No one could have imagined that this game transpired from an Anti-Berlin. It looked more like the sharpest line of the Sicilian.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 In his game against Anand, Hikaru said that he was happy to get his knight to d4. Well, if that was the case then Caruana didn't want that knight to exist. 5... dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Qe2 Anand is the main founder of this move, having played it against Giri and Kryvoruchko. 7... Re8 8. Nc4 Nd7 9. Bd2 Bd6 10. O-O-O We have been following Perez Candela-Sargissian. There the Black player played c5, but Nakamura went for the queenside expansion with b5. 10... b5 11. Ne3 a5 12. Nf5 a4 13. Bg5 f6 Provoking f6 so that the g-pawn has a hook to open up the kingside. 13... Nf6 doesn't look so great. The pin is irritating and the g-pawn anyway comes down the board. 14. g4 h6 15. Bh4 14. Be3 Nc5 15. g4 Be6 16. Kb1 b4 It seems as if the black forces are going to reach White's gates faster, but because Caruana hasn't moved any of his kingside pawns this might not be so easy to break for Nakamura. In fact after the game Hikaru said that his plan of b5-b4 looked like bad judgement. 17. g5 b3?! Unbelievably this natural move turns out to be an error. 17... Bxf5 18. exf5 a3 19. b3 e4 is the direction in which Nakamura should have been looking. 17... Kh8!? Tucking the king in the corner too looks like a logical choice. 18. Rhg1 Bxf5 19. exf5 a3 20. b3 e4 21. Nd4 (21. Bxc5 exf3) 21... fxg5 22. Bxg5 Qd7 18. Rhg1! A fantastic move by Caruana. He had studied similar postions before and had come to the conclusion that it makes sense not to touch any pawns on the kingside. 18... bxa2+ 18... bxc2+ 19. Qxc2 19. Ka1 Bxf5 20. exf5 a3 20... Kh8 21. Nh4 21. b3 Black is already in trouble. Nakamura had planned e4 here, but it doesn't seem to work. 21... Na6 This seemed like the only way to continue the game. But even then White has a huge edge. 21... e4? 22. dxe4 Rxe4 23. Rd4! Rxd4 24. Bxd4 22. c3 This maintains the advantage and is pretty strong. Caruana found it after 30 mins of thought. 22. d4! would have been stronger as after 22... exd4 23. gxf6 dxe3 (23... Qxf6 24. Qc4+ Qf7 25. Rxg7+! Kxg7 26. Rg1+ Kf8 27. Bh6+ Ke7 28. Re1+) 24. Qc4+ Kh8 25. fxg7# 22... Bf8 23. Nd2 fxg5 24. Rxg5 Nc5 25. Rg3! With moves like Bxc5 and Ne4 coming up, Black is completely lost. 25... e4 25... Nxd3 26. Ne4 25... Qxd3 26. Qxd3 Nxd3 27. Ne4 Nf4 28. Nf6+ 26. Bxc5 Bxc5 26... exd3 27. Qg4 27. Nxe4 Bd6 28. Rh3 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qg4+ Kh8 28... Be5 29. d4 Bf6 30. Rg1 Rb8 30... Kh8 31. Qh5 Kg8 32. Qxe8+ 30... Bxd4 31. Rd3 (31. cxd4 Qxd4+) 31. Kxa2 Bh4 32. Rg4 Qd5 33. c4 1-0 [Sagar Shah]