One Fell Swoop

Hikaru Nakamura – Fabiano Caruana
11th Norway Chess; Stavanger, June 9, 2023
Two Knights Defence C58

In one fell swoop, today Caruana managed to lose both his No. 2 world ranking and first prize in the 11th Norway Chess to his frenemy Nakamura.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3?!

8. ... Nd5 9. Nf3. 9. Nxf7? Kxf7 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Bxg6+ hxg6 12. Qxh8 Qg5 gives Black a powerful attack, while 9. Ne4?! can be answered by 9. ... f5 10. Ng3 Nf4 11. Bf1 Bc5 12. c3 Bb6 13. d4 Ng6 14. Bd3 0-0 15. b4 Nb7 16. Bc4+ Kh8 with a dangerous initiative, Castaldi – Keres, 7th Olympiad, Stockholm 1937.
9. ... Bd6 10. 0-0 Nf4 11. Nc3 Nxd3 12. cxd3 0-0 13. b3 Re8. Or, alternatively, 13. ... c5 14. Ba3 Nc6 15. Ne4 Nb4 16. Bxb4 cxb4 17. Re1 Bb8 18. Ng3 Qxd3 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. Rxe5 Be6 21. Re3 Qd4 22. Ne2 Qd6 23. d4 a5 24. h4 Rfd8 25. Qd2 a4 26. Rd1 axb3 27. axb3 Ra5 with dynamic equality, Aronian – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), 7th Sinquefield Cup, Saint Louis 2019.
14. Re1 c5 15. Ba3 Nc6 16. Ne4 Bf8 17. Rc1. 17. Bxc5? f5 would favour Black, I. V. Popov – Ragger, 5th Chess World Cup, Tromsø 2013, tie-break game 1 (time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move).

17. ... f5?? A novelty, and an incredibly bad one — Black just blunders a second Pawn for nothing in exchange. Furthermore, a detail is worth noting: it took little more than a minute for Caruana to make his move! As is well known, theory now recommends 17. ... Nb4! as ensuring Black good value for the Pawn; for example: 18. Bxb4 cxb4 19. Nc5 Qd5 20. d4 Bg4 21. h3 Bxf3 22. Qxf3 Qxf3 23. gxf3 exd4 24. Rxe8 Rxe8 25. Nd3 g6 26. Kf1 Re6 27. Rc4 Ra6 28. Nxb4 Bxb4 29. Rxb4 Rxa2 30. Rxd4 Ra3 31. Rd3 a5 32. Ke2 a4 33. b4 Ra1 34. Rd8+ Kg7 35. Ra8 a3 36. d4 Kf6 37. b5 ½ : ½ Sindarov – Matlakov, 1st International Tournament for the prizes of the President of Uzbekistan, Tashkent 2021.
18. Nxc5 Qd5. As Nakamura explained later, it was quite evident that Caruana messed up with his variations: at first he had thought he could play 18. ... Qa5 only to notice too late that 19. Ng5! would have been winning for White.
19. Qc2 Rd8

20. Qc4 Qxc4 21. Rxc4. There’s no exaggeration in saying that now it is only a matter of technique.
21. ... Rd5 22. Rec1 Bd6 23. Bb2 Ne7 24. R4c2 Rb8 25. d4 exd4 26. Nxd4 a5 27. Nf3 h6 28. Na4 Ba6 29. Nc3 Rc5 30. Ba3 Rc6 31. Bxd6 Rxd6 32. Na4 Nd5 33. Rc6 Rxc6 34. Rxc6 Nb4 35. Rd6 Bb7 36. Nc3 Re8 37. h4 f4 38. Rd4 Rf8 39. Ne5 Re8 40. Nc4 f3 41. gxf3 Bxf3 42. Kh2 Nc2 43. Rd3 Ba8 44. Kg3 Kh7 45. Ne3 Nb4 46. Rd6 Nc6 47. Ncd5 Rf8 48. Nc7 Bb7 49. Ne6 Rf7 50. f4 Ba8 51. h5 Ra7 52. a3 Kg8 53. f5 Re7 54. Kf4 Ra7 55. d4 1 : 0.