Nakamura tops archrival Caruana to claim American Cup

​At the turn of the 20th century, Frank Marshall and Harry Nelson Pillsbury vied for bragging rights as America’s best chessplayer, before Pillsbury’s untimely death at the age of 33.

In the 1930s, Sammy Reshevsky and Reuben Fine battled for American supremacy and Reshevsky, at the end of his career, would clash memorably with a fast-rising Bobby Fischer in the early 1960s for the same honor.

But there may never have been a Yankee rivalry so intense and evenly matched as that being waged by U.S. GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, who have vied for dominance with both at their peak playing strength. The 37-year-old Nakamura boasts six U.S. titles to four for Caruana, 32, but the Miami-born Caruana also can point to four Italian national titles in his trophy case.

Caruana has the higher peak rating — 2844 in 2014 — and narrowly lost a world championship match to Norway’s Magnus Carlsen in 2018. But Nakamura currently own the higher classical rating, ranked second behind only Carlsen and one of just two players over the stratospheric 2800 ratings bar.

Nakamura’s superb skill at rapid and faster time controls gives him a sizable head-to-head advantage against his great rival over the more than 275 games(!) the two have contested over the years, but in classical chess games the ledger is far more balanced: Through last month, the databases put the score at 10-8, with 36 draws, in Nakamura’s favor, with many more games no doubt to be played.

Nakamura expanded the margin in the just-concluded fourth annual American Cup competition at the St. Louis Chess Club, an eight-player double-elimination knockout event, defeating Caruana once in the “winner’s final” and again in the championship round to take home the $90,000 first prize. Rising junior superstar IM Alice Lee captured the eight-player American Women’s Cup Challenge event, defeating WGM Tatev Abrahamyan in the finals by a score of 3-1.

Nakamura’s most impressive game in the event may have come in the Cup’s second round, when he dealt veteran GM Leinier Dominguez Perez his first classical loss with the White pieces in more than two years. Playing what he would later describe as “Old Man Chess,” Nakamura here weaves a positional masterpiece from the Black side of the venerable Two Knights Defense, another once-dowdy opening that is coming back into the rotation for top players.

Even with the unsightly doubled e-pawns after 18. axb6 cxb6 19. Bd2 a5, Black’s dominance of the half-open f-file allows him to build up his position and probe for an advantage with little risk of losing. White seems happy to hang back and play for a draw, a complacency that will hurt in the ensuing play: 20. Rf1 Ra7 21. Qd1!? (not bad, but the more active 21. f4 Raf7 22. fxe5 Nxe5 23. Rxf7 Rxf7 is a better way to keep the balance) Raf7 22. Qe2 Rf6 23. Bg5 R6f7 24. Bd2 h6 25. g3?!, ceding an ever-so-slight weakness in the king’s fortress.

By 32. Ra1 Na6 33. Rab1 (Bxa5? bxa5 34 Rxa5 Nc5 35. b4 Nb3 36. Rxe5 Bh4! 37. Qxh5 Rxf2+ 38. Rxf2 Qxg3+) Bb4 34. Bxb4 axb4 35. Ra1 Nc5, every Black piece is better placed than its White counterpart, and Dominguez Perez has to walk a defensive tightrope just to avoid disaster.

Black’s game is so superior that Nakamura actually misses a clean putaway but still keeps his overwhelming edge: 36. Qd1 h4 37. g4? (a panicky reaction that creates more holes in the defense; tougher was 37. Qe2) Qg5 38. Qc2 Qf4 39. b3?, and here both players overlooked the winning deflection 39…Nxb3!! 40. Qxb3 Qd2!, and Black wins in lines such as 41. Kh1 Rxf2 42. Rxf2 Rxf2 43. Nf1 Qf4 44. Qd1 b3! 45. Rb1 Rc2 46. Rxb3 Qf2.

Black keeps building up the pressure, and does not miss the second time a knight sacrifice comes on the menu: 51. Qd2 Rff7 52. Kf2? (worn out by the stress of passive defense, White strikes out and is, predictably, punished) Ra7! 53. Ke2 (from its magnificent perch on c5, the Black knight now springs into action) Nxd3! 54. Rxa7 (Kxd3 Rxf3+! 55. Kxf3 Qxf3+ 56. Kc2 Rxa2+ and mate is in sight) Nf4+! (Rxa7? 55. Kxd3 and suddenly, White is winning) 55. Qxf4 d3+! (a third marvelous move in a row, preventing White’s knight, rook and pawns from creating a fortress while opening a critical passage for the Black queen and king into the White position) 56. Kxd3 exf4 57. Rxf7 Kxf7 58. Nf1 Qc5, and White cannot compensate for his material deficit.

Both the Black queen and king infiltrate via the now-vacated d4-square, and it’s over on 71. e5 f2 72. Nf1+ (e6 Qxb3+! 73. Nxb3 f1=Q+ 74. Kc2 Qxc4 and wins) Kf3, and White resigned facing lines such as 73. Nd2+ Qxd2+ 74. Rxd2 f1=Q+ 75. Kc2 Qa1! 76. e6 Qc3+ 77. Kd1 Ke3 78. Re2+ Kd3 79. Ra2 Qxb3+ 80. Ke1 Qxa2 81. e7 Qe2 mate.

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Lee, still only 15, won her second straight American Women’s Cup while pulling off the brilliancy of the event in her first finals game against Abrahamyan.

In what looks like a relatively normal and stable position out of a classical King’s Indian, Lee as White finds a startling attacking idea to open up the clogged center for her pieces: 14. a3 Na6 (see diagram) 15. Ng5!! Qe8 (fxg5? 16. Bxg5 Qf7 17. Bxh6 wins a pawn, but

White’s real purpose behind the move has yet to be revealed) 16. Ne6! Bxe6 17. dxe6 Qxe6 19. Nd5 — for the investment of a single pawn, White’s knight takes up a magnificent square, anchoring the strong attack that pushes Black back on both flanks.

Abrahamyan misses one last subtle defensive tactic — 22…Ne6! forces White to proceed carefully as 23. Qxd6 h5! 24. f3 Nc6!! 25. Qd7 (bxc6 Rad8 traps the White queen) Qxd7 26. Rxd7 Ncd4 equalizes — and gets steadily ground down by the more active White pieces. One key move is 24. a4 Ne6 25. Bg4!, meeting 25…Nd4? with 26. Rxd4! exd4 27. Be6 and wins.

By 33. Qf3 Kg7 34. Ng4 Rc8, White’s army is primed for the attack and Lee shows herself a very capable tactical general: 35. Rd6! Qf7 (Bxd6 36. Bxf6+ Qxf6 [Kf7 37. Nh6 mate] 36. Qxf6+ Bxd6 37. Rxd6 g5 38. Qf5 and wins) 36. Rxf6! (ripping open Black’s defensive ramparts) Qxc4 (Bxf6 37. Bxf6+ Kg8 38. Nh6 mate) 37. Nxe5, and Black resigns as her position collapses around her. One possible clincher: 37…Qa2 38. Rf7+ Kh8 39. Bf6+ Kg8 40. Rg7+ Kh8 41. Rxg6+ Bxf6 42. Qxf6 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Nakamura-Donminguez Perez, American Cup Championship, St. Louis, March 2025

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. a4 Be6 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9. c3 d5 10. Nbd2 Nd7 11. a5 a6 12. h3 Kh8 13. Qc2 Qe8 14. Nh2 d4 15. Nb3 Nc5 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. c4 b6 18. axb6 cxb6 19. Bd2 a5 20. Rf1 Ra7 21. Qd1 Raf7 22. Qe2 Rf6 23. Bg5 R6f7 24. Bd2 h6 25. g3 Rf6 26. Kg2 Qg6 27. Ng4 R6f7 28. Rad1 h5 29. Nh2 Be7 30. Ra1 Nb8 31. Rad1 Kg8 32. Ra1 Na6 33. Rab1 Bb4 34. Bxb4 axb4 35. Ra1 Nc5 36. Qd1 h4 37. g4 Qg5 38. Qc2 Qf4 39. b3 Kh7 40. Ra2 Qg5 41. Qd1 Rf4 42. Re1 Qf6 43. Ree2 Rf7 44. Reb2 Qd8 45. Rb1 Nd7 46. Qe1 Qf8 47. Rbb2 Nc5 48. Qd1 g5 49. f3 Kg6 50. Rb1 Rc7 51. Qd2 Rff7 52. Kf2 Ra7 53. Ke2 Nxd3 54. Rxa7 Nf4+ 55. Qxf4 d3+ 56. Kxd3 exf4 57. Rxf7 Kxf7 58. Nf1 Qc5 59. Nd2 Qe3+ 60. Kc2 Kf6 61. Rb2 Ke5 62. Ra2 Kd4 63. Ra8 Qc3+ 64. Kd1 Kd3 65. Rd8+ Ke3 66. e5 Qxe5 67. Kc2 Qc3+ 68. Kd1 e5 69. Rd5 e4 70. fxe4 f3 71. e5 f2 72. Nf1+ Kf3 White resigns.

Lee-Abrahamyan, American Womens Cup Championship, St. Louis, March 2025

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 Na6 7. O-O e5 8. Be3 Qe7 9. Qc2 Nb4 10. Qd2 c5 11. d5 Ng4 12. Bg5 f6 13. Bh4 Nh6 14. a3 Na6 15. Ng5 Qe8 16. Ne6 Bxe6 17. dxe6 Qxe6 18. Rfd1 Nf7 19. Nd5 Nd8 20. b4 Qf7 21. b5 Nb8 22. Ne3 Nd7 23. Qxd6 Nb6 24. a4 Ne6 25. Bg4 Rfe8 26. a5 Bf8 27. Qd2 Rad8 28. Bxe6 Qxe6 29. Qe2 Nd7 30. a6 b6 31. Rd5 Be7 32. Rad1 Nf8 33. Qf3 Kg7 34. Ng4 Rc8 35. Rd6 Qf7 36. Rxf6 Qxc4 37. Nxe5 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.