IT’S a rest day for the combatants at the 8th Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, so we’ll present the decisive games of Rounds 3 and 4 in the meantime for your replaying pleasure.
So, Wesley (2772)-
Svidler, P (2714) [A37]
Saint Louis (3) 2021
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3 e5 6.a3 a5 7.d3 Nge7 8.Nd2 d6 9.Nf1 0-0 10.Ne3 Rb8 11.Rb1 Nd4 12.Bd2 Bd7 13.0-0 Bc6 14.b4 axb4 15.axb4 cxb4 16.Rxb4 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Qd7 18.Ned5 Nec6 19.Rb6 f5 20.f3 Rf7 21.Be3 h5 22.Qd2 Ne6 23.Rfb1 Kh7 24.h4 f4 25.gxf4 exf4 26.Bf2 Ncd4 27.Bxd4 Bxd4 28.Ne4 1-0
Mamedyarov, S (2782)-
Rapport, R (2763) [D49]
Saint Louis (3) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 Qb6 13.0-0 Nxf6 14.Nxd4 Bd7 15.Nf3 Bd6 16.Be3 Qb8 17.Bd4 0-0 18.Re1 Rd8 19.Rc1 Rxa2 20.Bb1 Ra6 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Qd4 Kg7 23.Qg4+ Kf8 24.Qh4 Ke7 25.g3 Ra4 26.Qxh7 Rh8 27.Qd3 Qb6 28.Rcd1 Bc8 29.Bc2 Rg4 30.Nd4 Be5 31.Nxb5 Qc5 32.Nc3 Kf8 33.Ne4 Qc6 34.b4 Ba6 35.Qf3 f5 36.Nd2 Qxc2 37.Rxe5 Bb7 38.Qb3 Qc7 39.Qb2 Rgg8 40.f3 f6 41.Rxe6 Rxg3+ 42.Kf1 Rxh2 43.Qxf6+ Qf7 44.Qe5 f4 45.Rf6 Ba6+ 46.Rxa6 Rh1+ 47.Kf2 Rh2+ 48.Ke1 Rh1+ 49.Nf1 Rxf1+ 50.Kxf1 Qc4+ 51.Ke1 Rg1+ 52.Kf2 Qc2+ 53.Kxg1 Qxd1+ 54.Kf2 1-0
Vachier Lagrave, M (2751)-
Shankland, S (2709) [C53]
Saint Louis (3) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Re1 Ba7 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Nf1 a5 12.Ng3 Qd7 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Rxe3 g5 15.d4 0-0-0 16.d5 exd5 17.exd5 Ne7 18.c4 Ng4 19.Rb3 Rdf8 20.Qe1 b6 21.Rb5 Nxf2 22.Qxf2 g4 23.Nxe5 Qxb5 24.axb5 Rxf2 25.Kxf2 dxe5 26.Ke3 Rf8 27.Rf1 Rxf1 28.Nxf1 Nf5+ 29.Kd3 Kd7 30.Nd2 Nd6 31.Ne4 Ke7 32.Nxd6 cxd6 33.Ke4 Kf6 34.b3 Kg6 35.c5 dxc5 36.d6 Kf7 37.Kd5 e4 38.Kc6 e3 39.d7 e2 40.d8Q e1Q 41.Kxb6 Qe6+ 42.Ka7 c4 43.bxc4 a4 44.b6 a3 45.b7 a2 46.Qc7+ Kg6 47.Qa5 1-0
Caruana, F (2806)-
Swiercz, D (2655) [B30]
Saint Louis (3) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qb6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 Ng6 9.c4 Be7 10.Nc3 0-0 11.Rb1 c5 12.Be3 Qc7 13.f4 Bb7 14.g3 Rfe8 15.h4 Nf8 16.Bf3 d6 17.Qd2 a6 18.b3 Rad8 19.Qf2 Nd7 20.Rbd1 Bf6 21.Ne2 Nb6 22.g4 d5 23.g5 Be7 24.f5 exf5 25.Bf4 Bd6 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.exd5 Nd7 28.Bg2 Bc8 29.Nf4 Ne5 30.b4 cxb4 31.c5 Qb8 32.Rfe1 b3 33.axb3 Qb4 34.Re2 Ng4 35.Qd4 Qxb3 36.Nh5 f6 37.Rxe8+ Rxe8 38.gxf6 gxf6 39.d6 Be6 40.d7 Rd8 41.c6 Qc2 42.Re1 Kf7 43.Nf4 Bb3 44.c7 Qxc7 45.Bd5+ Bxd5 46.Qxd5+ Kg7 47.Ne6+ 1-0
Swiercz, D (2655)-
Xiong, J (2710) [B96]
Saint Louis (4) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Nbd7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Bd3 b5 12.Qe2 Bb7 13.0-0-0 Be7 14.Kb1 g6 15.Rhe1 Nc5 16.g4 g5 17.fxg5 hxg5 18.Bg3 0-0-0 19.Rf1 Qb6 20.Nb3 Ncd7 21.Bf2 Qc7 22.a4 bxa4 23.Nxa4 Qc6 24.Nc3 Rxh2 25.Na5 Qc7 26.Nxb7 Kxb7 27.Bxa6+ Ka8 28.Nb5 Qc6 29.Nd4 Qb6 30.Rd3 Nc5 31.Ra3 Kb8 32.Nf3 Rxf2 33.Qxf2 Nfxe4 34.Qe3 Kc7 35.Nd4 Rb8 36.Bb5 f5 37.c4 d5 38.gxf5 e5 39.Nc6 dxc4 40.Nxb8 Qxb5 41.Na6+ Nxa6 42.Rxa6 c3 43.Ra7+ Kb8 44.Ra8+ Kxa8 45.Qxe4+ Ka7 46.Rf2 Bc5 47.Qd5 Kb6 48.Qe6+ Ka5 49.Rc2 Ba3 50.b3 Qc5 51.f6 Bb2 52.Rxb2 cxb2 53.b4+ Kxb4 54.Qe7 1-0
Rapport, R (2763)-
Svidler, P (2714) [A07]
Saint Louis (4) 2021
1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 Nd7 3.d4 Nb6 4.a4 a5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Bf5 7.Nh4 e6 8.Nxf5 exf5 9.Qd3 Qd7 10.0-0 Bb4 11.Nd1 0-0 12.f3 Rfe8 13.Nf2 Qe6 14.Bg5 Nc4 15.c3 Bf8 16.Rae1 Nxb2 17.Qc2 Nc4 18.e4 h6 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.e5 Qe6 21.f4 h5 22.h3 g6 23.g4 hxg4 24.hxg4 fxg4 25.Qd1 g3 26.Ng4 Bg7 27.Bh3 Qb6 28.Qd3 c5 29.Rb1 Qc7 30.f5 Ra6 31.f6 cxd4 32.cxd4 Bf8 33.Qxg3 Nd2 34.Qh4 Ne4 35.Nh6+ Bxh6 36.Qxh6 Nxf6 37.exf6 Qg3+ 38.Bg2 1-0
Shankland, S (2709)-
Mamedyarov, S (2782) [C65]
Saint Louis (4) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Bc4 Qd8 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 e4 11.Qe2 Qe7 12.dxe4 Nxe4 13.Nbd2 Nxg3 14.Qxe7+ Bxe7 15.fxg3 Bf5 16.0-0 Bg6 17.Bb5 0-0-0 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.Nb3 Rd5 20.Rae1 Bf6 21.Nfd4 Bxd4+ 22.Nxd4 Kb7 23.Nb3 Kb6 24.c4 Rd7 25.a4 a5 26.Rf6 Ra8 27.Re5 Rd1+ 28.Kf2 Ra6 29.Rb5+ Ka7 30.Rxa5 Rxa5 31.Nxa5 Rd2+ 32.Kf3 Rxb2 33.Nxc6+ Ka8 34.Ne5 Bc2 35.Nxf7 h5 36.Nxg5 Bd1+ 37.Ke3 Re2+ 38.Kd4 Rxg2 39.a5 Rxh2 40.Ne6 h4 41.Nxc7+ Kb8 42.Nb5 hxg3 43.a6 Rh8 1-0
Dominguez Perez, L (2758)-
Vachier Lagrave, M (2751) [B90]
Saint Louis (4) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.g5 Nh5 13.Kb1 Nb6 14.Na5 Rc8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bxd5 17.Qxd5 Qxa5 18.c4 Nf4 19.Bxf4 exf4 20.h4 Qa4 21.Bd3 bxc4 22.Qe4 g6 23.Bc2 Qd7 24.h5 Qe6 25.hxg6 hxg6 26.Qxf4 Qe5 27.Qh4 Qg7 28.Rd2 Rc5 29.f4 f6 30.Rdh2 fxg5 31.Qe1 Bf6 32.Rh6 Qb7 33.Qe6 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qb3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…bxc4 2.Qb7#; 1…Kxe4 2.Qf3#; 1…fxe4 2.Qxb5#; 1…Ne3/b2 2.Nc3#; 1…Bxd4 2.Rxd4#./PN
