Sinquefield Cup 2015

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 8th August, 2015, 01:01 AM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

Online advert:

3RD ANNUAL SINQUEFIELD CUP

The 3rd Annual Sinquefield Cup returns to Saint Louis August 22nd to September 3rd. This year's Sinquefield Cup marks the 2nd leg of the Grand Chess Tour.

Autograph Session

Come and meet the players of the Grand Chess Tour at 12:00 pm on August 22nd at Kingside Diner. Guests may get only one item signed. The players will not be available to pose for pictures. Make sure to come early to secure your spot in line.

Commentary

Ticket-holders may view commentary in three separate spaces at the event. The Chess Club will display the online commentary with GM Seirawan, GM Ashley, and WGM Shahade. Both Kingside Diner, and the World Chess Hall of Fame(WCHOF) will feature live commentary with two Grandmasters each.

Ticket Prices

Single Round Pass - $10 9 Round Pass(includes playoff, but not Ultimate Moves) - $80 Ultimate Moves - $10

More info on the event can be found at the event page at http://grandchesstour.com/content/2015-sinquefield-cup

The field will have three grandmasters representing the United States – Caruana, Nakamura and So. The opposition are Carlsen, Grischuk, Topalov, Anand, Giri, Vachier-Lagrave and Aronian.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 20th August, 2015, 12:55 AM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

August 20, 2015

There is a rundown of the leadup to the Sinquefield Cup at:

http://www.chess.com/news/top-player...rt-sunday-4838

Seven tidbits:

1. (As a reminder, the rate of play in all three tournaments is 40 moves in two hours, followed by the rest of the game in one hour with a 30-second increment from move 41.)

2. The world champion hasn't touched the chess pieces since what was the worst tournament in his professional career. Nonetheless he made the news twice: as a co-driver in Sébastien Oger's racing car, and as the first world champion to suggest changes to the world championship cycle that are against his own interest.

3. It's been quiet around Alexander Grischuk, who didn't play in the China-Russia matches last month and is also absent from the Russian Championship Superfinal. That tournament concludes on Thursday, which is probably too close to the St. Louis event anyway.

And from Ian Rogers at uschess.org:

4. The field for the 2015 Sinquefield Cup contains seven of the top eight players in the world, plus (using the live rating list) numbers 9, 11 and 16 - as near as any organiser has ever come to emulating the legendary AVRO tournament of 1938 in the Netherlands, which was made up of the best eight players in the world at the time.

5. Nakamura has enjoyed a sensational 2015, winning in Gibraltar, Zurich, Khanty Mansiysk and the US Championship in Saint Louis, as well as finishing second at Norway Chess. On that form he should be a favorite to win his first Sinquefield Cup but there is one giant obstacle, which he has yet to surmount in his career - Magnus Carlsen. A first win over Magnus Carlsen will be cause for great celebration.

6. 21-year-old Giri will be closely watched to see whether the theory that marriage adds at least 50 Elo points to both partners' ratings is true.

7. On his return to the scene of the crime, Saint Louis, So will need to have taken measures to break his addiction to self-motivating notes, without risking forgetting to play well. The most unobtrusive would probably be to have 'Play one good move after another and don't blunder' tattooed on his left arm. What could possibly go wrong?

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 22nd August, 2015, 11:35 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

Pairings for Round One

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Anish Giri – Alexander Grischuk

Wesley So – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Levon Aronian – Fabiano Caruana

Magnus Carlsen – Veselin Topalov

Hikaru Nakamura – Viswanathan Anand

Play starts, at 1 p.m. local time = 2 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CET in St. Louis

- See more at: http://grandchesstour.com/2015-sinqu....qyzTor1H.dpuf

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 23rd August, 2015, 02:54 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup

Sunday, August 23, 2015

The games have started and the live commentary is at:

http://grandchesstour.com/2015-sinquefield-cup-live

Schedule

Round Two Mon August 24

Grischuk-Anand
Topalov-Nakamura
Caruana-Carlsen
MVL-Aronian
Giri-So

Round Three Tue August 25

So-Grischuk
Aronian-Giri
Carlsen-MVL
Nakamura-Caruana
Anand-Topalov

Round Four Wed August 26

Grischuk-Topalov
Caruana-Anand
MVL-Nakamura
Giri-Carlsen
So-Aronian

Round Five Thur August 27

Aronian-Grischuk
Carlsen-So
Nakamura-Giri
Anand-MVL
Topalov-Caruana

REST DAY

Round Six Sat August 29

Grischuk-Caruana
MVL-Topalov
Giri-Anand
So-Nakamura
Aronian-Carlsen

Round Seven Sun August 30

Carlsen-Grischuk
Nakamura-Aronian
Anand-So
Topalov-Giri
Caruana-MVL

Round Eight Mon August 31

Grischuk-MVL
Giri-Caruana
So-Topalov
Aronian-Anand
Carlsen-Nakamura

Round Nine Tue September 1

Nakamura-Grischuk
Anand-Carlsen
Topalov-Aronian
Caruana-So
MVL-Giri

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 23rd August, 2015, 04:01 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

Round One

I am just watching the commentary on the premier game and everyone agrees that Topalov sprung a prepared line against Carlsen. They are not sure if Carlsen’s sacrifice is enough to go ahead; it rather looks like Topalov is in the ascendancy now:

Sinquefield Cup
Round 1, Aug. 23, 2015
Carlsen, Magnus – Topalov, Veselin
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O Nf6 5.Re1 a6 6.Bd3 b5 7.c4 g5 8.Nxg5 Ne5 9.Be2 bxc4 10.Na3 Rg8 11.Nxc4 Nxc4 12.d4 (game in progress)

Wesley So is the first player to use the tv confessional. He is not happy with his game. This is better than writing that out on your score sheet though.

**Caleb Petersen** · Sunday, 23rd August, 2015, 04:04 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Magnus plays 11. Nxc4....... 20 minutes to give up a piece! My thoughts are after the moves played 11. Nxc4 Nxc4 12. d4 Topalov will play Na5 (or Nb6) 12. dxc5 dxc5 13. Bh5 (13. Qxd8+? Kxd8 14. Nxf7+ Ke8 15. Ne5 doesn't look appealing). That must be what Magnus is going for...it does seem he might have compensation, not sure what the engine say though. After Bh5 Nxh5 Qxh5 Rg7 worst case senario is Nxh7 and then Magnus has two pawns for the piece, can play Nxf8 Kxf8 and Bh6. But that's my blunder prone analysis.

**Jack Maguire** · Sunday, 23rd August, 2015, 06:10 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Five decisive results and both Topalov and Nakamura are within striking distance of Carlsen in live rating!

http://www.2700chess.com/

**Mathieu Cloutier** · Sunday, 23rd August, 2015, 06:56 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Nakamura sure looks exausted from playing that simul two days ago!

**Peter McKillop** · Sunday, 23rd August, 2015, 07:37 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Originally posted by Mathieu Cloutier View Post

Nakamura sure looks exausted from playing that simul two days ago!

Poor guy. The word on the street was that he arrived at the back door of the club on a stretcher! :)

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 23rd August, 2015, 08:16 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

Round One, August 23, 2015

Mark Crowther at TWIC - Carlsen seemed to surprised by the move 7...g5 in the Sicilian, a known idea and risked a piece sacrifice that initially paid off and he may have even been better but perhaps in the kind of position he doesn't enjoy and afterwards he wondered if he shouldn't have sacrificed the piece. 17.e5 was an error that again gave Topalov the advantage and it was one way traffic after 17..Qc6!

Carlsen said that he's worried that he's blundering and also criticised his lack of practicality in taking so long to sacrifice the piece as he intended it after Na3 and there was no way back. Topalov thought it was an OK game. He was shocked by Carlsen's piece sacrifice "it's not what white's supposed to do." "In his time trouble he allowed me to do everything more or less."

Anish Giri needled Carlsen with this comment "My wife knew about 7...g5 in that Sicilian (Carlsen-Topalov), I don't know why Carlsen didn't".

His wife is a grandmaster but still, it would have been more gracious to say, “My mamma knew about 7..g5 etc”.

3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015
Round 1, Aug. 23, 2015
Carlsen, Magnus – Topalov, Veselin
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O Nf6 5.Re1 a6 6.Bd3 b5 7.c4 g5 8.Nxg5 Ne5 9.Be2 bxc4 10.Na3 Rg8 11.Nxc4 Nxc4 12.d4 Nb6 13.Bh5 Nxh5 14.Qxh5 Rg7 15.Nxh7 Qd7 16.dxc5 dxc5 17.e5 Qc6 18.f3 Qg6 19.Nf6+ Kd8 20.Qxg6 Rxg6 21.Ne4 Bb7 22.h4 Rc8 23.h5 Rg8 24.Bd2 Nc4 25.Bc3 Bh6 26.Rad1+ Ke8 27.Rd3 Bf4 28.Nf2 Bc6 29.Nh3 Bg3 30.Re2 Bb5 31.Rd1 Bc6 32.Nf2 Bxe5 33.Ng4 Bxc3 34.bxc3 Kf8 35.Kf2 Rh8 36.Ne5 Nxe5 37.Rxe5 Be8 38.g4 f6 39.Re6 Bb5 40.Rde1 Rc7 0-1

Ramirez at chessbase.com - Nakamura was trying to pressure Anand, who defended in clever ways. However the Indian player missed a couple of chances to fully equalize, and after a series of inaccuracies he saw himself unable to protect his pawn. In an awful position, but perhaps not 100% lost, Anand decided to resign.

Round 1, Aug. 23, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Anand, Viswanathan
E05 Catalan, Open, Classical Line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Bd5 11.Qc2 Be4 12.Qd1 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Qxd8 Rxd8 15.Nbd2 Bc6 16.Nb3 Be7 17.Na5 h6 18.Be3 Nd5 19.Bd2 Nb6 20.Bf4 Nd5 21.Ne5 g5 22.Bd2 Bf6 23.Nd3 b6 24.Nc4 b5 25.Bxd5 bxc4 26.Bxc4 Bxb2 27.Ra2 Bg7 28.Rc1 Be8 29.Nc5 Bf8 30.Bd3 Nc6 31.Be4 Rdc8 32.Kf1 Ra7 33.Nb3 Rac7 34.Rac2 Bd6 35.f4 f5 36.Bd3 Nb8 37.Rxc7 Rxc7 38.Rxc7 Bxc7 39.fxg5 hxg5 40.Nc5 Bd6 41.Nxe6 Bxa4 42.Nxg5 Bd7 43.Bc3 1-0

Ramirez - The first game to finish was brilliant. Aronian smashed Caruana’s position when there was a tremendous amount of tension in the center. Caruana released it too early; the Armenian saw his opportunity and sacrificed a full rook! His devastating continuation with a quiet move, Rf1, was sufficient to topple the American’s defenses and Caruana lost soon after.

Aronian falters twice and does not make the best moves. Maurice Ashley tells a story of being about to win with a brilliancy against Robert Byrne and being so full of himself that he let go of his concentration and had to undergo torture for the next 30 moves.

This quote from the St. Louis Chess Club seems to encapsulate it all:

Mom of Levon Aronian says the caravan camel wants to dance when he reaches the bridge. "Don't do stupid things when it's a decisive moment"

Round 1, Aug. 23, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Caruana, Fabiano
D37 QGD, Hastings Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 Ne4 8.Rc1 Nxc3 9.Rxc3 b6 10.c6 Nf6 11.a3 a5 12.Bd3 Ne4 13.Rc2 f6 14.Qe2 Bd6 15.O-O g5 16.Bxd6 Nxd6 17.Re1 a4 18.Nd2 e5 19.e4 f5 20.f3 dxe4 21.fxe4 Ra5 22.exf5 Nxf5 23.Bc4+ Kg7 24.d5 Re8 25.Ne4 Nd4 26.Qh5 Nxc2 27.Nxg5 Bf5 28.Rf1 Qf6 29.Ne6+ Rxe6 30.Rxf5 Qg6 31.dxe6 Qxh5 32.Rxh5 Nd4 33.e7 Ra8 34.Rxe5 Re8 35.Re4 Nf5 36.Be6 Nd6 37.Bd7 Nxe4 38.Bxe8 Kf6 39.Bg6 1-0

Round 1, Aug. 23, 2015
Giri, Anish – Grischuk, Alexander
E00 Catalan Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Rd1 b6 10.Bf4 Ba6 11.b3 Rc8 12.Nc3 dxc4 13.e4 Nh5 14.Be3 Nhf6 15.h3 b5 16.bxc4 bxc4 17.Rab1 Qa5 18.Bd2 Qa3 19.Re1 Nb6 20.Re3 Rb8 21.Rxb6 Rxb6 22.Na4 Rb1+ 23.Kh2 c3 24.Rxc3 Qb4 25.Rxc6 Qb5 26.Ne5 Ra1 27.Bc3 Rf1 28.Nb2 Qb7 29.Rxa6 Qxa6 30.Nbc4 Nxe4 31.Bxe4 Rb8 32.Bxh7+ Kf8 33.Qe2 Rc1 34.Qh5 1-0

Tweet from the St. Louis Chess Club – We’re about to send someone up there and poke Grischuk until he makes a move…8:20 left for 18 moves!

Grischuk – My time management is obviously awful..it’s a pathology, it cannot be cured.

Round 1, Aug. 23, 2015
So, Wesley – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
A16 English

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 c5 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.Ng5 e6 9.Nge4 Nb6 10.Qb5 c4 11.Na4 O-O 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.Qxc4 e5 14.Qc2 Be6 15.Nc3 b5 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.b3 Bf5 18.d3 e4 19.dxe4 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 Bxa1 21.O-O Re8 22.f3 Bd4+ 23.e3 Bg7 24.Rd1 Qc7 25.Rd6 c5 26.Rd5 Re5 27.Rd1 c4 28.a3 Re7 29.bxc4 Qxc4 30.Qd2 Qb3 31.Qd6 Rc8 32.Nf2 Rec7 33.Bd2 Bf8 34.Qd4 Bxa3 35.Kg2 Bb2 0-1

Mark Crowther - Wesley So grabbed a pawn with white in unfavourable circumstances and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave punished him fully.

Round One is finished! 5 decisive games! Carlsen loses to Topalov again, what a way to start the tournament!

**Mathieu Cloutier** · Monday, 24th August, 2015, 02:28 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Wasn't there a bet going on about wether or not there would be 6 guys rated 2800 or above in 2015? Because Giri is now 2798.

**Tom O'Donnell** · Monday, 24th August, 2015, 06:30 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Originally posted by Mathieu Cloutier View Post

Wasn't there a bet going on about wether or not there would be 6 guys rated 2800 or above in 2015? Because Giri is now 2798.

I thought it had to be six people on the same live list. I assume (wrongly?) that it has to be at the end of a round. Or was it at the end of an event?

What I mean is say X is 2799 and winning; Y is 2801 and losing (but not to each other). Does it matter the order in which these games finish?

Just read Mr. Komer's and Mr. Maguire's posts. In this case the bet still seems pretty even to me.

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 24th August, 2015, 06:39 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

The bet is under the thread entitled “A Safe Prediction”

http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/show...2800#post96345

JM - I'm not sure how "safe" that prediction is, Vlad. I would certainly offer even money that no monthly FIDE ratings list in 2015 lists 6 2800 players under their 'Standard' category.

**Jack Maguire** · Monday, 24th August, 2015, 06:43 PM

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Originally posted by Tom O'Donnell View Post

I thought it had to be six people on the same live list. I assume (wrongly?) that it has to be at the end of a round. Or was it at the end of an event?

What I mean is say X is 2799 and winning; Y is 2801 and losing (but not to each other). Does it matter the order in which these games finish?

Not the live list, but FIDE's 12 (4 to go) 2015 monthly lists, Tom.