Hikaru Nakamura vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2014)

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Hikaru Nakamura vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Gashimov Memorial (2014), Shamkir AZE, rd 3, Apr-22
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance. Short Variation (B12) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Apr-22-14		Jambow: Ouch strange and one sided.

Apr-22-14		JohnBoy: A day after a solid spanking from MC. Nice recovery Naka.

Apr-22-14		notyetagm: Nakamura vs Mamedyarov, 2014 <JohnBoy: A day after a solid spanking from MC. Nice recovery Naka.> Shows Nakamura's mental toughness. A lot of players would just force a quick draw to recover from yesterday's beating. Not Nakamura. He recovers by demolishing a fellow 2700.

Apr-22-14		SirRuthless: Does this qualify as a miniature? 7....Nc6 isn't normal in Caro-Kan, I think ...Qxb2 is more readily played...8.dx is a bit strange to my eye because it forces black to develop his DSB, gaining a tempo... 10...Kf8 may be some theory but it is awkward and give strategic impetus to white...14.a3 is cute and sacs the pawn for a strong rook on b7. 17.... h6 is nice to keep the f3N out of blacks kingside and Whites follow up 18.Qd2 is very nice preparing Qf4 in some lines and also preventing any Nb4 business for a moment plus increasing the scope of the Q in general and preparing c3. 18...g5 was natural because black wanted to vent his king and increase kingside pressure on white. 19.h4 was a dual-purpose provocation to get black to push g4 which white knew would initiate lines where the tactics would favor white. ...Nxe5 is no good because Qf4 would be crushing e.g. 20...Nxe5 21.Qf4 (...Nc6 22. Nxe6+... Ke8 23.Nc7+ forking and black is losing the rook for nothing at all)...Ng6 22.Nxe6+ ...Ke8 23. Qf6 anf white is threatening Rb1 and the battery on the B file is overwhelming with the Q on f6. So 20...Qa5 was an attempt to change queens but 21.c3 preserves the Q. 23...d4 (dxc is never a threat because Qd7 in reply would be crushing)gives time for 24.Bxg4 activating the LSB and ...Qxc3 , the last attempt to exchange Qs is met with the accurate 25.Qe2 supporting the LSB whilst Preparing a future Qe4 or Qb5(idea Qb45-d7-threatening Qxf7 and mate soon follows)...Nxh4 was either a swindle attempt or a implicit resignation because black had to have seen 26.Bh5 targeting f7. Rh7 is clearly an only move and after Qe4 black is forced to give up the rook and the rest is technical. A nice bounce back game from Nakamura but not without help from Mamed who played some questionable moves with Nc6, g5, g4? and Nxh4??. Perhaps <csmath> or someone else can more accurately annotate this game.

Apr-22-14		Shams: <Sir Ruthless> <Does this qualify as a miniature?> Not yet, but give it thirty years and maybe it will.

Apr-22-14		patzer2: Black has all those extra pawns. Yet they're so useless against the penetration of the White pieces. The pawn sacrifices for the initiative after 14. a3! and the avoidance of simplifying moves may look simple, but that's only because of White's precisely calculated attack. Congratulations to Nakamura on a quick recovery from yesterday with this brilliant win.

Apr-22-14		csmath: 13. ...Qb4N [Strange opening for a player like Mamedyarov. This is not played on the top level for obvious reasons. Black position is clearly highly volatile.] 14. a3! [Excellent idea as this pawn sacrifice offer is exactly to the taste of tactical player.] 18. ...g5! click for larger view [Well ... if black wanted unbalanced position he got it. On the other hand white has full compensation for a pawn in faster development.] 19. h4!? [This move was undoubtedly a surprise for Mamedyarov. The idea of the move is to open room for king before doubling of rooks on b-file.] click for larger view 19. ...g4? [Immediate error. If he wanted to play sharp then this is offered: 19.... gxh4?! 20. Reb1! Nd8 21. Rb8 Rxb8 22. Rxb8 Nec6! (leaving room on e7 for the king. Also ...Kg7? 23. Qf4 is probably losing.) 23. Ra8 Qa1 24. Kh2 h3!! 25. gxh3!? Qa4 click for larger view with double-edged game. Black also had more cautious 19. ...Qa4 20. hxg5 hxg5 click for larger view leaving white to do something dramatic since 21. Nxg4? Qh4 22. Nh3 is surely not attractive for white.] 20. Nd4 click for larger view [Ideal position for attacker like Nakamura as black has no countergame.] 22. ...Nf5 [...Rc8 23. Reb1 is nothing better either.] 23. ...d4 [It is hard to find anything better here.] 24. Bg4! [destroying any hope of countergame for black.] 25. Qe2 click for larger view [Here black is probably close to lost but now Mamedyarov makes it happen faster.] 25. ...Nh4? [25. ...Ne7 26. Reb1 Rc8 27. Rxa7 Rg8 and black can still fight although to outlook is rather bleak.] 26. Bh5 click for larger view The rest is just a demolition. ================ Strange opening for Mamedyarov (why would such a player play Advance Caro-Kann ?) and then after 19. g4? boxing himself into a play without any countergame. Truly strange. I know Nakamura should be praised for potent attack here but I am more of a opinion that this is simply a poor and uncharacteristic play by Mamedyarov.

Apr-22-14		bobthebob: "simply a poor and uncharacteristic play by Mamedyarov." Perhaps. But was it that much different from his approach to play down a piece vs. Magnus (by having his bishop out of play)?

Apr-23-14		patzer2: <csmath> Thanks for the deep analysis. I was thinking of 26. Bh5! when I mentioned Nakamura's precise attack. I find it interesting your analysis shows 19...gxh4, capturing another pawn, gives Black even chances in an unbalanced position. If so, Black's loss probably wasn't caused by pawn grabbing after 14. a3! Instead, it was due to his reluctance to snatch at least one more pawn afterwards. P.S.: I assume the 19...gxh4?! (dubious designation) is due to the complexity of the variation and the difficulty of finding this line of play over the board.

Apr-24-14		Domdaniel: <csmath> Excellent analysis, thanks.

Apr-25-14		Ulhumbrus: 7...Nc6 allows White to deprive Black of the right to castle. For on 8 dc Bxc5 9 Bxc5 removing the guardian of the black squares and on 9...Qxc5 10 Nb5 heads for d6 before Black has got ready to castle. This suggests 7...c4 or 7...a6

May-01-14		Natalia Pogonina: Annotations by GM Balogh: http://pogonina.com/index.php?optio...

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