The Hour-Long Think and the Knight Fork: Sindarov Beats Nakamura

Photo: ChessKelly / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

The black knight on e2 is attacking two white pieces at once: the queen on f4 and the rook on g1. That is a fork. White can save the queen, but not both.

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Position after 23...Ne2, with White to move. The knight on e2 attacks the queen on f4 and the rook on g1.

Analyze this position in the full game

It was the start of the end of a game that Hikaru Nakamura had spent a huge part of his clock on, eleven moves earlier.

Hikaru Nakamura 0-1 Javokhir Sindarov FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026, Paphos, Cyprus · Round 5 White: Hikaru Nakamura (2810) · Black: Javokhir Sindarov (2745)

A gambit opening

The game began as a Semi-Slav Defence, and White chose a sharp line where he gives up pawns to get his pieces out fast. A pawn given up on purpose for an attack or faster development is called a gambit.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Na6 9.Bd6 Qxg2 10.Bf3 Qg5 11.Ne2 Ne7 12.Ng3 O-O

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Position after 12...O-O, with White to move. White is two pawns down, but the bishop on d6 is deep in Black's camp and Black's queenside pieces are not developed yet.

Analyze this position in the full game

Black's queen took two white pawns, on d4 and g2. In return White had a bishop on d6 and quicker development. Our own Stockfish 16 run, at depth 18, called this position exactly level. Both players had used only a few minutes.

An hour on one move

13.h4

According to the official broadcast clock times, Nakamura spent about 68 minutes on this move. His clock went from almost two hours down to under 50 minutes. And our engine did not like the move it produced: it moved from level to more than a pawn in Black's favour. The engine preferred 13.Ne4.

A long think does not always lead to a good move. And the time spent is gone for the rest of the game. By move 20 Nakamura had about 16 minutes left for twenty more moves, while Sindarov had about an hour.

13...Qa5+ 14.b4 Nxb4 15.O-O Re8 16.Qd2 c5 17.Rad1 Nf5 18.Nxf5 exf5 19.Qf4 Nc6 20.Kh1 Nd4 21.Rg1 g6 22.Bd5 Be6 23.Bxb7 Ne2

Black's pieces came to life, and the knight reached e2 with the fork you saw at the top of the article.

The fork, and a clean ending

24.Qd2 Qxd2 25.Rxd2 Nxg1 26.Bxa8 Rxa8 27.Kxg1

White saved the queen by offering a queen trade, and Black took the rook on g1. After the dust settled, each side had a rook and a bishop, but Black had two extra pawns.

27...Rd8 28.Bf4 Rxd2 29.Bxd2 Bxc4 30.Be3 Bxa2 31.Bxc5 a5 32.f4 f6 33.Kf2 Kf7 34.Ba3 Ke6 35.Bf8 a4 36.Ke3 Kf7 37.Bb4 h6 38.Kf2 g5 39.Kg3 Bd5 40.Ba3 Be4 41.Bc1 gxh4+

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Final position, after 41...gxh4+. Black has five pawns against one, including a passed a-pawn. Nakamura resigned.

Analyze this position in the full game

The rooks came off too, and Black kept picking up pawns. In the final position Black has five pawns against one, and the a-pawn is racing toward promotion. Nakamura resigned.

What this game teaches

1. A gambit gives material for time. White gave two pawns for fast development. The engine called that fair, as long as White used the time well.

2. Spending a lot of time is a decision too. 68 minutes on one move left Nakamura short of time for the rest of the game, and the move itself was not the best one.

3. Knights fork. 23...Ne2 attacked the queen and the rook together. When the enemy queen and a rook stand a knight's jump apart from one square, look for a fork.

4. Extra pawns win endgames. Once the pieces came off, Black's extra pawns became passed pawns and decided the game.