Wesley So vs Hikaru Nakamura (2016)

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Wesley So vs Hikaru Nakamura
Sinquefield Cup (2016), Saint Louis, MO USA, rd 1, Aug-05
Catalan Opening: Closed Variation (E06) · 1-0

White to move.

ANALYSIS [x]

Notes by Stockfish 9 v010218 (minimum 6s/ply)better is 17...Nd5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Rac1 Rb2 20.Bd4 Re2 21.Bf3 Rxa2 = 0.00 (22 ply) ⩲ +0.55 (24 ply) 23.Qd8 e5 24.Qxc8 Bxc8 25.a5 b5 26.Rd8 Be6 27.Ke1 c3 ⩲ +1.15 (25 ply)better is 23...g6 24.Qc3 Kg7 25.h4 Qc7 26.g4 Qf4 27.Bf3 e5 28.Rd8 = 0.00 (26 ply) ⩲ +0.73 (20 ply) after 24.Kg1 Qe8 25.a5 Bb5 26.axb6 axb6 27.Rd6 Qb8 28.Rd2 Qc7 better is 27...c2 28.Kd2 Bxe2 29.Kxc2 Bc4 30.Rb8 Bxa2 31.Rb7 Bd5 ⩲ +1.02 (27 ply) ± +1.59 (23 ply)better is 29...Bd5 30.Bxd5 exd5 31.Kxc3 Ne4+ 32.Kb3 Nxf2 33.Rxd5 ± +1.57 (23 ply) 30.e4 e5 31.Rb8 Ng4 32.Kxc3 Be6 33.Rb7 Nxf2 34.Rxa7 h5 ± +2.20 (26 ply) ⩲ +1.41 (26 ply) after 30...Kg6 31.Kxc3 Bd5 32.Bxd5 Nxd5+ 33.Kc4 f5 34.a5 bxa5 38...Bd3 39.Rb6 h5 40.Rd6 g5 41.h4 gxh4 42.gxh4 Kg7 +- +3.60 (30 ply)1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

FEN COPIED

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing>
Aug-06-16		iking: quackamura busted ... but he fought valiantly.

Aug-06-16		SimplicityRichard: Very bold play by Wesley. Brilliant game!

Aug-06-16		HeMateMe: how interesting, fixing black with the bad pawns so early. maybe capturing the knight on a3 was a mistake. White made good use of the open b file.

Aug-06-16		QueentakesKing: It was more of Nakamura who just played a bad game than saying Wes was brilliant on this. That's it.

Aug-06-16		Strongest Force: Looks like Nak had a case of the first round jitters:)

Aug-06-16		SpiritedReposte: <37. ...c3+> followed by <...Bb5>?? May not be enough to draw I'm sure naka had seen it.

Aug-06-16		tpstar: If 37 ... c3+ 38. Kc2 Bb5: click for larger view 39. Rxb5! axb5 40. a6 Queens.

Aug-06-16		SpiritedReposte: Of course!! The a6 pawn proves its worth barely noticed it on the board!

Aug-06-16		activechess55: What happens after 35...b3?

Aug-06-16		iking: <What happens after 35...b3?> .. 35. ..Rb8

Aug-06-16		activechess55: < iking:What happens after 35...b3? .. 35. ..Rb8> Thanks. The trouble for black is, his king is far away from queenside where it is needed. Whatever black may do, he can't prevent his q-side pawn from dropping eventually.

Aug-06-16		Ulhumbrus: After 8...bxc6 Black's queen side is shattered. Perhaps Nakamura has chosen a sharp defence believing that Black can hold the game instead of barely failing to hold it. Perhaps there something which he sees too late.

Aug-06-16		ajile: <Ulhumbrus: After 8...bxc6 Black's queen side is shattered. Perhaps Nakamura has chosen a sharp defence believing that Black can hold the game instead of barely failing to hold it.> Agreed 7..Nc6? looks like another bad Naka experiment.

Aug-06-16		SChesshevsky: I think one mainline Catalan might go something like 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 and then 10. Nxe7 and maybe mostly drawish. So's team seemed to do some good homework. The lesser played 8. Nxc6 and Na3 looks like it might be much tougher on Black. Especially if unprepared. Li Chao appeared to have some success with this line: Li Chao vs Wang Hao, 2016 Li Chao vs Harikrishna, 2016

Aug-07-16		Honza Cervenka: 9.Na3 Bxa3 10.bxa3 is quite old and well-known theory: Opening Explorer

Aug-07-16		keypusher: <ajile 7...Nc6 looks like another bad Naka experiment.>. There are hundreds of examples of 7...Nc6 in the database, going back decades before Nakamura was born. Geller, Petrosian, Karpov, Short, and Anand have all played it. You have a premium membership; you might want to check out opening explorer sometime. Ulhumbrus I've given up on.

Aug-07-16		perfidious: <keypusher: <ajile 7...Nc6 looks like another bad Naka experiment.>>. This is the biggest joke in the world, but I long ago gave up on expecting anything but revisionist history from <ajile>. I well remember when 7....Nc6 indeed had the appearance of a fishy move, in the hands of a candidate for the world title--in my immense wisdom, I was then ~1750. Became obvious on reflecting a little, though, that Black gets plenty of dynamic chances for his ruined pawn structure. <....Ulhumbrus I've given up on.> The other poster in this whom I sent to iggydom years ago--blindingly obtuse and possessed of just enough knowledge to believe he has the Holy Grail in hand as he comes it over on every top player, while routinely flaying them for their perceived lack of knowledge of general principles.

Aug-07-16		Amulet: <iking: quackamura busted ... but he fought valiantly.> ...quackamura quacks no more?

Aug-07-16		perfidious: <Amulet: <iking: quackamura busted ... but he fought valiantly.> ...quackamura quacks no more?> There is always the next round. lmao

Aug-07-16		Amulet: <perfidious> ok, we'll see. lol

Aug-07-16		ajile: <keypusher: <ajile 7...Nc6 looks like another bad Naka experiment.>. There are hundreds of examples of 7...Nc6 in the database, going back decades before Nakamura was born. Geller, Petrosian, Karpov, Short, and Anand have all played it. You have a premium membership; you might want to check out opening explorer sometime. Ulhumbrus I've given up on.> When I went to check this game was not indexed yet. You might be right that it has been played before but on principle it looks bad to me.

Aug-07-16		ajile: Although the game isn't indexed yet I did just search this opening in the database. It looks to me that Black is skating on the edge of defeat in most of these lines especially if White plays accurately. For example Black's results look very bleak here in the opening: Opening Explorer And as mentioned above Li Chao gets a good game with 13.e4 instead of the 13.a4-14.Ba3 strategy: Li Chao vs Wang Hao, 2016

Aug-08-16		Whitehat1963: Nice endgame technique.

Oct-26-16		Conrad93: I wish ChessGames would stop using Java. It doesn't work on my web browser.

Oct-28-16		laspineros: Surgical accuracy by Wesley So impressive!!

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