Grand Chess Tour Final Set: Nakamura vs. MVL

The Grand Chess Tour finals (December 14-16) are set as American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura will face Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France for the 2018 Grand Chess Tour title. The tour has previously been won twice by Magnus Carlsen and once by Wesley So. En route to a victory in his semi-finals match, MVL became the #1 rated blitz player in the World. In the post-game interview, he modestly said that Magnus was still the best blitz player in the World. Maxime recently faced Hikaru in the speed chess champs on chess.com, a bout that didn't go well for the Frenchman. And yet, MVL points out that blitz online is not exactly the same as over-the-board blitz. Today MVL scored an impressive rapid victory vs. Levon Aronian with White.

[pgn]

[Event "London Chess Classic"]
[Date "2018.12.13"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "France"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Be7 10. Nc3 Nh4 11. Nxh4 Bxh4 12. Re1 b6 13. g4 Be7 14. Be3
Bd7 15. Rad1 Kc8 16. Ne2 Re8 17. Nf4 Bf8 18. Bc1 g6 19. Re2 Bg7 20. Rde1 Kb7
21. e6 fxe6 22. Nxe6 Bf6 23. c3 c5 24. Bf4 Bxe6 25. Rxe6 Rf8 26. R1e4 Rf7 27.
g5 Bd8 28. h4 b5 29. c4 bxc4 30. Be3 Rb8 31. Bxc5 Kc8 32. Bd4 Rb5 33. Rc6 Kd7
34. Rxc4 c6 35. a4 Rb3 36. Bxa7 Rxb2 37. Bd4 Rd2 38. Be3 Rd5 39. Rb4 Bc7 40.
Kg2 Rf8 41. Rb7 c5 42. a5 Kc6 43. a6 Ra8 44. Re6+ Bd6 45. Rxh7 Rxa6 46. Rxg6 c4
47. Rg8 Rf5 48. g6 Be5 49. g7 1-0

[/pgn]

Things continued to go poorly for the charismatic Armenian super-GM, who lost 3-1 in the blitz. Nakamura has every reason to be confident himself. The reigning Speed Chess Champion, played very well in his semifinals match against Fabiano Caruana. He fought back from a bad position in the classical in round one, and in the Rapids, turned things around by winning against in a line where he was actually out-prepared.

[pgn]

[Event "London Chess Classic"]
[Date "2018.12.11"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2746"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Qc2 Bb7 8. Rd1
Bd6 9. Bg3 Nbd7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. e4 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxg3 13. hxg3 e5 14. Bb5 c6
15. Be2 Qc7 16. g4 Rfe8 17. g5 Rad8 18. Kf1 b5 19. Rh4 a6 20. a4 Qa5 21. g6
hxg6 22. Ng5 Nf8 23. Rd3 Bc8 24. Qb3 Qc7 25. axb5 axb5 26. Rf3 Be6 27. d5 cxd5
28. exd5 Rxd5 29. Nxe6 fxe6 30. Rfh3 e4 31. Rxe4 Ra8 32. g3 Qc5 33. Re3 Ra3 34.
Qb2 Qd6 35. Rh4 Ra4 36. Rhe4 Qa3 37. Qxa3 Rxa3 38. Bg4 Rc5 39. Bxe6+ Nxe6 40.
Rxe6 Raxc3 41. Rxc3 Rxc3 42. Rxg6 b4 43. Rb6 b3 44. Kg2 Kf7 45. f4 g5 46. fxg5
Rc2+ 47. Kf3 b2 48. Kg4 Kg7 49. Rb7+ Kg6 50. Rb6+ Kg7 51. Rb7+ Kg6 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "London Chess Classic"]
[Date "2018.12.13"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2746"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8.
Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Bd3 Qa5+ 10. Kf1 Ba6 11. Bxc7 Bxd3+ 12. Qxd3 Na6 13. Bg3 Nb4 14.
Qe2 Rfc8 15. a3 Qa4 16. Kg1 Na2 17. h3 Nc1 18. Qf1 Qc2 19. Kh2 Ne2 20. Be5 Qxb2
21. d5 Nc3 22. dxe6 fxe6 23. Rd1 Qxa3 24. Rd7 Nd5 25. Nd4 Bf6 26. Bg3 Bxd4 27.
exd4 Qa4 28. Rd6 Rc6 29. Rd7 Rcc8 30. Rd6 Qe8 31. Qa6 Rc6 32. Ra1 Rxd6 33. Bxd6
Qd7 34. Be5 Nb4 35. Qe2 Nc6 36. Bg3 Qd5 37. Qa6 Nxd4 38. Rc1 Nf5 39. Rc8+ Rxc8
40. Qxc8+ Kf7 41. Qc7+ Kf6 42. Bf4 e5 43. Bc1 h6 44. Bb2 Qc5 45. Qb8 a5 46. f4
Kg6 47. Bxe5 Qc6 48. Qa7 h5 49. h4 a4 50. Qa6 Kh7 51. Qd3 Qg6 52. g3 Nh6 53.
Qc4 Ng4+ 54. Kh3 Qb1 0-1

[/pgn]

Caruana fought back to win the first game of the blitz to reignite the match, but was unable to overtake Nakamura, who won the remaining games.

[pgn]

[Event "London Chess Classic"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2746"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 e6 4. c4 Be7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Nc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Be2
b6 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. d4 a5 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. O-O Be6 13. Bb5 Qb6 14. Qe2 Nc6 15.
Rac1 Rac8 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Rfd8 18. Rfd1 h6 19. h3 Bf8 20. Bd3 g6 21. Bf6
Rd7 22. Bb5 Ra7 23. Ba1 Bg7 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. Qb2+ Kg8 26. Be2 a4 27. Bf3 Rd8
28. Qf6 axb3 29. axb3 Rad7 30. Qc3 Rc8 31. Ra1 d4 32. exd4 Rxd4 33. Rab1 Rb4
34. Bd5 Bxd5 35. Rxd5 c4 36. Rbd1 Rxb3 37. Qe5 c3 38. Qe7 Rb1 39. Kh2 Rxd1 40.
Rxd1 c2 41. Rd7 Qb8+ 42. g3 Qb3 43. Rd8+ Rxd8 44. Qxd8+ Kg7 45. Qd4+ Kh7 46.
Qf4 Kg8 47. Qd2 Qb2 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "London Chess Classic"]
[Date "2018.12.13"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2746"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Rc1 Ba6 8. Qa4
dxc4 9. Bxc4 Bb7 10. O-O a6 11. Be2 Nbd7 12. Rfd1 b5 13. Qc2 Rc8 14. Ne5 c5 15.
dxc5 Rxc5 16. Qb1 Qe8 17. Nxd7 Nxd7 18. Ne4 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Qa8 20. Bf3 Rc8 21.
Rd1 Nf6 22. Ng5 h6 23. Bxb7 Qxb7 24. Nf3 Qe4 25. Be5 Qxb1 26. Rxb1 Ne4 27. Ne1
f6 28. Bg3 Rd8 29. Nf3 Rc8 30. Ne1 e5 31. f3 Nd2 32. Rd1 Nc4 33. Rd7 Bc5 34. b3
Nxe3 35. Bf2 Nf5 36. g4 Nd4 37. Kf1 Ne6 38. h4 Bxf2 39. Kxf2 Nf4 40. Rd6 a5 41.
Ra6 Rd8 42. Rxa5 Rd2+ 43. Kf1 Nh3 44. Nd3 Rxd3 45. Rxb5 Rxf3+ 46. Ke1 Rf2 47.
a4 Ra2 48. a5 Nf4 49. Kd1 e4 50. Kc1 e3 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "London Chess Classic"]
[Date "2018.12.13"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A12"]
[WhiteElo "2746"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. b3 Bf5 5. Bb2 e6 6. Nc3 h6 7. d4 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O
9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qc2 Bg4 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. h3 Bh5 14. g4 Bg6 15.
Bxg6 fxg6 16. Qxg6 Rf7 17. Ne2 Nf8 18. Qc2 Rc8 19. Rad1 Bc5 20. Kg2 Qh4 21. Bd4
Be7 22. f4 Bb4 23. cxd5 exd5 24. f5 h5 25. Rf4 Nh7 26. Ng3 c5 27. gxh5 Qd8 28.
Bb2 d4 29. e6 Rfc7 30. Qc4 b5 31. e7+ bxc4 32. exd8=Q+ Rxd8 33. bxc4 d3 34. h6
gxh6 35. Rg4+ Kf8 36. Ne4 Ng5 37. Nxg5 hxg5 38. Rxg5 d2 39. Kf3 Rh7 40. Rg3
Rdd7 41. Be5 Rh5 42. Kg4 Rdh7 43. Bf6 R5h6 44. Bg5 Ra6 45. e4 Rxa2 46. Rd3 Rc2
47. Bxd2 Rxc4 48. Rd8+ Kf7 49. Bxb4 Rxe4+ 50. Kf3 Re7 51. Bxc5 Rxh3+ 52. Kg4
1-0[/pgn]

US Chess wishes Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura good luck in the finals. Good game to Fabiano Caruana, who had such an incredible 2018. Follow the Grand Chess Tour finals starting at 8:50 ET on Saturday-Monday December 14-16. There will also be a third-place match between Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana.