Threepeat Newsflash: Nakamura Wins Gibraltar

Hikaru Nakamura won the Gibraltar Open (January 23-February 2nd) for the third year in a row- an astonishing feat in a strong Open which always attracts many elite players. Top Grandmasters in the 2017 edition included US Champion Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier Lagrave, Veselin Topalov, Michael Adams, Peter Svidler and Rapid chess World Champ Vassily Ivanchuk. Nakamura gave an interview with Tania Sachdev where he spoke about his tournament, tiebreak strategy and future plans. He also complimented the play of Spanish GM Anton David Guijarro, who he beat in the playoff to capture the title. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNCIQwzvTeo] Some highlights from Nakamura's event:

[pgn]

[Event "Tradewise Masters 2017"]
[Site "Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar"]
[Date "2017.01.28"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E18"]
[WhiteElo "2785"]
[BlackElo "2652"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:11:41"]
[BlackClock "0:01:12"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Bd2
Bf6 9. Rc1 d6 10. d5 Nxd2 11. Nxd2 e5 12. b4 a5 13. a3 axb4 14. axb4 Na6 15.
Qb3 Bg5 16. e3 f5 17. f4 Bf6 18. fxe5 Bxe5 19. Nf3 Kh8 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Nb5
Qd7 22. Qc3 Rae8 23. Rcd1 Rf6 24. e4 fxe4 25. Bxe4 c6 26. dxc6 Rxf1+ 27. Rxf1
Bxc6 28. Qf3 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2017-Playoff"]
[Site "Caleta"]
[Date "2017.02.02"]
[White "Anton Guijarro, David"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2785"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 {0} Nf6 {1} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nf3 {0} d5 {1} 4. Nc3 {1} Be7 {1} 5. Bg5
{2} h6 {1} 6. Bxf6 {2} Bxf6 {1} 7. e3 {2} O-O {4} 8. Qc2 {2} dxc4 9. Bxc4 {3}
c5 {28} 10. dxc5 {11} Nd7 {4} 11. c6 bxc6 {5} 12. O-O {10} Rb8 {1} 13. Rac1 {15
} c5 {11} 14. Rfd1 {26} Qe7 {18} 15. b3 {20} Bb7 {21} 16. Ne4 {26} Rfd8 {28}
17. Be2 {42} Bxe4 {34} 18. Qxe4 {2} g6 {2} 19. g3 {47} Bg7 {12} 20. Qc2 {27}
Rdc8 {13} 21. Ba6 {85} Rc7 {7} 22. Bc4 {1} Ne5 {19} 23. Nxe5 Bxe5 {1} 24. Rd3 {
22} Rd7 {39} 25. Rxd7 {5} Qxd7 {1} 26. Rd1 {2} Qc6 {18} 27. Rd3 {62} Rc8 {67}
28. Qd1 {11} Rc7 {8} 29. Rd2 {37} Kg7 {8} 30. Rd8 {43} h5 {19} 31. h4 {5} Re7 {
38} 32. Be2 {15} Qc7 {10} 33. Kg2 {34} Qc6+ {26} 34. Bf3 {4} Qc7 {1} 35. Qd3 {7
} Bf6 {69} 36. Qd6 {45} Qxd6 {19} 37. Rxd6 {2} Rc7 {1} 38. Ra6 {2} Bc3 {15} 39.
Be2 {23} Kf8 {13} 40. Kf3 {15} Ke7 {14} 41. Bb5 {8} Kd8 {4} 42. Ke2 {21} Rb7 {
21} 43. Bd3 {13} Rd7 {7} 44. Bb5 {35} Rb7 {1} 45. Ba4 {10} Rc7 {8} 46. Rd6+ {13
} Ke7 {1} 47. Rd3 {8} Bb4 {10} 48. Bb5 {6} a6 {12} 49. Bc4 {12} Rc6 {0} 50. f4
{20} a5 {19} 51. a4 {2} 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Another big story erupted in the final round as Women's World Champion Hou Yifan lost her game in five moves, to protest against so many women being paired with each other. Hou Yifan, who played against seven women from ten games, elaborates in this interview. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsV4Pf-1U0s] Nakamura also commented briefly on the pairings, and also got a little philosophical:

The @GibraltarChess open was superb as usual. Despite my own doubts about some pairings, everything was done 100% correctly and by the book

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) February 3, 2017

 

"We are all different, but it is great to put aside out differences and come together over the great game of chess." — Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) February 3, 2017  

Look for Gibraltar tactics highlights next week from Vanessa West.