By Zaldy Dandan
Variety Editor

FORMER U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura won the 16th North American Open in Las Vegas last month by an undefeated score of 6 pts., winning 5 and drawing two games. Early this month, the 19-year-old finished in a tie for second at the Fifth GibTelecom Chess Festival in Gibraltar, Spain.
Nakamura, who now attends Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and expects to graduate in 2010, lives in White Plains, New York, and is considered America’s brightest chess star. He is regarded “as an aggressive player who is reluctant to draw games early, having once said in an interview that ‘there is no point in taking draws.’ He prefers instead to exploit all prospective winning chances, giving him a style of play…marked by ‘astonishing creativity...relentless determination...[the making] of unexpected moves and a will to win.’ Nakamura says the bishop is his favorite chess piece.”
Game of the week. Here is Nakamura against a Russian grandmaster at GibTelecom in a partie annotated by GM Lubosh Kavalek.
White: H. Nakamura (2651)
Black: V. Epishin (2561)
Sicilian Kan
Gibraltar 2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.Be3 d5?! 8.exd5 Qxd5 (Finding out that Epishin played this before, Nakamura could have prepared his aggressive response beforehand.) 9.Nc3! (Black is already far behind in development — a common problem with the Paulsen Sicilian — even without taking the pawn.) 9...Qxg2? (Epishin grabs the pawn and gets into trouble.) 10.Be4 Qh3 11.Qd4! (Developing with tempo.) 11...Nf6 (After 11...Bf6 12.Qa4+ Bd7 13.Qb4 black can’t defend the queenside.) 12.0-0-0 (White finished his development and his pieces radiate a lot of energy. Black has to worry not only about his queen, but also about his king.) 12...Nbd7?! (Missing the last chance to simplify 12...Nxe4 13.Nxe4 [or 13.Qxe4] 13...0-0 with a playable game.) 13.Rhg1 g6? (Loses, but black was in a bad shape anyway. Hiding the king with 13...0-0 gives white a powerful attack after 14.Rg3 Qh4 15.Rdg1, for example 15...g6 16.Bxg6! Qxd4 17.Bxh7+! Kh8 18.Bxd4 and white should win.) 14.Rg3 Qh5 15.Bg5! (Tightening the noose around the black queen.) 15...h6 16.Bf3! (Forcing the queen to take another pawn.) 16...Qxh2 (Giving up the queen 16...Qxg5+ 17.Rxg5 hxg5 is not enough after 18.Ne4.) 17.Be3! (Threatening 18.Rh1, winning the queen. The immediate 17.Rh1 Qxh1+ 18.Bxh1 hxg5 gives black unnecessary play.) 17...e5 18.Qa4 e4 19.Nxe4 (19.Rh1 Qxg3 20.fxg3 exf3 is not as clear) 19...Nxe4 20.Bxe4 (Threatening 21.Bxb7! Bxb7 22.Qxd7+ winning.) 20...Qh4 ( After 20...Qh5 comes 21.Bxb7!) 21.Nc5! (Winning material.) 21...b5 22.Qd4 (Everything is hanging.) 22...Bf6 23.Qd5 Nxc5 (After 23...Ra7 white goes back to 24.Rh1 and wins.) 24.Bxc5 (And white mates soon.) Black resigned.
Puzzler.
White — pawns on g3, h4; Nb4, Qb8, Nf6, Kf7, Bg1
Black — pawns c3, c4, d7, e5, g6; Na5, Rc5; Bd1, Kf5; Nf8
White to play and mate in four moves.
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