Quite an exciting battle on board 4 in round 4 at the Las Vegas Chess Festival. Hikaru was pushing for a win a he overpushed which led to a losing position. Fortunately for him, his opponent failed to convert.
[Event “2008 NATIONAL OPEN”]
[Site “Las Vegas”]
[Date “2008.06.07”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Black “Laylo, Darwin”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[WhiteELO “2747”]
[BlackELO “2452”]
[Source “MonRoi”]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.g3 Nxc3 5.bxc3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.Rb1 Nd7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O c5 10.c4 Qc7 11.d3 Rb8 12.Bg5 e5 13.Qa4 h6 14.Be3 b6 15.Nd2 Nf6 16.h3 Bd7 17.Qa3 Nh5 18.Ne4 Bc6 19.Nc3 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 f5 21.Kh2 Qd7 22.Bc1 Rf7 23.Bb2 Nf6 24.Rbd1 h5 25.Bc1 Rbf8 26.Rg1 Nh7 27.f3 Qe6 28.Rg2 g5 29.h4 g4 30.f4 Rd7 31.fxe5 Bxe5 32.Nd5 Rff7 33.Bf4 Bg7 34.Bd2 Be5 35.Qc1 Nf6 36.Nf4 Bxf4 37.Bxf4 Nh7 38.Rf1 Nf8 39.Bh6 Qg6 40.Bxf8 Rxf8 41.Rgf2 Re7 42.Qd2 Rff7 43.e3 Kg7 44.d4 Qe6 45.dxc5 bxc5 46.e4 Qh6 47.Qd5 Rxe4 48.Qxe4 fxe4 49.Rxf7 Kg8 50.R7f2 Qe3 51.Rb2 Qd3 52.Re1 Kg7 53.Ree2 Kf6 54.Rbd2 Qxc4 55.Rf2 Ke5 56.Rf8 Qe6 57.Kg1 c4 58.Rh8 Qb6 59.Kh2 c3 60.Rxh5 Kf6 61.Rc2 Qd4 62.Rh6 Kg7 63.Rc6 Qd2 64.Rxd2 cxd2 65.Rd6 e3 66.Kg2 e2 67.Rxd2 e1Q 68.Rf2 1/2-1/2
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He’s lucky not to lose this game. It’s a tough event.
But that’s just what I love about Nakamura: he fights, even at the risk of pushing it over the edge.