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Home » Chess News » Events » 54th Reggio Emilia 2011-12 » Nakamura extends his lead after Round 6 win in Reggio

Hikaru Nakamura extended his lead at the top by beating tail-ender Nikita Vitiugov. Nakamura was pretty much winning after 26 moves as he had a fantastic knight against his opponent's bad bishop and all the active play. The rest of the game was slowly realising this advantage.

Nakamura,Hikaru - Vitiugov,Nikita [C11]
54th Reggio Emilia Reggio Emilia ITA (6), 02.01.2012

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.0-0-0 Qc7 11.Kb1 b6

[11...a6 12.h4 b5 13.Qf2 Na4 14.Nxa4 bxa4 15.h5 Rb8 16.h6 g6 17.Bc5 a5 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.Qxd4 Bd7 21.c3 Rfc8 22.Ka1 a3 23.b3 a4 24.b4 Bb5 25.Bxb5 Rxb5 26.Rd3 Rc4 27.Qe3 Qc7 28.g3 Rb6 29.Kb1 Qb7 30.Qd2 d4 31.Rd1 Qe4 32.Ka1 Rbc6 33.Rxd4 Rxd4 34.Qxd4 Qxd4 35.Rxd4 f6 36.c4 Rc8 37.c5 g5 38.Rd7 fxe5 39.fxe5 Rf8 40.Rd1 Rf3 41.Rc1 Rf7 42.c6 Rc7 43.b5 1-0 Ledezma Alvarez,J (2015)-Lerari,S/ICCF email 2008/Corr 2011]

12.Bb5 Bb7 13.h4 Na5 14.Bd4 Rac8 15.Ng5 Nc4 16.Qe2 h6 17.Bxc4 dxc4 18.Bxc5 Bxc5 19.Nge4 Bb4 20.Nd6 Rcd8 21.Rh3 Bxd6 22.Nb5 Qc6 23.Nxd6 Qxg2 24.Qe3 Be4 25.Rc1 f5 26.Rg3 Qh2 27.Qg1 Qxg1 28.Rcxg1 Rd7 29.Rg6 Re7

White's pieces are much better than black's passively placed ones and the knight is hugely better than the bishop. Long term black is probably just lost.

30.Rxh6 c3 31.bxc3 Bf3 32.Rhg6 Bg4 33.Rg5 Kh7 34.h5 Kh6 35.Rh1 Rd8 36.c4 Bf3 37.Rh2 Bg4 38.Kb2 Rb8 39.Kc3 Rd8 40.Kd4 Rb8 41.Ke3 Kh7 42.Kf2 Rh8 43.Kg3 Kg8 44.h6 Rh7 45.Rg6 Bd1 46.c3 Bg4 47.Kf2 Kf8 48.Ke3 gxh6 49.Rhxh6 Rxh6 50.Rxh6 Kg7 51.Rh2 Rd7 52.Kd4 Bf3 53.Rh3 Bg4 54.Rh1 Bf3 55.Rg1+ Bg4 56.c5

Now the win is clear.

56...bxc5+ 57.Kxc5 Rc7+ 58.Kb4 Rc6 59.Nb5 Kf8 60.a4 a5+ 61.Kxa5 Rc4 62.Nd4 Rxc3 63.Rb1 Rc8 64.Rb6 Kf7 65.Nxe6 Rc4 66.Ng5+ 1-0

Anish Giri's win against Vassily Ivanchuk was pretty similar to Nakamura's. This time a better minor piece and pawn structure along with active play meant that Ivanchuk was reduced to waiting to see how Giri was going to exploit this.

Giri,Anish - Ivanchuk,Vassily [E11]
54th Reggio Emilia Reggio Emilia ITA (6), 02.01.2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.g3 d6 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.0-0 e5 8.Bg5 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 h6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Qxf6 gxf6 13.a3 Bc5 14.Nc3 c6 15.e3

[15.Rac1 Be6 16.Ne4 Ke7 17.Rfd1 Rhd8 18.e3 a4 19.Bf1 Ra5 20.Rd2 Bb6 21.Nc3 Bc7 22.Rd4 h5 23.Be2 Rh8 24.Bd1 h4 25.Nxa4 hxg3 26.hxg3 Rha8 27.Nc3 Re5 28.Rh4 Bb6 29.Kf1 d5 30.cxd5 Bxd5 31.Rb4 1-0 Postny,E (2649)-Riff,J (2487)/Evry FRA 2008/The Week in Chess 708]

15...Ke7 16.Na4 h5 17.h4 Rg8 18.Rfc1 Ra7 19.Bf3 Bg4 20.Bxg4 Rxg4

[20...hxg4 would at least avoid the problems with the h-pawn in the game.]

21.Kf1 Ra8 22.b3 Ke6 23.Nc3 Ke7 24.Ne2 Rgg8 25.Nf4 Rh8

White has a better pawn structure and far superior pieces. This adds up to a huge advantage.

26.Nd3 Bb6 27.Rab1 Kd7 28.Rc2 Bc7 29.Nf4 Rae8 30.b4 axb4 31.axb4 Ra8 32.b5 Ra4 33.Rbb2 Ra5 34.Kg2 Ra4 35.Kf3 Raa8 36.Ra2 Rxa2 37.Rxa2 d5

Black doesn't want to wait passively.

38.bxc6+ bxc6 39.cxd5 c5 40.Ra6 Bxf4 41.Kxf4 Rc8 42.Rc6!!

A simplifiction into a totally winning position where white can't go wrong.

42...Rxc6 43.dxc6+ Kxc6 44.g4 c4 45.e4 Kd6 46.f3 Ke6

[46...c3 47.Ke3]

47.Ke3 Ke5 48.gxh5 f5 49.h6 f4+

[49...Kf6 50.exf5]

50.Kd2 Kf6 51.h5 1-0

Alexander Morozevich regularly heads for complications which he sees his way through better than his opponent. Today against Fabiano Caruana he kept the tension high for a long time, rejecting various pawns he could take which would probably have led to a draw. I'm not sure when Morozevich's position became lost but in the end the h6-pawn he spent his time setting up didn't provide threats in time and Caruana's c-pawn proved decisive.

Morozevich,Alexander - Caruana,Fabiano [D80]
54th Reggio Emilia Reggio Emilia ITA (6), 02.01.2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.h4 Bg7 6.e3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qxd5 9.Qf3 Qxf3 10.Nxf3 Nc6 11.Rb1 Na5 12.Bb5+ Bd7 13.Ke2 Rc8 14.Bxd7+ Kxd7 15.Rb5 b6 16.dxc5 Rxc5 17.Rxc5 bxc5 18.Rd1+ Ke6 19.e4 Bxc3 20.Be3 Bf6 21.h5 Rc8 22.h6 Nc4 23.Bf4 Nb2 24.Rd5 c4 25.Ra5 Nd3 26.Be3 Rb8 27.Nd4+ Kd7 28.Kd2

[28.Rxa7+ Kc8 29.Nc6 Rb2+ 30.Kf3 c3 31.e5]

28...Rb7 29.g4

[29.Nc2]

29...e6 30.f3 Bd8 31.Ra4 Nb2 32.Ra6 Bb6 33.Nc2 Nd3 34.Bxb6 axb6 35.g5 Nf4 36.Ne3 Kc6

37.Ng4

[37.Kc3 Kb5 38.Ra8 Ne2+ 39.Kd2 Ng1 40.a4+ Kb4 41.Nc2+ Kb3 42.Nd4+ Kb2 43.Ke3 c3 44.f4 c2 45.Nxc2 Kxc2 46.Rc8+ Kb3 47.Kf2 Nh3+ 48.Kg3 Nxg5 49.fxg5]

37...Kb5 38.Ra8 Rc7 39.Nf6 c3+ 40.Kc2 Ne2 41.Rd8 Kc4 42.Nd7

[42.Nxh7 is too slow for white.]

42...Nd4+ 43.Kc1 c2 44.Nxb6+ Kd3 0-1

54th Reggio Emilia Reggio Emilia (ITA), 27 xii 2011 - 6 i 2012											cat. XX (2744)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2758	*	*	½	.	1	.	1	.	½	.	1	1	14	3012
2.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2762	½	.	*	*	0	.	1	.	1	0	1	.	10	2795
3.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2775	0	.	1	.	*	*	½	0	1	.	½	.	8	2734
4.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2714	0	.	0	.	½	1	*	*	1	.	½	.	8	2754
5.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2727	½	.	0	1	0	.	0	.	*	*	1	.	7	2693
6.	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2729	0	0	0	.	½	.	½	.	0	.	*	*	2	2476

Round 6 (January 2, 2012)
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Vitiugov, Nikita	1-0	66	C11	French Defence
Morozevich, Alexander	- Caruana, Fabiano	0-1	44	D80	Gruenfeld 4.Bg5
Giri, Anish	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0	51	E11	Bogo Indian Defence

54th Reggio Emilia w Reggio Emilia (ITA), 27 xii 2011 - 6 i 2012
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Guramishvili, Sopiko	wg	GEO	2374	*	*	0	.	1	1	1	.	1	.	1	.	15	2469
2.	Sharevich, Anna	wg	BLR	2267	1	.	*	*	0	.	½	.	1	.	1	½	11	2351
3.	Brunello, Marina	wm	ITA	2221	0	0	1	.	*	*	½	.	1	.	½	.	8	2247
4.	De Rosa, Mariagrazia	wf	ITA	2122	0	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	1	½	½	.	7	2209
5.	Chierici, Marianna	wf	ITA	2048	0	.	0	.	0	.	0	½	*	*	1	.	4	2040
6.	Videnova, Iva	wg	BUL	2297	0	.	0	½	½	.	½	.	0	.	*	*	3	2023

Round 6 (January 2, 2012)
Sharevich, Anna	- Videnova, Iva	½-½	20	E04	Catalan
Brunello, Marina	- Guramishvili, Sopiko	0-1	34	B22	Sicilian Alapin
Chierici, Marianna	- De Rosa, Mariagrazia	½-½	42	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation

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