Sinquefield Cup 2016

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2016

Sinquefield Cup 2016

August 11, 2016

Round Six

John Donaldson and Robert Hess interview with Maurice. John is Captain of the Olympic Team; this will be the 19th time that he has done so. His coach is Aleksandr Lenderman.

The Women’s Team is captained by Yasser and their coach is Robert Hess. He is coach for the first time and has played on an Olympic team (Tromso, 2014).

John Donaldson says that while the U.S. won gold in the 1930s but has never won it when Russia or the Soviet Union has competed. There are 180 teams, 11 rounds, no accelerated pairings and match points instead of game points. The latter since Dresden in 2008. 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. Usually a winning score is 19 out of 22. Possible winners are Russia, China, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. It is not unusual for a team to knock off a team rated 50 points higher than it. There are at least 15 countries that could get a medal and 5 or 6 who could walk away with the gold.

Yasser played in ten Olympiads and says a lot of things happen in the last few rounds. It is really tough to get a medal.
In the carefree days of Yasser on the team, the members could arrive just before the start but these are going to be there in Baku at least a week in advance to train and acclimatize.

One kibitzer writes - John Donaldson, the nicest chessplayer ever to come out of Cincinnati.

Another says: how about Gata...why he's not going?

And is answered: He declined and said it's time for the younger players to have a chance
_______

The rest day seems to have given the players a fighting spirit today. Three of the five games had a win.
Wesley pinpointed the move where Veselin had gone wrong as move 32…Re5 instead of taking the c pawn with his queen. Wesley had Veselin sweating as he ground him down. Viewers started to think up similes to describe the situation, my favorite being:

Topa is sweating like Finegold in a doughnut shop.

Danny Rensch is interviewed by Eric Hansen. He is a funny guy who works at chess.com. Great one-liner about the Sinquefield: Where else can you get valet parking at a chess tournament?
________

Vishy Anand talks with Maurice about his game with Giri. Anish had 4 seconds to make the time control and played Rc8+ whereas 40.Ke3 would have retained his advantage.

Aronian – MVL got a lot of analysis during the commentary. Aronian was under constant pressure but could have saved the game if he had played 35.Rd6 instead of 35.Ne6. The point being that although this allows black to fork rook and knight with the bishop, White can trade off the pawns and go to a R vs R+B ending, which is a draw. None of the engines found this but Alejandro Ramirez had worked it out and told Yasser during a break.

(35. Rd6! 35... Be5 Did White miss this fork? 36. Rxg6+Kh7 37. Rg5 No! White will consume the pawns. 37... Bxf4 38. Rxc5 Kg6 39. Rc4 Kg5 40. Rc5+ Kh4 41. Kg2 and White will arrange f3 or h3 with a draw.)
_______

When Anand was in his postmortem with Maurice, he said that he was fascinated by the ending in Nakamura-Caruana, that of two rooks vs queen. He said that as a young man he had studied such an ending of Chernin-Mikhalchishin, 1987, in which Chernin concluded that, in a similar position, Black is lost. A quick search did not find this game but there was one, Chernin-Marjanovic, Subotica Interzonal, 1987 with White’s two rooks winning against Black’s queen.
Fabiano finally got his Benoni. Hikaru was hardly likely to not accept the challenge. When Fabi was asked about precedents for the rooks vs queen endgame, he cited Leko-Kramnik, World Championship Match 2004, the first game, where Kramnik won the ending with two rooks against Leko’s queen.

One kibitzer on chessgames.com wrote: A marvelously dramatic encounter and a fine riposte to critics who thought the match would be dull. In the press conference after the game, Kramnik looked drained, Leko cheerful and phlegmatic. Kramnik insisted throughout that the position objectively is drawn, and pulled many sceptical faces when describing his win. The following day, both players remarked how hard it is to move on from such a battle, Kramnik musing "I tried to get the two rooks out of my mind, and to stop trying to coordinate them in different attacking patterns. I think it was four o'clock in the morning when I was able to sleep." Leko added, "I needed until five a.m. to get rid of those two black rooks."

Obviously, a game to play over for those interested in chess history. Today's ending ought to be analyzed in next month’s chess magazines!
______
Ding Liren got a decisive advantage early on in his game against Peter Svidler and finally won in the last game to finish in this round.

The result of the day’s action is that Wesley So is alone in first place.

Sinquefield Cup 2016
St. Louis, Mo.
Round 6, Aug. 11, 2016
So, Wesley – Topalov, Veselin
A22 English, Bremen, Reverse Dragon

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.a3 Be6 10.Be3 Nd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.Qa4 Re8 13.Rac1 a6 14.Nd2 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Nd4 16.Bxd4 exd4 17.Qb3 Rb8 18.e4 dxe3 19.fxe3 Rf8 20.Ne4 Qd7 21.Rf3 Rbd8 22.d4 c6 23.Rcf1 Qd5 24.Qc2 g6 25.g4 Rde8 26.h3 Bd8 27.Nc3 Qe6 28.Na4 b6 29.Rc1 c5 30.dxc5 b5 31.Nc3 Qc6 32.Qd2 Re5 33.b4 Bg5 34.Rd1 Bxe3 35.Qd7 Qa8 36.Nd5 Bg5 37.c6 Bh4 38.Rd2 Re1 39.Rc2 Kg7 40.Nb6 Qb8 41.Qd4+ 1-0

Round 6, Aug. 11, 2016
Aronian, Levon – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime
A37 English, Symmetrical, Botvinnik System Reversed

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.a3 O-O 8.b4 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Ng5 Nc7 11.Nge4 c4 12.d3 cxd3 13.Bg5 f6 14.Be3 f5 15.Bg5 Qd4 16.Be3 Qd8 17.Bg5 Qd7 18.Nc5 dxe2 19.Nxe2 Qxd1 20.Rfxd1 f4 21.gxf4 h6 22.b5 Nxb5 23.Rab1 Nxa3 24.Rb3 hxg5 25.Rxa3 exf4 26.Bd5+ Kh7 27.Ne4 Kh6 28.Nd6 Bf6 29.Bxc6 bxc6 30.Nxc8 Raxc8 31.Rd7 g4 32.Nxf4 Rcd8 33.Raxa7 Rxd7 34.Rxd7 c5 35.Ne6 Rc8 36.Rc7 Rxc7 37.Nxc7 c4 38.Kf1 Kg5 39.Nd5 Be5 40.Ke2 Bxh2 41.Ke3 Be5 42.Nb4 Bd6 43.Nd5 Bc5+ 44.Ke2 Kf5 45.Nc3 Ke5 46.Nb5 Bb4 47.Ke3 g5 48.Nc7 Bc5+ 49.Ke2 c3 0-1

Round 6, Aug. 11, 2016
Giri, Anish – Anand, Vishy
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch, Modern Line

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.d4 O-O 9.e4 Ndb4 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.e5 Bb6 12.a3 Nd5 13.Qe2 Bd7 14.Rd1 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Qc7 16.a4 Ne7 17.Ng5 Bc6 18.Ba3 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Bc5 20.Qe4 Ng6 21.Bxc5 Qxc5 22.Nf3 b6 23.Rd7 Qxc3 24.Rad1 Rac8 25.Rxa7 Rc4 26.Qb7 Rcc8 27.Re1 Rb8 28.Qe4 Qc5 29.Rb1 b5 30.Ra5 Qc4 31.Qxc4 bxc4 32.Rxb8 Rxb8 33.Rc5 Rb4 34.a5 Ra4 35.Nd2 c3 36.Rc8+ Nf8 37.Nb3 g5 38.Rxc3 Ra3 39.Kf3 Ng6 40.Rc8+ Kg7 41.Rc3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Aug. 11, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Caruana, Fabiano
A61 Benoni Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.Bf4 Bg7 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qb3 b5 10.Bxd6 Qb6 11.Be5 O-O 12.e3 c4 13.Qd1 b4 14.Nb1 Rc8 15.Nbd2 Bb5 16.a4 bxa3 17.Rxa3 Bf8 18.Bd4 Qb7 19.Ra1 Nxd5 20.Be2 Nc6 21.O-O Nxd4 22.Nxd4 a6 23.Bf3 Rd8 24.Ne4 Qb6 25.Nc3 Nxc3 26.bxc3 Rac8 27.Qc2 Qf6 28.Rfb1 Rc5 29.Bd1 Bg7 30.Qe2 Qe7 31.Rb2 Qe8 32.Rba2 h5 33.Ba4 Bxa4 34.Rxa4 Bxd4 35.cxd4 Rxd4 36.exd4 Qxe2 37.dxc5 c3 38.Rc1 c2 39.Rd4 Qb5 40.Rd2 Qxc5 41.Rdxc2 Qa3 42.h4 a5 43.g3 a4 44.Re1 Qb3 45.Rce2 Qc3 46.Re3 Qb2 47.R1e2 Qb4 48.Kh2 Kg7 49.Rf3 g5 50.hxg5 h4 51.Ree3 hxg3+ 52.Kxg3 Kg6 53.Kh2 Qc4 54.Rg3 Qf1 55.Ref3 Qc4 56.Rf6+ Kg7 57.Rff3 Kg6 58.Rf6+ Kg7 59.Rff3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Aug. 11, 2016
Ding Liren – Svidler, Peter
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nh3 a6 8.a4 e6 9.Nf4 exd5 10.Nfxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Nc6 12.O-O Re8 13.Ra2 Rb8 14.b3 b5 15.axb5 axb5 16.cxb5 Nd4 17.b6 Be6 18.e3 Nb5 19.Bd2 Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Qxb6 21.Qf3 Re7 22.Ba5 Qa7 23.Bd8 Rxd8 24.Rxa7 Rxa7 25.Bc4 Nc3 26.Qc6 d5 27.Bd3 Ra3 28.Qb6 Rc8 29.Kg2 Bf8 30.Rc1 Na2 31.Ra1 Bg7 32.Rb1 Nb4 33.Bb5 Bf8 34.e4 Raa8 35.Bf1 Rab8 36.Qa7 Ra8 37.Qb7 Rab8 38.Qa7 Ra8 39.Qd7 c4 40.bxc4 dxe4 41.Qb7 Nc6 42.Re1 Rab8 43.Qd7 Ne5 44.Qd5 Rc5 45.Qxe4 Rbc8 46.Rc1 R8c7 47.Be2 Rc8 48.f4 Nd7 49.Ra1 Nf6 50.Qf3 Re8 51.Ra8 Re6 52.Qd3 Kg7 53.Bf3 Rd6 54.Qc3 h5 55.h3 Kg8 56.Qb4 Nd7 57.Bd5 Rb6 58.Qd2 Rc7 59.f5 1-0

Standings After Round Six

1. So 4.0/6
2. Topalov 3.5/6
3. Anand 3.5/6
4. MVL 3.0/6
5. Aronian 3.0/6
6. Nakamura 3.0/6
7. Ding Liren 3.0/6
8. Caruana 3.0/6
9. Giri 2.5/6
10. Svidler 1.5/6

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2016

Sinquefield Cup 2016

August 12, 2016

Round Seven

Again five draws, but if you watched some of the games, you would know that the combatants were going full out to win.

In Anand-Aronian Black is slightly behind, White is targeting the b7 pawn and so Aronian plays what they are calling the move of the round “33…b5”. After this Black can put his rook on d5 and bring over the king. If you can see this you are of master strength and if you don’t..well, what can I say?

Levon is introduced by Maurice as one of the good guys of chess. He laughs and says that when he is winning, he is described as a good player and when he loses, he is described as a good guy.

MVL and Nakamura blitzed out the opening in the Berlin Defence. The rule is, I believe, that all Berlin Defence endgames are drawn, unless they are lost. This game ended up with pawn and bishop vs pawns and knight and was a draw.

Hikaru said that creativity in chess is not dying with the use of computers. They have refuted many of the old gambits, which gave interest to chess but they are helping chess progress with novelties.

Hikaru was wearing a white baseball cap, which was sent to him with the question as to what Olympic sport he would like to excel at. Since they did not specify summer or winter Olympics, he chose speed skating.

Peter Svidler came in for the postmortem and said that it was probably not a good idea to play the English against someone who plays the English all the time themselves. He started sacrificing pawns but got a draw. He said there hasn’t been a lot of blood shed in the tournament so far except for his. He is impressed with Wesley, whom he finds to be well-prepared practical player, who makes his decisions quickly. He thought that this was his first game against Wesley but it was pointed out that in 2010, he played him in the Rising Stars – Experience Tournament, where they drew a Caro-Kann.

The name comes from the fact that Svidler, Gelfand, Ljubojevic, etc were the experienced grandmasters and the rising stars were Nakamura, Caruana, So, Giri and Howell! They played in Amsterdam. The youth side won 26-24.
_______

Tony Rich is interviewed by Eric Hansen. He is the Executive Director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. He says that the Club has three functions: 1) to hold major events like the Sinquefield Cup; 2) to function as a chess club and hold lectures and classes; 3) to function as a scholastic center for the teaching of chess. So far 120 schools have signed up for the fall semester. Eric opines that he taught at three of the summer camps.

Under Eric’s prodding, he discloses that in mid-November there will be a mini match at the club with Nakamura, Caruana and two others. It will probably have a mixture of classical, rapid and blitz chess.

Tony Rich opens up his jacket to reveal that he has an Eric Hansen T-shirt on. It has Eric with a mike asking these three questions: Who are you? Where do you come from? Are you a chess groupie?
_______

Giri is asked at his postmortem who has impressed him most in the tournament. Everyone seems to expect that he will say “Wesley So”. But he doesn’t, he says Fabiano for his perfect score of draws, and seriously, Vishy Anand. He is the most professional of players. Vishy gets good results and doesn’t sacrifice his life for chess. Other players, lose and get depressed and do things they shouldn’t. This is a trap for Maurice, who asks that things they do. Anish says drinking, women, drugs… Not any of the top masters but others. Maurice senses that his leg is being pulled and stops the questioning.

Then they talk about exercise and planking. You will recall in the discussion of Round Five, a couple of posts ago, planking was brought up.

Anish says that he has only done it for one minute but he is ready here and now to do a 1.31. Maurice says that he will join him. The camera pulls back and the two, dressed in suits and ties are lying on the carpet. Anish supports himself on his forearms, with his back as rigid as a plank. His shoes are off and the lower part of his body is supported on his toes. Maurice does the same, but he is trailing lots of wires from his microphone etc.

They do this for one minute and thirty-one seconds. Eric Hansen comes in and says they can do two minutes total, which they do. It is a video worth watching. Now, on your chess resume, you can talk of all your awards and end with the amount of time you can plank.

(Eric Hansen) - Congratulations to @anishgiri for passing the test and officially becoming a chessbrah today with that plank #SinquefieldCup
_______

The final game goes on forever. This is Fabiano’s chance to catch up with the leaders. All he has to do is beat Ding Liren. For the last part of the game, White has a knight and pawns and Black has a black-squared bishop and pawns. Both get queens and then trade them off and are back again of knight vs bishop. Ding Liren is always ahead on time with Caruana playing on increment. They finally shake hands on move 95. Another endgame which should be written up in the chess mags and zines.

The games:

Sinquefield Cup 2016
St. Louis, Mo.
Round 7, Aug. 12, 2016
Svidler, Peter – So, Wesley
A20 English, Modern Nimzowitsch

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Nb6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.a3 O-O 9.b4 Be6 10.d3 a5 11.b5 Nd4 12.Bb2 Nb3 13.Rb1 f6 14.Nd2 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Nc4 16.Qc1 Nxb2 17.Qxb2 Rb8 18.e3 f5 19.Na4 Bd6 20.b6 c6 21.d4 Qe7 22.Nc5 exd4 23.Nxe6 Qxe6 24.exd4 f4 25.d5 cxd5 26.Qb3 Kh8 27.Bxd5 Qf6 28.Qb5 Bxa3 29.Qxa5 Bb2 30.Bf3 Ra8 31.Qd5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Aug. 12, 2016
Anand, Vishy – Aronian, Levon
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Nbd2 a6 7.a4 d6 8.O-O Ba7 9.h3 Ne7 10.Re1 Ng6 11.Bb3 Re8 12.d4 h6 13.Bc2 c6 14.Nf1 d5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 dxe4 18.Qxd8 Rxd8 19.Ng3 Bb8 20.Be3 Bxe5 21.Nxe4 Bc7 22.a5 Bf5 23.Nc5 Rab8 24.g4 Bc2 25.Rac1 Bg6 26.b4 Bd6 27.Na4 f6 28.Ba7 Ra8 29.Bc5 Be5 30.Nb6 Rab8 31.Nc4 Bf4 32.Be3 Bxe3 33.Rxe3 b5 34.axb6 Bf7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Aug. 12, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Giri, Anish
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.d3 Bb4+ 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 d5 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.e4 Qd6 9.h3 a5 10.Be2 Nd7 11.Qc2 Nc5 12.Be3 Ne6 13.O-O O-O 14.b3 Rd8 15.Rfc1 Bd7 16.Qb2 Be8 17.b4 axb4 18.axb4 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 b5 20.Qa3 Qxb4 21.Qxb4 Nxb4 22.Nxe5 f6 23.Bg4 Nd4 24.Bxd4 Rxd4 25.Nf3 Nxd3 26.Rxc7 Rd6 27.Rb7 h5 28.Bf5 g6 29.e5 Nxe5 30.Nxe5 gxf5 31.Rb8 Kf8 32.Ng6+ Kf7 33.Nf4 h4 34.g3 Bc6 35.gxh4 Rd4 36.Rb6 Rc4 37.h5 Kg7 38.Kh2 b4 39.Nd3 Rc3 40.Nxb4 Be4 41.Rd6 Rf3 42.Nd5 Rxf2+ 43.Kg3 Rf3+ 44.Kh4 Bxd5 45.Rxd5 Kh6 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Aug. 12, 2016
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime – Nakamura, Hikaru
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.Rfe1 Bb4 15.g4 hxg4 16.hxg4 Ne7 17.f3 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Nd5 19.Bd2 Nb6 20.Nxe6 Rxe6 21.Kf2 Rd8 22.Bg5 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Nd7 24.f4 f6 25.exf6 gxf6 26.Bh4 c5 27.Kf3 Ra6 28.Ke4 Nf8 29.Kf5 Kf7 30.c4 Re6 31.g5 Ng6 32.Rd7+ Re7 33.Rxe7+ Nxe7+ 34.Ke4 f5+ 35.Ke3 Ng6 1/2-1/2

After 28 moves in MVL-Nakamura – the chessbomb kibitzers:

- tricky ending
- I would lose with black
- ...and I would lose with white, too
- looks unpleasant

Round 7, Aug. 12, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Ding Liren
C92 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Re8 10.d4 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Bc2 h6 13.d5 Nb8 14.b3 c6 15.c4 Nbd7 16.Nf1 Qc7 17.Be3 a5 18.Rc1 Ba6 19.cxb5 Bxb5 20.Bd3 Qb7 21.Bxb5 cxb5 22.Ng3 Rec8 23.Qd3 h5 24.Rc3 b4 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Rc1 Rxc1+ 27.Bxc1 Nc5 28.Qc4 g6 29.Bg5 Nfd7 30.Nd2 a4 31.Kh2 Qb6 32.Ne2 axb3 33.axb3 Qa5 34.Ng1 Nb6 35.Qe2 Nc8 36.Ngf3 Be7 37.Be3 Nb6 38.Ne1 Nbd7 39.Nc2 Qa6 40.Qxa6 Nxa6 41.Kg1 Kf8 42.Kf1 Bd8 43.Ke2 Bb6 44.Bh6+ Ke7 45.f3 Ndc5 46.Be3 f5 47.g4 hxg4 48.hxg4 fxg4 49.fxg4 Nd7 50.Bg5+ Ke8 51.Nc4 Bc7 52.Be3 Ndc5 53.Nd2 Ba5 54.Ne1 Bb6 55.Bxc5 Bxc5 56.Nef3 Nc7 57.Ng5 Ke7 58.Kd3 Kf6 59.Ndf3 Bf2 60.Nh3 Bg3 61.Nhg1 Na6 62.g5+ Ke7 63.Nd2 Kd7 64.Kc4 Kc7 65.Kb5 Nc5 66.Ngf3 Nd3 67.Kc4 Nf2 68.Kxb4 Bf4 69.Kb5 Nh3 70.b4 Nxg5 71.Ka6 Nxf3 72.Nxf3 g5 73.b5 g4 74.b6+ Kb8 75.Nh4 g3 76.Nf5 g2 77.Ne7 g1=Q 78.Nc6+ Kc8 79.b7+ Kd7 80.b8=Q Qf1+ 81.Kb7 Qb5+ 82.Ka8 Qa4+ 83.Qa7+ Qxa7+ 84.Nxa7 Kc7 85.Nb5+ Kb6 86.Nxd6 Kc5 87.Nf5 Bg5 88.Kb7 Kc4 89.d6 Kd3 90.Ng3 Ke3 91.d7 Kf3 92.Nh5 Kxe4 93.Kc6 Kf3 94.Ng7 e4 95.Nf5 1/2-1/2

Standing with two rounds to go: 1. So 4.5, 2. Topalov 4, 3. Anand 4, 4. MVL 3.5, 5. Aronian 3.5, 6. Nakamura 3.5, 7. Ding Liren 3.5, 8. Caruana 3.5, 9. Giri 3, 10. Svidler 2.

Round Eight Pairings – So-Caruana, Anand-Topalov, Aronian-Nakamura, Ding Liren-MVL and Giri-Svidler.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2016

Sinquefield Cup 2016

August 13, 2016

Round Eight

A look at the standings at the bottom of the page will show you that in the last round tomorrow, there is the possibility of a seven-way tie for first place.

Let us suppose that MVL beats So, then each ends with 5 points. If Aronian and Topalov draw they will have 5 points. If Caruana and Ding Liren wins and Anand draws, they also will have 5 points and there will be a rapid and blitz playoff on Monday.

Of course, things like this will never happen. MVL will be too aggressive against So and lose and Wesley will walk away the winner.
________

Ding Liren in his postmortem talked a bit about his match with Wesley So in Shanghai, in May. Ding won the match 2.5-1.5. Ding said that he had a long time to prepare whereas Wesley had just finished the U.S. Championship. Ding said he won the third game due to preparation and was high in his praise of Wesley.

MVL in his interview said that he felt obligated to play for a win against Wesley tomorrow.
________

Caruana’s game with Ding Liren yesterday was a tiring 7.5 hours long. He also feels that he must win against Giri tomorrow. If he draws, he will have nine draws in a row, which is still nothing like Giri’s fourteen consecutive draws in the Candidates!
_______

Nakamura lost his game to Lev Aronian. He got very sick last night and hadn’t planned on this opening but he decided to play something safe. He didn’t play precisely but neither did Aronian. The game should have been over hours before it finally was.

Levon said that he was methodical and played to avoid complications and to contain the position. It was an easy play and he won in the end even if he didn’t play precisely. He is looking forward to his game with Veselin tomorrow because Veselin always gives his opponent chances.
_______

Peter’s game with Anish Giri was the last to finish. It is his first win of the tournament. He said that it is nice to show the organisers a glimpse of what they wanted, when they invited him.

He has to look over his game and relearn how to win when two pawns up. He said that if he didn’t win after the position he had around move 45 then there would be great gnashing of teeth. He was supertired after the marathon game, which lasted almost 7 hours.

Maurice: Well, any way the Russian School taught you well.

Peter: No, it didn’t but I can still make decisions for myself.

A very nice little booklet could be produced on interesting endgames from this tournament. If you are writing it, add the ending of Giri-Svidler. There seemed to be a time near the end when he could have made it much tougher on Svidler to win.

The games:

Sinquefield Cup 2016
St. Louis, Mo.
Round 8, Aug. 13, 2016
So, Wesley – Caruana, Fabiano
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Var.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.Nc3 Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re1 c6 12.Ne3 Be7 13.c4 Nc7 14.d4 d5 15.cxd5 Bb4 16.Bd2 Bxd2 17.Qxd2 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Re5 Qd6 20.Bc4 Bd7 21.Qc3 Rae8 22.Rae1 Rxe5 23.dxe5 Qe7 24.Rd1 Be6 25.Bxe6 Qxe6 26.Qa5 b5 27.Qxa7 Qxe5 28.Qd4 Qe6 29.a4 bxa4 30.Qxa4 h6 31.h3 Rb8 32.Rc1 Rxb2 33.Qxc6 Qxc6 34.Rxc6 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Aug. 13, 2016
Anand, Vishy – Topalov, Veselin
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Var.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 b6 10.Nc3 Ke8 11.Rd1 Bb4 12.Ne2 Bb7 13.Ned4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Bc5 15.Nf5 Rg8 16.g4 h5 17.Be3 g6 18.Nh6 Rh8 19.Bxc5 bxc5 20.g5 Bc8 21.h4 Ke7 22.f4 Be6 23.Rf1 Rad8 24.c3 Bh3 25.Rf2 Ke6 26.Re1 Rd3 27.Re4 Rhd8 28.Ra4 Rd1+ 29.Kh2 R8d3 30.f5+ gxf5 31.Raf4 Bg4 32.Kg2 Bh3+ 33.Kh2 Bg4 34.Nxg4 hxg4 35.Kg2 g3 36.Re2 Rb1 37.h5 Rdd1 38.Kxg3 Rh1 39.Rc4 Kd5 40.Rf4 Rbg1+ 41.Rg2 Rxg2+ 42.Kxg2 Rxh5 43.Rxf5 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Aug. 13, 2016
Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 a6 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.O-O Nb4 12.Bb1 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Nbd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Be4 Nf6 16.Nd2 Re8 17.Bf3 e5 18.Bg3 Ra7 19.Rac1 b6 20.a3 Bd7 21.Nc4 e4 22.Be2 a5 23.Nd6 Re7 24.Nb5 Bxb5 25.Bxb5 Ra8 26.Kf1 Re6 27.Ke2 g5 28.Bc4 Ree8 29.h4 h6 30.hxg5 hxg5 31.Bd6 Kg7 32.Bb5 Bxd6 33.Rxd6 Re5 34.Rxb6 Rh8 35.Rb7 Rf5 36.Rf1 Rh2 37.Bc4 Ne8 38.Rb5 Rxb5 39.Bxb5 Nd6 40.Bd7 Kf6 41.Rc1 Rh8 42.b3 Ke7 43.Rc7 Rh1 44.Ra7 Ra1 45.g4 Rxa3 46.Ba4+ Kf8 47.Rxa5 Ra2+ 48.Kf1 f6 49.Ra8+ Ke7 50.Bc6 Rb2 51.Ra7+ Ke6 52.Bd7+ Ke7 53.Bf5+ Ke8 54.Be6 Rb1+ 55.Kg2 Rb2 56.Bd5 Rb1 57.Bc6+ Kf8 58.Rd7 Nf7 59.Bxe4 Rb2 60.Rb7 Nd6 61.Rb8+ Kg7 62.Bd5 Rd2 63.e4 f5 64.gxf5 Nxf5 65.Rb7+ Kh6 66.Rb6+ Kh7 67.Rb7+ Kh6 68.exf5 Rxd5 69.f6 Rd4 70.Kg3 Kg6 71.f7 Kg7 72.b4 Kf8 73.b5 Rb4 74.b6 Kg7 75.f3 Kf8 76.Kf2 Rb3 77.Ke2 Kg7 78.Kd2 Kf8 79.Kc2 Rb5 80.Kc3 Kg7 81.Kc4 Rb1 82.Kc5 Rc1+ 83.Kd6 Rb1 84.Ke7 Re1+ 85.Kd8 Re6 86.Kc7 Re3 87.Ra7 1-0

Round 8, Aug. 13, 2016
Ding Liren – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Ne5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 O-O 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Qb6 13.Ba3 Qa6 14.Qxa6 Bxa6 15.Rfb1 Bxe2 16.Bxe7 Rfb8 17.Bd6 Rd8 18.Bc5 Bf8 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.Rb2 Bd3 21.Rd1 Bf5 22.Rb7 Rdb8 23.Rc7 Rc8 24.Rb7 Rcb8 25.Rc7 Rc8 26.Rb7 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Aug. 13, 2016
Giri, Anish – Svidler, Peter
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Qb3 O-O 7.O-O dxc4 8.Qxc4 Bf5 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Nh4 Nb6 11.Qb3 Bg4 12.Nc3 Nfd5 13.Nf3 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Qd5 15.Ba3 Rfe8 16.Ne5 Qxb3 17.axb3 Bxe2 18.Rd2 Bxe5 19.dxe5 Bg4 20.c4 a5 21.Bc5 Nd7 22.Bd4 Ra6 23.Rda2 Rea8 24.f4 Be6 25.Bf1 b6 26.Be3 Kf8 27.Ra4 c5 28.Bg2 Re8 29.Bc6 Ra7 30.Bb5 Rc8 31.Rd1 Rac7 32.Ra2 Kg7 33.Rad2 Nb8 34.Rd8 Nc6 35.Rxc8 Rxc8 36.Rd2 h5 37.Kg2 Bf5 38.h3 f6 39.exf6+ Kxf6 40.Ba4 Nd8 41.Bd7 Bxd7 42.Rxd7 Ke6 43.Rd1 Nf7 44.g4 hxg4 45.hxg4 Ra8 46.Bf2 Nd6 47.Re1+ Kf7 48.Rh1 a4 49.bxa4 Rxa4 50.Rh7+ Kf8 51.Rh8+ Kg7 52.Rb8 Nxc4 53.Kf3 Kf7 54.Bh4 e5 55.f5 gxf5 56.gxf5 Nd6 57.Rxb6 Rf4+ 58.Ke2 Nxf5 59.Bg5 Ng3+ 60.Ke3 Rg4 61.Bd8 Nf5+ 62.Kf3 Rf4+ 63.Ke2 Nd4+ 64.Ke3 Ne6 65.Rb7+ Kg6 66.Ba5 Ra4 67.Bc3 Kf6 68.Kd3 Nf4+ 69.Kc2 Nd5 70.Bb2 c4 71.Rd7 Ke6 72.Rh7 c3 73.Rh6+ Kf5 74.Rh5+ Kf6 75.Bxc3 Rc4 76.Kd3 Rxc3+ 77.Ke4 Rc4+ 78.Kxd5 Rd4+ 79.Kc5 Rd1 80.Kc4 e4 81.Kc3 e3 82.Rh2 Kf5 83.Kc2 Rd8 84.Rh7 Kf4 0-1

Standings After Round Eight

1. So 5.0/8
2. Aronian 4.5/8
3. Topalov 4.5/8
4. Anand 4.5/8
5. MVL 4.0/8
6. Ding Liren 4.0/8
7. Caruana 4.0/8
8. Nakamura 3.5/8
9. Svidler 3.0/8
10. Giri 3.0/8

Last Round Pairings

Topalov-Aronian
Svidler-Anand
Caruana-Giri
MVL-So
Nakamura-Ding Liren

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2016

Sinquefield Cup 2016

August 14, 2016

Round Nine

Maxime Vachier Lagrave and Wesley So drew their game. Wesley was waiting for the result of Topalov-Aronian. A draw there would give Wesley the title. If there was a win, then the winner would also have 5.5 and there would be a playoff on Monday.

Topa made tough going of the ending of rook and pawns against rook and pawns in which he had the upper hand. Aronian defended tenaciously. After almost six hours Topa went into the wrong line and Levon was able to promote to a knight and get a draw. It was painful to watch Topa struggle at the end.

Topalov threw away his chance to win and tie Wesley. Now Wesley So is the winner of Sinquefield Cup 2016.

He had been watching the game outside and came in to receive congratulations.

(To be concluded)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2016

Sinquefield Cup 2016

August 14, 2016

Round Nine

If Wesley So won his game then he would be the outright winner. If he tied or lost, then there could be a playoff on Monday for the ultimate winner.

MVL tried but in the end, with Wesley’s solid play, the game was a draw.

Maurice, analyzing the game with the computer, was astounded by one of its moves. It actually moved a black pawn backward to b6. Maurice did something to shake it up and it was back to normal operation again!

Nakamura came to the postmortem, having dispatched Ding Liren in 28 moves. Naka said he had a weird tournament, losing to Wesley in the first round, then getting back to even, then losing to Levon by making it way too easy for him. However, winning today was fine. His next tournament is the Olympiad in Baku. He has played in five Olympiads. He fondly remembered Turin 2006, where he played third board behind Gata Kamsky and Alexander Onischuk. They won the bronze that year with Armenia and China getting gold and silver.

He reckoned the U.S.’s chance of being first was about 20% with the main contenders being Russia and China and possibly India since Armenia will not be playing. Ukraine and Azerbaijan might well step up to the mark too.

During the World Championship, he probably won’t be in New York City, which will be cold and blustery but in Florida.
_______

Peter Svidler was last in the United States 17 years ago for the FIDE World Championship in Las Vegas, 1999.

He came in for his interview smiling. He is back up to form but, unfortunately, reaching it on the last day of the tournament. He came to St. Louis with little advance notice, with no second, and no preparation and though his result was not his finest hour, it wasn’t a total write-off either. He said that the Sinquefield Cup was well-organized and he was treated exceptionally well by everyone.

He is not playing in the Olympiad so his next event will be the Tal Memorial, then he hesitated trying to think if it was on this year!

Svidler: "I assume I'm playing Tal Memorial... I should probably stop the sentence here." There IS a Tal Memorial??

Just before he goes, Maurice says rather condescendingly, “After a slow start, Peter proves that he belongs in this tournament.”

Peter looks back and says, “Is that how it works?”
________

Then there was a surprise guest – Garry Kasparov. I know he has irritated and offended but today it was all his love of chess that he showed. He talked with Yasser and Jennifer for a while, hardly looking at Jennifer and addressing all his remarks to Yasser.

Vishy Anand came in for his postmortem with Maurice and after Anand, Kasparov, Seirawan, Ashley and Shahade all analyzed the key game of the hour – Topalov-Aronian. What a peanut gallery to have observing your game! Garry pointed out a maneuver that he called Karpovian, which would win for Topalov but Topa didn’t see it.
_______

Fabiano came in and discussed his game. He had broken his string of draws a la Giri by beating Giri. He disclosed that he had bought and was wearing an Eric Hansen T-shirt. The one, which I described in an earlier thread. It was then put to him that Giri, having it gaze at Eric’s image for several hours was suitably intimidated and lost the game because of that.

The T-shirts are available at the gift shop. I am not recommending that ChessTalkers wear them in their next game but it is almost a proven fact that wearing one adds 200 ELO points to your rating!
________

Wesley So discusses his game calmly and says that his fortunes are going upward because he has had a year playing the very strongest players. Testing yourself out positively against the World Champion does a lot for your confidence too.

He says now that he is studying older games – some of Kasparov’s Najdorfs. He is studying the classics, which brings lots of laughter from Yasser, Garry and Jennifer.

It should be remembered that one of the games of the year was Wesley’s win over Garry at the Ultimate Blitz Challenge, 2016.
________

(Sam Copeland at chess.com) - The battle between Topalov and Aronian appeared extremely likely to end in Topalov's favor. Topalov was clearly winning; post-game, So acknowledged that he was spectating, and that his computer showed +123 for Topalov. However, resilient defense from Aronian mandated accuracy, and after subtle slips from Topalov, the win was gone. Congratulations to the 22-year-old So whose win is his first in a super-tournament!

The games:

Sinquefield Cup 2016
St. Louis, Mo.
Round 9, Aug. 14, 2016
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – So, Wesley
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bg5 Be6 12.Rad1 Be7 13.b3 a5 14.Rd3 Rd8 15.Rxd8+ Bxd8 16.Rd1 Bxg5 17.Nxg5 Ke7 18.Ne2 Nh4 19.g3 Ng6 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.f4 Rf8 22.Rd4 c5 23.Re4 Rd8 24.Kf2 Rd1 25.g4 hxg4 26.hxg4 b5 27.f5 Nh4 28.Ng3 Ra1 29.a4 Ra2 30.axb5 Rxc2+ 31.Re2 Rxe2+ 32.Kxe2 c4 33.bxc4 a4 34.Kd3 Nf3 35.f6+ Kf7 36.fxg7 Nxe5+ 37.Kc3 a3 38.c5 Nd3 39.Kb3 Nxc5+ 40.Kxa3 Kxg7 41.Kb4 Nd3+ 42.Kc4 Ne5+ 43.Kc5 Kh6 44.Ne2 c6 45.bxc6 Nxc6 46.Kxc6 Kg5 47.Kd6 Kxg4 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Aug. 14, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Aronian, Levon
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Bc4 Qd6 8.Qe2 O-O 9.Nbd2 a5 10.Ng5 Bf5 11.Nde4 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.dxe4 Nd8 14.Bd2 c6 15.a4 Ne6 16.Rd1 Qe7 17.g3 Rad8 18.O-O Rd7 19.Bc1 Rfd8 20.Rxd7 Rxd7 21.Kg2 g6 22.Bh6 Qf6 23.Qg4 Rd8 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 25.Qxe6 fxe6 26.Kf3 Kf7 27.Ke2 Rd7 28.h4 Bf8 29.Be3 Be7 30.Rb1 c5 31.g4 h5 32.gxh5 gxh5 33.Rh1 Rd8 34.Rh3 Rg8 35.Rf3+ Ke8 36.Rg3 Kf7 37.Kd3 b6 38.Kc4 Bxh4 39.Rh3 Bg5 40.Bxg5 Rxg5 41.Kb5 Rg2 42.Rf3+ Ke7 43.Kxb6 Rg8 44.Rh3 c4 45.Rxh5 Rb8+ 46.Kc6 Rxb2 47.Rxe5 Rc2 48.Rxa5 Rxc3 49.Rc5 Rc2 50.Kb5 c3 51.Kb4 Rxf2 52.Rxc3 Kd6 53.Rc4 Rf8 54.a5 Rb8+ 55.Ka3 Ra8 56.Ka4 Ra7 57.Rd4+ Kc5 58.Rd8 Rb7 59.Rc8+ Kd4 60.a6 Re7 61.Kb5 Kxe4 62.Rc4+ Kd3 63.Ra4 e5 64.Ra3+ Kd4 65.a7 Rb7+ 66.Kc6 Rxa7 67.Rxa7 e4 68.Ra4+ Kd3 69.Kd5 e3 70.Ra3+ Kd2 71.Kd4 e2 72.Ra2+ Kd1 73.Kd3 e1=N+ 74.Kc3 Nf3 75.Rf2 Ne1 76.Rd2+ Kc1 77.Rh2 Kd1 78.Rf2 Kc1 79.Rd2 Nf3 80.Rd5 Ne1 81.Rd8 Nf3 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Aug. 14, 2016
Svidler, Peter – Anand, Vishy
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.O-O Bd6 8.b3 Nd7 9.Nc4 O-O 10.h3 Qe7 11.Nxd6 cxd6 12.d4 f5 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Ng5 f4 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.Ba3 Rfd8 17.Qe2 Nf6 18.Rfd1 g5 19.f3 Kf7 20.Rd3 Rxd3 21.Qxd3 h5 22.Rd1 g4 23.hxg4 hxg4 24.Qd6 Qxd6 25.Rxd6 Rg8 26.Kf1 Rh8 27.Kg1 Rg8 28.Kf1 Rh8 29.Kg1 Rg8 30.Kf1 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Aug. 14, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Ding Liren
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 Nbd7 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Be5 Qe7 14.b3 cxb3 15.axb3 a6 16.Qc1 Rg8 17.O-O Nh5 18.d5 Qxh4 19.g3 Qg5 20.dxc6 Qxe5 21.cxb7 Rb8 22.Nd5 exd5 23.Qc8+ Ke7 24.Rxa6 Nxg3 25.Bxb5 Ne2+ 26.Bxe2 f6 27.Re6+ Qxe6 28.Qxb8 1-0

- I think Ding will overpress and Naka will pounce. Ding shouldn't mess with the beast.

Round 9, Aug. 14, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Giri, Anish
C81 Ruy Lopez, Open, Howell Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Qe2 Nc5 10.Rd1 Nxb3 11.cxb3 Be7 12.Nc3 O-O 13.Be3 Qd7 14.h3 Rad8 15.Rd2 f6 16.Rad1 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 fxe5 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 Qxd5 20.Rxd5 Rxd5 21.Qc2 c5 22.g3 Kh8 23.h4 Rfd8 24.Qe4 h6 25.Kg2 Bf6 26.Kh3 h5 27.a4 Rd3 28.axb5 axb5 29.Qg6 e4 30.Qxh5+ Kg8 31.Qf5 Bxb2 32.Qxe4 c4 33.bxc4 bxc4 34.Qxc4+ R3d5 35.g4 Kh8 36.g5 Bd4 37.Bxd4 Rxd4 38.Qf7 R8d7 39.Qe8+ Kh7 40.Qh5+ Kg8 41.g6 Re4 42.Qh7+ Kf8 43.Qh8+ Ke7 44.Qxg7+ Ke6 45.Qh8 Rd3+ 46.Kh2 1-0

Amazingly the endgame of two rooks vs queen came up again. Caruana played it in Round Six against Nakamura to a draw. Giri thought it wasn’t a draw and that Nakamura should win and now he was playing that same ending against Caruana – and he lost

Final Standings

1. So 5.5
2. Anand 5.0
3. Aronian 5.0
4. Caruana 5.0
5. Topalov 5.0
6. MVL 4.5
7. Nakamura 4.5
8. Ding Liren 4.0
9. Svidler 3.5
10. Giri 3.0