Nakamura wins Karjakin escapes in Gashimov Memorial Round 3

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Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2014 (3)

Nakamura wins Karjakin escapes in Gashimov Memorial Round 3

Mark Crowther - Tuesday 22nd April 2014

Mamedyarov lost to Nakamura in Round 3. Photo ©

Mamedyarov lost to Nakamura in Round 3. Photo © | http://shamkirchess.az

Magnus Carlsen still leads the Gashimov Memorial by a point over the rest of the field but it could have been even better as he quickly gained the advantage with black against Sergey Karjakin. Hikaru Nakamura beat Shakhriyar Mamedayarov in a Caro-Kann where Mamedayarov equalised quite quickly but then got much too ambitious and was destroyed by almost perfect play from Nakamura. Teimour Radjabov hasn't played a classical event in six months after a catastrophic post-Candidates 2012 run. This event is probably about regaining some confidence. Radjabov played a variation of the Gruenfeld well understood not to be dangerous for either side with best play and a draw was the result.

Round 3 Standings: Carlsen 2.5pts, Karjakin, Caruana, Radjabov, Nakamura 1.5pts Mamedyarov 0.5pts

Round 4 Pairings: Karjakin-Mamedyarov, Radjabov-Nakamura, Caruana-Carlsen.

Round 3 Games

Carlsen vs Karjakin. Photo © http://www.shamkirchess.az.

Sergey Karjakin said he deviated from his normal 1.e4 to avoid Magnus Carlsen's Berlin Defence to the Ruy Lopez. Instead he played the sharp 4.f3 vs Carlsen's Nimzo-Indian and was quickly surprised by 6.Nh5 and got into trouble on the board and on the clock. After Carlsen's 9...c5! he quickly got the advantage and it seemed that a combination of clock and position would lead to a win. Karjakin however defended well and his position didn't deteriorate much after that. After first time control Carlsen lost his remaining chances with 44...Kf7?, it's not clear whether his suggestion of 44...Nf4 would have led to a win. The game was more or less equal and Karjakin accurately drew from here. Carlsen seemed a little disappointed not to win and it was indeed a bit surprising given his recent form he didn't win but there wasn't anything completely clear. Karjakin was obviously a little relieved.

Nakamura and Karjakin. Photo © http://www.shamkirchess.az.

Hikaru Nakamura put together an impressive display of calculation to beat some rather overoptimistic play from Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. 8.dxc5 was hardly going to be the refutation of this variation of the Caro-Kann and white eventually gave up a pawn for attacking chances. Most probably black should allow white to regain his pawn in return for simplification to a draw. Instead 17...h6 and 18...g5 played for much more and Nakamura quickly obtained a winning position and won in 33 moves. Nakamura was another player who hadn't played in a while and still felt he was rusty but nevertheless he was happy to get back to 50%. Mamedyarov will hope that just as in London he will be able to recover from a slow start.

Caruana and Radjabov Press. Photo © http://www.shamkirchess.az.

Teimour Radjabov hasn't played a classical event for six months and before that he was playing extremely poorly. This event one imagines is the start of his road back and he most probably won't be that ambitious in the early rounds. Rajdabov played a drawish variation of the Gruenfeld that both players knew the tactical details of very well and a draw resulted. Caruana too doesn't seem to have got back into the swing of things and said it was too early for him to talk about his form. Next up Carlsen.

Vugar Gashimov Mem 2014 Shamkir AZE (AZE), 19-30 iv 2014											cat. XXII (2780)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2881	*	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1	.	2½	3041
2.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2772	½	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2792
3.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2783	.	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	.	.	1½	2752
4.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2713	.	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	1½	2771
5.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2772	0	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	1	.	1½	2808
6.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2760	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	0	.	*	*	½	2515

Round 3 (April 22, 2014)
Karjakin, Sergey	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	63	E20	Nimzo Indian
Radjabov, Teimour	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	28	A34	English Symmetrical
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	1-0	33	B12	Caro Kann Advanced

Vugar Gashimov Mem B 2014 Shamkir AZE (AZE), 19-30 iv 2014															cat. XVII (2663)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2722	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	2½	2919
2.	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2732	.	*	.	.	1	.	.	½	½	.	2	2778
3.	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2734	½	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	1½	2619
4.	Abasov, Nijat	g	AZE	2516	.	.	½	*	.	½	½	.	.	.	1½	2691
5.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2716	.	0	.	.	*	1	.	.	½	.	1½	2667
6.	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	2685	.	.	.	½	0	*	.	1	.	.	1½	2630
7.	Safarli, Eltaj	g	AZE	2656	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	½	.	½	1½	2599
8.	Mamedov, Rauf	g	AZE	2660	.	½	.	.	.	0	½	*	.	.	1	2566
9.	Durarbayli, Vasif	g	AZE	2584	0	½	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	1	2598
10.	Guseinov, Gadir	g	AZE	2621	0	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	1	2579

Round 3 (April 22, 2014)
Bacrot, Etienne	- Guseinov, Gadir	1-0	31	E94	King's Indian Classical
Eljanov, Pavel	- Durarbayli, Vasif	½-½	47	D85	Gruenfeld Defence
Wang, Hao	- Abasov, Nijat	½-½	46	E34	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Motylev, Alexander	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	0-1	34	B51	Sicilian Rossolimo
Safarli, Eltaj	- Mamedov, Rauf	½-½	33	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov

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