Hikaru Nakamura increased his lead in Reggio Emilia to 4 points on Monday. In the 6th round the American grandmaster beat Nikita Vitiugov with White while his closest pursuers Alexander Morozevich and Vassily Ivanchuk both lost, to Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri respectively.

A 4-point lead for Nakamura in Reggio Emilia | Photo © 54th Torneo di Capodanno

The 6th round couldn't have gone better for Hikaru Nakamura. He played an excellent game himself and won against Vitiugov, while both Morozevich and Ivanchuk, trailing by one and three points respectively, lost. The American now has a 4-point lead, which comes down to a bit more than one win.

Unlike against Ivanchuk, Nakamura didn't need any luck in his game against Vitiugov. The American started the new year with a Karpovian win - a game that could have been played by the young, 1.e4 Karpov. Just when White seemed to be starting an attack on the enemy king, Nakamura traded queens and went for a solid but long-term endgame advantage. He kept on controlling the whole board and left his opponent without a chance to survive.

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New Year's Eve in Reggio - Hikaru Nakamura, still lucky?

Alexander Morozevich had many opportunities to draw his game against Fabiano Caruana. However, probably as a result of the football score and his ambition to win this tournament, he played for a win until there was no way back.

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Fabiano Caruana, here celebrating the new year, beat Alexander Morozevich in round 6

After struggling a bit in the first four rounds, Anish Giri won two games in a row. His scalp in round 6 was none other than Vassily Ivanchuk and, well, let's call this victory one à la Capablanca. Like the great Cuban did so often, Giri outplayed his opponent from a slightly better ending, with patience and persistence.

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Anish Giri at New Year's Eve, with his family and press officer Martha Fierro next to him, and some interesting drinks. Did he just find himself a sponsor to finance working with Kasparov?? ;-)