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Nakamura is back in the top 10 World Chess players!

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Hikaru Nakamura is back into the World's elite list of players. He is rated 2769 and is placed 9th in the live chess ratings list as well as the FIDE rating list that was released on the 1st. Gata Kamsky is now rated 2740 and is at the 17th position. He was recently the No. 1 player in the US, but lost points quite heavily in the FIDE Grand Prix series tournament at Tashkent. There is no other player from the United States in the 2700 ELO club. Editor

Nakamura vs Principled Chess!?

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Why is it that Nakamura manages these amazing games even in an age where Chess engines almost prohibit creativity? Is it that he is imagining ideas that no one does? Is he plain bluffing!? Does he manage to shake his opponents psychologically? Well, probably all of the above and more. If you observe his games closely, you will notice that he throws the game off balance much more often than the other "principled" top Chess players. Which means that even if Nakamura is making an objectively slightly inferior move, he is constantly forcing his opponents into areas where they are not in the comfort zone. They expect Move A and then bang comes Move P, expect Move B and there comes Move J. Mind you, the supposedly inferior moves cannot be measured in the usual Fritzy way. The value of the move is the accuracy he is giving up vs the complexity he is throwing up! And it is sometimes a good plus, even if it is minus per the engines. Now, the problem for the bunny GM is that Naka is no...