Yeah, I thought 21...h4 looked more natural there - but this level is way beyond me.

Still, playing over with Stockfish I think the pawn push 24...d5 was too aggressive, and left Naka with weakened central pawn(s) that handed White the initiative. Chess24 reports that Naka took 13min on the move, which says something.

Must not have been too fun for Black from that point on...

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1/ In one variation of the Petrov defence the pawn formation a2-b2-c2-c3 may be quite difficult for Black to attack, and this suggests that the pawn formation a7-b7-c7-c6 on Black's side may be quite difficult for White to attack.

CaissaBase's other two games play this, both having Black winning:

<Robson--Dominguez Perez (ch-USA 2019)>

<Karthik--Aleksandrov (Delhi Open 2020)>

The latter game is funny - if you look at the position after move 30 (or so), you'd swear Black castled kingside instead of queenside.

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It's way beyond 95%, so bro, I feel your pain. BUT.. players [especially 2000-2400] should find Giri's recaps helpful to clarify relevant positional ideas, or confirm correct instincts without the painstaking effort required to play at this level.

Giri's comments are clear, concise, highly reliable, and don't require 6 hours of video to get the bottom line.

< I think the pawn push 24...d5 was too aggressive, and left Naka with weakened central pawn(s) that handed White the initiative. Chess24 reports that Naka took 13 min on the move, which says something. >

"Think long, think wrong" ? Maybe so, but that's hint he already lost his rhythm in the game.

< Must not have been too fun for Black from that point on... >

To put it mildly. It was probably pretty painful. I think he knew it was lost after c4, and confirmed by Nf1. But here's the thing.. Naka's streaming is a two edged sword. On the negative side, he has forgone the depth of prep Fabi and others are doing. On the positive, he has better comeback psychology.

This is a double round robin. He will have opportunity to even the score as white. If Fabi holds a draw, AND Naka takes down several others, it may serve to push Fabi ahead and secure his chair as challenger again. Who knows?

Let's make a movie called "Shadows Die Twice" - https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

GM Daniel King has plenty to say: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

Jozarov's take: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

Bejamin doesn't hold back: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

No, I did not watch 6+ hours of this: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

Nakamura may have discussed this game on Twitch, or he may be waiting until the tournament is over to do so. Had I found his video explanation, I certainly would have posted the link as he tends to be rather outspoken.

This game was very popular on the internet. Ol' FTB generally does not post the videos that lack analysis/commentary (anybody can post the moves - no silent videos), or videos in a foreign language unless I know the commentator is an IM/GM, nor videos by children unless they know their opening theory (There's an adolescent in St. Louis who makes excellent instructional videos). Gotta draw the line somewhere.

Nakamura explains the next few moves in his video when he goes into virgin territory. 9...0-0-0 was played a few years earlier, the only such examples in the database: Robson vs Dominguez Perez, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Z...

Welcome back Cat. ( a wee slip their mate.)

click for larger view

https://sourceforge.net/projects/sc...

I seem to prefer the 4.6 version as it seems more laptop friendly vs. 4.7 and its mobile app look, but you might think different.

But please also be aware that <SCID> has a set of <Blindfold> pieces for the chessboard - which can be used to really challenge your visualization skills.