Shamkir, Rd 7: Nakamura's recurring nightmare

World Champion Magnus Carlsen has snatched sole lead at the Gashimov Memorial with three rounds to go after taking his lifetime classical record against Hikaru Nakamura to 10 wins and 0 losses. The deflated American yet again managed to lose a close-to-winning position with the white pieces, describing it as “much worse” than his recent calamitous loss in Zurich. Carlsen aside, there was again little to report, with two draws that never threatened to bloom into anything more.

Round 7 results

Replay the live commentary

IM Lawrence Trent and GM Jan Gustafsson were yet again on hand to commentate live on another emotional roller coaster of a day. The full commentary can be watched below:

They were also joined by a very special guest, English grandmaster and chess24 author Matthew Sadler, who gave his views on the day's play and also talked about the prospects of playing for England in the upcoming Olympiad. Here's his cameo:

Nakamura - Carlsen 0-1

It’s becoming a habit. Once again Carlsen faced the 4.f3 Nimzo-Indian, just as he did against Viswanathan Anand in Game 9 of their World Championship match and Nakamura in Zurich. Once again he found himself on the ropes. And once again he stayed cool, kept seeking chances and ultimately pulled off a victory of crushing significance.

Our Spanish editor IM David Martínez takes a look at the game: 

1. d4 ♘f6 2. c4 e6 3. ♘c3 ♗b4 4. f3 In his commentary on Round 6, Gusti (I'll use his nickname as I can never remember how many esses there are in his surname!) said that Mamedyarov played Qc2 because Carlsen would be well-prepared for 4. f3, given Anand had played it against him in their World Championship match. It seems Nakamura wasn't overly troubled by such considerations... 

By the way, if you take a look at our broadcast of the game you'll see that Houdini evaluates these positions in Black's favour because White's static structure doesn't make a great impression. The dynamic potential, however, is enormous or, in other words, if White manages to keep everything together and play f4-e5 he'll win... Before that happens, though, Black will complete his development and have some initiative due to better piece play. That's what Houdini evaluates, but it's not so easy to exploit!

4... c5 5. d5 0-0 6. e4 d6 7. ♗d2 The normal move here is 7. Ne2 but some players like to respond to that with 7...b5, which is what Nakamura tries to avoid by removing the pin. Eingorn, in his interesting book on the Nimzo-Indian - not hugely profound, but very good as a summary - gives Nakamura's move a less-than-generous "?!".

7... ♘bd7

7... exd5 8. cxd5 ♘h5 is Eingorn's recommendation... However, Nakamura might also have disagreed with him here. 9. ♕e2 f5 10. 0-0-0 may have been Hikaru's idea to get Carlsen out of his comfort zone, although in the words of a young grandmaster and recent European silver medalist who prefers to maintain his anonymity: "This is rubbish."

8. ♘ge2 ♘e5 9. ♘g3 exd5 10. cxd5 ♗d7⁈ Magnus criticised this normal-looking move because later (6 moves later, to be precise) he realised that he needed the square for the knight.

10... c4 , with the plan of Bc5 to prevent castling, might have been an idea, but after 11. ♗e3! (11. ♗e2? ♗c5 ) 11... ♕c7 12. ♗e2 ♗c5 13. ♕d2 White has everything under control.

11. a3 ♗a5 12. ♗e2 The good thing about playing this line with White is that you can make a number of moves on feel alone, while Black has more options. So maybe you'll end up worse, but at least you'll have more time 

12... b5 13. 0-0 c4 14. ♗e3 ♗b6 15. ♕d2 Here Magnus began to burn a lot of time because the black position is starting to become less dynamic while White is gaining momentum. "I think this is lost", was another intervention from our anonymous collaborator, feeling buoyed up minutes after Atlético Madrid's 0-1 in Valencia strengthened their position at the top of the Spanish League.

15... ♖b8 16. ♘d1 ♗c8 Looking to switch the knight from f6 to c5 and making amends for his 10th move.

16... h5 17. ♘h1 Anticipating h4-h3. 17... a5 might be another option, seeking to activate rapidly, but after 18. ♘hf2 b4 19. axb4 axb4 20. ♗xb6 ♕xb6 21. ♘e3 ♖fc8 22. ♖ac1 ♗b5 23. ♘f5 , the threats of Qxb4, Ne7+ and Qg5 are just too much to handle!

17. ♔h1 ♘fd7 18. f4 ♘g6 19. ♗xb6 ♖xb6 20. ♘e3 And now I think White's position starts to appeal both to us crude human beings and the computers.

20... ♘c5 21. ♗d1 Switching the bishop to c2 and stopping the fork on b3.

21... ♘d3 "A little desperate", as Magnus admitted, but it has to be played because "simple" moves like

21... ♖e8 22. f5 ♘e5 23. f6 are simply mate-in-10, more or less 

22. f5 ♘gf4 23. a4 This is a typical move you have to make without entirely knowing why, though it always does some good. Normally players make such moves intuitively and then realise later they were useful for something and explain them, animatedly, to friends and admirers.

23... a6 24. ♘g4 h5

24... ♕g5 is no good, but it's a close-run thing! 25. ♘h5! ♘e6 26. ♕a5‼ Hitting the rook on b6. I'm sure Nakamura didn't see this when he made the move, but this is what a4 does!

25. ♘f2

25. ♖xf4! was an extremely interesting exchange sacrifice. 25... ♘xf4 26. ♘h6+! gxh6 27. ♕xf4 ♕g5 28. ♕f2 Again hitting the b6-rook! 28... ♖b7 29. ♘xh5 ♔h8 30. ♕d4+ f6 31. g3 In order to be able to play h4 and expel the black queen. I don't think anyone present would rate the black rooks higher than White's monster of a knight!

25... ♕f6 Nakamura admitted to missing the defensive manoeuvre Qf6-h6 and that seems to have had some impact on his play. He must have started to think - am I going to let my "friend" Carlsen escape again?

26. ♘xd3?

26. ♘xh5 gives White a clear advantage, as he can win a pawn without any great complications. 26... ♘xh5 27. ♘xd3 cxd3 28. a5! Farewell counterplay. 28... ♖b7 29. ♗xh5

26... ♘xd3 27. ♕e3 ♖b7

27... h4 seems like a cool exchange sacrifice, but in reality would be the losing move - it runs into mate after 28. ♘h5 ♕xb2 29. f6

28. ♘xh5 ♕h6 The ending is still a little worse for Black, but at least you're not going to get mated!

29. ♕xh6

29. ♕d4 is an attempt suggested by Emil Sutovsky to keep the queens on for an attack, for example by swinging the rook along the third rank, but after 29... bxa4! 30. ♖xa4 (30. ♖a3 needs to be met precisely with 30... ♗d7 31. ♕xc4 ♖c8! and if 32. ♕xd3 then 32... ♗b5 33. ♕f3 ♗xf1 34. ♕xf1 ♖c1 followed by Qxh5.) 30... ♘xb2 31. ♖a3 ♘xd1 32. ♕xd1 ♖b3! Black will be left a pawn down but should be able to hold the position with Bd7-b5.

29... gxh6 30. axb5 axb5 31. ♗c2 ♘e5?

31... ♘xb2! is Houdini's move to equalise, but our anonymous commentator was of the opinion that anyone without a machine would think White was winning after 32. ♖a3 b4 33. ♖g3+ ♔h8 34. ♘f6 followed by Rf4-h4. Black does, however, have the brilliant 34... ♖a7 followed by Ra3, stopping mate. Even the sang-froid of Carlsen doesn't stretch to such extremes!

32. ♖a6 ♖d8 33. ♘g3⁈ With the idea of bringing the knight to d4, but I think he got the piece wrong! d4 is a dream square... but for the white king! 33.Kg1 would have given White a comfortable advantage.

33... ♖b8 34. ♖a7 b4 The game is already going downhill fast for Nakamura. Although the ending is currently still equal, in exchange for the pawn Black has an easy plan and I actually think the majority of players would prefer to play this position with Black.

35. ♘e2 ♗d7! 19 moves later it finally enters the game! This is starting to look bad...

36. ♖fa1⁈

36. ♘d4 prevents Bb5, but allows 36... ♖a8 and if 37. ♖fa1 ♖xa7 38. ♖xa7 b3 39. ♗b1 ♖c8 followed by c3. What a nightmare! 40. ♘e2 ♗e8 With Nd3 and Nxb2 to follow, winning.

36... ♗b5 The black advance on the queenside is already unstoppable - you only have to create a passed pawn and support it.

37. h3 ♖dc8  

38. ♔h2 Desperation.

38... c3 39. ♘d4 cxb2 40. ♖b1 ♖c4 41. ♘xb5 ♖xc2 42. ♘d4 ♖d2

42... b3 is more attractive and wins more quickly, but Magnus' choice also retains the advantage.

43. ♘c6 ♖e8 44. ♖a4 ♘d3 45. ♘xb4 ♘f2! Finding a very original way of defending the passed pawn!

46. ♖a2 ♘d1 47. ♖xd1 ♖xd1 48. ♖xb2 ♖xe4 The white pawns are too weak to hold...

49. ♘c6 ♔g7 50. f6+ ♔xf6 51. ♖f2+ ♔g6 52. ♘d8 ♖e8 It's over. 

Obviously losing to the world no. 1 and perhaps the best player of all time is in some sense "normal", but the 10-0 scoreline in Magnus' favour, with 15 draws, is starting to recall the kind of "client" relationship Alexei Shirov had with Garry Kasparov (15-0 with 14 draws). 

Still, Gusti pointed out there are worse things, such as the series of thousands of defeats that the Washington Generals and New York Nationals accumulated against the Harlem Globetrotters... 

Although perhaps that "rivalry" wasn't quite so serious!?

0-1

Nakamura was understandably devastated after the loss, and kept finding new ways to chastise himself:

To lose this position is just pathetic, frankly. There aren’t any other words to describe it. Terrible, from a practically winning position to lose it… Now I get in time trouble and misplay, but even here, to lose this position takes a lot of talent, because at the very least it should just be equal. Somehow I start putting all my pieces on the wrong squares.

Carlsen could afford to conceal his jubilation and stick to objective analysis. When he was asked if he felt a sense of déjà vu from their game in Zurich he responded:

I can see your point, but this was a different thing. The other one was just completely winning, this one was much better but still complicated. I think I was lucky in a sense that when the position simplified here there were still a lot of moves left to the time control. I mean I guess he’s never going to mess it up if he has a lot of time but with little time it’s not so easy once Black gets going with b4 and c4…  

Nakamura felt it was even worse:

In the other one at least I went from completely winning to completely losing very quickly. In this one even though I had a feeling I missed something that was probably winning I was still better. It’s not like it went from one way all the way to the other way. So this one’s much worse. I just shouldn’t lose.

Right now Nakamura is probably glad that he hasn’t yet committed to facing Carlsen again in the Norway Chess tournament this June.

Karjakin 1/2 - 1/2 Caruana

Blink and you’d miss it! This Grünfeld Defence rocketed to move 28 before either player spent more than seconds on a move. What on earth was going on?

Yes, as the 19-year-old world no. 18 Anish Giri tweeted in to our live show, he'd played the same line in a draw against Caruana in the Zug Grand Prix last year. 29.h4 was the first original move, varying from Giri’s 29.e5:

Only White can be better, but Fabiano later said he’d analysed the ending very deeply after that game and he clearly knew what he was doing. After activating his rook and exchanging some pawns the outcome was never in doubt, and as if to emphasise the point the players “fought on” until bare kings. Karjakin’s 13 draws in his last 13 games have actually featured some exciting chess, but not in Round 7 in Shamkir.

Radjabov 1/2 - 1/2 Mamedyarov

This was an even less memorable affair. The overwhelming suspicion is that the two Azerbaijani friends had no interest in damaging each other’s tournament chances. Radjabov’s quiet opening gave him a slight pull, but Mamedyarov simply had to show some elementary precision to neutralise it: 

Radjabov is applying pressure to c5, so Mamedyarov responds in kind by putting pressure on f3 with 20…Qb7! All the minor pieces were exchanged and a draw by perpetual check followed a few moves later.

So after a rather more erratic tournament performance than we're used to Magnus Carlsen is back in the sole lead, half a point clear of Teimour Radjabov.

As you can see, Carlsen's only draw so far has been against Karjakin, who's drawn all his games. They meet again in Round 8 - could we be in for another twist?

Don't miss our live commentary with GM Jan Gustafsson and IM Lawrence Trent!

See also:

• Official website
• Round 6: Carlsen back in the lead
• Round 5: Radjabov compounds Carlsen misery
• Round 4: Caruana topples Carlsen
• Round 3: Nakamura bounces back
• Round 2: Carlsen does it again
• Round 1: Magnus masterclass
• Honoring Vugar Gashimov