5+ 58. f4 Bf6 ½ : ½ Topalov – Nakamura, 4th Champions Showdown Blitz, Saint Louis 2017, match game 7 (time control: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move). 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. b5 Nd7 13. Be2 Nc5 14. 0-0 a4 15. Be5 Nb3 16. Ra2 Be6 17. Nd4 Bd6 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. Bb2 Rc8 20. g3 Qd7 21. Bd3 Qf7

22. e4. White lights the fuse, hoping to trigger off his Bishop pair, but Black, too, gets what he wants, namely the a7-g1 diagonal and the f‐file. 22. ... Bc5 (22. ... d4!? 23. f4 Be7) 23. exd5 exd5. 23. ... Bxf2+ 24. Kg2 Nd2! is just as appealing as complicated; for instance, there might follow 25. Bd4 e5 26. Rxd2 Qxd5+ 27. Kh3 Bxd4 with a sharp balance. 24. Be5 Rce8 25. Bf4 h6 26. Qg4 Re6 27. h4 h5 28. Qd1 Rf6 29. Kg2

29. ... g6?! Maybe this gives White a little too much, even if Nakamura must have thought Carlsen hadn’t enough time to take advantage of it. In any event, both 29. ... Rxf4!? 30. gxf4 Nd4 and 29. ... Nd4 would have been safer and better. 30. Bh6 Re8 31. Bg5 Rfe6 32. Bc2 Re1?? What a frightening error! After all, Black was still in time for 32. ... Nd4, yet somehow holding everything together.

33. Bxg6! 1 : 0.