World number 2 player Fabiano Caruana is apparently off-form at the ongoing 2021 US Men’s Chess Championship in St. Louis. The 29-year old Caruana absorbed his second consecutive defeat at the hands of GM Samuel Sevian at the halfway mark of the event after losing his Round 5 game.
Sevian took the point from Caruana in 42 moves of a seemingly effortless Four Knights Opening – a rare bird in top tournaments. The loss dropped Caruana to a share of 7th to 11th places with Sam Shankland, John Burke, Dariusz Swiercz and Daniel Naroditsky, while Sevian’s victory catapulted him to a share of 3rd to 5th places with Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez Perez who drew their Round 6 match.
Meanwhile, GMs Aleksandr Lenderman and Ray Robson kept their slim lead in the event after most of the top board settos ended as point splitters. The only other decisive game of Round 6 is Shankland’s win over Burke in 62 moves of an English Opening.
Standings after Round 6: 1-2. Lenderman, Robson, 4; 3-5. So, Dominguez Perez, Sevian, 3½; 6. Bruzon Batista, 3; 7-11. Shankland, Burke, Caruana, Swiercz, Naroditsky, 2½; 12. Xiong, 2.
Shankland,S (2714)-Burke,JM (2554) [A15]
Saint Louis (6.1) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.b3 Nc6 4.Bb2 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nc3 Qf5 7.e3 e5 8.Nb5 Rb8 9.d3 a6 10.e4 Qh5 11.Na3 Bg4 12.Be2 b5 13.Nc2 Nd4 14.Nfxd4 exd4 15.b4 Rd8 16.h3 Bxe2 17.Qxe2 Qxe2+ 18.Kxe2 Nxe4 19.a4 Nc3+ 20.Bxc3 dxc3 21.bxc5 Bxc5 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rhb1 0-0 24.Rxb5 Rfe8+ 25.Kf1 Be7 26.d4 Kf8 27.Ra7 Ra8 28.Rxa8 Rxa8 29.Ke2 Ba3 30.Kd3 Bb2 31.Re5 Rd8 32.Ra5 Rd7 33.Ra4 g6 34.Ne3 Ke7 35.Rc4 Kf6 36.Nd1 Ra7 37.Nxc3 Ra3 38.Kd2 Bxc3+ 39.Rxc3 Ra2+ 40.Ke3 h5 41.h4 Rb2 42.g3 Ra2 43.Rd3 Ke6 44.Rd2 Ra3+ 45.Ke4 Ra1 46.Kf4 Kf6 47.f3 Rb1 48.Re2 Rd1 49.Re4 Ra1 50.g4 hxg4 51.fxg4 Rf1+ 52.Ke3 Re1+ 53.Kd3 Ra1 54.Kc4 Kg7 55.g5 f5 56.Re7+ Kf8 57.Re6 Ra4+ 58.Kc5 Kg7 59.d5 Rxh4 60.d6 Kf7 61.d7 Rh8 62.Kd6 1-0
Sevian,S (2654)-Caruana,F (2800) [C47]
Saint Louis (6.2) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 d6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 Qe7 12.Na4 Ba5 13.c3 Bb6 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.Qe2 Bg4 16.Qe3 Nh5 17.f4 d5 18.fxg5 Nxg3 19.Qxg3 Qxg5 20.h4 Qg7 21.Qxc7 d4 22.c4 Rfc8 23.Qd6 c5 24.Rf6 Bh3 25.Rf2 Kh8 26.Qxb6 Rg8 27.e5 Rae8 28.Re1 f5 29.Bf1 f4 30.Qxc5 f3 31.e6 fxg2 32.Bd3 Bxe6 33.Qe5 Qxe5 34.Rxe5 Bh3 35.Re4 Rxe4 36.Bxe4 d3 37.Bxd3 Re8 38.Be2 Kg7 39.a4 Re3 40.a5 Re5 41.b4 Re3 42.Rf3 1-0
So,Wesley (2778)-Dominguez Perez,L (2760) [D27]
Saint Louis (6.3) 2021
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Be2 Ke7 10.Nbd2 b6 11.Nc4 Nc6 12.Bd2 b5 13.Nce5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Bb7 15.Rfc1 Bd6 16.Nc6+ Bxc6 17.Rxc6 Rhc8 18.Rac1 Rxc6 19.Rxc6 Kd7 20.Rc2 Nd5 21.Bf3 Rc8 22.Rxc8 Kxc8 23.Bxd5 exd5 24.Bc3 g6 25.Kf1 Kd7 26.Ke2 Ke6 27.h3 h5 28.Kd3 Bc5 29.f3 f5 30.b3 Be7 31.a4 Bc5 32.axb5 axb5 33.Bd4 Be7 34.Bc3 Bc5 35.Bd4 Be7 36.Bg7 Bc5 37.Bd4 ½-½
Robson,R (2669)-Lenderman,A (2607) [B31]
Saint Louis (6.4) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Qxd4 f6 7.Qa4 Qb6 8.c4 Qa6 9.Qc2 d5 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.exd5 Bf5 12.Qe2 Bd3 13.Qe6 Qxe6+ 14.dxe6 Nh6 15.Nc3 Nf5 16.Nd5 0-0-0 17.Nb4 Bc4 18.g4 Ng7 19.Be3 Kb7 20.Rc1 Rc8 21.Nd4 Bxe6 22.0-0 Bxg4 23.Nb3 e5 24.Na5+ Ka8 25.Rxc8+ Bxc8 26.Nd5 Bd6 27.Nxf6 Nf5 28.Rd1 Be6 29.a3 Rc8 30.b4 Nxe3 31.fxe3 Be7 32.Nd5 Bd8 33.Nb3 Bb6 34.Kf2 Rc2+ 35.Kf3 Rxh2 36.Nc5 Bf5 37.e4 Bc8 38.Ne7 Kb8 39.Nc6+ Kc7 40.Nxe5 Bxc5 41.Rc1 Rh3+ 42.Kf4 Rh4+ 43.Kf3 Rh3+ 44.Kf4 Rh4+ 45.Kf3 Rh3+ 46.Kf4 ½-½
Naroditsky,D (2623)-Bruzon Batista,L (2645) [C44]
Saint Louis (6.5) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 Nd5 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d5 8.exd6 Bxd6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.Nxd4 Qe5 12.Nf3 Qa5 13.Nbd2 h6 14.Bh4 Bf5 15.Bc2 Rfe8 16.b4 Bxc2 17.Qxc2 Qh5 18.Bg3 Bxg3 19.hxg3 Rad8 20.Rfe1 Nd7 21.Nc4 Nf6 22.Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.Re1 Rxe1+ 24.Nxe1 a5 25.a3 axb4 26.axb4 Ne5 27.Nxe5 Qxe5 28.Nf3 Qe6 29.Qd3 c6 30.Qd8+ Kh7 31.Qd3+ Kg8 32.Qd8+ Kh7 33.Qd3+ g6 34.c4 Qe7 35.Qd4 Kg7 36.Qc3 Qe2 37.Qd4 Qe7 38.Qc3 Qe2 39.Qd4 Qe7 40.Qc3 ½-½
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Bg8!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Rxe6 2.a8=Q#; 1…Qxe6 2.Nf6#; 1…Ke4 2.Qd4#; 1…Nxe6 2.Qd3#.
