THE 8th Sinquefield Cup, the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour, started on August 17 in St. Louis, Missouri, with 10 of the world’s best grandmasters competing in a Category 20 (average Elo: 2742) event.
The players are Fabiano Caruana (2806), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2782), Wesley So (2772), Richard Rapport (2763), Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2751), Peter Svidler (2714), Jeffery Xiong (2710), Sam Shankland (2709), and Dariusz Swiercz (2655).
Winning their opening games to share the lead were Caruana, Dominguez-Perez, and Vachier-Lagrave, who defeated Shankland, Swiercz, and Svidler, respectively. Wesley came close to winning against a tenacious Mamedyarov, missing opportunities to convert what the computers tagged as a decisive advantage. Mamedyarov found the right defensive moves as Wesley gave back his material advantage to diffuse the Azerbaijani’s counter-attack. The two agreed to a draw after 50 moves of a Giuoco Piano.
Caruana clobbered Shankland in 38 moves of a King’s Indian, while Vachier-Lagrave crushed Svidler in 31 moves of another King’s Indian. Dominguez-Perez, on the other hand, ground down Swiercz in eight moves of a Petroff Defense. Xiong held Rapport to a 57-move draw in a Nimzo-Indian.
So, Wesley (2772) –
Mamedyarov, S (2782) [C50]
Saint Louis (1) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.h3 d6 7.c3 Ne7 8.Re1 Ng6 9.d4 Bb6 10.Bd3 d5 11.exd5 exd4 12.c4 c6 13.Qc2 cxd5 14.c5 Bc7 15.Nxd4 Re8 16.Rxe8+ Qxe8 17.Nc3 Qe1+ 18.Bf1 Bd7 19.Qe2 Qxe2 20.Ndxe2 Rc8 21.Be3 Ne7 22.Rd1 a6 23.g4 Bc6 24.f3 h6 25.b4 Re8 26.Kf2 Bd7 27.Bf4 Bxf4 28.Nxf4 d4 29.Rxd4 Nc6 30.Rd6 Nxb4 31.Rb6 a5 32.Rxb7 Bc6 33.Ra7 g5 34.Nd3 Rd8 35.Ne5 Rd2+ 36.Kg3 Rc2 37.a3 Nbd5 38.Nxd5 Nxd5 39.Bd3 Rxc5 40.Nxf7 Nf4 41.Bf5 Bd5 42.Ne5 Rc3 43.Rxa5 Re3 44.Nd3 Rxf3+ 45.Kh2 Rxh3+ 46.Kg1 Rg3+ 47.Kf2 Rf3+ 48.Kg1 Rg3+ 49.Kf2 Rf3+ 50.Kg1 Rg3+ ½-½
Vachier Lagrave, M (2751)-
Svidler, P (2714) [E60]
Saint Louis (1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 c5 7.d5 b5 8.cxb5 a6 9.a4 axb5 10.Bxb5 Ba6 11.Bd2 Bxb5 12.axb5 Nbd7 13.Nf3 Rxa1 14.Qxa1 Qb6 15.0-0 Rb8 16.Qa6 Ne8 17.Ra1 Kf8 18.h5 Nc7 19.Qa4 Ra8 20.Qd1 Rxa1 21.Qxa1 Ne5 22.h6 Nxf3+ 23.gxf3 Bxc3 24.Bxc3 Qxb5 25.b4 Ne8 26.bxc5 dxc5 27.Bg7+ Kg8 28.Qa8 c4 29.Qd8 Qa4 30.Kg2 Qb5 31.Bb2 1-0
Xiong, J (2710)-
Rapport, R (2763) [E38]
Saint Louis (1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Qa5 6.Bd2 Qxc5 7.e3 d5 8.a3 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 dxc4 10.Bb4 Qc6 11.Qxc4 Qxc4 12.Bxc4 Nc6 13.Bc3 Ne4 14.Rc1 Nxc3 15.Rxc3 Bd7 16.Nf3 Rc8 17.Bd3 Ke7 18.Ke2 h6 19.Rhc1 Nb8 20.Ne5 Rxc3 21.Rxc3 Rc8 22.Kd2 Rxc3 23.Kxc3 Bc8 24.f4 Nd7 25.Nxd7 Bxd7 26.e4 f6 27.Kd4 Kd6 28.e5+ fxe5+ 29.fxe5+ Ke7 30.Be4 b6 31.Kc4 Kd8 32.Kd4 Ke7 33.h4 Bb5 34.g3 Kd7 35.Bc2 Be2 36.Ba4+ Kc7 37.Ke3 Bh5 38.Kf4 Be2 39.g4 Kd8 40.Bc6 Ke7 41.g5 Bh5 42.b4 Bd1 43.a4 Bh5 44.Bb5 Bd1 45.a5 Bh5 46.Bf1 Be8 47.Bg2 Bh5 48.Bc6 Bd1 49.gxh6 gxh6 50.Ke3 Bh5 51.Kd3 Kd8 52.axb6 axb6 53.Ke3 Ke7 54.Kd3 Kd8 55.Ke3 Ke7 56.Kd3 Kd8 57.Ke3 ½-½
Caruana, F (2806)-
Shankland, S (2709) [A48]
Saint Louis (1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 c5 6.Nbd2 cxd4 7.exd4 0-0 8.Be2 Qb6 9.Nc4 Qc7 10.Ne3 Nc6 11.c3 e5 12.Bh2 Qe7 13.0-0 e4 14.Ne1 d5 15.N1c2 Be6 16.Qe1 Nd7 17.f3 f5 18.fxe4 fxe4 19.Bf4 Rf7 20.Qg3 Nf6 21.Rf2 Qd7 22.Raf1 Raf8 23.Qh4 Ne8 24.Ng4 Nd6 25.Nce3 Ne7 26.Ne5 Bxe5 27.Bxe5 Ndf5 28.Ng4 h5 29.Qg5 hxg4 30.hxg4 Ng7 31.Qh6 Nef5 32.gxf5 Rxf5 33.Rxf5 Rxf5 34.Rxf5 Bxf5 35.g4 Be6 36.Qxg6 Qf7 37.Qh6 e3 38.Bf3 1-0
Swiercz, D (2655)-
Dominguez Perez, L (2758) [C42]
Saint Louis (1) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bf5 12.Re1 Nd7 13.Bg5 Qa5 14.Nh4 Rae8 15.Nxf5 Rxe1+ 16.Qxe1 Qxf5 17.Bh4 Qh5 18.Bg3 Bxg3 19.hxg3 Nf6 20.Be2 Qa5 21.Bf3 Re8 22.Qd2 h5 23.Rc1 Re7 24.Qc2 g6 25.Qb2 Kg7 26.Be2 Qg5 27.Bf3 Qa5 28.Be2 c5 29.Bf3 cxd4 30.cxd4 Re1+ 31.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 32.Kh2 b6 33.Qc2 Qb4 34.Qd3 a5 35.a3 Qd6 36.Kg1 b5 37.Bd1 b4 38.axb4 Qxb4 39.Bb3 a4 40.Bc4 a3 41.f3 Qb2 42.Qb3 Qxd4+ 43.Kh2 Qa7 44.Qc3 Qc7 45.Qd4 Qe7 46.Bb3 Kh7 47.Qf4 Kg7 48.Qd4 Kg8 49.Qd3 Kh7 50.Qd4 Ng8 51.Ba2 Nh6 52.Bb1 Qe1 53.Qb6 Qc3 54.Kg1 Qc1+ 55.Kh2 Qb2 56.Qxb2 axb2 57.Kg1 Nf5 58.Kf2 Nd4 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Ng3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Re5 2.Bxe5#; 1…Ne6/g6/e2 2.Qf2#; 1…Nd5 2.Bc5#; 1…Nd3 2.c3#; 1…Rxg3 2.Qxf4#./PN
