Quantum Time

Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi – Hikaru Nakamura

2nd World Fischerandom Chess Championship; Final match game 1; time control: 25 minutes for the first 30 moves, plus 5 minutes for the rest of the game, plus 5 seconds per move starting from move 31; Reykjavík, October 30, 2022

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Position #582

1. b4 b5 2. a4 bxa4 3. Qxa4 e6 4. Nc3 Ng6 5. Ng3 f5 6. e3 Be7 7. b5 0-0 8. Ra1 f4 9. Nge2 (9. Nh5!? fxe3 10. dxe3 c6 11. Ba3⩲)
9. ... fxe3 10. dxe3 c6 11. Nd4 c5 12. Nf3 Bf6 13. Ra3 d5 14. Be2 Rb7 15. 0-0 Qb8 16. e4 d4 17. Nd1?! More promising seems the Pawn sacrifice 17. e5, eventually vacating the square at e4 for the Knight.
17. ... Bd7 18. c4 dxc3 19. Nxc3?! Consistent, but had Nepomniachtchi appreciated the strength of Nakamura’s next move, he would probably have preferred 19. Qc2 Bxb5 20. Nxc3 Bxe2 21. Nxe2 when Black’s volatile extra Pawn counts for very little.

19. ... a6! 20. e5. Clearly not 20. Qxa6? because of 20. ... Bxc3 21. Rxc3 Ra7 trapping the Queen. On the other hand 20. Rb3 Bxc3 21. Rxc3 axb5 22. Qc2 c4 also looks quite scary for White.
20. ... axb5 21. Bxb5 Bxb5 22. Nxb5 Nxe5 23. Nc3 Nxf3+ 24. gxf3 Rb4 25. Qa6 Be5 26. Ne4 Bxh2+. Perhaps a little too greedy.
27. Kg2 Bf4 28. Rd3? ⌓ 28. Qa7! Qe5 29. Bxf4 Rxf4 30. Re3! Nb7 31. Rd1 Rf7 leaves Black with two Pawns ahead, yet White may still hope for some compensation.
28. ... Qe5 29. Rfd1

29. ... Rxe4!−+ 30. fxe4 Bxc1 31. Rxd8 Qg5+ 32. Kf1 Rxd8 33. Qxe6+ Kh8 34. Rd5 Qh4 35. Kg2 h6 36. Rxc5

36. ... Be3! 37. Rc2. If 37. fxe3 then 37. ... Rd2+ followed by mate.
37. ... Bd4 38. Qf5 Qe7 39. f4 g6! 0 : 1.

Thirteen years after his first “unofficial” title in the Mainz World Championships (2009), Nakamura also inscribed his name in FIDE’s honour roll. Nevertheless, it took an Armageddon for him to prevail in his final match against his ultimate opponent, Nepomniachtchi, who was arguably the revelation of the tournament. Photo © David Llada/FIDE.