This is GM Daniel Naroditsky. We are watching one of the great all-time matchups, Hikaru Nakamura, against Magnus Carlsen at the 2023 Norway Chess Blitz Tournament. Magnus Carlsen hasn't shown up at the board just yet. A wry little smile by Hikaru, and this is a three-minute game, so being fashionably late will bear its consequences.
But Magnus does come to the board and still has time to take his blazer off. His clock is ticking. How will he respond to Hikaru's first move?
Already 20 seconds. off his clock, but Magnus, none too concerned. He is known to play rather quickly in Blitzchests, and still adjusting his pieces. 30 seconds now off his clock, and d4 is met with d5. Will we see a queen's gambit by Hikaru?
First, he plays knight f6. No, bishop to g5, and this is called the Tory attack. Hikaru has played this line pretty extensively in over-the-board Blitzchests, particularly at the Norway Chess Blitz Tournament. It is not considered a particularly good line, but Hikaru has analyzed it very deeply, and it can be dangerous. If black doesn't respond accurately, the knight from f6, it jumped to e4, chasing the bishop back to f4.
And now the position resembles a London system with that knight on e4 rather than f6. Carlsen taking another healthy think here as he pushed c5 and applied pressure on Hikaru's center. And the bishop comes out to f5 in order to support the knight on e4. And we will likely see a lot of tension in the center. Knight takes e4, probably inadvisable here because the pawn would have recaptured and chased.
the knight out of f3 and instead Hikaru is playing this in the style of a London system playing c3 building up that pawn triangle and solidifying the pawn on d4 but the other idea is to open up a pathway for white's queen which jumps into b3 and applies pressure on the b7 pawn that pawn has to be defended and it's not that easy to defend it well you don't want to go b6 because it would weaken the knight on c6 in fact bishop b5 in that position would have likely won the game on the spot and instead Queen goes up to d7. Now knight e5 is still a tempting move for Hikaru. It would force the exchange of knights and bishop f1 to b5.
Pinning the queen and the king would be a major threat, but Carlsen would have time to secure the b5 square by pushing his a-pawn up one square. Now it's Hikaru's turn to take a long think, trying to figure out a way to generate problems for black on the queen side. He can bring his bishop out, and he does, and he brings it out to the most aggressive possible square, bishop b5.
Carlsen immediately responds by trading on d2. Hikaru could take with the king if he really wants to insist on knight to e5. And that facial expression seems to indicate Hikaru is thinking about it and he does play king takes d2. And of course the drawback is that the king is now stuck permanently in the center. And in order to bring it to one side of the board, Hikaru would have to invest 4 or 5 tempi.
Carlsen immediately pushing the pawn up to f6 and covering the e5 square, keeping the knight on f3 at bay. And what is Hikaru's follow-up going to be? King takes d2 was a fancy move, but it was also a very committal move, a risky move.
Stuck in the center is the white king and queen to a4 by Hikaru, pressuring the knight on c6. But bishop takes c6 here isn't really a threat. That knight is well protected by Carlsen's queen and his pawn on b7. And we'll see if black completes his development.
First, he plays rook c8, applying even more defensive power to the knight on c6 and an exchange on c5 by Hikaru. Pawn takes e5 is a very typical move in these structures in order to garner the d4 square for white's knight. And that is why Carlsen first responds by pushing e5 and taking the d4 square under control.
But the drawback is that the d5 pawn is now a weakness. And you can see Hikaru bringing his rook over to d1. And he is preparing most likely to drop his king back to its initial square, king d2 to e1, opening up a direct line of fire by the rook to the d5 pawn.
And that is why Carlsen makes it very careful. defensive move as he drops his knight from c6 to e7 and offers an exchange of queens that Hikaru accepts, but the other idea is to make sure the d5 pawn is under the protection of the knight, and now under the protection of the bishop as well, as the bishop from d7 parks itself on e6, and Hikaru does have a pretty solid position, but it seems like black is slightly better here. Carlsen has better control of the center, well-coordinated pieces, and now a space advantage on the king side as he pushes the h5.
The h-pawn up to h5 and grabs important squares on the king side and potentially threatens to banish the bishop with h5, h4. But Carlsen doesn't have to rush with that move and he can expand even further if he wants by playing g7, g5. And instead, he expands in a different way by maneuvering the knight first to f5 and chasing the bishop over to h2.
And now the knight parks itself in the center, knight f5 to d6, controlling important light squares in the center, e4 and c4. But Hikaru... He is not resting either.
Bishop f3 and now knight b3. And Carlsen might have missed that move. g5 was kind of an autopilot reaction.
And knight b3 is a nasty one. Because it attacks the d5 pawn. Which is now hanging. And the c5 bishop is also under fire.
And Carlsen is lucky that he has the move knight e4. In order to cut the influence of... the white bishop and now a bunch of trades could happen we could get a quick draw here but i'm worried about hikaru's bishop on h2 which is biting on granite and indeed we have a trade on c5 and hikaru now possesses the bishop pair but will he also take on e4 no instead he plays c4 and an excellent move by nakamura undermining the pawn on d5 which is fulfilling the important duty of protecting the knight on e4 which is why d takes e4 or rook takes e4 both impossible because it would drop a minor piece on e4.
Carlsen has to find a way here to protect the pawn on d5, but what's crazy is that rook h to c8 runs into c takes d5 anyway, and the bishop on e6 would be hanging with check, and Hikaru would get two bishops for a rook, which is usually an overwhelming material advantage. As Carlsen drops below a minute, he has dug himself into a bit of a hole here, missing that move, knight b3, and Hikaru not letting him breathe. This last move, c3, c4, causing major problems.
for black in the center, and Carlsen might have to give away a pawn here, one way or the other, really uncomfortable there, Magnus is frustrated in himself for letting this happen, he was better out of the opening, but allowing this move, knight b3, and he's down to 30 seconds, counter striking with g4, and we're getting a lot of trades here, Hikaru takes on d5, and Hikaru likely going to go up a pawn here, pawn takes, e6 check is going to happen, then he will recapture the pawn on f3, and he will be up a pawn in that endgame, but The biggest advantage here for Magnus is that White's bishop on h2 is still completely out of the game. So as long as Carlsen can keep that bishop out of the game, he will have some practical compensation for Hikaru's extra pawn. No question that the game has turned in White's favor, both on the board and also on the clock.
Hikaru has a 20-second time advantage, but an excellent retreating move by Carlsen as he reestablishes material equality. Knight g5, it forked the pawns on f3 and h3, but look at Hikaru. He says, You're going to h3.
I'm going to close the mousetrap with f4. Now the bishop on h2 finally has a clear job. The knight on h3 is completely trapped. It has no way out because the g5 square is now protected by white's pawn.
But there is also no easy way to attack the knight on h3. So it's stuck kind of like in a Norwegian prison. But man, Hikaru saying you can't attack the knight. Take that king f1 trying to get to g2. Magnus cuts him off tempo for tempo.
Rook h8 to g8 covering the g2 square. and Hikaru brings his own rook up to c5, exploiting the drawback of Black's previous move, which is that the h-pawn was left unsupervised, but f5 cuts off the fifth rank, Carlsen trying to stabilize the situation in the center, and Hikaru, his rook continues to run amok, rookie five check, and bishop g3, an excellent move, making possible the king move up to g2, which would attack the knight, and king g2 here is still possible, Magnus would have to respond with h4, counterattacking the bishop on g3, and... after all is said and done.
White would go up a pawn in a rook endgame, but Hikaru, he seems a little bit confused. You're trying to squeeze more than that out of the position as he goes rookie eight. He wants to win the knight in its entirety. He does not want to give his bishop away. He does not want to go a rook, a pawn up in a rook endgame.
He wants to go a minor piece up in this position, and now h4 will be met with bishop h2, and black's knight is still stranded, and that is exactly what happens, and Carlsen might have to sacrifice his knight eventually for the f2 pawn. Hikaru... with 15 seconds, and Carlsen down to his last 5, and Hikaru is attacking the queenside pawns, giving a check on b7, driving black's king up to g6, rook b6 check, forking the king, and the a6 pawn, but Carlsen, I feel like he's setting something up on the kingside, a little bit of hesitation from Hikaru, he can play rook f6, but instead he captures the pawn on a6, Carlsen brings his rook back to g7, and king g4. King g4 is now a big threat. The king was threatening to infiltrate to f3.
And there it is. The knight sacrifice on f2. And White's bishop is in big trouble. Magnus Carlsen's rook activates itself and takes on b2. And Hikaru is up a piece right now.
But look at the activity of Black's pieces. There is a passed h1 on h4. Black's rook on b2 ideally placed. Hikaru seems nervous. He checks on g6 and recaptures the pawn on h4, but Carlsen has driven him to the back ranks, and king takes e3.
The pawn on f4 is also hanging, and Carlsen, he doesn't capture it yet. Instead, he plays king f3, and he is threatening to play. play E3 and E2 and win the game. Hikaru seems to be on the defensive at this point, firmly on the defensive, even though he is up a minor piece.
And Carlsen, he is not touching that pawn on F4, using it as an umbrella. That pawn on F4 is helping Black. And with his last second, Hikaru ties himself to the F5 pawn.
Carlsen opens up a second front and pushes B4 and ties his rook over to the 8-2 pawn. Hikaru has to remain on the second rank. The players blitzing out the moves, Hikaru down to his last 8 seconds. And keeping his rook on the second rank, Carlsen finally captures the pawn on f4 and creates for himself connected passers in the center.
And when will he push them? He's pushed f4, he's gotten his king to f3, Carlsen on the cusp of winning this game down a minor piece. Hikaru checks him on h3 and drives the king back to h4, back to e4, and now the rook parks itself on h4.
order to pin the f4 pawn, and he attacks it with his bishop using some tactics, but the pawn was untouchable. There was a mate on b1, and Carlsen simply takes on a2. He's up three pawns now for the minor piece, and the b-pawn is going to likely win the game, and b3 pushing that pawn forward. Hikaru has to put his rook behind the pawn.
and the pawn goes up to b2, and white can't move his bishop. He can't move his bishop because of rook a1 check, and Hikaru is paralyzed. He is in zugzwang, and he is losing.
He cannot move his king up to e2 either because the pawn will promote with a discovered check, and on his last seconds, Hikaru trying one last attempt, checking the black king. Carlsen has garnered 30 seconds for himself with the quickness of his play, and the king zigzags skillfully away from the check. How adroitly Carlsen handles his rook and his king, and f3 is the hammer blow.
All of his pawns. threatening to promote. He plays f2. Hikaru gives away his bishop, and Rook a1 check is unstoppable. What a win.
What a turnaround in this game by Carlsen, and if you enjoyed this video, make sure to click the link in the playlist for more of these Blitz videos. Thank you so much for watching.