Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 10 November, 2016, 04:37 PM

Re: Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

November 10, 2016

The games are being broadcast live now at:

http://www.uschesschamps.com/information/live-2016-champions-showdown

The commentators are Yasser Seirawan, Tania Sachdev and Alejandro Ramirez.

Alejandro had Ken Rogoff in for an interview. Although his profession of economics keeps him busy, he says he still thinks a lot about chess. Surprisingly, he has been contacted by many top 100 players over the years and by some in the top ten asking how to get out of chess and into another profession. A couple have actually made the transition.

One of his theories is getting rid of big bank notes, which are only used by criminals anyway. In fact he has got emails from criminals threating him for this theory.

Tania says that India, in a surprise move, just got rid of two large banknotes for exactly that reason.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes would be withdrawn from circulation at midnight to crack down on rampant corruption and counterfeit currency. The surprise move was designed to bring billions of dollars worth of cash in unaccounted wealth into the mainstream economy, as well as hit the finances of militants who target India and are suspected of using fake 500 rupee notes to fund operations.

Evidently, the old notes can be handed in where the sums will be recorded before compensatory bank notes will be issued.

There was a copy of Ken’s The Curse of Cash on the table. In it, he argues that phasing out physical U.S. dollars (starting with $50 and $100 bills) would generally provide a two-fold benefit:

1 Discourage crimes such as tax evasion and terrorist financing.

2 Allow the Federal Reserve to pursue negative interest rates policies, should they be forced to.

Ken is a very interesting interview and Alejandro is a good interviewer.

The two classical games of Round One:

Champions Showdown, St. Louis 2016
Round 1, Nov. 10, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Caruana, Fabiano
D24 QGZ, 4.Nc3

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bxc4 Nxe4 7.O-O Nxc3 8.bxc3 Bd6 9.Re1 O-O 10.Qd3 Nd7 11.Ne5 Bxe5 12.dxe5 Nb6 13.Qg3 Nxc4 14.Bh6 g6 15.Rad1 Bd7 16.h4 Nb6 17.h5 Qe7 18.Rd4 Be8 19.Bg5 f6 20.exf6 Qc5 21.Rxe6 Qf5 22.Re5 Qb1+ 23.Kh2 gxh5 24.Bh6+ Bg6 25.Bxf8 Rxf8 26.Qg5 Qxa2 27.Re7 Qxf2 28.Rg7+ Kh8 29.Rxg6 1-0

13. Qg3 was criticized all round. White lost the Bishop for insufficient compensation. Black’s 23rd and 24th moves lost him the game.

Round 1, Nov. 10, 2016
Anand, Vishy – Nakamura, Hikaru
C54 Giuoco Piano, d3 variation (Lasker)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Nbd2 a6 7.Bb3 O-O 8.O-O Ba7 9.h3 h6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nf1 Be6 12.Bc2 Ne7 13.d4 Ng6 14.Ng3 c6 15.Be3 Qc7 16.Qd2 Rad8 17.Rad1 b5 18.b3 Bb6 19.Qc1 Bc8 20.Bd3 c5 21.d5 Ba5 22.Qb2 Bd7 23.Rc1 Rb8 24.Nd2 Nf4 25.Bf1 Bb6 26.c4 Ba5 27.Red1 Qd8 28.Qc2 g6 29.a3 Kh7 30.Nf3 N6h5 31.Nxh5 Nxh5 32.Rb1 b4 33.Ra1 Bc8 34.Ne1 bxa3 35.Rxa3 Bb4 36.Ra2 Nf4 37.Nd3 Nxd3 38.Bxd3 g5 39.Be2 a5 40.Bd2 Kg7 41.Bxb4 axb4 42.Rda1 Re7 43.Bh5 Reb7 44.Qd3 Bd7 45.Ra6 Rb6 46.Ra7 R6b7 47.Qf3 Be8 48.Qf5 Qe7 49.Rxb7 Qxb7 50.h4 Qe7 51.hxg5 hxg5 52.Ra6 Bd7 53.Qf3 Bc8 54.Ra2 Bb7 55.Bg4 Bc8 56.g3 Bxg4 57.Qxg4 Qf6 58.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Anand was winning but because it is only one hour plus increments for the game, the last minutes turned into blitz and Nakamura was able to equalize and a draw was finally agreed.
_________

Schedule

November 10, 2016 (Thursday)

Classical Round 1
Classical Round 2

November 11, 2016 (Friday)

Classical Round 3
Classical Round 4

November 12, 2016 (Saturday)

Classical Round 5
Classical Round 6

November 13, 2016 (Sunday)

Rapid Round 1
Rapid Round 2
Rapid Round 3
Rapid Round 4
Rapid Round 5
Rapid Round 6

November 14, 2016 (Monday)

Blitz Round 1
Blitz Round 2
Blitz Round 3
Blitz Round 4
Blitz Round 5
Blitz Round 6
Blitz Round 7
Blitz Round 8
Blitz Round 9
Blitz Round 10
Blitz Round 11
Blitz Round 12

First game starts at 13:00 Local Time

Time Limits

Two classical round-robins (60 min. + 5 sec. delay)
Two rapid round-robins (15 min. + 5 sec. for each move)
Four blitz round-robins (3 min. + 2 sec. for each move)

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 10 November, 2016, 09:46 PM

Re: Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

November 10, 2016

Round Two

Stockfish shows that in the ending, if Caruana had played 64. Qc4+ he would have won and by playing 64. Qg2+, it was a draw. Since both players were playing on increment with 5 seconds to go, the weaker move is explicable.

One-hour Classical
Round 2, Nov. 10, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O Re8 7.Nbd2 a6 8.Bxc6 dxc6 9.Nc4 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bg5 b5 12.Na5 Qd7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nb3 Bb6 15.c4 c5 16.g4 Bg6 17.Qe2 Rad8 18.Rad1 Re6 19.Nc1 Rd6 20.b3 a5 21.Nh4 a4 22.Kh2 Ba5 23.Qe3 bxc4 24.bxc4 Kf8 25.Ng2 Rb8 26.Qh6+ Ke8 27.Ne3 Rb2 28.h4 Rd2 29.Qg7 Bxe4 30.dxe4 Rxd1 31.Rxd1 Rxd1 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Nf5+ Ke6 34.Qf8 Qd8 35.Qxc5 Bb6 36.Qc6+ Rd6 37.Nxd6 Qxd6 38.Qe8+ Qe7 39.Qxa4 Bxf2 40.Nd3 Bd4 41.Nb4 Bb6 42.Nd5 Qc5 43.Qe8+ Kd6 44.Qe7+ Kc6 45.Nb4+ Kb7 46.Qxc5 Bxc5 47.Nd5 Bf2 48.Kh3 Kc6 49.Nxf6 Kc5 50.Nxh7 Kxc4 51.h5 Kd3 52.Nf6 Be3 53.Nd5 Bg5 54.Nxc7 Kxe4 55.a4 Kd3 56.a5 e4 57.a6 e3 58.a7 e2 59.a8=Q e1=Q 60.Qd5+ Ke2 61.Qe4+ Be3 62.Qg2+ Bf2 63.Qe4+ Be3 64.Qg2+ Bf2 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Nov. 10, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Anand, Vishy
A21 English, Kramnik-Shirov Counter-Attack

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Bc5 4.Nf3 c6 5.Nc3 d6 6.a3 Nf6 7.e3 e4 8.Nd4 O-O 9.d3 d5 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Be2 Qe7 12.b4 Bb6 13.O-O Rd8 14.Ra2 Bxd4 15.exd4 Nc6 16.Be3 Bf5 17.dxe4 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Qd2 Qe6 20.f3 Bg6 21.Re1 Re8 22.Bf1 Qd7 23.Raa1 a6 24.b5 axb5 25.Bxb5 h5 26.a4 Qd6 27.Bf4 Rxe1+ 28.Rxe1 Qf6 29.Be5 Qf5 30.Bxc6 bxc6 31.a5 Qd3 32.Qxd3 Bxd3 33.Bc7 f6 34.Re3 Bc4 35.Re6 Kf7 36.Rxc6 Re8 37.Bg3 Kg6 38.h4 Re2 39.Rc7 Ra2 40.Be1 Ra1 41.Kf2 Ra2+ 42.Kg1 Ra1 43.Re7 Kf5 44.Kh2 g6 45.Kg3 Ra2 46.Rf7 1/2-1/2

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 11 November, 2016, 11:37 PM

Re: Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

November 11, 2016

Rounds Three and Four

Rather and up-and-down day for Nakamura

Champion’s Showdown 2016
St. Louis, Mo.
One-hour Classical
Round 3, Nov. 11, 2016
Anand, Vishy – Caruana, Fabiano
B32 Sicilian, Labourdonnais-Loewenthal Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Be7 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Be6 9.Be2 Rc8 10.O-O Nf6 11.Be3 O-O 12.Qd2 Nd7 13.Rac1 Nc5 14.f3 Nd4 15.Bxd4 exd4 16.Qxd4 Qb6 17.Rc2 Bf6 18.Qe3 Qb4 19.Qd2 Na4 20.Nd5 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Qd4 23.Nc4 b5 24.Nxd6 Rxc2 25.Qxc2 g6 26.f4 Nxb2 27.e5 Be7 28.Qe4 Qxe4 29.Nxe4 Rc8 30.f5 gxf5 31.Ng3 Rc2 32.Bh5 Nd3 33.Nxf5 Nf2+ 34.Kg1 Bc5 35.e6 Nh3+ 36.Kh1 Nf2+ 37.Kg1 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Nov. 11, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Topalov, Veselin
E35 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Noa Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.dxc5 g5 9.Bg3 Ne4 10.e3 Bf5 11.Bxb8 Nxc3 12.Qxf5 Ne4+ 13.Ke2 Qxb8 14.Qxd5 1-0

Round 4, Nov. 11, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Topalov, Veselin
A09 Reti, Advance, Variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 f6 4.e3 e5 5.c5 a5 6.Qa4+ Bd7 7.b5 Bxc5 8.Bc4 Ne7 9.exd4 exd4 10.Ba3 Bxa3 11.Nxa3 Bg4 12.Nxd4 Nd7 13.Nac2 Nb6 14.Qb3 Qd6 15.O-O a4 16.Qc3 O-O-O 17.h3 Bd7 18.Rfe1 Ned5 19.Bxd5 Nxd5 20.Qa5 Nb6 21.Re3 Rhe8 22.Rb1 Re5 23.Ra3 Rde8 24.Re3 Kb8 25.Rd3 Bf5 26.Re3 Bg6 27.Rbe1 Rd8 28.d3 Nd5 29.Rxe5 fxe5 30.Nf3 Bxd3 31.Nxe5 Bxc2 32.Nf7 Qg6 33.Nxd8 Nf4 34.g3 Nxh3+ 35.Kg2 Nf4+ 36.Kg1 Nh3+ 37.Kg2 Nf4+ 38.Kg1 Nh3+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Nov. 11, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Anand, Vishy
A21 English, Kramnik-Shirov Counter Attack

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Bc5 4.Nf3 c6 5.Nc3 d6 6.e3 Bb4 7.d4 e4 8.Nd2 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Nf6 10.Ba3 O-O 11.c5 d5 12.Be2 Re8 13.O-O b5 14.Bc1 a6 15.a4 Qd7 16.f4 exf3 17.Nxf3 Ne4 18.Ne5 Rxe5 19.dxe5 Nxc3 20.Qc2 Nxa4 21.e4 Qe8 22.Bd3 d4 23.e6 Bxe6 24.Bf4 a5 25.Bd6 Na6 26.e5 g6 27.Rf4 Nb4 28.Qd2 Nxd3 29.Qxd3 Nc3 30.Rxd4 b4 31.Qd2 h5 32.h3 Qd8 33.Rf1 Kh7 34.Rf6 Nd5 35.Qg5 Qg8 36.Qh4 Nxf6 37.exf6 b3 38.Be5 Qf8 39.Rd6 Bd5 40.Kh2 a4 41.Qb4 Qe8 42.Bb2 a3 0-1

Two more rounds of classical Saturday and then, rapids Sunday and blitz Monday.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 13 November, 2016, 12:21 AM

Re: Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

November 12, 2016

Rounds Five and Six

To repeat what we said yesterday for Rounds 3 and 4 - rather and up-and-down day for Nakamura

Champion’s Showdown 2016
St. Louis, Mo.
One-hour Classical
Round 5, Nov. 12, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Caruana, Fabiano
D57 QGD, Lasker Defence, Main Line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.cxd5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 exd5 11.Bd3 c5 12.O-O Nc6 13.Re1 Rd8 14.e4 dxe4 15.Bxe4 Qf6 16.d5 Ne7 17.c4 Bg4 18.Qb3 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Nf5 20.Qxb7 Nd6 21.Qc6 Rdc8 22.Qa6 g6 23.Rab1 Rd8 24.Qc6 Rdc8 25.Qa6 Rd8 26.Re3 Qd4 27.Be2 Nf5 28.Reb3 Nd6 29.Rd1 Qf6 30.Qa5 Re8 31.Bf1 Rec8 32.g3 Qf5 33.Qd2 h5 34.Ra3 Re8 35.Ra6 Ne4 36.Qf4 Qxf4 37.gxf4 Rab8 38.Rxa7 Nd6 39.Ra6 Nf5 40.Rc6 Re4 41.d6 Rd8 42.d7 Kf8 43.Rxc5 Rxf4 44.Bh3 Nd4 45.Rc8 Ke7 46.c5 g5 47.Re1+ Ne6 48.Bxe6 fxe6 49.c6 1-0

Round 5, Nov. 12, 2016
Anand, Vishy – Topalov, Veselin
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Nbd2 d6 7.b4 Bb6 8.a4 a5 9.b5 Ne7 10.Bb3 c6 11.O-O Ng6 12.Nc4 Bc7 13.Re1 Re8 14.Bg5 h6 15.b6 Bb8 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Rb1 Ra6 18.g3 Be6 19.Ncd2 d5 20.exd5 cxd5 21.c4 Rxb6 22.cxd5 Bg4 23.Kg2 Rb4 24.Re4 Bd6 25.Rxg4 Rxg4 26.Ne4 Rxe4 27.dxe4 Bc5 28.Qe2 b6 29.Ne1 Ne7 30.Nd3 Bd4 31.Nb2 Nc8 32.Nc4 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Nov. 12, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Anand, Vishy
A13 English Opening, Agincourt Variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.b3 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bb5 Nf6 7.O-O Bd6 8.Bb2 O-O 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Bg4 11.Be2 Bxe2 12.Nxe2 Re8 13.Nd2 Be5 14.Bxe5 Nxe5 15.Nf3 Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qa5 17.Qd3 Rac8 18.a4 Rc5 19.Rfb1 Qc7 20.Rc1 b6 21.Rc3 Rc8 22.Rac1 a5 23.Kg2 h6 24.Qa6 Qd8 25.Rxc5 bxc5 26.Ng3 g6 27.Qb5 Qc7 28.Ne2 c4 29.Nf4 Qc5 30.e4 Qxb5 31.axb5 Rb8 32.bxc4 dxc4 33.Rxc4 Rxb5 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Nov. 12, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Nakamura, Hikaru
C87 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nf5 8.Nf3 O-O 9.d4 d5 10.c3 Bd6 11.Bd3 Nce7 12.Nbd2 c6 13.Qc2 g6 14.Nf1 Ng7 15.Ng3 f6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Nh4 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Nef5 19.Qd2 g5 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.Re1 Qd8 22.Nxf5 Nxf5 23.Bxf5 Bxf5 24.Qe2 Kf7 25.g4 Bd7 26.f4 Kg6 27.fxg5 fxg5 28.Qe5 Qf6 29.Qh2 Bxg4 30.Re5 Bf5 31.g4 Bxg4 32.Rxg5+ Qxg5 33.Bxg5 Kxg5 34.Qxh7 b6 35.Qb7 Rc8 36.Qxa7 b5 37.b3 Kf4 38.Kf2 Bf5 39.a4 bxa4 40.bxa4 Ke4 41.a5 Rh8 42.Qc7 Kd3 43.a6 1-0

After six rounds of classical the standings are:

1. Anand, Vishy 3.5
2. Topalov, Veselin 3.5
3. Nakamura, Hikaru 3.0
4. Caruana, Fabiano 2.0

Sunday, six rounds of rapid

Monday, twelve rounds of blitz

I feel sorry for the organizers of this tournament. You won’t come out a winner if you are competing with the World Championship. They should not have scheduled their event at the same time.

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 15 November, 2016, 02:06 PM

Re: Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

November 15, 2016

After the smoke had cleared from the rapids and blitz, the final scores were:

1. Vishy Anand
Classical 3.5/6
Rapid 4.5/6
Blitz 7/12
Total 15
$60,000

2. Hikaru Nakamura
Classical 3/6
Rapid 3.5/6
Blitz 7.5/12
Total 14
$40,000

3. Fabiano Caruana
Classical 2/6
Rapid 2.5/6
Blitz 6.5/6
Total 11
$30,000

4. Veselin Topalov
Classical 3.5/6
Rapid 1.5/6
Blitz 3/12
Total 8
$20,000

Thus Anand won the title. It was an exhibition match and so not rated and it was on at the same time as the World Championship from New York City so, it attracted less attention than it should.

Yasser Seirawan, during the last part of Game 3 of the WCC, was having dinner at the Closing of the “Showdown” in Saint Louis. In his near vicinity was Fabiano, Hikaru and Vishy. They all scrunched around Fabi’s smartphone to follow the cut and thrust. In rapid-fire succession, one defense after another was defeated. The verdict at the table was clear: Magnus was now winning. Their mirth attracted the attention of Veselin Topalov as well. Yasser was beginning to feel out-rated.

(During this time moves 66 to 77 were played)

At this time the table was reasonably sure that the game was won, as again, Black’s King appeared to be cut-off and another victorious White King march was in the offing. Vishy forced us away from our dinners with another analytical offering. The win slipped from Magnus’s grasp and Sergey seized his chance to save the game with a study-like finish.

Yasser concludes: Oh my, what a game! The collective wisdom of the table was that if Magnus had won this game “out of nothing” Sergey would have lost a lot of confidence, conversely thanks to this incredible save, we now have a great match in store.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/new-york-2016-dramatic-near-win-in-game-three

Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

Champion’s Showdown in St. Louis, 2016

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