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Levon Aronian vs Hikaru Nakamura
"Death Comes for the Archbishop" (game of the day Jan-11-2016)
World Team Championship (2010), Bursa TUR, rd 8, Jan-12
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation. Classical System Misc. Lines (E98)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
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Jan-14-10  DaveyL: <HeMateMe> Oh yes, very famously!

Korchnoi vs Fischer, 1970

Jan-14-10  Riverbeast: I'm still baffled why, after 25. h3, Nakamura spent the next six moves shuffling his Q and B around, just to get the bishop to b8...Where it hardly seems better placed than on f8

Why not just play 25...Ra7, followed by ...Nf6 and ...g4 ?

Jan-14-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <kakarot: This game was something like Holmes vs Watson.> More like Holmes vs Shavers, I'd say.
Jan-15-10  patzer2: According to http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail..., Aronian's theoretical novelty 19. Ncd1! gave him a lasting advantage that was difficult for Black to defend against.

Even so, Aronian's surprise 42. Rb6!! has to go down as one of the most clever and amusing discovered attack combinations ever played. Not only does White discover a deep attack on Black's position, but he exposes his own queen to a sham attack in the process -- offering to trade his Queen for Bishop, Knight and Rook in a technically won but still very complicated middle game.

Jan-15-10  falso contacto: This game is too good. Classic.
Jan-15-10  jhoro: I (+Rybka) think that 41...Ng7 was weak. Even if Aronian did not play the super nice 42.Rb6!!, 42.f6 would have been very strong too. It made more sense for Naka to bring the Knight to d6 since the battle was on the Queen side anyway.


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Naka was on the ropes few times in this game and was probably bound to make a mistake somewhere, but right after the control was unexpected to me.

Jan-16-10  notyetagm: 41 ... ♘e8-g7?


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42 ♖a6-b6!!


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<patzer2: ... <<<Even so, Aronian's surprise 42. Rb6!! has to go down as one of the most clever and amusing discovered attack combinations ever played.>>> Not only does White discover a deep attack on Black's position, but he exposes his own queen to a sham attack in the process -- offering to trade his Queen for Bishop, Knight and Rook in a technically won but still very complicated middle game.>

Aronian's 42 ♖a6-b6!! is just incredible, showing *amazing* <TACTICAL ALERTNESS> in that Black's last move 41 ... ♘e8-g7 made the stunning 42 ♖a6-b6!! possible; the possibility was not just hanging in the air but only became possible after Nakamura played 41 ... ♘e8-g7?.

Incredible.

Jan-22-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <HeMateMe: hmmmm....has N-h8 ever been played by the winning side in a GM chess game?>

A non-blitz example (though Nimzowitsch was not yet a grandmaster as the term was then understood).

Schlechter vs Nimzowitsch, 1907

A famous example, if Nh1 by White counts:

Nimzowitsch vs Rubinstein, 1926

Nimzowitsch was known for putting his knight in the corner...

Janowski vs Nimzowitsch, 1914

...so much so that when Rubinstein played it Tarrasch sniffed in the tournament book that he hoped Nimzowitsch had not founded a school with the move.

Blackburne vs Rubinstein, 1914

Jan-26-10  elohah: Notes...
Good game by Aronian.

Somebody finally grows a pair...

May-01-10  babamjan: if 42.)... Ba3 43.) Bb8... would've been game over, correct??
Feb-17-11  Kinghunt: What a delightful game. I might even say this is the best tactical game of the century, so far. Any other candidates people want to throw in for consideration?
Feb-18-11  sevenseaman: A milestone game! You can play this work of art many times over and still go on enjoying doing it. There are many nooks and crannies that need to be explored, even though it manages not to look formidably complex.

Should be an unforgettable event even for Nakamura; he must have come a better chess player out of it.

'Best tactical game of the century'?

I must humbly concede I do not have enough perspective to join that queue.

Feb-18-11  Kinghunt: <babamjan: if 42.)... Ba3 43.) Bb8... would've been game over, correct??>

If by B you mean R, then yes, 42...Rxa3 is met by 43. Rxb8+. It's not an immediate game over, but after 43...Ne8 44.. Rxe8+ Kg7 45. Ne6+ Kh7 47. Nxc7, white has three pieces, a pawn, and an active position for the queen, and should win.

Oct-31-11  Everett: <Riverbeast: I'm still baffled why, after 25. h3, Nakamura spent the next six moves shuffling his Q and B around, just to get the bishop to b8...Where it hardly seems better placed than on f8 Why not just play 25...Ra7, followed by ...Nf6 and ...g4 ?>

I think <25..Ra7 26.Rb3> is uncomfortable to meet.

However, I would have liked to see a positional pawn sac like <28..b5 29.axb5 a5 30.Qa4 Bb6> I think this would justify the baroque rearranging we saw from Black. He would vastly improve his DSB, which can now play along the a7-g1 diagonal or perhaps exchange itself for a White defender on the K-side.

Jan-11-16  JohnBoy: I suppose in <zanshin>'s 01-12-10 diagram above, after the hypothetical 45.Ne6+, white end up w 3 minors plus a passed pawn against blacks Q after 45...Kf7 46.Nc7 Qc6 47.Nb5.

Ws ability to stifle Bs K-side activity, while maintaining sustained pressure against the lonely B Q-side - coupled with the sweet 42.Rb6 tactical solution - make this a model game. Nice GotD.

Jan-11-16  JohnBoy: I believe <Everett>'s interesting 28...b5 proposal still faces 29.Rc6. The white bishops exert enormous pressure.
Jan-11-16  ossipossi: Black KB moves <f8-g7-f8-e7-d8-c7-b8>. One imagines that mighty BSQ emerge all of a sudden in King's-indian like a thunderbolt. Not always happens.
Jan-11-16  kevin86: White will queen and possibly mate...maybe both.
Jan-11-16  schnarre: ...Quite a bit of Queenside activity in this game. Nicely handled!
Jan-11-16  benjaminpugh: 42. Rb6 would be a good Thursday/Friday puzzle.
Jan-11-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: can someone please explain the pun?
Jan-11-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: Google it, it's a book by Willa Cather.
Jan-11-16  AdolfoAugusto: HeMateMe.

It is regarding the capture of the Bishop after exposing White Queen.

Jan-12-16  QueensConquerer: Why didn't Nakamura capture the Queen? If Rook takes bishop then knight blocks, rook takes and King can escape.
Jan-14-16  Amarande: <HeMateMe> regarding your earlier post about games where the winner plays Nh8, there's even this one where it is actually *the* winning move:


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(From #97 in Tarrasch's The Game of Chess; I'm not sure who the players were or when the game was played)

After 12 ... Nf8, the game is a draw (and Black can even lose!). Let him play 12 ... Nh8! on the other hand and he wins the game.

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