Upon my arrival at the JFK Airport in New York from Europe on Wednesday, the U.S. customs official quickly found out that chess is my profession and said: "The kid won it!"
They used to talk like this at the border about Bobby Fischer. This time it was all about Hikaru Nakamura, the new U.S. champion.
Fast Winning Pace
Early in the month, he became the youngest U.S. champion, at 16, since Fischer, who won at age 14. Nakamura topped the 64-player field at the 2005 U.S. Chessmaster Championship in San Diego, which featured an unprecedented $285,962 in prizes. Winning his last-round game from a lost position, Nakamura shared first place with Alexander Stripunsky with 7 points in nine games, but swept the playoff 2-0. He won the event and $25,000 first prize on determination and great fighting spirit.
Then on Dec. 9, Nakamura turned 17 and began to play a match in Cuernavaca, Mexico, against the 14-year-old Ukrainian prodigy Sergei Karjakin. This time Nakamura's 4 1/2-1 1/2 victory was convincing. Although he can out-calculate many players in tactical clashes, Nakamura also understands subtle positional play and is strong in the endgame. In the first game of the match, in the Scotch Game, Nakamura built his victory through the light squares that Karjakin could not have controlled.
Nakamura-Karjakin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 0-0 9.0-0 cxd5 10.Bg5 c6 11.Na4!? (This move in connection with c2-c4 gives white a more pleasant position. It is a refreshing choice over the regular 11.Qf3.) 11...h6 12.Bh4 Re8 13.c4 Bd6 14.Rc1!? (A useful move, waiting to see what black is going to do with his bishop on c8. It is stronger than 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Nc3 Be5!? and here in the game Svidler-Malanuik, St. Petersburg 1993, white quickly lost after a wrong combination: 16.Nxd5? Qxd5 17.Bxf6 Bb7, protecting the queen and threatening mate on g2.) 14...Rb8 15.b3 Be6 16.cxd5 Bxd5 (After 16...cxd5 17.Nc5 Rb4 18.Bg3, white successfully contests dark squares and has a slight pull.)
17.Bc4! (The powerful, centralized bishop on d5 has to go.) 17...Bf4 18.Rc3 Be5 19.Rc2 Qd6 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Bxd5 cxd5 (The position is roughly equal. White can blockade the d-pawn, but it is not easy to progress on the queenside, where he has a pawn majority.) 22.Nc5 Be5 23.g3 Rbc8 24.Nd3 Bc3 (The bishop takes away many important squares and neutralizes the knight blockade.) 25.Nf4 d4 26.Qd3 Ba5? (Slowly giving up territory. He had to keep the position closed, for example 26...Rc5 27.Ne2 Qf6 28.Rfc1 Rec8 and white can't penetrate into black's position.)
27.Rc4! (The jack is out of the box.) 27...Rxc4 28.bxc4! (Not only creating a dangerous passer, but establishing a vital outpost on the square d5. White pieces dominate on light squares, while the blocked pawn on d4 looks like a useless stump.) 28...Qe5 29.Rb1 Bc3 30.Rb7 Re7 31.Rb5 (Nakamura begins to drive the black pieces back.) 31...Qd6 32.Nd5 Re6 33.Rb7! (White attacks the pawn on a7, but sets his eyes also on the f7 pawn. After tying black's position he turns to his c-pawn to finish the job. Wrong is 33.Nxc3? dxc3 34.Qxc3 Qd1+ 35.Kg2 Re1 and the white king is in danger.) 33...Re8 (After 33...a6 34.Qf5 Qf8 35.c5!, the c-pawn begins its victorious march, e.g. 35...Qe8 36.c6!) 34.Qf3 Rf8 35.Rxa7 Bb4 36.Qf5 Bc5 37.Rc7 Ba3 38.c5! Bxc5 39.Rxc5 g6 (On 39...Qxc5? 40.Nf6+ wins.) 40.Nf6+ Kg7 41.Ne4 Black resigned.
Kasparov on Fischer and Others
Everyman Chess issued in a quick succession Garry Kasparov's two new volumes "On My Great Predecessors." In Part III the world's top-rated player deals with world champions Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky and their outstanding opponents: Svetozar Gligoric, Lev Polugaevsky, Lajos Portisch and Leonid Stein. Part IV is devoted to world champion Fischer and three great Western players of his era: Samuel Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf and Bent Larsen.
Originally planned as one volume, the material grew too large. Kasparov believes this time his analyses are much better than in his first two volumes. I would not hesitate to recommend his new books. It is a marvelous collection of games and Kasparov adds and improves on work of other great analysts. We shall examine this work in future columns.
Two Russian writers, Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik, came out with an intriguing idea. In their books "Mikhail Tal: Tactical Genius" and "Alexander Alekhine: Master of Attack," they present the brilliant ideas of two world champions in the form of tests. It is fun to read. Both books are also issued by Everyman Chess.
Eastern Open
There is still time to register for the traditional eight-round Swiss tournament, scheduled for Sunday to Dec. 29 at the Wyndham Washington Hotel (1400 M St. NW). For more information, call David Mehler at 202-857-4922.
Solution to today's problem by E. Letzen (White: Kb3,Qe8; Black: Kb5,P:a7,b6,b7,c6): 1.Qe4 Kc5 2.Qe5 mate; 1...Ka6 or 1...c5 2.Qa4 mate; or 1...a5 2.Qc4 mate; or 1...a6 2.Qb4 mate.
