Emerging from the Skilling "Open" Prelims: The Chalk
Carlsen, Aronian, So, MVL, Giri, Nepomniatchi, Nakamura, and Radjabov dispense with the challengers and begin the knockout stages of the Skilling Invitational
Happy Thanksgiving! Seriously, there’s plenty to be thankful for, even in a year like this.
Thanksgiving as a holiday is, however, a uniquely American tradition. For most of the rest of the world, life goes on uninterrupted. And so it was with the Skilling “Open” (read: Invite-only), where quarterfinal matches in the knockout stage were played on Thanksgiving day. Over the first part of the week, however, round robin play in the “preliminaries” determined who would advance to the knockout stages.
The easy answer was: mostly the favorites. Carlsen, Nakamura, So, Vachier-Lagrave, Aronian, Giri, Nepomniatchi, and Radjabov all scored well enough to advance, while newcomers Firouzja, Vidit Gujrathi, and David Anton Guijarro all failed to advance. Sergey Karjakin and Jan-Krzysztof Duda were off form, scoring only 5.5/15 and 4.5/15, respectively, in the pre-lims. Peter Svidler was unable to keep pace with the younger generation, and also played uncharacteristically poor, blunder-filled chess, scoring 6/15. Ding Liren finished a half point out of the qualifying places, while Le Quang Liem, tragically, found himself tied with Radjabov, MVL, Giri, and Firouzja on all but tiebreakers. He and Firoujza were eliminated.
The seventeen year old Firoujza will be left to do some soul searching, after another rude reception from the world’s chess elite. The youngster scored a number of impressive wins, only to lose in each of the last two rounds, consecutively, and find himself eliminated from the tournament on tiebreaks. In round five, he had lost to the world champion, Magnus Carlsen, who said, “it’s nice to beat him while I still can.” In the penultimate round he lost to Hikaru Nakamura, who echoed the sentiment. “Firouzja is the future, but like Magnus said, it’s nice to beat him while we still can.”
A friendly rivalry, but one-sided, so far.
The game with Nakamura left Hikaru and Magnus tied atop the prelim standings, and ruined Firouzja’s confidence for the final round, where he was methodically outplayed in a long, strategic battle. Since we’ll be reviewing Firouzja’s games for years to come, it seems, we will take a look at one this week as well. Our game of the week this week, is Firoujza - Nakamura, from round 14 of the Skilling Open Preliminary rounds. If ever there was a time for a mid-week special edition of Check. it might be this week. Provided I have the time, I may choose to review Firoujza’s round 15 loss to Le Quang Liem, not to pile on or root against the youngster, but merely because the game looks especially worthwhile for the improving chess player. The strategic nature of the game, and the subtlety of the mistakes, however, make its study a bit of a chore. It’s a task that I am candidly intimidated by, mostly because my own understanding may not measure up. Engine evaluations and continuations are largely unhelpful in such situations, and if my positional understanding was on the level of Firouzja’s, I wouldn’t be writing this column.
I do understand a few things about this week’s game:
Game of the Week #12
Nakamura - Firouzja (1-0) Skilling Open Preliminaries Round 14
e4 c6
“The Caro-Kann… it’s all pawns and no hope.” - Benny Watts.
In all seriousness, the Caro-Kann is one of Firouzja’s “go to” defenses against 1. e4, but against elite competition, his narrow repertoire has occasionally been exposed. Caruana got an excellent position against Firouzja in round 8 of the Altibox Norway event, as Aryan Tari had before him in Round 6. In both cases, Firouzja escaped without punishment, winning against Tari, and drawing with Caruana. In the Skilling Open, Firouzja lost to Duda in a Caro-Kann, but not because of the opening play, and then drew a game with MVL, more or less effortlessly. In modern chess, however, it’s simply a herculean task, even for experts in a particular opening or line, to constantly defend your repertoire against your opponent’s home preparation. Most of the top players vary their choices, at least occasionally, to avoid playing against the latest trap that Leela Zero or Stockfish NNUE has devised. And in Round 12 of this very tournament, Firouzja won a brilliant game against Giri on the black side of a classical Sicilian! Against Nakamura, we were back to the bread and butter.
d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 (diagram)
Nakamura goes in for the absolute main line of the classical Caro-Kann. For his part, black prepares the central advance 2. … d5 that looks to confront the undefended white e4 pawn. The pawns are exchanged and the light squared bishop is developed to a natural square on the dangerous b1-h7 diagonal, before black seeks to establish his remaining central pawns on the light squares. The black pawn structure is the very definition of solid, with no weaknesses anywhere on the board, and excellent control over the light squares. For his part, white bullies the exposed bishop for a few moves in order to develop with tempo and lodge a pawn on h5, where he claims to have a slight space advantage, or a subtle grip over the kingside structure. Given that black has laid claim to firm control over the light squares, white simply exchanges the light squared bishops, and asks the black player why they used 4 of the first 10 moves on a piece that is now gone from the board.
Here, players with the white pieces have a choice as to how to develop the remaining bishop. White can play 11. Bf4, which seems like a natural, aggressive development, but allows the check: 11. … Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Bb4 13. c3 Be7 14. c4 Qc7, after which white has some weaknesses in the king’s pawn cover, should he choose to castle queenside. Or white can choose the more sedate 11. Bd2, covering the a5-e1 diagonal and preparing long castles. The “problem” with 11. Bd2 is quite simply that the bishop is misplaced on d2 and it would prefer to be on f4. If black plays “normally” after 11. Bf4, with 11. … Ngf6 12. 0-0-0 Be7 13. Kb1 0-0 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Nf6 16. Qe2 Qd5 17. Ne5 Qe4 18. Qxe4 Nxe4 19. Rhe1 Nf6 20. g4 we reach a position were only white can be better. The lichess opening explorer shows wins by Kasparov (over Anand), Shirov (over Kramnik) Topalov (over Akopian) and Anand (over Izoria) from this position. With the bishop on d2, when it’s all said and done, the bishop has to move in order that it not be traded for the e4 knight. This single tempo allows black to flick in … Rfd8 and … c5, which creates a little bit of central counterplay.
Nakamura goes for the principled variation:
Bf4 Qa5+
And Firouzja rises to the challenge. No reason to go in for a long defense of a position that can only be described as suffering after the “normal” 11. … Ngf6.
Bd2 Bb4 13. c3 Be7 14. c4 Qb6!? (diagram)
Not a novelty, but hardly the most normal move in the position. Qc7 has been tried most often. The queen on b6 appears to have aggressive intentions for the b2 pawn, but exerts no influence over the b8-h2 diagonal.
Technically the first “novelty” according to lichess opening explorer, at least, is Nakamura’s 16th move, but from here, the players are likely on their own, as this position has been reached few enough times. White has more space on the kingside, which is a more or less constant characteristic of these lines of the Caro-Kann, due to the pawn on h5. Black’s g8 knight will come to f6 in order to complete his development, and in all likelihood, a pair of knights will be exchanged on e4, after which the d7 knight will come to f6 with tempo. Black will castle - most likely on the short side, though he retains some flexibility - and look to strike against the white center. For his part, white must choose between long castles and short castles, after which his king will enjoy relative safety, but he won’t be able to shove his kingside pawns down the board.
Bc3 Ngf6 (diagram) 16. Ne5 and Nakamura makes a committal decision with the f3 knight. I actually think it’s more in keeping with the position to decide on either 0-0 or 0-0-0 at this moment, and maintain some flexibility with the knight. Let’s try to figure out why:
Black is laboring under a relatively significant space disadvantage. Given that the black player has fewer good squares to put pieces on, piece exchanges are generally desirable for them. The dark squared bishops are an interesting case study. Given that all of black’s central pawns are on light squares, the e7 bishop is classically considered, “good,” while it’s counterpart on c3 is “bad,” due to the white d4 pawn. However, the c3 bishop is menacing the black kingside on the long diagonal after an eventual d5! push, and the black e7 bishop is placed rather passively. If the two pieces were simply removed from the board, black would be a step closer to equality. Should black seek to exchange those pieces, white would like to exact a concession from the black player in the form of additional control over the newly weakened dark squares (wouldn’t a knight look nice on d6, for example), or some tactical shot. After 16. Ne5, Firoujza is able to exchange the bishops by way of Bb4, taking advantage of the king’s presence on the e1-a5 diagonal and the fact that the tactics never work for white when black can flick in Bxc3 with check.
If white tries 16. 0-0 black’s task is an order of magnitude harder. The immediate 16. … Bb4 fails to a fantastic sequence that brings the f3 knight all the way to d6 with tempo: 17. c5 Qa5 18. Nd2! Bxc3 19. Nc4! Qc7 20. Nd6+ and 21. Qxc3 when white has a significant advantage. If black inserts 16. … Rad8 17. Qe2 before 17. … Bb4, as in the game, 18. c5 Qa5 19. Nf5! and the other knight is headed for d6, with check, because the f3 knight is not yet blocking the e-file, and the e6 pawn is pinned to black’s king. In the game, after 16. Ne5 Nakamura has committed to this outpost for the f3 knight, perhaps only one move early, and left his king in the center of the board, which allows Firouzja to exchange the dark squared bishops:
… Rad8 17. Qe2 Bb4! 18. 0-0 (if 18. c5? Bxc3+, 19. … Qc7 and black has no problems) 18. … Bxc3 19. bxc3 0-0 20. Rab1 Qc7 21. f4 c5 (diagram)
I think here, Firouzja will be satisfied with his opening play. Black has achieved full equality. Without light squared bishops it seems unlikely that the c4 pawn will ever fall in the current structure, so black seeks to exchange his c-pawn in order to leave white with hanging pawns on the half open c- and d-files. If I’m Firouzja, candidly, I can start dreaming of claiming an advantage as a result of those weakened white pawns at some point, soon. For his part, Nakamura will be looking to claim that with his great space advantage, he can find useful, aggressive outposts for the knights, and force some concessions from the black player. Play continued:
Qf3 Nb6 23. Rfd1 Nfd7 24. Ne4 cxd4 25. cxd4 (diagram)
Due to every strategic consideration in the aforementioned paragraph, by all rights, this game *should* have continued: 25. … Nxe5 26. fxe5 Qxc4 (the hanging pawn falls) 27. Nd6! (the knight arrives on an aggressive outpost) Qxa2 (what else?) 28. Ra1 Qd5 when white can claim compensation for his pawns in the form of open lines on the queenside and an aggressively placed knight on d6, but no more than that - “compensation.”
Instead, Firouzja, who must not have liked the look of defending , even a pawn up, sought to immediately solve the problem of the white e4 knight. In so doing, the e5 square is permanently abandoned, the e5 knight is elevated in station by an order of magnitude. Firouzja’s 25th move is unabashedly a strategic error:
… f5?! 26. Nc5 Nxc5 27. dxc5 Qxc5+ 28. Kh2 Qc7 29. a4 Rxd1 (29. … Nxa4 is failing to 30. Rxb7 and 29. … Nxc4 to 30. Qc3) 30. Rxd1 Rd8? (diagram)
But 30. … Rd8 is simply a tactical error. Firouzja seeks to exchange off the rooks and defend in the ending after 31. a5 Rxd1 32. Qxd1 Nc8, but Nakamura is not so obliging.
White to play and win.
Qxb7! Qxb7 32. Rxd8+ Kh7 33. Ng6! (25. … f5 did not weaken only the e5 square!) and because mate is threatened with 34. Rh8#, Firouzja is forced to play 33. … Qc8 (or a8) 34. Rxc8 Nxc8 35. c5 (diagram)
In this position, material is even, but black’s c8 knight is completely dominated. White can win in straightforward fashion by marching the king to e5 and either promoting the passed c-pawn, or taking the e6 pawn and creating a passer on the kingside. We see, here, that all king and pawn endings are forever losing for black because of the strategic disaster 25. … f5, which dooms the e6 pawn to be weak forever, and gives white permanent control of e5. In the middle game the knight was happy to occupy the square, in the endgame, the monarch takes up residence. Because allowing the exchange of knights always loses immediately, Firouzja tried bringing the king around, but he’s never in time to stop Nakamura from reaching e5:
… Kg8 36. Kg3 Kf7 37. Kf3 Ke8 38. Ke3 Kd7 39. Kd4 a6 40. Ke5 Kc6 41. Kxe6 Kxc5 42. Kf7 Kb4 43. Kxg7 Resigns, 1-0. (diagram):
There’s a lesson to be learned, here, and that lesson is: pawns can never move backward. 25. … f5 is just a howler. The e5 and g6 squares are made permanently weak, and the e6 and g7 pawns are left without a wingman, forever. In the remaining moves of the game, white places his e5 knight on g6, brings the king itself to e5, and then captures the doomed e6 and g7 pawns. Simple enough, right? Of course the “losing” move is 30. … Rd8, but the reason that the tactics are working for white are the strategic trumps created by the move 25. … f5. By move 30, Firouzja simply had to find the variation: 30. … Rc8 31. Qb3 Qc5 32. a5 Qxa5 33. c5 Nd5 34. Qxb7 Qc7 35. c6 a5 when the silicon Grandmasters calmly believe that black is holding the draw. A human can understand Firouzja’s desire to trade off the heavy pieces, but the ending is lost because of the weaknesses of the squares e5 and g6, as well as the e6 and g7 pawns.
The computers make it seem like the game after 25. … f5 is still a dead draw, but look at the variation after 30. … Rc8 and tell me that you’d confidently be able to visualize the white c-pawn firmly ensconced on c6, but totally blockaded, 12 ply into the future? It looks intimidating to me, without knowing the engine evaluation, especially for a position that remains in the mind’s eye, so to speak.
Either way, it’s certainly an instructive game. Well played, Nakamura!
Next week, we’ll look at games from the knockout stages - perhaps from the tournament winner?
Puzzle of the Week #14:
But first, a solution to last week’s puzzle:
A common opening error/trap. 1. Qa4+! wins the b4 bishop. If black tries 1. … Nc6 to block while maintaining the defense of the bishop, 2. Bxc6+ removes the defender.
This week our puzzle is another position from the Skilling Open. This time from Nakamura vs. Vachier-Lagrave in the final game of the Round 2 during the knockout portion. Nakamura must have been having deja vu looking at MVL’s kingside pawn structure and the holes on g6 and e5. But here, white is down an exchange! Is the attack strong enough? Can Naka break through?
White to play.
What’s your evaluation? And what’s the best continuation for white?
As always, email answers to JensenUVA@gmail.com or DM on twitter @JensenUVA
If you like this email, please do forward it. Like, share, subscribe, tweet about it, be about it, or mention it to your friends in person from a social distance assuming everyone can pass a temporal thermometer scanning. It’s free! I just like to make sure my analysis gets to anyone who might enjoy or benefit from it. And I love to engage with the community when I can.
Until next time, which might be in the middle of the week, if I feel up to it, ARGH! SHAKHMATY!!