Game of the day: Nakamura 0-1 Carlsen

Hello everyone, I am GM Kamil Miton and will comment for you two games of Tal Memorial today, Nepo - Aronian and Nakamura - Carlsen. I expect serious games and final sprints from the players, including openings worthy to be included in the new edition of Chess Evolution

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb4+ most popular is the very sharp line after 5...c5 6 d5 where white sacrifices the pawn and plays for initiative, Magnus decided to play more solid.

6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. O-O d5 The game transposes to Catalan structure

9. Ne5 White also could play 9. b3 with the idea develop piece Bf4-Nc3 (because after Nbd2 black always has Nh5 and white can put the bishop on e3 where it is bad placed because white cannot play e4) and try play main idea e4.

9... Nfd7 Logical move, Magnus immediately eliminates the knight from e5 and makes problems to solve with c4 pawn, probably Naka has to lose time to play b3 because usually in this structure pawns are exchanged on d5 after cxd5-cxd5 and this is good for black because bishop on g2 is not active and if white plays by e4 then he gets isolated pawn

10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bf4 maybe white could save more pieces and play 11.Nd3, but what I said before usually after cxd5-cxd5 black equalizes the position, looks like Naka will not create any problems to for Magnus.

11... Nxe5 12. dxe5 Now the main idea for white is to activate the bishop on g2, so the plan is Nc3-Rd1 and e4! or even without Nc3 immediately Rd1 and e4

12... O-O 13. Rd1 Bb7 Of course Magnus did not play the worse 13...Nd7 , probably he is going to put knight on c6 is very important for him to have move d4 when white will play e4. Naka has problems because his bishops doesn't play and after 14. e4 black has d4 and pawn is not hanging

14. Nd2 Nc6 15. Nf3 black does not have any problem because white didn't manage to play e4 plan, now white pieces are badly placed, black has choice between simple play on queen side by Rc8 or g5-g4 win the pawn on e5, but than white pieces can be activate

15... g5 16. Be3 g4 17. Nd4 Nxe5 Naka has to activate the pieces and probably he will play Bh6 and e4

18. Bh6 Re8 19. e4 After g5-g4 black weakened the king, white pieces got some activate but black pieces are active too , Rc8-Bc5

19... Bc5 Yes, Rc8-Qf6 probably next, black is better. One of white's ideas should be to make useful the f5 square, then white can maybe create some threats, but after 20. exd5 black can play 20...Qf6 with big advantage, Naka is in trouble.

20. Nb3 The best answer, white had to escape from motifs with Qf6. In dynamic positions the moves must be very active and usually is not time to make some back moves, last piece of Magnus which has not played is the rook, so probably 20...Rc8 looks logical.

20... Rc8 of course after the exchange of bishop on c5 black squares around king become weaker, but more important is activity

21. Nxc5 Rxc5 22. Qa4 not correct, in this dynamic position white gives black a full tempo for free after 22...Bc6 23Qa7?? Ra5 -+

22... Bc6 23. Qd4 Qf6 Probably soon the white squares around white king will be much weaker than black squares around black king

24. Bf4 dxe4 25. Bxe4 Magnus has big advantage, now he has two options: 25...Bxe4 and Nf3 next or 25...Nf3 26. Bxf3 Qxd4 27. Rxd4 Bxf3 Naka will hope to survive with different color bishops, but pawns less and weak king don't give him much chance.

25... Nf3+ 26. Bxf3 Qxd4 27. Rxd4 Bxf3 28. Rd7 Probably Rxa7 is not dangerous for black because white king is weak and black always has motifs with mates on first rank,position of black should be win, but needs technical play, soon expected is f6-e5 with idea to reduce white bishop and improve black king

28... Rd5 after 29 Rxd5 exd5 white has to stop d pawn 30Be3 Re4 31 Re1 d4 32 Bd2 Be2

29. Rxd5 exd5 30. Be3 now maybe Re4 is no need because only one plan for white now is Re1-Bd2 so black can start improve the king

30... Re4 31. Re1 d4 32. Bd2 Now is interesting if bishop endgame is wining after 32...Rxe1 33 Bxe1 Be2 (cut the king ) and white has to play f4 and give next pawn

32... Rxe1+ 33. Bxe1 Be2 34. f4 gxf3 white has to play Bf2 to put black pawn on d3 in other case black king will come to d3

35. Bf2 d3 36. Be1 Kg7 37. Kf2 Kf6 38. Ke3 If Magnus decides to exchange rooks for sure he see the winning plan

38... Kf5 39. h3 interesting how to Magnus going to win this position,we are waiting he is genius. Black has two pawns more, but bishop on e2 doesn't play, I don't see where and how black king can come to help advance pawns.

39... h5 40. Bd2 Bf1 now probably only move is 41. h4 because after exchanging pawns 40. Kxf3 Bxh3 black will have plan Bf1-Be2, then put Kg4-f5 (at this time white has to stay Kf2-Bd2 ) next f4! and after Bxf4 h4 Bd2 h3 Kg1 Kf3 and white will lose bishop. The same after f4! if gxf4 then h4-h3-Bf3 plan and black pawns are too far from each other and white cannot stop them without losing the bishop. After 41. h4 black has to find some way to come with king from other, queen side because after 41...Kg4 white play 42.Kf2 and just stay.

41. Be1 very interesting now after 41...Bxh3 white will take on d3. What about 41...Bxh3 42. Kxd3 Kg4 43. Ke3 f5 44. Kf2 f4 45. gxf4 Kxf4 with the plan for black to put a pawn on h3 and go with the king to c2, in this time white keeps king on g1 and makes bishop moves, and then when bishop moves from d6 black can play maybe Bf1

41... Bxh3 42. Kxd3 Bf1+ yes, more accurate immediately Magnus makes his bishop active

43. Ke3 Kg4 44. Kf2 Bb5 next moves of Magnus f5-f4

45. Bc3 Bc6 The f7 pawn will be exchanged for g3 pawn, then black king will go to the queen side, black will give one of the pawns from the king side and win one from the queen side, after that position will be easy win for black. I still don't understand why Naka gave h3 pawn and didn't play h4

46. Be5 b5 47. Bb8 a6 Magnus starts to put in action the wining plan

48. Bc7 f5 49. b3 Bd5 soon black should play f4 and after gxf4 h4 f5 Kxf5 black probably will put first bishop on g4 (to protect both pawns) and then go to queen side

50. Bd6 f4 51. gxf4 h4 52. f5 Kxf5 53. Ke3 Kg4 54. Kf2 h3 white was not accurate to put the pawn on b3, now black has some extra ideas to sacrifice the bishop on b3, after that white will not stop the 3 passed pawns

55. Ke3 Be4 white should have kept the pawn on a3, but anyway the position was wining for black

56. Kf2 Bb1 Instead of 56...Bb1 black could win next pawn after 56...b4

57. a3 There was an easier way of course, but Magnus has a secure winning plan and goes with it. When the bishop protects both pawns, black king will go to win a3 pawn

57... Ba2 58. b4 Bf7 And with this victory Magnus Carlsen climbs to the top of the standings of the Tal Memorial. He also improves his position on the Live rating list. Thank you for following with me GM Kamil Miton and the Chess Evolution team and see you for more commentary in next tournament. 0-1

Provided by Chessdom.com

Moscow Mission

Mission to Moscow
By Ben Finegold, Grandmaster, special to the Beacon
Posted 10:58 am Wed., 11.23.11

I am writing this column from the fabulous Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow, which is about a five-minute walk from Red Square. My mission in Moscow is to help Hikaru Nakamura do well in the 2011 Tal Memorial. This event is the elite-of-the-elite playing in an all-play-all (round robin) format of 10 players. Nakamura is ranked No. 7 at the start, as all the top players in the world were invited to duke it out for first prize.

Why am I in Moscow, and what can I do for Hikaru?

Well, I am what as known as a "second." I help Hikaru prepare the games each day by looking at previous games of his opponent in an effort to figure out what each will do, mainly in the opening phase of the game. Of course, since his opponent is doing the same, sometimes Hikaru will introduce something he has not played often to throw the opponent off guard, and we have to be prepared in case his opponent does the same.

Each morning, from about 9 a.m. to noon, we look at chess with our computers, databases and chess engines to evaluate with a high level of accuracy which positions are likely to occur out of the opening and how best to play them. I do the same type of work when I play in a strong event, but it is a bit easier with a second.

The event is nine rounds, and after seven, Nakamura has five draws and two losses, which places him in a tie for last place with just two rounds to go. He has been a bit unlucky; he could have easily won one of the games he drew and should have drawn one of the games he lost. Nakamura has actually gotten into time trouble in more than one game, which is not like him at all, as Nakamura is noted for his rapid pace of play. But this slow and solid style is a nice change from the old Nakamura, who would occasionally play too quickly and recklessly.

The tournament is likely the strongest ever, and to show how evenly matched the field is, there is a five-way tie for first atop the leaderboard, and only one player (Vassily Ivanchuk) has won more than one game after seven rounds.

Another unusual aspect of the event is that the black pieces have outscored the white pieces. It is advantageous in chess to have white and go first, especially at the top level, but black is doing well this event, thus far. Let's all root for the hometown hero Nakamura, and hope he can win his last two games against some tough competition to turn in a solid finish at this prestigious event.

Source: http://www.stlbeacon.org

54th Reggio Emilia Tournament

54th Reggio Emilia Tournament

The 54th Torneo di Capodanno is set to take place from 27th December 2011 to 6th January 2012 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The tournament is changing the format to the very popular six-player double round robin.

Anish Giri mentioned some of the participants in an interview during the European Team Chess Championship. Thanks to Martha Fierro we now have the complete list:

Vugar Gashimov, winner of the 53rd Reggio Emilia tournament
Vassily Ivanchuk
Hikaru Nakamura
Fabiano Caruana
Anish Giri
Nikita Vitiugov

The tournament is organized by Circolo Ippogrifo di Reggio Emilia, in collaboration with Accademia Internazionale di Scacchi and Scacchi Randagi.

A women round robin tournament will take place parallel to the main event:

WGM Sopiko Guramishvili, Georgia 2374
WGM Iva Videnova, Bulgaria 2297, IM norm from ETCC 2011
WGM Anna Sharevich, Belarus 2267
WIM Marina Brunello, Italia 2221
WFM Maria De Rosa, Italia 2122
WFM Marianna Chierici, Italia 2048

The battle of two young phenoms

2011 Tal Memorial

By Ben Finegold, Grandmaster, special to the Beacon

Posted 11:18 am Wed., 11.16.11

I am reporting from the 2011 Tal Memorial, held Nov. 16-26 in Moscow. I am also 10 hours later than my St. Louis readers, so that means I am reporting from the future! The Tal Memorial is named after Mikhail Tal, the eighth World Chess Champion and a Soviet chess legend. This prestigious event features 10 players, all grandmasters, in a round-robin format, and this field is quite possibly the strongest of any tournament, ever. The players in the event, and their rating/world rank according to FIDE, the World Chess Federation, are as follows: Magnus Carlsen: 2826 (1) Viswanathan Anand: 2811 (2) Levon Aronian: 2802 (3) Vladimir Kramnik: 2800 (4) Vassily Ivanchuk: 2775 (6) Sergey Karjakin: 2763 (8) Hikaru Nakamura: 2758 (10) Peter Svidler: 2755 (12) Boris Gelfand: 2744 (14) Ian Nepomniatchi: 2730 (20) With seven of the top-10 players in the world, and three other very strong grandmasters, this tournament will present the biggest challenge yet for Nakamura, our hometown hero. I am accompanying Nakamura to Moscow to serve as his second, which means I will help him research his opponents, examine their past games for strengths and weaknesses, and help him prepare lines of attack and defense for every conceivable eventuality. Nakamura had the white pieces in round one against Gelfand, but after 34 moves, he had to settle for a peaceable draw. The newest issue of New in Chess, arguably the world's most-read chess magazine, had a breaking story about Nakamura and his recent partnership with chess legend GM Garry Kasparov. Nakamura has been taking some intensive training sessions with Kasparov, who is considered by many to be the best chess player in the history of the game. In the final round, Nakamura has the white pieces against Carlsen, the highest-rated player in the world. Carlsen, 20, was a former pupil of Kasparov's as well, and previous encounters between these two players indicate that this final round will see some fireworks. The players are staying at the fabulous Ritz-Carlton in Moscow, not far from Red Square, and the playing hall is a 15-minute walk from the hotel. Stay tuned for more updates from Moscow and to follow Nakamura's results as he attempts to win what is arguably the strongest tournament ever organized. Source: http://www.stlbeacon.org

2011 Tal Memorial - World's Best Chess Players Fight For Tal's Honor

Original article on the 2011 Tal Memorial available on William's site.

The 2011 Tal Memorial is starting today, featuring 10 of the world’s most elite chess players at an average FIDE rating of 2773! This star-studded round robin is one of the strongest tournaments ever conceived, and I am legitimately excited about the fascinatingly creative chess to come in the next 10 days. And what better place to host such an incredible tournament than the Motherland - Moscow, Russia. The 2010 Tal Memorial ended in a 3-way tie with Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Nakamura finished in the middle of the pack at 5/9 points, however Kramnik and Gelfand ended in 7-8th places in a field of 10. Mamedyarov isn't playing this year, however there are still a few other players worth mentioning in the 2011 version of the Tal Memorial:

A Line-up That Would Make Mikhail Tal Proud

Just over 1 month ago, Magnus Carlsen destroyed Vassily Ivanchuk in both rounds of the 2011 Bilbao Chess Masters Final and then beat him 1.5-.5 in the tiebreaker to win 1st place honors. Magnus Carlsen is the highest rated player in the world 2826 FIDE, and must be the crowd’s favorite to win the 2011 Tal Memorial chess tournament. Coming in at #2 on the rating list for the 2011 Tal Memorial is Indian Super-GM and reigning World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand at 2817 FIDE. Anand is coming off a lackluster performance at the 2011 Bilbao Chess Masters Final, and will be certainly be looking to rebound with a strong win at the 2011 Tal Memorial. Levon Aronian takes the #3 spot at 2809 FIDE and has been playing solidly in 2011, however has not experienced a tournament win near this caliber. I expect Aronian to loosen up his game slightly and try to break out against this world-class competition.

IVANCHUK - ALWAYS DANGEROUS

Vladimir Kramnik brings in #4 at an even 2800 FIDE, and similar to Aronian will be looking to break away from the pack and play more aggressively to aim for the podium. Don’t forget about Sergei Karjakin in the #5 spot, as the youth had suffered a slight slump in recent months and will be looking to re-establish himself with the very top of the chess elite with a strong win in Moscow. Vassily Ivanchuk is playing with the #6 seed, an absolute monster who never ceases to amaze the chess world with his incredible resiliency and creativity. Ivanchuk’s erraticly eccentric play is impossible to predict, however he has been playing fantastic chess in 2011 (3rd place at the 2011 World Chess Cup, 2nd place at the 2011 Bilbao Chess Masters Final after losing the tiebreak to Carlsen, etc..).

Nakamura Looks To Win Again for the USA

Nakamura is a scrappy competitor, and that’s exactly how he has firmly established his place among the top 10 chess players in the world. Nakamura has had a breakthrough year in 2011, starting by winning the 2011 Tata Steel super-tournament in January and most recently playing a very strong tournament at the 2011 Bilba Chess Masters Final. Nakamura has also been working with Garry Kasparov for the last ~12 months, and hopefully he will be able to score another awesome victory at the 2011 Tal Memorial. In #8, Boris Gelfand will try to make a statement of war against Viswanathan Anand, wanting to score that huge psychology victory over the world champ as they both prepare for their 2012 World Chess Championship Match (also to be held in Moscow). At #9, Peter Svidler has played lights-out chess in 2011 (winning the Chess World Cup certainly comes to mind) and is always dangerous. And at #10 there is Russian rising star Ian Nepomniachtchi - a very talented young man who is capable of bringing a lot of pain with either color.

PREDICTIONS for the 2011 Tal Memorial:

The 2011 Tal Memorial is going to be a downright shootout with 10 of the world’s very best chess players. As much as I want Hikaru Nakamura to win the whole thing, Magnus Carlsen is just too good. The Norwegian wunderkind has made a living of sticking around in the super-tournaments and grinding his way to first place with a series of late wins. Carlsen’s pragmatic tournament strategy combined with his outstanding natural brilliance makes him the hands-down favorite in almost any super-tournament. On a side note, I'm very pleased to see that the tournament organizers have done such an amazing job at putting this impressive event together year after year to honor one of my favorite all-time players - the late, Great Mikhail Tal. For all of my readers, I recommend a huge dose of Mikhail Tal games in your daily tactics studying to take your game to the next level.

Original article on the 2011 Tal Memorial available on William's site.

Follow William for fresh daily updates: Follow @OnlineChessLess



National Chess Master William Stewart is a Chess Tutor who maintains a daily updated Chess Blog with videos as well. Interface: Internet Chess Club

54th Reggio Emilia Tournament

54th Reggio Emilia Tournament

The 54th Torneo di Capodanno is set to take place from 27th December 2011 to 6th January 2012 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The tournament is changing the format to the very popular six-player double round robin.

Anish Giri mentioned some of the participants in an interview during the European Team Chess Championship. Thanks to Martha Fierro we now have the complete list:

Vugar Gashimov, winner of the 53rd Reggio Emilia tournament
Vassily Ivanchuk
Hikaru Nakamura
Fabiano Caruana
Anish Giri
Nikita Vitiugov

The tournament is organized by Circolo Ippogrifo di Reggio Emilia, in collaboration with Accademia Internazionale di Scacchi and Scacchi Randagi.

A women round robin tournament will take place parallel to the main event. List of the players will be announced soon.

I never got the impression that Kasparov had a great deal of respect for Nakamura's chess talent

Here are some quotes from world's #1 Magnus Carlsen in the Norwegian news page VG Nett about Nakamura being trained by Kasparov (published by Chessbase.com):

Magnus Carlsen is quoted as saying:

"I am surprised, especially since I never got the impression that Kasparov had a great deal of respect for Nakamura's chess talent. This is why I have been reluctant to believe the rumors of the two working together."

Magnus is further quoted:

"I noticed that Kasparov has spoken in a neutral fashion and has tried to play down the collaboration. He probably hoped that Nakamura would porduce better performances before the collaboration was made public. After all, since the nice win at Tata, Nakamura has not achieved very much."

The partnership between Japan-born Nakamura and Kasparov was set up using the financial backing ("wallet") of Rex Sinquefield. VG Nett speculates that "the St. Louis billionaire has probably used up to one million Dollars already".

Source: ChessBase.com
Original article in Norwegian: http://www.vg.no/sport/artikkel.php?artid=10015768

Guess who' coaching Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura represents the best hope American chess has had since Bobby Fischer nearly 40 years ago - and we all know how that ended. Nakamura has been on the radar since a very young age, and is now playing the best chess of his life. While many in the US chess scene initially complained when Nakamura decided to abstain from the majority of chess tournaments in the states, it seems the general public has overcome this shortsightedness and is eager to see Nakamura make a legitimate bid at the World Chess Championship in the near future. So just what is Nakamura's secret to success? Apart from being a "natural prodigy" and the fact that his step-dad is a FIDE Master, Nakamura recently moved to the newly crowned center of American Chess, St. Louis. Although I think St. Louis is famous for something (hot wings, a big bridge?) - it is definitely not reknown in the chess world as the "Moscow of the West". So just how has Hikaru Nakamura gone from top 50 in the world last year at this time to firmly establishing himself as a top 10 elite player currently? Find out more about how Garry Kasparov is coaching Hikaru Nakamura ...

Garry Kasparov, Nakamura's new Secret Weapon

When I first heard this, it simply sounded too good to be true. Kasparov was still coaching Magnus Carlsen last year, however these two incredible chess players had something of a falling out and they stopped working together. Apparently Kasparov had some free time on his hands and reached out to Nakamura via top American chess liason Rex Sinquefield. Nakamura accepted Kasparov as a chess coach, later describing his excitement [highlight]"I knew right away that I would definitely take up the offer simply because there are certain times – certain opportunities you have in life that just don’t come around that often, and certainly having the opportunity to work with, at least what I consider to be, the greatest chess player ever, is sort of an opportunity you can’t turn down."[/highlight] Nakamura began working with Kasparov before the Tata Steel Classic, where he won the tournament to achieve his first major victory at a Super-GM tournament. This was an incredible breakthrough in Nakamura's career, and he is making powerful strides not just for his own path to the very top of the chess world but also giving a big hand to the popularization of chess in the US.

Deception, Trickery: All in a Day with Chess Coach Garry Kasparov

Chess Coach Garry Kasparov has a few tricks up his sleeve, and not showing your hard too early is definitely one of them. Aggression, flexibility, and precision were trademark characteristics of Kasparov's playing style. Kasparov opened with Nakamura aggressively, coaching his newest protege to the largest success of his career at the Tata Steel Tournament in January, 2011. Kasparov then switched gears and did not foolishly turn his cards over - instead preferring to keep his status in the dark as the chess coach of the best US player since Fischer. And finally the precision - working with Nakamura in the last 12 months has caused the young prodigy a total rating gain of 50 points at the highest level, establishing Nakamura among the world's very best chess players. As an American chess player myself - I could not be more excited about the future of this relationship between Nakamura & Kasparov and eagerly await the day that Nakamura joins Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, and Kramnik in the 2800 club. On a side note, I would also like to see Nakamura playing for the title of World Chess Champion in the next few years accompanied by none other than Chess Coach Garry Kasparov!

Find out more about how Garry Kasparov is coaching Hikaru Nakamura ...

Follow William for fresh daily updates: Follow @OnlineChessLess



William Stewart is a National Master. He specializes in Online Chess Coaching and maintains a daily updated Chess Blog

Good idea or not?

I have known about Kasparov - Nakamura teaming up for a while now. But since it was not revealed publicly by either party before, it was not my place to talk about it. Personally speaking, I think it is great to have a patron like Mr. Rex Sinquefield helping U.S. chess.

What do you think about the idea of Kasparov training Nakamura?
	Great idea! Nakamura will become World Champion because of this help.
	Great idea! But I am not sure how much it will help.
	Makes no difference. Nakamura already has enough talent.
	Makes no difference. Their personalities will clash.
	I have no clue and I can't decide one way or the other.

It's Official: Kasparov trains Nakamura

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 1, 2011

Nakamura training with Kasparov -- the full story in New In Chess 2011/07

Some knew, some thought they knew, and speculation was rampant during the Grand Slam Final in Sao Paulo and Bilbao.

Yes, Garry Kasparov is working with Hikaru Nakamura, but the real story is in the details, straight from the protagonists themselves, in the latest issue of New in Chess Magazine, out now. Kasparov writes about the cooperation in his exclusive New In Chess column, and, in an 8-page feature, New In Chess contributor Macauley Peterson interviews Nakamura at length about his work with the man he considers ‘the greatest chess player ever’.

Learn about the origins and progress of the new collaboration, as Nakamura cements his place among the world elite, plus new information about the end of Kasparov's previous partnership with world number one Magnus Carlsen. To find out more, including quotes from Nakamura and Kasparov for release, please have a look at the attachment or visit www.newinchess.com

Read all about Garry Kasparov and Hikaru Nakamura teaming up in the new issue of New In Chess.

Here’s just a small fraction of what you’ll learn:

Kasparov and Nakamura started working together before the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee last January, which ended in the American’s greatest triumph to date.

Looking back with new knowledge it’s easy to understand what part Kasparov played in his success. Nakamura reveals that he first talked with the 13th World Champion about a possible cooperation at the London Chess Classic.

Nakamura: The beginning of it would have been last December when, right before the London Classic, I got an email from Rex, and he sort of wrote it in a cryptic way where he said he had spoken with Kasparov, and there’s something that he wanted to talk to me about. It didn’t reveal any specifics, but I just put two and two together.

“Rex” is Rex Sinquefield, whose many contributions to the game in recent years include The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis -- possibly the finest chess club in the world, and the current venue for the U.S. Championship. The Chess Club is now joined by Sinquefield-sponsored World Chess Hall of Fame (also covered in NIC 2011/07) which sits just across the street.

Nakamura moved to Saint Louis in 2010 and you don’t have to guess long to know what Mr. Sinquefield hopes Hikaru will achieve for his country.

In London, Nakamura and Kasparov indeed spoke about teaming up and Hikaru didn’t have to think twice. Nakamura: I knew right away that I would definitely take up the offer simply because there are certain times – certain opportunities you have in life just don’t come around that often, and certainly having the opportunity to work with, at least what I consider to be, the greatest chess player ever, is sort of an opportunity you can’t turn down.

As was the case when he was working with Magnus Carlsen, Kasparov believes that keeping his role secret gave his protégé an advantage over rivals.

Nakamura is less certain about this advantage, and felt that by April several of his colleagues knew anyway, even if they didn’t speak about it. It’s clear that two outspoken and temperamental characters like Kasparov and Nakamura can reach great heights together, but their temperaments will also inevitably lead to differences of opinion.

In his New In Chess column Kasparov writes: ‘I had the opportunity to work extensively with Magnus, and I have been working less formally with Hikaru since the start of the year.’

Kasparov goes on to say that the American’s talent is evident, but he grumbles about Nakamura’s interest in poker, which could impede his chess progress. Whereas Kasparov remains reluctant to talk about their work, Nakamura speaks candidly and in detail with interviewer Macauley Peterson.

His opponents may now know that he gets help from Kasparov, but they will find out much more about what makes Nakamura tick when they read his views and convictions.