Quick thinking: Nakamura dominates rapid and blitz chess in St. Louis

So much of greatness in sports and the arts comes down to how you measure it.

Was Leonardo da Vinci a “greater” artist than Ludwig van Beethoven? Is Tiger Woods a “greater” athlete than LeBron James? Which yardstick do you even use?

Italian sprinter Marcell Jacobs has been crowned the “world’s fastest man” after his recent triumph in the Olympics’ 100-meter dash. Yet it’s likely that Jacobs would not even be competitive in the 1,500-meter run, and may not be able to finish a marathon at all. At certain distances, he’s not the fastest by a long shot.

Or take the case of American GM Hikaru Nakamura. The 33-year-old Nakamura has ranked as high as second in the world at classical time controls, just behind Norwegian world champ Magnus Carlsen, and was tipped as a potential world championship contender. But he has slipped a bit in recent years, falling to 19th on the global rating chart and fourth in the American chess hierarchy, behind GMs Fabiano Caruana (No. 2), Wesley So (No. 9) and Leinier Dominguez Perez (No. 13).

But speed the clocks up just a little bit, and suddenly Nakamura is once again a world-beater, as he proved at the just-concluded St. Louis Rapid and Blitz Tournament. Remarkably, Nakamura went undefeated in both halves of the tournament, never losing in nine rapid games and 18 blitz matches against a world-class field that included all three of his higher-rated American rivals. In both rapid and blitz, he defeated Caruana, the challenger in a hard-fought 2018 title match against Carlsen and the man who displaced him atop the U.S. chess pecking order.

In their rapid game, Nakamura and Carlsen engaged in a classic fight for the initiative in the sharp Ruy Lopez Arkhangelsk line, with White’s 9. dxe5!? effectively sacrificing a pawn for good play against the Black king after 15. Nd4 Bxd4 (interesting would have been 15…Nxd4!? 16. Bxa8 Ne2+ 17. Kxg2 Nxc1 18. Rxc1 Rg8+ 19. Kh1 Ke7 20. Re1+ Be6 with chances for both sides) 16. cxd4 0-0-0 17. Bf4 Rhe8 18. Bxg2, and Nakamura’s two bishops and half-open c-file more than compensate for the material deficit.

White keeps the pressure on 20. d5! Kb7 21. Rc5, and achieves a real bind on Black’s rook and knight with 24. Rxd8 Nxd8 (Rxd8 25. Rh5 Rg8+ 26. Kg1 Rg7 27. b3 keeps the clamp on) 25. Rc7+ Kb6 26. Rd7, when Caruana’s rook is tied to defense of the knight and his knight is tied to defense of the f-pawn.

White cashes in on 29. Ra7 Kd5 (see diagram; now 30. Rxa6?! Nc6 31. Bd2 Rb8 32. h3 f5 greatly eases Black’s burden) 30. Ra8! (a far stronger idea, threatening the winning 31. Bb6) Rf8 31. Bh6! (stopping 31…Ne6) Re8 32. Bd2 Kc5 33. Be3+ Kb5 34. Rb8+ (picking off Black’s queenside pawns, but also strong here would have been 34. Rc8! a5 35. Bd4 Rf8 36. Bc5 Re8 37. Bd6, with the killer threat of 38. Bc7) Kc6 35. Rxb4, and Caruana’s queenside can’t be saved.

Nakamura neatly snuffs out Black’s last flicker of counterplay to collect the point: 39. Ke2! (the threat of 40. f3 mate forces simplification) Nf4+ 40. Bxf4 Kxf4+ 41. Kf1 Rc8 42. Ra4+ Ke5 (Kf3 43. Ra3+ Kg4 44. b4 wins) 43. Rb4, and the White passed pawns are ready to roll; Caruana resigned.

The first Nakamura-Caruana blitz game featured some high-quality positional strategizing in a Caro-Kann Two Knights line, especially considering the two players had just five minutes (plus a two-second increment) for the entire game.

Nakamura as White never puts a foot wrong, getting a strong passed d-pawn with 20. d5 cxd5 21. cxd5 e5 (exd5?? 22. Qxe8+ Rxe8 23. Rxe8+ Bf8 24. Rxd5 f6 25. Rdd8, winning) 22. Qe4, breaking down the Black d-file blockade, and trading one advantage for another with 37. Nf3 Rxd6!? 38. Rxd6 Bxd6 39. Qd5! Bf8 40. Qxb7 h6 41. Re1 Kh7 42. g3 Qd6 43. Qf7!, hitting the rook on e8 and the pawn on f5.

The nearly forced queen trade will cost Black his e-pawn — if 45…Bd6, 46. f4 easily defeats the pin — and once again Nakamura will exploit his queenside pawn edge with deadly accuracy. In the final position, after 60…Rxb7 61. Rxb7 Kxb7 62. Kxa4 Kc6 63. Kb4, the outside passed pawn offers an elementary win, and Black resigned.

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Many of the players in the rapid and blitz tournaments will be staying on in St. Louis for the 8th Sinquefield Cup, one of the strongest classical tournaments held on U.S. soil. Caruana is expected to be in the 10-grandmaster field that begins play this week.

And while you have your appointment calendars out, we would be remiss in not noting the 52nd Atlantic Open, long a staple of the Washington summer chess scene, which will be held Aug. 27-29 at the Sheraton Reston Hotel in the Northern Virginia suburb. It will be real-life, over-the-board chess, although masks will be required for all competitors.

There are seven sections of play and a blitz tournament, and the spectating is free. For more information, check it out at ChessTour.com/ao21.htm.

Hope to see you there!

Nakamura-Caruana, St. Louis Rapid, St. Louis, Mo., August 2021

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 d5 8. d4 dxe4 9. dxe5 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 exf3 11. exf6 gxf6 12. Be4 Bd7 13. Nd2 fxg2 14. Nb3 Bb6 15. Nd4 Bxd4 16. cxd4 O-O-O 17. Bf4 Rhe8 18. Bxg2 Ne7 19. Rac1 c6 20. d5 Kb7 21. Rc5 cxd5 22. Bxd5+ Bc6 23. Bxc6+ Nxc6 24. Rxd8 Nxd8 25. Rc7+ Kb6 26. Rd7 b4 27. Kf1 Kb5 28. Be3 Kc6 29. Ra7 Kd5 30. Ra8 Rf8 31. Bh6 Re8 32. Bd2 Kc5 33. Be3+ Kb5 34. Rb8+ Kc6 35. Rxb4 Ne6 36. Rb6+ Kd5 37. Rxa6 f5 38. Ra5+ Ke4 39. Ke2 Nf4+ 40. Bxf4 Kxf4+ 41. Kf1 Rc8 42. Ra4+ Ke5 43. Rb4 Black resigns.

Nakamura-Caruana, St. Louis Blitz, St. Louis, Mo., August 2021

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qe2 Nxe4 6. Qxe4 Nd7 7. d4 Nf6 8. Qf4 Nd5 9. Qd2 Bf5 10. Bd3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 e6 12. O-O Bd6 13. c4 Ne7 14. b3 O-O 15. Bb2 Qa5 16. a3 Rfd8 17. Qe2 Qh5 18. Rfe1 Nf5 19. Rad1 Re8 20. d5 cxd5 21. cxd5 e5 22. Qe4 Nh6 23. h3 f6 24. Qa4 Qf7 25. Nd2 a6 26. Ne4 Rad8 27. Qc4 Nf5 28. Rd2 Bf8 29. Qd3 Rd7 30. Qf3 Nh4 31. Qg3 Ng6 32. Red1 Red8 33. d6 f5 34. Ng5 Qf6 35. b4 Re8 36. Qb3+ Kh8 37. Nf3 Rxd6 38. Rxd6 Bxd6 39. Qd5 Bf8 40. Qxb7 h6 41. Re1 Kh7 42. g3 Qd6 43. Qf7 Qe6 44. Qxe6 Rxe6 45. Nxe5 a5 46. b5 a4 47. Kf1 Rb6 48. Nxg6 Kxg6 49. Re5 Rb7 50. Rd5 Be7 51. h4 h5 52. Ke2 Rb8 53. Kd3 Rc8 54. b6 Rb8 55. Rb5 Kf7 56. b7 Ke6 57. Be5 Bd6 58. Bxd6 Kxd6 59. Kc4 Kc6 60. Kb4 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.