Bazna, Round 2: The Leaders Draw, Nakamura Wins
Today's action in the 5th King's Tournament featured one short game and two marathons. The short game, unfortunately, was the battle of the leaders. Vassily Ivanchuk played 4.d3 against Magnus Carlsen's Berlin, got nothing, and the players had to struggle to make the game last 33 moves. It's not that they didn't try, but that a position arose where there was nothing to try.
Meanwhile, as predicted by the prophet Regan, Hikaru Nakamura showed himself able to do damage to the non-Carlsen portion of the field. In a Chigorin Ruy Nakamura tortured Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu for a long time, but without any success. Unfortunately for Nisipeanu, he found an idea that wins in every line but one. The "but one" part was a problem, though. Nakamura's only move was absolutely forced, easy to find and simply winning.
An even longer game in terms of moves, but shorter in time, was the 90-mover between Teimour Radjabov and Sergey Karjakin. Before they reached move 20, it was clear that Black (Karjakin) was banking on a fortress and White would have all the fun and winning chances. Karjakin defended dutifully, and 70+ moves later got his reward.
Standings After Round 2:
- 1-2. Carlsen, Ivanchuk 1.5
- 3-4. Karjakin, Nakamura 1
- 5-6. Radjabov, Nisipeanu .5
Round 3 Pairings:
- Carlsen - Radjabov
- Nisipeanu - Ivanchuk
- Karjakin - Nakamura
Games, with light notes, here.
Reader Comments (1)
Nice full notes on the marquee game. I must say I'm mystified why Sergei Shipov at http://crestbook.com/node/1520 thought that the line 65 ... Bd7 66.g6 Kh6 67.Nh4 Be7 68.Nf5 + Bxf5 69.Bxf5 Bd6 came "with good chances to draw". Also mystified what Nisipeanu missed after 60...f3?, maybe 62.Nf3+? In time pressure he may have been worried about getting pushed back. I'll wait until the Nakamura-Carlsen rematch to see how well I like my prediction...