[Event "Candidates"] [Site "Toronto"] [Date "2024.04.14"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [WhiteTeam "IND"] [BlackElo "2789"] [BlackTeam "USA"] [Annotator "GM Eugene Perelshteyn"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C55"] [Opening "Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Mez4h4WA/ZKcY3Jhs"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by GM Eugene Perelshteyn } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 { The previous round, Vidit faced 4. ... a6!? followed by 5. ... h6 against Gukesh and lost. } 5. c3 d6 6. O-O g5!? { This is actually a well-known idea as of a few years ago. Hikaru clearly decided on a more aggressive setup for this game. Keep in mind that Vidit lost with the white pieces a round earlier, and also lost to Pragg when faced with a delayed Schlieman Gambit in the first half. } 7. Nbd2 Bg7 8. Bb3 a5 9. a4 O-O 10. Nc4 Be6 11. Re1 (11. Ne3 { is met with } 11... d5! { where Black gets clear counterplay in the center. }) 11... Re8 12. h3 Qd7 { I was watching this game from the balcony and Vidit was using up a lot of time on each move while Hikaru played relatively quickly and walked around booming with confidence. } 13. Bd2 Rad8 14. Qc2 { Both sides finished development and the game remains very complex with lots of fight ahead. However, Hikaru used about 12 minutes on his next move, probably trying to recall his lines but could not. } 14... b6 { During his video recap, Nakamura mentioned that his time management from this point on in the game was quite poor. This is actually a good lesson for all chess improvers out there that time management is a very important skill. For intance, in this position there's no point to waste time on moves like 14. ... b6 as there's not much calculation required. } 15. Ba2 Nh5 { Played after a 27 minute think (!). Clearly, Hikaru's feel for the clock was off as he typically plays logical moves like this quickly. } 16. Ne3 Bxa2 17. Rxa2 Ne7 { stopping Ne3-f5. } 18. d4 exd4 (18... d5 { The engine is screaming for this move, but I agree with Hikaru that it's not very human. After } 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. dxe5 dxe4 21. b4 { Black's king feels too weak and Ne3-g4 is coming next. Maybe 3500 engines can play chess like this as Hikaru mentioned on his recap, but not human GMs! }) 19. cxd4 d5 20. e5 Rc8?! { Perhaps the first inaccuracy from Nakamura as he had another logical move. } (20... Nf4! 21. Ng4 Neg6 { This is more in the spirit of the position as both sets of knights are occupying some key squares. Black will play for ... c7-c5 next with lots of counterplay. }) 21. Ra3 (21. Ng4! { is perhaps more accurate. } 21... c5 22. Ra3! cxd4 23. Qd3 { and Black will lose the d4-pawn next. White has the better structure. }) 21... c5? { Consistent with 20. ... Rc8, but it allows White a strong idea. } (21... Nf4! { Just like on the previous turn, this move was a better try. }) 22. dxc5 (22. Ng4! cxd4 23. Qd3 { would transpose to the line given at move 21. White is better. }) 22... Rxc5 (22... Nf4! { A difficult move, delaying the re-capture of the c5-pawn. But it turns out that White doesn't have a useful move. For example: } 23. Qb1 bxc5 { and now taking the pawn on a5 is risky } 24. Bxa5? Nc6! 25. Bd2 Nxe5 26. Nxe5 Rxe5 $17 { with nice domination and a clear edge for Black. }) 23. Qd1 Nf4 24. b4 Rcc8!? { A risky pawn sacrifice, but it seemed that Black is trying to play for a win. } (24... axb4 25. Bxb4 Rcc8 26. Bxe7 Rxe7 { Hikaru correctly pointed out that it's hard to play for a win here. Perhaps, it was time to put his ambitions aside and seek equality? }) 25. bxa5 bxa5 26. Bxa5 Nc6 27. Bc3 Nxe5? { An unfortunate blunder from the American. Hikaru said that he simply missed White's idea. } (27... Rcd8 { is best, and after } 28. Ng4 d4! 29. Bd2 d3! 30. Bxf4 gxf4 { the engine claims equality here, but there's plenty of fight still left as Black's d-pawn is quite advanced. }) 28. Bxe5! (28. Nxe5 Bxe5 29. Bxe5 Rxe5 { with about an equal position. This is what Hikaru saw. }) 28... Bxe5 29. Nxd5! { The point! White just wins a pawn as the e5-bishop is now attacked twice. } 29... Nxd5 30. Nxe5 { White is a clear pawn up. Hikaru is not able to adjust to defending such a difficult position and falls apart quickly. } 30... Qe6 31. Rd3 Nf4 32. Rd6 Qa2 33. Rxh6 { The second pawn is gone as well and now it's all over. } 33... Qb2 34. Qd7 Qb3 35. Qf5 Ng6 36. Rxg6+ { What a heartbreaking loss for the American superstar, just as he was getting close to the leaders. Now, a full-point behind Nepo and Gukesh, Hikaru doesn't have any room for error and needs to put maximum pressure against the lowest seed Abasov, who he faces as White in round nine. } 1-0