GM Fabiano Caruana - GM Hikaru Nakamura

Chessable Masters Winners Final, (1)
English Opening, Bremen

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Nd4!?A gambit line in the English Four Knights that first caught on at club-level back in 2003 after being highlighted in Neil McDonald's excellent Everyman opening primer, Starting Out: The English. But it doesn't promise much for either side, based on the fact that 5.Nxd4 exd4 6.Nd5 Nxd5 7.cxd5 and both sides will be stymied due to the symetrical position and quadruple d-pawns. But there is a sting in the tail. 5.Bg2 Accepting the gambit with 5.Nxe5 is a little dangerous, based on the fact that after 5...Qe7 6.f4 d6 7.Nd3 Bf5 Black gets good attacking chances in all lines, but it is not a forced win, especially with White's best defence being the unnatural-looking 8.Kf2 that our Engine Overlords nonchalantly observes this to be "0.00" decimal equality, so nothing to worry about! 5...Nxf3+ 6.Bxf3 Bb4 7.Qb3 a5 We just have a simple position now that's not top-heavy in theory - and this is perhaps the reason for this line taking off at club-level after being highlighted in Neil McDonald's aforementioned tome. 8.O-O Bc5

It's even-stevens with Nakamura having the influential dark-squared bishop down the long a7-g1 diagonal, and Caruana the influential light-squared bishop dominating the long h1-a8 diagonal. 9.d3 O-O 10.Bg2 d6 11.Qc2 h6 12.Na4 Ba7 13.Bd2 c6 14.c5

And with it, we now have an intriguing struggle in this all-American battle for a place in the Grand Final.14...d5 The engine will opt for moves like 14...Re8 but ...d5 is the all-too human and more logical move to play here. 15.e4 Be6 16.h3 Bb8 17.Nb6 Ra6 18.b4

A little impatient perhaps, Caruana cuts straight to the chase of bursting open the queenside - but equally he could have slow-played it with 18.b3 Bc7 19.Na4 and carefully build-up the a3-b4 break. 18...axb4 19.Bxb4 Qe7 20.Rfb1 Rd8 21.a4 d4 22.a5 Ne8!

The knight re-routes its way to a good outpost on b5 via c7 to hold the queenside together - but Caruana reacts correctly by switching his attention to a kingside breakthrough. 23.Rf1! Nc7 24.f4 exf4 25.gxf4 f6 26.Rae1 Nb5 27.e5 You can sense Caruana's reasons for wanting to block the sphere of influence of Nakamura's potentially dangerous dark-squared bishop. 27...f5 28.Kh1 Bc7 29.Rb1 Kh8 Both players are playing a waiting game with each other to see who will make the decisive move. 30.Rb2 g5! And it turns out to be Nakamura who strikes first - and a brave move at that, as it opens all the lines up in front of his own king! 31.fxg5 hxg5 32.Qd1 Qh7 33.Qe1 Rg8

I would imagine Nakamura would have been licking his lips at how his plan is shaping up for a kingside assault - but it is a double-edge position where the slightest slip sees his strategy backfire on him. 34.Nc4 g4 35.Nd6 g3? Whatever was Nakamura thinking here, as this game-changer of a blunder just releases all the tension on the problematic h-file to Caruana's big advantage. The correct plan was 35...Bd8! keeping the tension down the h-file and looking to bring the bishop into the attack with ...Bh4. 36.Rf4 Bd8 37.Bd2 Bg5 38.Rf1 Qh6 (see diagram) Perhaps realising by now that he's busted, Nakamura goes for broke rather than seeing on the board 38...Bxd2 39.Qxd2 Qh4 40.Rf4 Qh6 41.Nxb5 cxb5 42.Rxd4! Qxd2 43.Rxd2 Rxa5 44.Bxb7! and White's central pawn mass will ultimately prove decisive. 39.Nxf5! One very accurate and brave move, and Nakamura's fate is sealed. 39...Qh7??Nakamura is playing on-tilt now. But then again, there wasn't exactly any "joy" either to be had with 39...Bxd2 40.Rxd2 Qg5 41.Be4 Nc3 42.Rg2! with the kingside blockaded and Black's g3-pawn set to fall, and the game soon after. 40.Nd6 For the silicon purists out there, the clinical kill was 40.Bxg5! Rxg5 41.Nxg3 Ra8 (The h3-pawn is taboo thanks to the rook on b2 swinging over to h2!) 42.Rf6! Rag8 43.Rxe6 Rxg3 44.Qf1! and there's no answer to Qf6+. But Caruana opts instead to take the "safe route" to victory by opting not to open up lines to his own king. 40...Bxh3? As bad as it was, the only move was 40...Be7 41.Qe4! that all but forces the trade of queens. But Nakamura's last-gasp speculative try only works if White panics in the time-scramble - but Caruana (remarkably!) has it all figured out now. 41.Nf7+ Kg7 42.Nxg5 Bxg2+ 43.Kxg2 Qh2+ 44.Kf3 Fearing not a jot, Caruana voluntarily marches his king up the board to safety and victory. 44...g2 45.Rg1 Rf8+ 46.Kg4 It may well have been a different story if Nakamura's other rook and knight were more in the game and a bigger threat to the wandering king. 46...Nc7 When your busted, your busted. Despite Caruana's wayward wandering king, there's just nothing for Nakamura to save the game though it would have been nice to see on the board the remarkable 46...Rh8 47.e6! Raa8 48.e7! Rag8 where there's the very flambouyant 49.Kf5!! and Black can't stop Qe5+ easily winning.

47.Rxb7 Kh6 48.Rxc7 Rxa5 1-0