GM Aleksandr Lenderman nursed a pawn advantage then slowly but surely outplayed GM Samuel Sevian in a King + minor pieces endgame to win a marathon Nimzo-Indian that lasted 140 moves to gain a share of the lead in the ongoing 2021 US Men’s Chess Championship in St. Louis. Erstwhile solo leader GM Ray Robson was held by GM Dariusz Swiercz in 42 moves of a Giuoco Piano.
But the big news of Round 5 is the stunning defeat of top seed Fabiano Caruana at the hands of GM Daniel Naroditsky in 57 moves of an interesting and tricky Ruy Lopez Steinitz. The round also saw GM Jeffery Xiong subduing GM Sam Shankland in 38 moves of a Dutch System, with the rest of the matches ending in draws. Lazaro Bruzon Batista split the point with Wesley So after 30 moves of a Petroff’s Defense, while GM John Burke used the Ruy Lopez Marshall to hold Leinier Dominguez Perez in 42 moves.
Standings after Round 5: 1-2. Lenderman, Robson, 3½; 3-4. So, Dominguez Perez, 3; 5-8. Caruana, Burke, Bruzon Batista, Sevian, 2½; 9-10. Swiercz, Naroditsky, 2; 11-12. Shankland, Xiong, 1½.
Caruana,F (2800)-Naroditsky,D (2623) [C72]
Saint Louis (5.1) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bd7 6.c3 Nf6 7.Re1 g6 8.d4 Bg7 9.Nbd2 exd4 10.cxd4 0-0 11.h3 Nb4 12.Bxd7 Qxd7 13.Qb3 a5 14.a3 Nc6 15.Nf1 a4 16.Qd3 Na5 17.Bg5 Nb3 18.Rad1 h6 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.N1d2 Na5 21.Nb1 b5 22.Qc2 Bg7 23.Nc3 c6 24.e5 Rfe8 25.Ne4 Nc4 26.exd6 Nxd6 27.Ne5 Qf5 28.g4 Qe6 29.Nc3 Rac8 30.Re2 Qb3 31.Qxb3 axb3 32.Kg2 c5 33.dxc5 Nc4 34.Nxc4 Rxe2 35.Nxe2 bxc4 36.Rc1 Bxb2 37.Rxc4 Bxa3 38.c6 b2 39.Nc3 Bf8 40.Nb1 Bg7 41.Kf3 Kf8 42.h4 Ke7 43.h5 Kd6 44.hxg6 fxg6 45.Rb4 Rxc6 46.Rb7 Be5 47.Nd2 Rc2 48.Ke3 Kc6 49.Rb3 Rc3+ 50.Rxc3+ Bxc3 51.Nb1 Bb4 52.f4 Kd5 53.Kd3 h5 54.f5 hxg4 55.fxg6 Ke6 56.Ke4 g3 57.Kf3 Bd6 0-1
Dominguez Perez,L (2760)-Burke,JM (2554) [C89]
Saint Louis (5.2) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Be3 Bxd3 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.Bd4 Rfd8 19.a4 Bg4 20.Qe4 Rac8 21.Nf3 Bf5 22.Ng5 Bxe4 23.Nxh3 Bf5 24.Ng5 Bf8 25.axb5 axb5 26.Ra7 Bg6 27.Rb7 c5 28.Rxb5 cxd4 29.Rxd5 Rxd5 30.Bxd5 dxc3 31.bxc3 Rxc3 32.Be4 h6 33.Bxg6 hxg5 34.Be4 g6 35.Re2 Kg7 36.Rc2 Rxc2 37.Bxc2 Bc5 38.Kg2 Bb6 39.Bd3 Bc5 40.Bc2 Bb6 41.Bd3 Bc5 42.Bc2 ½-½
Swiercz,D (2647)-Robson,R (2669) [C50]
Saint Louis (5.3) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Re1 h6 8.h3 a6 9.a4 Ba7 10.b4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Nf1 d5 15.Be3 d4 16.cxd4 Nxd4 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 18.Bxd4 Qxd4 19.Qxc7 Qxd3 20.Qxb7 Ree8 21.Red1 Qxe4 22.Qxe4 Nxe4 23.Rac1 Rec8 24.Rxc8+ Rxc8 25.Ne3 Nc3 26.Rd6 Nxa4 27.Rxa6 Nc3 28.Ra5 Rb8 29.Rc5 Na4 30.Rxe5 Rxb4 31.g4 Nc3 32.Kg2 Ne4 33.Nd5 Ra4 34.Nb6 Rd4 35.Re8+ Kh7 36.Nd7 Rxd7 37.Rxe4 g5 38.Ra4 Rd3 39.Re4 Kg7 40.Ra4 Kh7 41.Re4 Kg7 42.Ra4 Kh7 ½-½
Bruzon Batista,L (2645)-So,Wesley (2778) [C42]
Saint Louis (5.4) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nd3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Nf4 Nc6 7.c3 Nf6 8.d4 g5 9.Qxe7+ Nxe7 10.Ne2 h6 11.Ng3 Nf5 12.Bd3 Nxg3 13.hxg3 Bg7 14.Na3 Be6 15.Nc4 Nd5 16.Ne3 c5 17.Be4 Nxe3 18.Bxe3 d5 19.Bc2 cxd4 20.Bxd4 Bxd4 21.cxd4 Rc8 22.Bd3 Ke7 23.Kd2 Rc6 24.b3 a5 25.Rac1 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Rc8 27.Rh1 Rh8 28.Rc1 Rc8 29.Rh1 Rh8 30.Rc1 ½-½
Xiong,J (2700)-Shankland,S (2714) [A04]
Saint Louis (5.6) 2021
1.Nf3 c5 2.c3 d5 3.d4 e6 4.Bf4 Bd6 5.e3 Nc6 6.Bg3 Nge7 7.Nbd2 cxd4 8.exd4 0-0 9.Bd3 Ng6 10.Qc2 f5 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.0-0 Bd7 13.Rfe1 Rae8 14.Bb5 Nb8 15.Bf1 Nc6 16.Bb5 Nb8 17.a4 a6 18.Bf1 Nc6 19.b4 Nd8 20.b5 axb5 21.axb5 Nf7 22.c4 e5 23.c5 Qf6 24.dxe5 Nfxe5 25.Qa4 Nxf3+ 26.Nxf3 Re4 27.Qa7 Bc8 28.Red1 Nf4 29.Rac1 Re7 30.Qb8 g5 31.c6 bxc6 32.Rxc6 Bd7 33.Rxf6 Rxb8 34.Nd4 Re5 35.Rd6 Rb7 36.b6 Re7 37.g3 Ng6 38.Bg2 1-0
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qd8!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Qxh7/f6 2.N(x)f6#; 1…Qxd4 2.Ne7#; 1…cxd6 2.Qxd6#; 1…Nb8/c5 2.R(x)c5#.
