[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2023"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2023.11.04"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2780"] [BlackElo "2786"] [Annotator "Lang, JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C47"] [Opening "Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/uDXLUcuQ/xttsRaKk"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. O-O cxd5 10. h3 Be6 11. Qf3 c5 12. Rd1 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qa5 14. Bg5 Ne4 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qg3 Kh8 17. a4 $146 { Just like in their Norway Chess encounter, Nakamura came prepared with a deep variation in an off-beat open game. } 17... Rfe8 18. Rd6 h6?! (18... f6! { would, surprisingly, be the way to thwart White's bishop. It has too much potential on e5, as well as pressuring the hook on h6. }) 19. Bf4 Re7 (19... e3?! { is consistent with the ...h7-h6 decision, playing energetically to prevent White from having time to coordinate on the weakness. } 20. Qxe3 Bf5 21. Be5! $16 { but White still gets a serious attack and, even without the pawn in its way, Black's bishop is relatively toothless. }) 20. Qe3 Rc8? (20... Rae8 { would be stronger, anticipating a key part of White's intention behind Bf4xh6. } 21. Bxh6? gxh6 22. Qxh6+ Kg8 23. Qg5+ Kf8 24. Qf6 Rd7 { with nothing better than trading rooks and settling for a perpetual check. Notice that, were Black's e8-rook not on the e-file, then White has the winning Rd6xe6 here. This is the deep point behind 20. ... Rae8. }) 21. Bxh6!? (21. Be5 { was apparently also powerful, with threats against g7 and h6 working together. } 21... f6 (21... Kh7 22. Qxe4+ f5 23. Qh4 $16) 22. Bxf6! gxf6 23. Qxh6+ Kg8 24. Rad1! (24. Qg6+?! Rg7 25. Qxf6 Bf7 (25... Bxh3?? 26. Rad1 $18))) 21... f6 (21... gxh6?? 22. Qxh6+ Kg8 23. Qg5+ Kf8 24. Qf6 Ree8 25. Rxe6! { even with a rook on e8 here, the c8-rook hangs! } 25... Rxe6 26. Qh8+ $18) 22. Qxe4 Qxc3 23. Rad1 Rce8 24. Rd8 Bg8 25. Qh4!? (25. Qg6! { there was no need to part with the c2-pawn, but Nakamura has calculated the most precise variation in his line, too. } 25... Rxd8 26. Rxd8 Qa1+ 27. Kh2 Qe5+ 28. g3 Qe6 29. Be3 $16) 25... Qxc2 26. R1d3! (26. R1d7? Qh7) 26... Bh7 27. R3d7 { Only now, when the queen cannot come to h7! } 27... g5 28. Qg3 Qb1+ 29. Kh2 Qf5 30. Rxe7 Rxd8 31. Qc7 Qf4+ { Forced, but this endgame is lost for Black. } 32. Qxf4 gxf4 33. Bg7+ Kg8 34. Bxf6 Bb1 35. Rg7+ Kf8 36. Bxd8 Kxg7 37. Bg5 f3 38. g4 c4 39. Kg3 Be4 40. Bd2 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0