St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 11th August, 2018, 12:48 AM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 11, 2018

Rapid Pairings

25+10

Game 1, August 11

Karjakin-Aronian
Dominguez-MVL
Anand-Nakamura
So-Mamedyarov
Grischuk-Caruana

Game 2, August 11

Aronian-Caruana
Mamedyarov-Grischuk
Nakamura-So
MVL-Anand
Karjakin-Dominguez

Game 3, August 11

Dominguez-Aronian
Anand-Karjakin
So-MVL
Grischuk-Nakamura
Caruana-Mamedyarov

Game 4, August 12

Aronian-Mamedyarov
Nakamura-Caruana
MVL-Grischuk
Karjakin-So
Dominguez-Anand

Game 5, August 12

Anand-Aronian
So-Dominguez
Grischuk-Karjakin
Caruana-MVL
Mamedyarov-Nakamura

Game 6, August 12

Aronian-Nakamura
MVL-Mamedyarov
Karjakin-Caruana
Domninguez-Grischuk
Anand-So

Game 7, August 13

So-Aronian
Grischuk-Anand
Caruana-Dominguez
Mamedyarov-Karjakin
Nakamura-MVL

Game 8, August 13

Aronian-MVL
Karjakin-Nakamura
Dominguez-Mamedyarov
Anand-Caruana
So-Grischuk

Game 9, August 13

Grischuk-Aronian
Caruana-So
Mamedyarov-Anand
Nakamura-Dominguez
MVL-Karjakin

Live with Jennifer Shahade, Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley at:

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-to...itz-2018/1/1/1

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 11th August, 2018, 03:39 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 11, 2018

Rapids Round One

Grischuk arrived after midnight from Russia. He had issues with his visa with the Russian – USA difficulties having the U.S. Embassy in Moscow shut down. He had to mail his passport to Vladivostok and then have it mailed back before he could leave.

Karjakin had his flight from New York to St. Louis cancelled and the option was to fly to Denver, wait for five hours there before flying to St. Louis

St. Louis Rapid 2018
Game 1, August 11
So, Wesley -– Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.g4 Bg6 12.d3 f5 13.gxf5 Bxf5 14.Bxf5 Rxf5 15.Be3 Bc5 16.Bxc5 Qd5 17.Nd2 Qxc5 18.Ne4 Qe7 19.c3 Raf8 20.Qb3+ Kh8 21.Qxb7 Nd8 22.Qb4 Qh4 23.Ng3 Rf4 24.Re4 Ne6 25.Rxf4 exf4 26.Re1 a5 27.Qe4 Ng5 28.Qe7 Kg8 29.Re4 Nxh3+ 30.Kg2 Ng5 0-1

Position after Black’'s 21....…Nd8

Game 1, August 11
Karjakin, Sergey –- Aronian, Levon
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.c4 c6 5.O-O e6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Qb3 Qb6 8.Qxb6 axb6 9.d3 Nc6 10.Nc3 Bc5 11.Bd2 Ke7 12.Rfc1 Rhc8 13.Nb5 Bg4 14.a3 Ne8 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Nd6 17.Nxd6 Bxd6 18.e3 b5 19.d4 b4 20.axb4 Rxa1 21.Rxa1 Bxb4 22.Bc3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 b5 24.Rb1 Rb8 25.Be2 b4 26.cxb4 Rxb4 27.Rxb4 Nxb4 28.Kf1 Kd6 29.Ke1 e5 30.dxe5+ Kxe5 31.h4 d4 32.exd4+ Kxd4 33.Kf1 Nc6 34.Bf3 Ne5 35.Be2 Kc3 36.Ba6 Kd2 37.Bb5 f6 38.Ba6 h6 39.Bb5 g6 40.Be8 g5 41.hxg5 hxg5 42.f4 gxf4 43.gxf4 Nd3 44.f5 Ke3 45.Bd7 Nc5 46.Bc8 Ne4 47.Kg2 Kf4 48.Be6 Ng3 49.Kf2 Nxf5 50.Bxf5 Kxf5 51.Kf3 1/2-1/2

Game 1, August 11
Anand, Viswanathan –- Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.c3 Bb6 8.Na3 c6 9.Ba4 d6 10.Nc4 Bc7 11.Bb3 h6 12.Ne3 d5 13.exd5 cxd5 14.d4 e4 15.f3 Qd6 16.g3 O-O 17.fxe4 dxe4 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.Rxf5 Rae8 20.Be3 h5 21.Bf4 Qd7 22.Rxf6 gxf6 23.Bxc7 Qxc7 24.Qxh5 e3 25.Qg6+ Kh8 26.Qxf6+ Kg8 27.Qg6+ Kh8 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Bc2 f5 30.Bb3+ Rf7 31.Re1 Qe7 32.Qg6+ Kf8 33.Qxf7+ Qxf7 34.Bxf7 Kxf7 35.Kg2 1-0

Game 1, August 11
Dominguez Perez, Leinier -– MVL
A30 English, symmetrical

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 e4 6.d5 exf3 7.dxc6 fxg2 8.cxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxg2 g6 10.b3 Bg7 11.Qd6 Qb6 12.Qe5+ Kf8 13.Bb2 Nh5 14.Qd5 Bc6 15.Qd6+ Kg8 16.Bxc6 Rd8 17.Qe7 bxc6 18.Rd1 Rxd1+ 19.Kxd1 Bf6 20.Qe4 Kg7 21.Kc2 Qc7 22.h3 Rd8 23.Qf3 Kg8 24.Rd1 Rxd1 25.Nxd1 Be7 26.Bc3 Ng7 27.Nb2 Nf5 28.Nd3 f6 29.Nf4 Kf7 30.Qg4 Bd6 31.Nd3 Be7 32.Kd2 Qd6 33.Ke2 Qe6 34.Kd2 Qd6 35.Ke2 Qe6 36.Kd2 1/2-1/2

Game 1, August 11
Grischuk, Alexander –- Caruana, Fabiano
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.Bb2 f6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 Bg4 7.Be2 Qd7 8.O-O e6 9.Re1 O-O-O 10.Nbd2 Bd6 11.a3 Nge7 12.c4 Bf4 13.c5 h5 14.b4 a6 15.Qa4 Qc7 16.b5 axb5 17.Bxb5 g5 18.Bc3 Bf5 19.Nf1 h4 20.Qa8+ Kd7 21.Qa4 Ra8 22.Qd1 g4 23.N3d2 g3 24.fxg3 hxg3 25.h3 Rag8 26.Ne3 Bxh3 27.gxh3 g2 28.Ng4 Rxh3 29.Qe2 Rxg4 30.Qxe6+ Kd8 31.Qxg4 Be3+ 0-1

Sasha is jet-lagged and under-smoked

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 11th August, 2018, 10:49 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 11, 2018

Rapids Rounds Two and Three

Round 2, Game 2, August 11
Aronian, Levon -– Caruana, Fabiano
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange, Rubinstein variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 11.Qxb7 Rb8 12.Qa6 O-O 13.Bb5 Rb6 14.Qa4 Ne7 15.Ne5 Ng6 16.Nxg4 Nxg4 17.h3 Nf6 18.Nb3 e5 19.O-O e4 20.Rfe1 Nh5 21.Bf1 Nh4 22.Qa5 Qg6 23.Qxd5 Nf3+ 24.Kh1 Ng3+ 25.fxg3 Qxg3 26.Qe5 Nxe5 27.dxe5 Qxe5 28.Rad1 f5 29.Rd7 Rd6 30.Rxa7 Qg3 31.Rb1 f4 32.Nc5 Qe3 33.b4 f3 34.Re7 fxg2+ 35.Bxg2 Rh6 0-1

Round 2, Game 2, August 11
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar -– Grischuk, Alexander
E60 King’'s Indian, Fianchetto

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.O-O e5 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bd2 Nxc3 11.bxc3 e4 12.Ne1 f5 13.Qb3+ Kh8 14.Rd1 b6 15.Nc2 Na5 16.Qb1 Ba6 17.Rfe1 Nc4 18.Bc1 Qd7 19.f3 exf3 20.exf3 Rae8 21.Bf1 c5 22.dxc5 Qc6 23.Nd4 Qxc5 24.Kg2 Qc8 25.Qb4 Ne5 26.Bxa6 Qxa6 27.Qb5 Qxa2+ 28.Re2 Qf7 29.Rde1 Nd7 30.Ne6 a6 31.Qc6 Rc8 32.Qd6 Nc5 33.Nxf8 Bxf8 34.Re7 Qa2+ 35.Kh3 Kg8 36.Re8 Rxe8 37.Rxe8 Qf7 38.Ra8 f4 39.Bxf4 g5 40.Bxg5 Qxf3 41.Rb8 Qh5+ 42.Bh4 Qf5+ 43.Kg2 Qe4+ 44.Kf1 Qf3+ 45.Ke1 Qxc3+ 46.Ke2 Qc4+ 47.Ke1 Qe4+ 48.Kd2 Qb4+ 49.Kd1 Qb1+ 50.Ke2 Qe4+ 51.Kd1 Qb1+ 52.Ke2 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2

Position after White’'s 38.Ra8

Colin McGourty - "Mamedyarov was inches away from winning a second game in a row. He had Alexander Grischuk on the ropes and in time trouble, but there’s perhaps no-one in world chess more dangerous in that situation:

38...f4! 39.Bxf4 g5! 40.Bxg5 Qxf3 41.Rb8? (41.Rd8! was essential to keep the queen protected) 41...Qh5+ and it turned out Grischuk’s desperate demolition of the cover around the white king was sufficient to force perpetual check. It took another dozen moves for Mamedyarov to accept the new reality"

Round 2, Game 2, August 11
MVL –- Anand, Vishy
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 b6 11.Rd1 Bb4 12.Ne2 Bb7 13.Ned4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Bc5 15.Nf5 Rg8 16.Be3 Bc8 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.Rd3 Bxd4 19.Rxd4 c5 20.Rd2 Bc6 21.Rad1 Ke7 22.Bg5+ f6 23.Bh4 Kf7 24.Bg3 Rae8 25.exf6 gxf6 26.Kh2 Re7 27.f3 a5 28.Bf4 a4 29.c4 h5 30.h4 Rge8 31.Kg1 Re1+ 32.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 33.Kf2 Re7 34.Rd8 Be8 35.b3 axb3 36.axb3 c6 37.Rb8 b5 38.cxb5 cxb5 39.Bd6 Re6 40.Bxc5 Bc6 41.b4 Re8 42.Rb6 Re6 43.Kg3 Be8 44.Rb7+ Kg6 45.Kf4 Re5 46.g4 Rd5 47.Rb6 Bd7 48.g5 Rf5+ 49.Kg3 Kf7 50.f4 fxg5 51.hxg5 Rd5 52.Kh4 Rd3 53.f5 Rf3 54.Rb7 Ke8 55.Rb8+ Kf7 56.g6+ Kf6 57.Rf8+ 1-0

Round 2, Game 2, August 11
Karjakin, Sergey - Dominguez Perez, Leinier
D35 QGD, Exchange variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 Be7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.h4 Nc6 10.h5 h6 11.Bb5 Qc7 12.Rh3 Rd8 13.Rg3 Kh8 14.Kf1 a6 15.Bd3 cxd4 16.cxd4 e5 17.d5 Nb4 18.Nxe5 Bd6 19.Rxb4 Bxe5 20.Re3 Qe7 21.Bb2 Bf4 22.Qa1 f6 23.Rf3 Bg5 24.Rb6 Rf8 25.e5 fxe5 26.Rxf8+ Qxf8 27.Bxe5 Be3 28.Bxg7+ 1-0

Round 2, Game 2, August 11
Nakamura, Hikaru –- So, Wesley
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.O-O O-O 10.Bg5 c6 11.Na4 h6 12.Bh4 Be6 13.c3 Bd6 14.Bc2 Re8 15.Qd3 g5 16.Bg3 Bxg3 17.hxg3 Qd6 18.Qd4 Bg4 19.Rfe1 Be2 20.Nc5 Re7 21.Nb3 Rae8 22.Qc5 Qxc5 23.Nxc5 Nd7 24.Nb3 Nb6 25.Nd4 c5 26.Nf5 Re6 27.b4 cxb4 28.cxb4 Bh5 29.Nxh6+ Kf8 30.Rxe6 fxe6 31.g4 Bf7 32.Bd3 Rc8 33.Nxf7 Kxf7 34.a4 Rc3 35.Be2 Nc4 36.b5 Na5 37.g3 e5 38.Kg2 Rc2 39.Bd3 Rd2 40.Bf1 Rc2 41.Rd1 Ke6 42.Bd3 Rb2 43.Bf5+ Kd6 44.Be4 d4 45.Rc1 Re2 46.Bd3 Ra2 47.Rc8 Rxa4 48.f4 Ra2+ 49.Kf3 Nb3 50.Rc6+ Ke7 51.Ke4 exf4 52.gxf4 gxf4 53.Kxf4 Rf2+ 54.Ke5 Rg2 55.Rc7+ Kd8 56.Rxa7 Rxg4 57.b6 Rg5+ 58.Kd6 Kc8 59.Be4 1-0

Round 3, Game 3, August 11
Caruana, Fabiano – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C80 Ruy Lopez, open, Bernstein variation

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.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 d3 13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 15.b4 O-O 16.h3 Qd7 17.Bf4 Rfd8 18.g4 Bg6 19.Bg3 h5 20.Nd2 hxg4 21.hxg4 Nxb4 22.cxb4 Bxb4 23.Ba2 c5 24.e6 fxe6 25.Nf3 c4 26.Ne5 Qe8 27.Kg2 Rd5 28.f3 Rad8 29.Rh1 Bd6 30.Qe1 d2 31.Qe3 Bc2 32.Rad1 Bxd1 33.Rxd1 Bxe5 34.Bxe5 Rd3 35.Qe4 R8d5 36.Bb1 Qf7 37.Bxd3 Rxd3 38.Qa8+ Qf8 39.Qxf8+ Kxf8 40.Bc3 Ke7 41.Kf2 g6 42.Rxd2 Rxd2+ 43.Bxd2 Kd6 44.Bb4+ Kd5 45.Ke3 Ke5 46.Bd2 Kd5 47.f4 Kc5 48.Ke4 b4 49.Ke5 a5 50.Kxe6 Kd4 51.f5 gxf5 52.gxf5 Kd3 53.Bf4 a4 54.f6 b3 55.f7 c3 56.bxc3 1-0

Position after Black’'s 32....…Bxd1

Round 3, Game 3, August 11
So, Wesley –- MVL
A04 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 c5 2.b3 b6 3.Bb2 Bb7 4.c4 Nf6 5.g3 e6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 O-O 9.Nc3 d6 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Ng5 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 Qc7 13.Rfd1 Rfd8 14.Nge4 Nc5 15.f3 Ncxe4 16.Nxe4 d5 17.cxd5 Rxd5 18.Qe3 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Nd5 20.Qd4 Bf8 21.Nc3 Rd8 22.Rd3 Rd7 23.Nxd5 Rxd5 24.Qe4 Rxd3 25.Qxd3 f6 26.Qc3 Qxc3 27.Bxc3 Kf7 28.e4 e5 29.Kf2 b5 30.Ke2 a6 31.a4 Ke6 32.axb5 axb5 33.g4 g5 34.h3 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Game 3, August 11
Anand, Vishy -– Karjakin, Sergey
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Be3 Bd6 7.h3 c5 8.Nc3 Nd7 9.O-O Nf8 10.Nd2 Ng6 11.Nc4 O-O 12.Ne2 Be6 13.b3 Be7 14.f4 exf4 15.Nxf4 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 b5 17.Ne3 Bf6 18.Rb1 Qd4 19.Kh1 Be5 20.c3 Qd6 21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.Bxe5 Qxe5 23.Rxf5 Qe7 24.b4 cxb4 25.Rxb5 bxc3 26.Qc2 Rfd8 27.Qxc3 h6 28.Rb7 Rd7 29.Rc1 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Game 3, August 11
Grischuk, Alexander -– 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.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bb4+ 11.Nd2 d4 12.Qc2 Nc6 13.O-O g6 14.Ne4 Bf5 15.Rad1 Be7 16.Qb3 Qb6 17.Qxb6 axb6 18.a3 dxe3 19.Bxe3 Rfd8 20.Bb1 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Game 3, August 11
Dominguez Perez, Leinier -– Aronian, Levon
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 b6 8.Ne5 Qxd4 9.Bxa8 Qxe5 10.Bf3 Nd5 11.Qxc4 Ba6 12.Qa4 Bf6 13.Re1 Qd4 14.Qxd4 Bxd4 15.Rd1 Nc6 16.e3 Bf6 17.Bxd5 exd5 18.Rxd5 Ne5 19.Nc3 Nf3+ 20.Kg2 Ne1+ 21.Kg1 Nf3+ 22.Kg2 Ne1+ 23.Kg1 1/2-1/2

The rapid games are worth twice the value of the blitz games

Standings after Round Three

1 Caruana 6
2-3 MVL, Karjakin 4
4-6 Anand, Mamedyarov, Nakamura 3
7-9 Aronian, Dominguez, Grischuk 2
10 So 1

_________

Colin McGourty in chess24.com:

“It couldn’t have gone better” was Fabiano Caruana’'s take on two brilliant attacks and one tense battle that saw him finish Day 1 of the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz on a perfect score, two points clear of the field. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Sergey Karjakin are in second place, while Wesley So, who dominated the rapid in Leuven and Paris, finds himself in last place after starting with two heavy losses to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/st-...-fabulous-fabi

__________

Online kibitzers are concerned that Fabiano won’t be able to stand up to Magnus in their match. Some comments:

ok game 1 Caruana played a very dubious ...f6? and still the opponent managed to lose, game 2 was like Aronian's worst game ever and in game 3 Caruana was DEAD LOST with white pieces until some unreal blunders by Mamedyarov started ==> Caruana biggest luckbox ever?
He was playing inferior positions the whole match..a top level carlsen would have swept him off.
caruana showing he can play fast chess !
sometimes
shame, Mamedyarov had not enough time to win this position
Bxd1 was a big oversight though

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 12th August, 2018, 03:49 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 12, 2018

Day Two

Round Four

Jennifer points out that they are carrying the game and commentary in Spanish and Russian and that Peter Svidler is on the latter. I have been following him for six years and this is the first time I have heard him speak Russian.

Rex Sinquefield says during an interview that the St. Louis Chess Club was started in 1871. He was reading the article on Steinitz in Kasparov’'s "“My Great Predecessors”" when he saw a sentence that said the match Steinitz-Zukertort took place there in 1886 and felt that a banner should be put up commemorating the event.

This from chessgames.com:

The match began on January 11, 1886 in Cartier's Hall, Fifth Avenue, in New York. The New York leg ended January 20, when Zukertort scored 4 consecutive victories after losing the first game. Play was resumed on February 3 in St. Louis. The games were played during the day in the Harmonie Hall and at night in the Chess, Checkers and Whist Club. The St. Louis leg ended on February 10 after Steinitz scored 3 wins and a draw. After a rest of almost 2 weeks, the New Orleans leg began on February 26. Play took place in the New Orleans Chess, Checkers and Whist Club at the corner of Baronne and Canal Street. Carnival activities led to a suspension of the match for a few days. After a draw, Steinitz pulled ahead with 2 wins. Zukertort struck back with a win, but managed only 3 draws and another loss in the next games. Steinitz then went on to win the last 3 games, becoming the first official world champion on March 29, 1886 with a final score of (+10 -5 = 5).

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=53788

Round 4, Game 4, August 12
Nakamura, Hikaru –- Caruana, Fabiano
D77 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 dxc4 7.Na3 c5 8.Nxc4 Be6 9.Nce5 cxd4 10.Qxd4 Qxd4 11.Nxd4 Bd5 12.Rd1 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Rd8 14.Bf4 Nd5 15.Ndf3 Na6 16.Bd2 Rac8 17.Ba5 b6 18.Be1 f6 19.Nd3 e5 20.e4 Ndc7 21.Ng1 Ne6 22.Ne2 Kf7 23.Nc3 Bf8 24.f3 Nb4 25.Nxb4 Bxb4 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Nd5 Bxe1 28.Rxe1 Rc8 29.Ne3 Nd4 30.Rd1 Ke6 31.Kf2 b5 32.a3 a5 33.f4 a4 34.h4 h5 35.Kg2 Rc6 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 4, August 12
MVL –- Grischuk, Alexander
A48 King’'s Indian, London System

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 d6 6.O-O c5 7.c3 b6 8.h3 Bb7 9.Nbd2 Nbd7 10.a4 a6 11.Bh2 Ne4 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Qc7 15.Rfd1 Rfc8 16.Qe2 Qb7 17.e4 cxd4 18.cxd4 Rc7 19.e5 Qd5 20.exd6 exd6 21.Rac1 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 b5 23.axb5 axb5 24.Qe7 Nb6 25.Qxd6 Qxd6 26.Bxd6 Nc4 27.Bc7 Nxb2 28.Rb1 Na4 29.Rxb5 Nc3 30.Rb2 h6 31.Rc2 Nb5 32.Bb6 Ra1+ 33.Kh2 Rd1 34.Rc8+ Kh7 35.Rd8 Nc3 36.Re8 Nb5 37.Re7 Kg8 38.Bc5 Bf6 39.Rb7 Nc3 40.Ne5 Bxe5+ 41.dxe5 Ne4 42.Be3 g5 43.Rb8+ Kg7 44.Rb2 Rd5 45.g3 Kg6 46.Rb6+ Kg7 47.Kg2 Nc3 48.Rd6 Rxd6 49.exd6 Kf8 50.Bd4 Ne4 51.Bg7+ Ke8 52.Bxh6 f6 53.Bg7 f5 54.Be5 Nc5 55.f4 Nd7 56.h4 gxh4 57.gxh4 Kf7 58.Kf3 Kg6 59.Ke3 Kh5 60.Kd4 Kxh4 61.Kd5 1-0

Position after Black’'s 54.... Nc5

- don’t like h4 but I guess it's still winning
- impressive play by Maxime
- nice technique around move 40-45

Round 4, Game 4, August 12
Karjakin, Sergey -– So, Wesley
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.c3 O-O 6.a4 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Nbd2 Nb6 9.Ba2 a5 10.Ne4 Be7 11.O-O Bg4 12.Re1 Qd7 13.h3 Be6 14.Bxe6 Qxe6 15.Be3 Nd5 16.Qb3 Qd7 17.Rad1 Rad8 18.d4 exd4 19.Bxd4 Nxd4 20.Rxd4 Qc6 21.g3 Qb6 22.Qc2 c6 23.Neg5 Bxg5 24.Nxg5 Nf6 25.Rf4 Rd5 26.Rxf6 Rxg5 27.Rf3 Qc7 28.Rfe3 Rd5 29.Re7 Rd7 30.Qe4 g6 31.Qe5 Rxe7 32.Qxe7 Qxe7 33.Rxe7 Rb8 34.b3 b5 35.Ra7 bxa4 36.bxa4 Rb3 37.c4 Rb4 38.Rxa5 Rxc4 39.Kf1 Rc2 40.Ra8+ Kg7 41.a5 c5 42.a6 c4 43.a7 Ra2 44.Rc8 Rxa7 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 4, August 12
Aronian, Levon -– Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange, Rubinstein variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 11.O-O O-O 12.Rae1 Rab8 13.Ne5 b5 14.Bxb5 a6 15.Bxc6 Rxb3 16.axb3 Bf5 17.b4 Ng4 18.Ba4 h5 19.h3 Nxe5 20.Rxe5 f6 21.Re3 e5 22.Nb3 Bc2 23.Ra1 h4 24.Nc5 Bxa4 25.Rxa4 exd4 26.cxd4 Qb6 27.b3 Ra8 28.Re7 Qd6 29.Rd7 Qc6 30.Rb7 Qd6 31.Rd7 Qc6 32.Rb7 Qe8 33.Ra1 Rb8 34.Rd7 Rd8 35.Rb7 Rb8 36.Rd7 Rd8 37.Rb7 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 4, August 12
Dominguez Perez, Leinier -– Anand, Vishy
E04 Catalan, open

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.O-O Nc6 7.dxc5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Nfd2 Na5 10.Na3 Bxa3 11.bxa3 O-O 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 e5 14.Bb2 Nc6 15.f3 Re8 16.Rab1 f6 17.Bc3 Nd8 18.a4 Rb8 19.a5 Be6 20.a4 a6 21.Rb6 Bf7 22.Rd7 Be6 23.Rc7 Rc8 24.Rxc8 Bxc8 25.Bd5+ Be6 26.Bxb7 Nxb7 27.Rxb7 Ra8 28.Kf2 Bf7 29.Rc7 Be8 30.Rxc4 Bd7 31.Rb4 Rc8 32.Bd2 Rc2 33.Ke1 Ra2 34.Rb6 Ra1+ 35.Kf2 Ra2 36.Ke1 Ra1+ 37.Kf2 Ra2 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Four

1 Caruana 7
2 MVL 6
3 Karjakin 5
4-6 Anand, Mamedyarov, Nakamura 4
7-8 Aronian, Dominguez 3
9-10 So, Grischuk 2

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 12th August, 2018, 09:31 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 12, 2018

Rapids Rounds Five and Six

Round 5, Game 5, August 12
Caruana, Fabiano - MVL
B96 Sicilian, Najdorf

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 Be7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 Nbd7 12.O-O-O b5 13.g4 Bb7 14.h4 Nc5 15.Bd3 d5 16.e5 Nfe4 17.Bxe4 Nxe4 18.Rh3 h5 19.Be1 g6 20.gxh5 Rxh5 21.Qg4 Qb6 22.Nce2 Rc8 23.Kb1 Rc4 24.b3 Rc8 25.Kb2 a5 26.b4 axb4 27.axb4 Ra8 28.Ra1 Ra4 29.Rb3 Bc8 30.Qh3 Bd7 31.Raa3 Qd8 32.Qd3 Qb6 33.Nf3 Qc6 34.Ned4 Qb6 35.Ng5 Bxg5 36.fxg5 Qb8 37.Nf3 Ke7 38.Bc3 Rh8 39.Bd4 Rc8 40.Nd2 Bc6 41.Nb1 Rh8 42.Nc3 Rxh4 43.Nxa4 bxa4 44.b5 axb3 45.bxc6 bxc2+ 46.Rb3 c1=Q+ 47.Kxc1 Rh1+ 48.Kc2 Rh2+ 49.Kc1 Rh1+ 50.Kc2 Rh2+ 51.Kc1 Rh1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Game 5, August 12
Grischuk, Alexander –- Karjakin, Sergey
D39 QGD, Ragozin, Vienna variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Nbd7 11.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12.Kf1 gxf6 13.h4 Qb4 14.Rh3 a6 15.Be2 Ne5 16.Rb1 Qd6 17.Rc3 O-O 18.Qd2 Ng6 19.h5 Nf4 20.Qe3 e5 21.Nc2 b5 22.Rd1 Qe7 23.Qb6 Qe6 24.Rd6 Qxa2 25.Rg3+ Kh8 26.Qc7 Nxe2 27.Qe7 Nxg3+ 28.fxg3 Qb1+ 29.Ne1 Kg8 30.Rd8 Rxd8 31.Qxd8+ Kg7 32.h6+ Kg6 33.Qg8+ Kxh6 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’'s 25....…Kh8

Grischuk with less than a minute to Karjakin’'s 10 minutes, plays 26.Qc7 instead of Qd8, with mate in 7.

Round 5, Game 5, August 12
Anand, Vishy -– Aronian, Levon
C67 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 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.Nc3 Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re1 c6 12.Ne3 Bc7 13.Nf5 d5 14.Ne7+ Kh8 15.Nxc8 Rxc8 16.d3 Qf6 17.Qg4 Bb6 18.Qf4 Qd8 19.c3 Nc7 20.d4 Ne6 21.Qf3 Ng5 22.Bxg5 Qxg5 23.Re5 Qd8 24.Rae1 Kg8 25.g3 Rc7 26.h4 f6 27.Re6 f5 28.Bd3 Rcf7 29.h5 Qg5 30.Kg2 Bc7 31.c4 g6 32.hxg6 hxg6 33.cxd5 cxd5 34.Bb5 f4 35.g4 Rh7 36.Bd3 Qh4 37.Rxg6+ Kh8 38.g5 Qh2+ 39.Kf1 Qh1+ 0-1

Round 5, Game 5, August 12
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar –- Nakamura, Hikaru
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.b3 c5 6.Bb2 O-O 7.Rc1 dxc4 8.bxc4 b6 9.g3 Bb7 10.Bg2 Nc6 11.O-O Rc8 12.Qe2 Qc7 13.Rfd1 Qb8 14.d4 cxd4 15.exd4 Rfe8 16.d5 exd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.cxd5 Bg5 19.Qxe8+ Rxe8 20.dxc6 Bxc1 21.Be5 Rxe5 22.Nxe5 Ba6 23.Rd7 Bg5 24.c7 Qc8 25.Bd5 Bf6 26.Bxf7+ Kf8 27.Be6 Ke8 28.Bf7+ Kf8 29.Be6 Ke8 30.Bf7+ 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Game 5, August 12
So, Wesley -– Dominguez Perez, Leinier
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 c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nbd2 b5 11.Ng5 Ra7 12.Nde4 Nxe4 13.Qxe4 g6 14.axb5 axb5 15.Qh4 h5 16.Rxa7 Bxa7 17.g4 f6 18.Ne4 Nc6 19.g5 fxg5 20.Bxg5 Qc7 21.Bh6 Rf5 22.Ng3 Rf7 23.Nxh5 Bd4 24.Nf4 Ne7 25.Nxe6 Bxf2+ 26.Rxf2 Bxe6 27.Rxf7 Bxf7 28.Qf6 Nf5 29.Bd2 Qc5+ 30.e3 Qd6 31.Qxd6 Nxd6 32.Bb4 Nf5 33.Kf2 Be8 34.Bd5+ Kg7 35.e4 Nh6 36.Bc3+ Kf8 37.Bb4+ Kg7 38.Bc3+ Kf8 39.Kg3 Nf7 40.Kf4 Bd7 41.Bf6 Ke8 42.e5 Nd8 43.Kg5 Ne6+ 44.Kh6 Nf4 45.Be4 Bf5 46.Bc6+ Bd7 47.Be4 Bf5 48.Bxf5 gxf5 49.Kg5 b4 50.Kxf5 c3 0-1

Round 6, Game 6, August 12
Karjakin, Sergey –- Caruana, Fabiano
E10 Queen’'s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 a6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Be6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 h6 9.Bf4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Be5 Nhf6 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.Qb3 Nxg3 14.hxg3 b5 15.Qc2 Bg7 16.Ne2 Rc8 17.Qc6 O-O 18.Rc1 Nb8 19.Qc2 Nd7 20.O-O c5 21.dxc5 Nxc5 22.Ned4 Qd7 23.Qb1 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Rxc1 25.Rxc1 Rc8 26.Rd1 Bg4 27.a4 bxa4 28.Qxa6 Rc4 29.b3 axb3 30.Nxb3 Rc3 31.Nbd4 Rc4 32.Qa8+ Rc8 33.Qa5 Bxd4 34.Rxd4 Qf5 35.Ne1 Qb1 36.f3 Be6 37.Kf2 Rb8 38.Rd2 Rc8 39.Qa3 Rb8 40.Qc3 Rc8 41.Qb2 Qxb2 42.Rxb2 Bf5 43.g4 Bg6 44.Rb5 Rd8 45.Ke2 Kg7 46.Nd3 Bxd3+ 47.Kxd3 Ra8 48.Rxd5 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Game 6, August 12
MVL – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 g5 7.d4 g4 8.dxe5 gxf3 9.exf6 Ne5 10.Nd2 Qxf6 11.gxf3 Rg8+ 12.Kh1 Nxc4 13.Nxc4 Bh3 14.Ne3 h5 15.Bd2 O-O-O 16.Qe2 d5 17.Rg1 Rxg1+ 18.Rxg1 dxe4 19.fxe4 Qxb2 20.Qxh5 Be6 21.Rg8 f6 22.Rh8 Qd4 23.Qa5 Qxe4+ 24.Kg1 a6 25.Bc3 Bd5 26.Nxd5 Rxd5 27.Rxf8+ Kd7 28.Rf7+ Ke8 29.Re7+ Kxe7 30.Qxc7+ Rd7 31.Qc5+ Kf7 32.Qh5+ Qg6+ 33.Qxg6+ Kxg6 34.Bb4 Rc7 35.c3 b6 0-1

Round 6, Game 6, August 12
Aronian, Levon –- Nakamura, Hikaru
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e5 9.Nb3 Be6 10.Be3 h5 11.Qd2 Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rc8 13.Kb1 b5 14.g3 Be7 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nb6 17.Bxb6 Qxb6 18.Bh3 Rc7 19.Rhe1 h4 20.Qg2 a5 21.f4 a4 22.Nc1 O-O 23.fxe5 dxe5 24.gxh4 a3 25.Rg1 Ne8 26.Nd3 Bf6 27.Nf2 e4 28.Nxe4 Bxb2 29.d6 Rc4 30.d7 Rb4 31.Rd3 Bf6+ 32.Kc1 Rxe4 33.Rgd1 Rxh4 34.Bg4 Nc7 35.d8=Q Bxd8 36.Rxd8 Qe3+ 37.Kb1 Qc3 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Rd8+ Ne8 40.Rxe8+ Kxe8 41.Qe4+ Kf8 42.Qa8+ Ke7 43.Qe4+ Kd6 44.Qf4+ Qe5 45.Qb4+ Kc6 46.Qxa3 Rxg4 47.Qa6+ Kd7 48.Qb7+ Kd8 0-1

Round 6, Game 6, August 12
Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Grischuk, Alexander
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 Nfd7 8.Bg2 Be7 9.Be3 Nc6 10.h4 O-O 11.g5 Nde5 12.Qe2 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 b5 14.f4 Nc6 15.Be3 Qa5 16.Qf2 Rb8 17.O-O Qc7 18.f5 Re8 19.f6 Bf8 20.h5 Ne5 21.Qg3 Rb7 22.Bd4 gxf6 23.Rxf6 Bg7 24.Raf1 Qc4 25.Bxe5 Qc5+ 26.Kh2 Qxe5 27.Qxe5 dxe5 28.R6f2 Bf8 29.Nd1 Be7 30.Rxf7 Bxg5 31.Rxb7 Bxb7 32.Nf2 Rf8 33.Kg3 Bf4+ 34.Kh4 Kg7 35.Ng4 Rd8 36.Bf3 b4 37.Rf2 a5 38.Rg2 Kf7 39.Nf2 Ba6 40.Nh3 Kf6 41.Nxf4 exf4 42.Rg5 Rd2 43.Rxa5 Be2 44.Kg4 Bxf3+ 45.Kxf3 Rxc2 46.Kxf4 Rf2+ 47.Ke3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Game 6, August 12
Anand, Vishy –- So, Wesley
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Nbd2 Nb6 11.Bb5 Bd6 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Ne4 Re8 14.c4 Nd7 15.Bd2 c5 16.Ng3 Bg6 17.Bc3 f6 18.Nh4 Bf7 19.Nhf5 Bf8 20.Qe2 a5 21.b3 a4 22.Qc2 Nb8 23.Ne4 Nc6 24.Nfg3 Nb4 25.Bxb4 cxb4 26.Rad1 Qd7 27.Nd2 axb3 28.axb3 Bc5 29.Nf3 Ra3 30.Ne4 Bd4 31.Rb1 Rea8 32.Nxd4 Qxd4 33.Qd2 Ra2 34.Qe3 Qxe3 35.fxe3 Bg6 36.Nf2 R8a3 37.e4 Rc2 38.Ra1 Rb2 39.g4 Rbxb3 40.Reb1 Rxb1+ 41.Rxb1 c5 42.Rb2 Ra1+ 43.Kg2 Be8 44.Kf3 Ba4 45.Ke2 Kf7 0-1

Standings after Rapids Round Six

1 Caruana 9
2-5 Mamedyarov, Nakamura, MVL, Karjakin 7
6 Dominguez 6
7 Aronian 5
8-10 So, Anand, Grischuk 4

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 13th August, 2018, 03:24 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 13, 2018

Round Seven

Fabiano Caruana in a winning position but with seconds left on his clock (13 seconds) blunders and loses his rook and the game.

Round 7, Game 7, August 13
Caruana, Fabiano –- Dominguez, Perez
D35 QGD, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.h4 b6 12.h5 h6 13.g4 Bb7 14.Qe3 Nc6 15.a3 b5 16.Be2 a6 17.Rd1 Qa5+ 18.Kf1 f6 19.Rg1 Ne7 20.d5 exd5 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Qe6+ Kh8 23.Nh4 Nf4 24.Qe7 Qc3 25.Qxb7 Qh3+ 26.Ng2 Nxe2 27.Kxe2 Qxg4+ 28.Qf3 Qc4+ 29.Qd3 Qg4+ 30.Kf1 Rad8 31.Qxd8 Rxd8 32.Rxd8+ Kh7 33.Ne3 Qxh5 34.Ra8 Qc5 35.Rb8 Qc7 36.Rf8 Qe7 37.Rc8 Qd7 38.Rc2 f5 39.f4 Qd4 40.Ke2 Qxf4 41.Rc5 Qh2+ 42.Rg2 Qh5+ 43.Kd2 Qf3 44.Rc7 h5 45.Rcxg7+ Kh8 46.Rg8+ Kh7 47.R2g7+ Kh6 48.Rg5 Qf4 49.R8g6+ Kh7 50.Rg7+ Kh8 51.Rg8+ Kh7 52.R5g7+ Kh6 53.Ke2 Qe4 54.Re7 Qxe7 0-1

Position after Caruana played 54.Re7?

This allows Nakamura and Shakh to catch up to Fabiano

Round 7, Game 7, August 13
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar -– Karjakin, Sergey
A15 English Opening

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 Be7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.b3 b6 6.Bb2 Bb7 7.Qc2 c5 8.Ng5 h6 9.h4 Re8 10.O-O-O Nc6 11.a3 Kf8 12.Nh7+ Kg8 13.Ng5 Kf8 14.f4 Rc8 15.Bd3 d5 16.Bg6 hxg5 17.hxg5 Ng8 18.Bh7 Nf6 19.gxf6 Bxf6 20.g4 Ke7 21.g5 Bxc3 22.dxc3 Rh8 23.cxd5 exd5 24.c4 d4 25.Qe4+ Kd6 26.exd4 Kc7 27.dxc5 Qe8 28.Bxg7 1-0

Sergey appeared to be suffering from being right under the air conditioning vent

Round 7, Game 7, August 13
Nakamura, Hikaru -– MVL
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Be2 Ngf6 7.c4 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.O-O O-O 10.Qe3 b6 11.Rd1 Bb7 12.Ng5 Qc7 13.f3 Rac8 14.Bd2 Ne5 15.b3 e6 16.Rac1 h6 17.Nh3 g5 18.Na4 Ned7 19.Bc3 Rfd8 20.Nf2 Nc5 21.Nxc5 bxc5 22.f4 gxf4 23.Qxf4 Qe7 24.Rd3 e5 25.Qh4 Rd7 26.Bf3 Kh7 27.Rf1 Rg8 28.Bd2 Bf8 29.Nh1 Nd5 30.Qxe7 Nxe7 31.Ng3 f5 32.exf5 Rxg3 33.hxg3 e4 34.Bg4 exd3 35.f6 Rc7 36.fxe7 Bxe7 37.Bf5+ Kg7 38.Bxd3 Rc8 39.Bc3+ Kg8 40.Bh7+ Kxh7 41.Rf7+ Kg8 42.Rxe7 Bc6 43.Re6 Rd8 44.Rxh6 Kf7 45.Be5 dxe5 46.Rxc6 Rd2 47.Rxa6 e4 48.a4 e3 49.Kf1 Rf2+ 50.Ke1 Rxg2 51.Rc6 Rxg3 52.Rxc5 Ke6 53.Rb5 Rg2 54.Rd5 Rb2 55.Rd3 e2 56.c5 Ke5 57.c6 Rc2 58.c7 Ke4 59.Rd8 Rxc7 60.Kxe2 Rc2+ 61.Kd1 Rb2 62.Rb8 Kd3 63.Kc1 Rh2 64.Rc8 Rg2 65.Kb1 Rh2 66.Rc5 Rg2 67.Rc4 Rh2 68.a5 1-0

Round 7, Game 7, August 13
So, Wesley -– Aronian, Levon
A15 English Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 c5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.g3 Nc6 7.Bg2 d4 8.O-O Be7 9.Na3 O-O 10.Nc4 Bf5 11.Rc1 Rc8 12.Nfe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Be4 14.Bh3 Rc7 15.f3 Qd5 16.fxe4 Qxe5 17.d3 Ne8 18.Kg2 Qd6 19.Rc2 Bf6 20.Qd2 Be5 21.Rfc1 b6 22.a3 f5 23.exf5 Nf6 24.e4 dxe3 25.Qxe3 Bxb2 26.Rxb2 Re7 27.Qf4 Qxf4 28.gxf4 Rd8 29.Kg1 Rd4 30.b4 cxb4 31.axb4 Rxf4 32.Ra1 Nd5 33.Rba2 Rxb4 34.Rxa7 Kf7 35.Bg2 Nc3 36.Rxe7+ Kxe7 37.Ra3 Nb5 38.Ra2 Kf6 39.Be4 Nc3 40.Rc2 Rb3 41.Kf2 b5 42.Ke3 b4 43.Kd4 Nb5+ 44.Ke3 Rc3 45.Rb2 b3 46.Bd5 Nd6 47.Bxb3 Nxf5+ 48.Ke4 Rc7 49.Bc4 Re7+ 50.Kf4 g5+ 51.Kg4 Ne3+ 52.Kh5 Nxc4 53.dxc4 Re4 54.Rf2+ Kg7 55.Kxg5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Game 7, August 13
Grischuk, Alexander –- Anand, Vishy
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.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bb4+ 11.Nd2 Nc6 12.O-O Be7 13.Rc1 Bf6 14.Nb3 g6 15.Qd2 Qb6 16.Bd6 Rd8 17.Bc5 Qc7 18.Bd4 Bxd4 19.exd4 Qd6 20.Rfe1 b6 21.Bb5 Ne7 22.Qg5 Be6 23.Qf6 Rac8 24.a3 Rxc1 25.Nxc1 Nf5 26.Ne2 Bc8 27.Qxd6 Nxd6 28.Nc3 Nf5 29.Rd1 Ng7 30.f3 Bb7 31.Kf2 Ne6 32.h4 Kg7 33.g3 Kf6 34.Bf1 Ke7 35.Nb5 a6 36.Nc3 Kd6 37.Bh3 Nc7 38.Re1 Bc8 39.Bf1 Bd7 40.Rc1 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Seven

1-3 Caruana, Nakamura, Mamedyarov 9
4 Dominguez 8
5-6 MVL, Karjakin 7
7 Aronian 6
8-10 So, Anand, Grischuk 5

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 13th August, 2018, 09:43 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 13, 2018

Rounds Eight and Nine

Rapid Round Eight

Round 8, Game 8, August 13
Dominguez Perez, Leinier –- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.c3 d6 6.Nbd2 g5 7.h3 Bg7 8.Bb3 O-O 9.Nf1 Ne7 10.Ne3 Be6 11.h4 g4 12.Nh2 h5 13.f3 d5 14.fxg4 hxg4 15.Nhxg4 Nxg4 16.Nxg4 f5 17.Nh6+ Kh7 18.Qh5 Qe8 19.Qxe8 Raxe8 20.Nxf5 Nxf5 21.exf5 Rxf5 22.Rf1 c6 23.Be3 Rg8 24.Rxf5 Bxf5 25.Ke2 Bh6 26.Bxh6 Kxh6 27.Rg1 Kh5 28.g3 Rf8 29.Bd1 Bg4+ 30.Ke3 Bxd1 31.Rxd1 Kg4 32.Rg1 Rf3+ 33.Ke2 d4 34.cxd4 exd4 35.b4 Rf5 36.a3 a5 37.Rb1 Rb5 38.Kd2 Kxg3 39.a4 Rf5 40.bxa5 Rxa5 41.Rxb7 Rxa4 42.Kc2 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Game 8, August 13
Anand, Vishy -– Caruana, Fabiano
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack, Marshall variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.Nbd2 Bf5 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 Re8 10.Nf1 Bg6 11.Ne3 c6 12.c4 Nf6 13.Bxg6 hxg6 14.Qb3 Qb6 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.Bd2 b5 17.cxd5 cxd5 18.a3 Nc6 19.Bc3 Rad8 20.g3 Bc7 21.Nd2 Bb6 22.Nb3 g5 23.f3 g6 24.Kg2 Kg7 25.Nc2 g4 26.fxg4 Nxg4 27.Nb4 Nxb4 28.axb4 Nf6 29.Nc5 Rxe1 30.Rxe1 Bxc5 31.dxc5 d4 32.Bd2 Rd7 33.Kf3 Nd5 34.h4 f5 35.g4 fxg4+ 36.Kxg4 Ne7 37.Kf3 Nc6 38.Re6 Kf7 39.Re4 Rd5 40.Rf4+ Ke6 41.Re4+ Kd7 42.Rg4 Rf5+ 43.Ke2 Rf6 44.Rg5 Ke6 45.Kd3 Rf3+ 46.Ke2 Rf6 47.Kd3 Rf3+ 48.Ke2 Rf6 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Game 8, August 13
Karjakin, Sergey –- Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings variation, main line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 10.O-O-O Be7 11.Kb1 a6 12.g4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 b5 14.g5 bxc4 15.gxf6 Bxf6 16.Ne4 Be7 17.Rhg1 Rd8 18.Rxd8+ Nxd8 19.Qxc4 Qd5 20.Qxd5 exd5 21.Nc3 Bb7 22.Nd4 Ne6 23.Be5 g6 24.Nxe6 fxe6 25.Ne2 Bh4 26.f4 Bf2 27.Rc1 Rc8 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Game 8, August 13
Aronian, Levon -– MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e5 9.Nb3 Be6 10.Be3 h5 11.Qd2 Nbd7 12.O-O-O b5 13.Kb1 Rc8 14.g3 Be7 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bf5 17.Bd3 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 O-O 19.Rhg1 f5 20.h3 Qc7 21.c3 Qc4 22.Qc2 Qa4 23.g4 fxg4 24.fxg4 Rf3 25.Bc1 h4 26.g5 Nf8 27.Qe2 Rxh3 28.Rg4 Rc4 29.Nc5 Rh2 30.Qd3 dxc5 31.d6 Bxd6 32.Qd5+ Kh7 33.g6+ Nxg6 34.Rg5 Qc2+ 35.Ka1 Kh6 36.Rg2+ Qxc1+ 37.Rxc1 Rxg2 38.Qxg2 Rf4 39.Rg1 Rf6 40.Qg5+ Kh7 41.a4 Kg8 42.Qh5 Kf7 43.a5 c4 44.Ka2 Bc7 45.Qg4 Bxa5 46.Qd7+ Ne7 47.Rg5 1-0

Round 8, Game 8, August 13
So, Wesley –- Grischuk, Alexander
E99 King’'s Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.Rc1 g5 14.c5 Ng6 15.Kh1 Rf7 16.Rg1 Bf8 17.g3 Rg7 18.cxd6 cxd6 19.gxf4 gxf4 20.Bf1 Bd7 21.Be1 Kh8 22.Qb3 Nh5 23.Nb5 Nh4 24.Rxg7 Nxg7 25.Nf2 Qb6 26.Nh3 Be7 27.Bf2 Qd8 28.Bxh4 Bxh4 29.Nxd6 Qe7 30.Qxb7 Rg8 31.Rc7 Qxd6 32.Rxd7 Qc5 33.Rc7 Qe3 34.Qb3 Qe1 35.Qd3 Ne8 36.Rc6 Bf2 37.Qe2 Qxe2 38.Bxe2 Bd4 39.d6 Nf6 40.Bc4 Rb8 41.b3 h6 42.Be6 Kg7 43.Rc7+ Kg6 44.Bf7+ Kg7 45.Be6+ Kg6 46.Bf5+ Kh5 47.d7 Rd8 48.Rc8 Bb6 49.b4 Ng8 50.a4 a5 51.Rc6 Bd4 52.bxa5 Rb8 53.Rc8 Rb1+ 54.Kg2 1-0

Rapid Round Nine

Round 9, Game 9, August 13
Nakamura, Hikaru –- Dominguez Perez, Leinier
C67 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 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.Nc3 Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re1 c6 12.Ne3 Be7 13.Nf5 Bg5 14.Qe2 d5 15.Ne7+ Kh8 16.Nxc8 Rxc8 17.b3 Nf6 18.Bb2 Ne4 19.d3 Bf6 20.c4 Bxb2 21.Qxb2 Nf6 22.Qa3 a5 23.Re7 Rb8 24.Rae1 Kg8 25.g3 Re8 26.Rxe8+ Nxe8 27.cxd5 Qxd5 28.Bg2 Qd8 29.Qc5 Nf6 30.Qa7 g6 31.d4 Qd6 32.Rd1 Qd8 33.h3 Kg7 34.Re1 Nd7 35.d5 cxd5 36.Bxd5 Nf6 37.Bf3 Qc7 38.Kg2 h5 39.h4 Qd8 40.Re5 Ng4 41.Rd5 Qc7 42.Qxa5 b6 43.Qd2 Nf6 44.Qd4 b5 45.Bxh5 Ra8 46.Bf3 Rxa2 47.Rd6 Qe7 48.g4 1-0

Round 9, Game 9, August 13
Caruana, Fabiano –- So, Wesley
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Qb3 c5 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.dxc5 Qxb3 9.axb3 Nc6 10.Nc3 Nd7 11.Bg5 Bxg5 12.Nxg5 Nxc5 13.Bxc6 bxc6 14.b4 Na6 15.b5 cxb5 16.Nxb5 Rb8 17.Nxa7 Rxb2 18.Nxc8 Rxc8 19.O-O 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Game 9, August 13
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar -– Anand, Vishy
A20 English, Kingside Fianchetto

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e3 Re8 6.Nge2 d6 7.O-O c6 8.b3 Bb6 9.Ba3 Bf5 10.d4 e4 11.h3 h6 12.g4 Bh7 13.Ng3 d5 14.h4 Bg6 15.Rc1 Bc7 16.f4 exf3 17.Qxf3 Nbd7 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.g5 hxg5 20.hxg5 Nh7 21.Nxd5 Nxg5 22.Qg4 Bxg3 23.Qxg3 Ne4 24.Qc7 Nb6 25.Ne7+ Rxe7 26.Bxe7 Qe8 27.Qxb7 Rb8 28.Qc7 Nd5 29.Qe5 Ndc3 30.Bxe4 Nxe4 31.Bh4 Qxe5 32.dxe5 Re8 33.Rc7 Rxe5 34.Rxa7 Rh5 35.Rf4 f6 36.Re7 Nc3 37.Rg4 Nd5 38.Ra7 1-0

Round 9, Game 9, August 13
MVL –- Karjakin, Sergey
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.a3 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Rd8 17.Rxd8+ Kxd8 18.g4 hxg4 19.hxg4 Ne7 20.Nxf7+ Bxf7 21.Bxh6 gxh6 22.e6 Bg6 23.Rd1+ Ke8 24.Rd7 Bxc2 25.Rxc7 b5 26.f4 Nd5 27.Rc8+ Ke7 28.f5 Bd1 29.Rg8 Nf6 30.Rg7+ Ke8 31.g5 hxg5 32.Rxg5 a5 33.Rg7 Bg4 34.Rc7 Nd5 35.Rxc6 Bxf5 36.Rc5 Bxe6 37.Rxb5 Nxc3 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Game 9, August 13
Grischuk, Alexander –- Aronian, Levon
A05 Reti, King’'s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.Bg2 c6 6.e4 d5 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.e5 Ne4 9.O-O Qa5 10.Ne2 Nc6 11.d3 Nc5 12.d4 Ne6 13.Be3 Rd8 14.h4 h5 15.Re1 Bd7 16.Nc3 Nc7 17.a3 Nb5 18.Ne2 Bg4 19.b4 Qb6 20.Qd2 a5 21.a4 Nc7 22.b5 Nb4 23.Rec1 Ne6 24.Ra3 Rdc8 25.Rac3 Rxc3 26.Rxc3 Qd8 27.Nf4 Nxf4 28.Bxf4 Rc8 29.Ng5 Bf5 30.Qc1 Rxc3 31.Qxc3 e6 32.Bh3 Bc2 33.Bxe6 fxe6 34.Nxe6 Qd7 35.Nxg7 Kxg7 36.e6 Qxe6 37.Qc7+ Kf8 38.Bd6+ Ke8 39.Qb8+ Kd7 40.Qc7+ Ke8 41.Qb8+ Kd7 42.Qc7+ 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Nine

1-2 Mamedyarov, Nakamura 12
3 Caruana 11
4-6 Karjakin, Aronian, Dominguez 9
7-8 So, MVL 8
9-10 Anand, Grischuk 6

Two days of blitz now with 9 games each day

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 14th August, 2018, 04:26 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 14, 2018

Blitz Rounds One to Five

Blitz Round 1, Game 10

So-Caruana 0-1
Nakamura-Karjakin 0-1
Anand-MVL 0-1
Grischuk-Mamedyarov 0.5-0.5
Dominguez-Aronian 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 2, Game 11

Caruana-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov-Dominguez 0.5-0.5
MVL-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Anand 1-0
So-Nakamura 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 3, Game 12

Nakamura-Caruana 0.5-0.5
Anand-So 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Dominguez-MVL 0-1
Aronian-Mamedyarov 1-0

Blitz Round 4, Game 13

Caruana-Mamedyarov 0-1
MVL-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Dominguez 0.5-0.5
So-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Anand 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 5, Game 14

Anand-Caruana 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Dominguez-So 1-0
Aronian-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov-MVL 0-1

Standings after Blitz Round Five

1 Nakamura 14.5
2 Mamedyarov 14
3 Caruana 13.5
4-6 Karjakin, Aronian, MVL 12
7 Dominguez 11.5
8 So 9
9 Grischuk 8.5
10 Anand 7.5

Selection of games from first five blitz rounds

Blitz Round 1, Game 10
So, Wesley –- Caruana, Fabiano
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 Bg4 4.h3 Bh5 5.g4 Bg6 6.d3 Nbd7 7.Bg2 e6 8.Nh4 Bd6 9.Nd2 c6 10.e3 a5 11.a3 e5 12.O-O O-O 13.f4 exf4 14.exf4 h6 15.Qf3 Qc7 16.Rae1 Rae8 17.Rxe8 Rxe8 18.Nxg6 fxg6 19.g5 Nh5 20.gxh6 Bxf4 21.Rf2 Re1+ 22.Bf1 Re3 23.Qd1 Rg3+ 24.Kh1 Be3 25.Qe1 Bxf2 26.Qxf2 Rg5 27.Nf3 Qf4 28.Bg2 Ne5 29.Qd4 Ng3+ 30.Kh2 Nxf3+ 31.Bxf3 Nf1+ 0-1

Blitz Round 1, Game 10
Nakamura, Hikaru –- Karjakin, Sergey
A05 Reti, Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.c4 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.O-O Nc6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Bd7 11.Na3 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Bf6 13.Qd2 Bc6 14.Nc4 Bxb2 15.Qxb2 b5 16.Ne5 Bb7 17.a4 bxa4 18.Rfd1 Qe7 19.e4 Nb6 20.bxa4 Rad8 21.a5 Na4 22.Qb3 Nc5 23.Qb4 Qc7 24.Qc3 Na6 25.Qxc7 Nxc7 26.Rdc1 Nb5 27.a6 Ba8 28.f3 Nd4 29.Rc7 f6 30.Nc4 Rf7 31.Rxf7 Kxf7 32.Kf2 e5 33.Rc1 Bc6 34.Ne3 Rb8 35.Nc4 Ke7 36.Bf1 Rb4 37.Na5 Kd6 38.Bd3 Rb2+ 39.Ke3 Rxh2 40.Nc4+ Kc7 41.f4 Nb3 42.Rc3 exf4+ 43.Kxf4 Nc5 44.Na5 Nxd3+ 45.Rxd3 Rf2+ 46.Ke3 Ra2 47.Nb3 Ra3 48.Kd4 Bb5 49.Rc3+ Kd6 50.g4 Bxa6 51.g5 Ra4+ 52.Ke3 Bc4 53.Nd2 Be6 54.gxf6 gxf6 55.Kf4 a5 56.Rd3+ Ke7 57.Rc3 h5 58.Rc5 h4 59.Rh5 h3 60.Rh7+ Kf8 61.Nf3 Rb4 62.Ra7 a4 63.Ke3 Bg4 64.Nh2 Bh5 65.Kf4 Bg6 66.Kg3 Rb3+ 67.Kf4 a3 68.Ng4 Bh5 69.Nh2 Ke8 70.Ra5 Bd1 71.e5 fxe5+ 72.Rxe5+ Kf7 73.Ra5 Rb2 74.Nf1 a2 75.Kg3 Bb3 76.Ra3 Be6 77.Ra7+ Kf6 0-1

Blitz Round 1, Game 10
Anand, Vishy –- MVL
A48 King’'s Indian, Torre Attack

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 O-O 5.e4 d5 6.Bxf6 exf6 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.Be2 c5 9.dxc5 Qxc5 10.O-O Nc6 11.c3 Be6 12.Re1 Rad8 13.Qa4 Qb6 14.Qb5 Qxb5 15.Bxb5 Ne5 16.Nd4 Bd5 17.Nf1 a6 18.Be2 Bh6 19.g3 Nc6 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Rad1 f5 22.f4 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Re8 24.Kf2 Bf8 25.Nd2 Bc5+ 26.Kf1 Bg2+ 27.Kxg2 Rxe2+ 28.Kh1 h5 29.b4 Be7 30.Nc4 b5 31.Ne5 Bf6 32.Rd6 Bxe5 33.fxe5 Rxa2 34.e6 fxe6 35.Rxe6 Kg7 36.Kg1 h4 37.gxh4 Kh6 38.Rc6 Kh5 39.c4 Ra4 40.c5 Rxb4 41.Rxa6 Rc4 42.c6 Kxh4 43.Rb6 Kh3 44.Rxb5 Rc1+ 45.Kf2 Rxc6 46.Rb8 Rc2+ 47.Kf3 Kxh2 48.Rh8+ Kg1 49.Rg8 Rf2+ 50.Ke3 Rg2 51.Kf3 g5 0-1

Blitz Round 2, Game 11
Karjakin, Sergey –- Anand, Vishy
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.a4 a6 7.b4 Ba7 8.Bg5 d6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.O-O h6 11.Bh4 Kh8 12.Re1 g5 13.Bg3 Bg4 14.Qb3 Qe7 15.d4 Nh5 16.Bd5 Nxg3 17.hxg3 exd4 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.cxd4 Bxf3 20.Nxf3 g4 21.Nh4 Bxd4 22.Nf5 Qf6 23.Rac1 c5 24.Nxd4 Qxd4 25.Rc4 Qe5 26.Qe3 Kg7 27.bxc5 Rae8 28.cxd6 cxd6 29.Rd1 Re6 30.Qa7 Rfe8 31.Rcd4 Qf6 32.Qxa6 d5 33.Qb5 dxe4 34.a5 Re5 35.Qa4 h5 36.Rd6 R8e6 37.Rxe6 Rxe6 38.Qa1 Ra6 39.Qxf6+ Kxf6 40.Ra1 Ke5 41.Kf1 f5 42.Ke2 f4 43.gxf4+ Kxf4 44.g3+ Kf5 45.Ke3 Ke5 46.Ra2 Kf5 47.Ra4 1-0

Blitz Round 2, Game 11
So, Wesley –- Nakamura, Hikaru
E46 Nimzo-Indian, Reshevsky variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 c6 6.a3 Ba5 7.c5 d5 8.cxd6 Qxd6 9.b4 Bc7 10.Bb2 Qe7 11.Ng3 e5 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.Be2 a5 14.O-O axb4 15.axb4 Rxa1 16.Qxa1 Qxb4 17.f4 Bxc3 18.Bxc3 Qe7 19.e4 Re8 20.Bf3 Na6 21.e5 Nd5 22.Bxd5 cxd5 23.f5 Nb4 24.f6 Qc5+ 25.Kh1 d4 26.Bxd4 Qc4 27.fxg7 Nc2 28.Qc1 Qxd4 29.Qxc2 Qxe5 30.Qc4 Be6 31.Qh4 Ra8 32.Nh5 h6 33.h3 b5 34.Re1 Qg5 35.Nf6+ Kxg7 36.Qe4 Ra4 37.Ne8+ Kf8 38.Qc6 Rc4 39.Qd6+ Kxe8 40.Ra1 Rc1+ 0-1

Blitz Round 3, Game 12
Dominguez, Leinier –- MVL
A34 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb4 6.Bc4 Nd3+ 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kf1 Ne6 9.h4 Nd4 10.Nb5 Be6 11.d3 Nbc6 12.Nbxd4 Bxc4 13.dxc4 cxd4 14.Bf4 e6 15.Rh3 Bc5 16.a3 a5 17.e5 O-O 18.Ng5 Be7 19.Qh5 h6 20.Ne4 f5 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Rg3 Ne7 23.Nxf6+ Rxf6 24.Be5 Nf5 25.Rf3 Rf7 26.Rd1 Qe7 27.Qg4 Rc8 28.b3 a4 29.Kg1 axb3 30.Rxb3 Rxc4 31.g3 Qc5 32.Qe4 Rd7 33.Rbd3 Qd5 34.Qf4 Rf7 35.Bxd4 0-1

Blitz Round 3, Game 12
Aronian, Levon –- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.h3 g6 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.O-O Bg7 9.Re1 O-O 10.Bf1 a6 11.Bf4 Ne4 12.Nbd2 Re8 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Nd2 Bf5 15.Nb3 Qb6 16.a4 Na5 17.Nxa5 Qxa5 18.Qb3 Ra7 19.Bd6 Qd8 20.Bc5 Ra8 21.Qxb7 Rb8 22.Qxa6 Rxb2 23.Bb5 Bd7 24.Rab1 Ra2 25.Bxd7 Qxd7 26.Qb5 Qc8 27.Bxe7 h5 28.a5 Kh7 29.Qxd5 Rc2 30.Bb4 Rxe1+ 31.Rxe1 Qc7 32.a6 Qf4 33.Rf1 Rc1 34.g3 1-0

Blitz Round 4, Game 13
Caruana, Fabiano –- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.O-O c5 7.Be3 Nec6 8.c3 Nd7 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.a3 a6 11.Re1 O-O 12.Nf1 Rc8 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.Nd2 cxd4 15.cxd4 Qb6 16.b4 Nxd4 17.Bf1 f6 18.Nb3 fxe5 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Bxd4 Qd6 21.Ra2 Bf6 22.Bxf6 Rxf6 23.Bd3 Bxd3 24.Qxd3 Ne5 25.Qd4 Nc6 26.Qb6 Qc7 27.Qc5 Ne7 28.Qe3 Qc3 29.Qe2 Rcf8 30.h3 Nc6 31.Qd1 Nd4 32.Rd2 e5 33.Rd3 Qc7 34.f3 Nb5 35.Kh1 d4 36.Ne4 Rc6 37.Qd2 Nc3 38.Nf2 Nd5 39.Qg5 Nf4 40.Rd2 Rc1 41.Rdd1 Rxd1 42.Nxd1 Nd3 43.Re2 h6 44.Qd2 Nf4 45.Re1 Rc8 46.Qa2+ Qc4 47.Qb1 Qc2 48.Qxc2 Rxc2 49.g3 Nd3 50.Rf1 Kf7 0-1

Blitz Round 5, Game 14
Dominguez, Leinier –- So, Wesley
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 8.O-O Nbc6 9.Bb5 a6 10.Bxc6+ Nxc6 11.Nxf5 exf5 12.c3 Qd7 13.Re1 Be7 14.Nd2 O-O 15.Nf3 Qe6 16.Qb3 b5 17.a4 b4 18.Rad1 bxc3 19.bxc3 Rfd8 20.h3 h6 21.Qc2 g5 22.Nd4 Nxd4 23.Bxd4 Rac8 24.Rb1 Bc5 25.Qd3 Bxd4 26.cxd4 Rc4 27.a5 Rdc8 28.Rb6 R8c6 29.Reb1 Kg7 30.Kh2 f4 31.Rxc6 Rxc6 32.Rb7 h5 33.Qf3 Kh6 34.Rb8 Rc8 35.Rxc8 Qxc8 36.Qxd5 g4 37.Qxf7 g3+ 38.fxg3 fxg3+ 39.Kxg3 h4+ 40.Kh2 1-0

Blitz Round 5, Game 14
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - MVL
E60 King’'s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Qa4 Bg7 6.cxd5 O-O 7.e4 cxd5 8.e5 Nfd7 9.Nc3 Nb6 10.Qd1 Nc6 11.Nge2 Bg4 12.h3 Bxe2 13.Nxe2 f6 14.f4 fxe5 15.dxe5 e6 16.b3 Nd7 17.O-O Qb6+ 18.Kh2 Rad8 19.Bb2 Rfe8 20.h4 Qa6 21.h5 gxh5 22.Ng1 h4 23.gxh4 Ne7 24.Qh5 Qd3 25.Nh3 Qf5 26.Bf3 Rc8 27.Rac1 h6 28.Rg1 Qxh5 29.Bxh5 Rxc1 30.Rxc1 Rc8 31.Bg4 Kf7 32.f5 Bxe5+ 33.Bxe5 Nxe5 34.fxe6+ Kf6 35.Rxc8 Nxg4+ 36.Kg3 Nxc8 37.Kxg4 Kxe6 38.Kh5 Kf5 39.Nf2 Ne7 40.Kxh6 Ng6 41.h5 Nf4 42.Nh1 d4 43.Nf2 b6 44.a3 a6 45.a4 a5 46.Kg7 Nxh5+ 47.Kf7 Nf4 48.Ke7 Ke5 49.Kd7 Kd5 50.Kc7 Kc5 51.Ne4+ Kb4 52.Kxb6 d3 53.Kc6 Ne2 54.Kb6 Nd4 55.Nf6 d2 56.Nd5+ Kxb3 57.Ne3 Kb4 58.Nd5+ Kxa4 59.Kc5 Kb3 60.Ne3 Nc2 0-1

Position after Black’'s 41...…Nf4

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 14th August, 2018, 11:37 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 14, 2018

Blitz Rounds Six to Nine

Blitz Round 6, Game 15

Caruana-MVL 0-1
Karjakin-Mamedyarov 0-1
So-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Dominguez 1-0
Anand-Grischuk 1-0

Blitz Round 7, Game 16

Grischuk-Caruana 1-0
Dominguez-Anand 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Nakamura 1-0
Mamedyarov-So 1-0
MVL-Karjakin 1-0

Blitz Round 8, Game 17

Caruana-Karjakin 1-0
So-MVL 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Mamedyarov 1-0
Anand-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Dominguez 1-0

Blitz Round 9, Game 18

Dominguez-Caruana 0-1
Aronian-Grischuk 0-1
Mamedyarov-Anand 1-0
MVL-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-So 0-1

Standings after Blitz Round Nine

1-2 Nakamura, Mamedyarov 17
3 Caruana 15.5
4 MVL 15
5 Aronian 14
6 Karjakin 12.5
7 Dominguez 12
8 Grischuk 11.5
9 So 11
10 Anand 9.5

Games from Rounds Six to Nine

Blitz Round 6, Game 15
Caruana, Fabiano -– MVL
A48 King’'s Indian, London System

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 O-O 6.Be2 c5 7.Nbd2 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.c3 Re8 10.Nc4 Nd5 11.Bh2 b5 12.Ncd2 Rb8 13.O-O a6 14.Re1 h6 15.Bf1 Bf5 16.Ne4 Na5 17.a4 Nc4 18.axb5 axb5 19.Qb3 Qc7 20.Ned2 Rec8 21.Ra6 Rb7 22.Rea1 Be6 23.Qc2 Nxd2 24.Qxd2 Nf6 25.R1a5 Bc4 26.Bxc4 Qxc4 27.Ra7 Rxa7 28.Rxa7 Nd5 29.Bg3 b4 30.cxb4 Qc1+ 31.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 32.Kh2 Rc2 33.Ra5 Nxb4 34.Rb5 Rxb2 35.Rb7 Bf6 36.Bf4 Kg7 37.Bc1 Rc2 38.Bxh6+ Kxh6 39.Rxb4 Rxf2 40.Kg1 Ra2 41.g4 Bg5 42.Rb3 Bf4 43.Rb7 Re2 44.Kf1 Re4 45.Rb3 Kg7 46.Kf2 d5 47.Rd3 Re6 48.Ng1 Ra6 49.Ne2 Bd6 50.Kf3 g5 51.Rb3 e6 52.Rd3 Kg6 53.Rb3 Ra1 54.Rd3 Ra3 55.Rxa3 Bxa3 56.Ke3 Bd6 57.Ng1 f5 58.Nf3 Kf6 59.Kd3 Bf4 60.Kc3 Ke7 61.Kd3 Kd6 62.Kc3 Kc6 63.Ng1 Kb5 64.Kb3 Be3 65.Nf3 Bf4 66.Ng1 Bd2 67.Nf3 Be3 68.Kc3 Ka4 69.Kd3 Bf4 70.Kc3 Ka3 71.Ng1 Bc7 72.Nf3 Bd8 73.Ng1 Ba5+ 74.Kc2 Kb4 75.Kd3 Kb3 76.Nf3 Bd8 77.Ne5 f4 78.Nf3 Kb2 79.Kd2 Bf6 80.Kd3 Kc1 81.Kc3 Kd1 82.Kd3 Bd8 83.h4 gxh4 84.g5 h3 85.g6 Bf6 86.Nh2 Ke1 0-1

Blitz Round 6, Game 15
Karjakin, Sergey -– Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.c3 Nd7 7.O-O h6 8.Nbd2 c5 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.Nd4 Nd7 11.Nxf5 Nxf5 12.Bd3 Ne7 13.Nf3 Nc6 14.Re1 Qc7 15.Qe2 g5 16.h3 a6 17.c4 dxc4 18.Bxc4 Bg7 19.Bd2 Ndxe5 20.Nxe5 Nxe5 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.Rac1 Qf7 23.Bc3 O-O 24.Bxe5 Bxe5 25.Qxe5 Qxf2+ 26.Kh1 Rae8 27.Qe4 Qf7 28.Rf1 Qxf1+ 29.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 30.Kh2 Rf6 31.Qxb7 e5 32.Qe4 Re7 33.h4 gxh4 34.Qxh4 Kg7 35.Qg4+ Kf7 36.Qe4 Kg7 37.Qg4+ Rg6 38.Qe4 Rg5 39.b4 Rf7 40.g3 h5 41.a4 Rf6 42.b5 axb5 43.axb5 Rfg6 44.Qe3 e4 45.Qd4+ Kh7 46.b6 Rxg3 47.Qxe4 Rg4 48.Qe7+ Kh6 49.Qe3+ R6g5 50.b7 Rh4+ 0-1

Karjakin blunders in the position below and loses the rest of the games in the day

Position after 49. R6g5

Blitz Round 7, Game 16
Grischuk, Alexander –- Caruana, Fabiano
A06 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Bg4 3.e3 Nd7 4.Bb2 Ngf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Nh4 e5 8.d3 c6 9.Nd2 Bd6 10.Bg2 O-O 11.Qe2 a5 12.a3 Re8 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.g5 Nh5 15.Qg4 e4 16.dxe4 Be5 17.O-O-O Bxb2+ 18.Kxb2 Ne5 19.Qh4 d4 20.Nf3 a4 21.Rxd4 Qb6 22.Rb4 Qc5 23.Nxe5 Qxe5+ 24.Kb1 c5 25.Rxa4 Rxa4 26.bxa4 Ra8 27.Qg4 Rxa4 28.Qc8+ Kh7 29.Qxb7 c4 30.Ka2 Qxg5 31.Bf3 Nf6 32.h4 Qa5 33.Qb2 Qd2 34.e5 Nd7 35.h5 g5 36.Be4+ Kh6 37.Qd4 Qa5 38.Qd6+ f6 39.exf6 Nxf6 40.Bc6 Qb6 41.f4 g4 42.Rb1 Qa6 43.Rb8 Kh7 44.Qc5 Rxa3+ 45.Qxa3 Qxc6 46.Qa8 Qxa8+ 47.Rxa8 g3 48.Rd8 Ne4 49.Ka3 Nc3 1-0

Blitz Round 7, Game 16
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar –- So, Wesley
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.b3 O-O 6.Bb2 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qb1 b6 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.d4 a5 11.Bd3 h6 12.O-O a4 13.e4 axb3 14.axb3 Rxa1 15.Qxa1 dxe4 16.Bxe4 Bf6 17.Rd1 Bg4 18.dxc5 Bxb2 19.Rxd8 Bxa1 20.Bh7+ Kxh7 21.Rxf8 Nd7 22.Ra8 Bxf3 23.gxf3 Be5 24.Re8 Bf4 25.Re4 Bb8 26.Re8 Bf4 27.c6 Ne5 28.c7 Nxf3+ 29.Kg2 Nh4+ 30.Kh3 Bxc7 31.Rc8 Bd6 32.Kxh4 Bxh2 33.Rc6 Be5 34.Rxb6 Bd4 35.Rc6 Bxf2+ 36.Kh3 Be1 37.Rc4 Kg6 38.b4 Kf5 39.b5 Bf2 40.Kg2 Ba7 41.Rc7 Bd4 42.Rc6 Kg4 43.Rc4 1-0

Blitz Round 7, Game 16
MVL - Karjakin, Sergey
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a6 7.a4 h6 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 a5 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bb5 Na7 12.d4 Nxb5 13.dxc5 Na7 14.b3 Re8 15.cxd6 Qxd6 16.Ba3 c5 17.Qe2 b6 18.Nc4 Bxc4 19.Qxc4 Rad8 20.Re3 Nc6 21.Rae1 Rd7 22.Bc1 Red8 23.g3 Ne7 24.Nd2 Nc8 25.Qf1 Qe6 26.Nc4 Ne8 27.f4 exf4 28.gxf4 Ned6 29.f5 Qe7 30.Rg3 Nxc4 31.f6 Qe5 32.Rxg7+ Kh8 33.bxc4 Rd3 34.Qf4 Qh5 35.Qxh6+ Qxh6 36.Bxh6 Rxh3 37.Bf4 Rh7 38.Rg5 Rh4 39.Bg3 Rh7 40.e5 Na7 41.e6 fxe6 42.Rxe6 Nc8 43.Be5 Rf7 44.Re7 Rdf8 45.Kg2 Kh7 46.Rg7+ Rxg7+ 47.Rxg7+ Kh6 48.Kg3 Re8 49.Kf4 1-0

Blitz Round 8, Game 17
Caruana, Fabiano –- Karjakin, Sergey
A28 English, Four Knights, Marini variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.a3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 e4 8.Nd4 Ne5 9.Qc2 f5 10.c4 c5 11.Nb5 Be7 12.Bb2 Bf6 13.Rd1 O-O 14.d4 cxd4 15.Bxd4 Qe7 16.c5 Be6 17.Qc3 Nc6 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Qxf6 Rxf6 20.Nc7 Raf8 21.Nxe6 Rxe6 22.Bc4 Re8 23.Rd7 b5 24.cxb6 axb6 25.Rd6 1-0

Blitz Round 8, Game 17
Nakamura, Hikaru –- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.c4 dxc4 6.bxc4 b6 7.Bg2 Bb7 8.O-O c5 9.d3 O-O 10.Nbd2 Nc6 11.Qb3 Re8 12.Rad1 Qc7 13.e3 Rad8 14.a3 Qc8 15.Rfe1 Qa8 16.Qc2 Rd7 17.e4 Ng4 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Bh3 h5 20.e5 Red8 21.e6 Rxd3 22.exf7 e5 23.Ng5 Qc8 24.f3 Qf5 25.Nge4 Rxd2 26.Rxd2 Nd4 27.Rxd4 Rxd4 28.fxg4 Bxe4 29.f8=Q+ Kxf8 30.Qe2 hxg4 31.Bxg4 Qg5 32.h4 Qe7 33.Qe3 Kg7 34.h5 gxh5 35.Bxh5 Bg6 36.Bf3 Rd3 37.Qe2 e4 38.Qxd3 1-0

Final position in Nakamura-Mamedyarov

Blitz Round 8, Game 17
Grischuk, Alexander –- Dominguez, Leinier
C44 Scotch Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d5 10.O-O dxe4 11.c3 Qd6 12.cxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd6 cxd6 14.Nc3 Bg4 15.Nxe4 Nc2 16.f3 Nxa1 17.fxg4+ Ke6 18.Ng5+ Kd7 19.Rf7+ Kc6 20.Nxh7 Rae8 21.Bd2 Re2 22.Bc3 Rhe8 23.Nf8 g5 24.Nh7 Nc2 25.Rf2 d5 26.Nxg5 d4 27.Bd2 d3 28.Nf3 Rxf2 29.Kxf2 Re2+ 30.Kg3 Kd5 31.g5 Ke6 32.h4 Kf5 33.h5 Re4 34.g6 Nd4 35.Nxd4+ Rxd4 36.Kf3 Rg4 37.g3 b5 38.Bf4 a5 39.Ke3 b4 40.Kxd3 a4 41.Kc4 a3 42.bxa3 bxa3 43.Kb3 1-0

Blitz Round 9, Game 18
Aronian, Levon –- Grischuk, Alexander
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e6 9.Be3 b5 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.g4 b4 12.Nd1 h6 13.c4 bxc3 14.Nxc3 Bb7 15.h4 d5 16.Rg1 dxe4 17.g5 hxg5 18.hxg5 Nd5 19.g6 Nxe3 20.gxf7+ Kxf7 21.Qxe3 Qh4+ 22.Kd1 Ne5 23.Kc2 Nxf3 24.Nxf3 exf3 25.Rd1 Rd8 26.Rxd8 Qxd8 27.Qf4+ Kg8 28.Bc4 Qe7 29.Rg6 Rh4 30.Qe3 Rxc4 0-1

Blitz Round 9, Game 18
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar -– Anand, Vishy
D32 QGD, Tarrasch Defence

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.d4 Nc6 7.Bb5 cxd4 8.exd4 Bd6 9.Bg5 Be6 10.O-O O-O 11.Re1 Rc8 12.Ne5 h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Ne7 15.Nd7 Bxd7 16.Bxd6 Re8 17.Qf3 Nf5 18.Be5 Ne4 19.Bxd7 Qxd7 20.Nxd5 1-0

Blitz Round 9, Game 18
Karjakin, Sergey -– So, Wesley
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, Symmetrical variation

1.b3 b6 2.Bb2 Bb7 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 c5 5.c4 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Rc1 Nc6 11.Qc2 Ndb4 12.Qb1 Ba6 13.Bxa6 Nxa6 14.d4 cxd4 15.Nb5 Qd5 16.Nbxd4 Nxd4 17.Bxd4 Rac8 18.b4 e5 19.Ba1 f6 20.a3 Nb8 21.h3 Nc6 22.Rfd1 Qe6 23.Bc3 Ne7 24.b5 Rfd8 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Bb4 Nd5 27.Rc6 Qf7 28.Nd2 Nxb4 29.Qxb4 Bf8 30.Qc3 Bxa3 31.Ne4 Be7 32.Rc7 Qe6 33.Rxa7 f5 34.Qc6 Qxc6 35.bxc6 Kf7 36.Nc3 Ke6 37.Nb5 Rc8 38.c7 Bd6 39.Rb7 Kd7 40.Rxb6 Bxc7 41.Rf6 Ke7 42.Ra6 Bb8 43.g4 fxg4 44.hxg4 Rc4 45.Kf1 Kd7 46.g5 Rg4 47.Rb6 Bc7 48.Rb7 Kc6 49.Rxc7+ Kxb5 50.Rxh7 Kc6 51.Ke2 Rxg5 52.Ra7 Kd6 53.Kd3 Rf5 54.Ra2 Rg5 55.f3 Ke6 56.Ke4 Rf5 57.Ra6+ Kf7 58.Rb6 Rh5 59.Kd5 Rf5 60.Ke4 Rh5 61.Rc6 Rf5 62.Rc7+ Kf6 63.Rc8 Kf7 64.Rh8 Rg5 65.Kd5 Rf5 66.Rh3 Kf6 67.Rh8 Kg7 0-1

Sergey flagged

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 15th August, 2018, 04:26 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

August 15, 2018

Blitz Rounds Ten to Fourteen

Blitz Round 10, Game 19

Caruana-So 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Nakamura 1-0
MVL-Anand 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Dominguez 1-0

Blitz Round 11, Game 20

Aronian-Caruana 0-1
Dominguez-Mamedyarov 1-0
Grischuk-MVL 0-1
Anand-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-So 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 12, Game 21

Caruana-Nakamura 0-1
So-Anand 0-1
Karjakin-Grischuk 0-1
MVL-Dominguez 1-0
Mamedyarov-Aronian 1-0

Blitz Round 13, Game 22

Mamedyarov-Caruana 1-0
Aronian-MVL 1-0
Dominguez-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-So 0-1
Anand-Nakamura 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 14, Game 23

Caruana-Anand 1-0
Nakamura-Grischuk 1-0
So-Dominguez 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Aronian 1-0
MLV-Mamedyarov 1-0

Blitz Round 10, Game 19
Karjakin, Sergey - 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.a3 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Rg6 17.Kh2 Ne7 18.Nxe6 Rxe6 19.g4 Nd5 20.Bd2 Nb6 21.f4 Nc4 22.Bc1 hxg4 23.hxg4 Rd8 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Kg3 f6 26.Rd1+ Ke8 27.exf6 gxf6 28.Kf3 Kf7 29.f5 Rd6 30.Rh1 Kg8 31.g5 Rd5 32.Kg4 Ne5+ 33.Kf4 fxg5+ 34.Kxg5 Nf7+ 35.Kf6 Kf8 36.Bf4 Rd7 37.Rh3 c5 38.Rd3 Re7 39.c4 b6 40.a4 a5 41.Rd1 Ke8 42.Rg1 Re4 43.Bxc7 Kd7 44.Bxb6 Nd6 45.Bxc5 Nxc4 46.Rd1+ Kc6 47.Rd4 Nd2 48.Ba7 Re2 49.Kf7 Ne4 50.Bb8 Ng5+ 51.Kg6 Rg2 52.Kf6 Nh7+ 53.Ke5 Ng5 54.Rc4+ Kb7 55.Bd6 Rd2 56.Be7 Nf7+ 57.Ke6 Nh6 58.Bg5 Re2+ 59.Kf6 Ng8+ 60.Kf7 Rg2 61.Be3 Rg3 62.Bf4 Rg4 63.f6 Ka6 64.Ke6 Rg6 65.Be5 Kb6 66.Rc3 Rg4 67.Rg3 Nxf6 68.Kxf6 Rxa4 69.Ke6 Kc5 70.Rc3+ Kb5 71.Kd5 Rh4 72.Rb3+ Ka4 73.Rb8 Rh1 74.c4 Rd1+ 75.Bd4 Ka3 76.c5 a4 77.c6 Rc1 78.Bc5+ Ka2 79.c7 1-0

Blitz Round 10, Game 19
Aronian, Levon –- Dominguez, Leinier
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 h5 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.O-O-O Be7 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Bg5 15.Kb1 Bxe3 16.Qxe3 Rc8 17.h4 Nf6 18.Qd3 Qc7 19.Nd2 b5 20.Rhe1 O-O 21.Nf1 Qc4 22.Ne3 Qxd3 23.Rxd3 g6 24.Ra3 Ra8 25.Ra5 Rfc8 26.c3 Nd7 27.a4 bxa4 28.Rxa4 Nb6 29.Ra5 f5 30.g3 Nc4 31.Nxc4 Rxc4 32.Kc2 1-0

Blitz Round 11, Game 20
Aronian, Levon -– Caruana, Fabiano
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Be6 9.O-O-O Qd7 10.Kb1 Bf6 11.h4 O-O-O 12.Ng5 Bf5 13.Qd5 h6 14.Ne4 Be5 15.Bd3 Be6 16.Qb5 f5 17.Nd2 f4 18.Bd4 Nxd4 19.cxd4 Qxb5 20.Bxb5 Bxd4 21.Rhe1 Bf5 22.Ne4 Bb6 23.Bd3 Rhf8 24.f3 d5 25.Nc3 Bxd3 26.Rxd3 c6 27.Kc1 Bf2 28.Rh1 Rde8 29.Kd1 Re5 30.Ne2 Rh5 31.Rf1 Bb6 32.Rh1 Bd8 33.Rd4 g5 34.b3 Bf6 35.Rd3 Be5 36.Ke1 gxh4 37.Kf1 Rg8 38.Rd2 Kc7 39.Rh3 Bd6 40.Nc1 Bc5 41.Nd3 Be3 42.Re2 d4 43.a4 b5 44.a5 c5 45.Nb2 Kc6 46.Re1 a6 47.Rh1 Kd5 48.Nd3 Rf8 49.Rh3 Kd6 50.Nb2 Rc8 51.Nd3 c4 52.Nb4 cxb3 53.cxb3 Rc3 54.Rd1 Rxb3 55.Nd3 b4 56.Ke2 Rxa5 57.Rxh4 h5 58.Nxf4 Ra2+ 59.Kf1 Rbb2 60.Nd3 Rxg2 0-1

Blitz Round 11, Game 20
Dominguez, Leinier -– Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.c3 d6 6.Nbd2 g5 7.h3 Nh5 8.g3 Nf6 9.Nf1 Bg7 10.Ne3 Ne7 11.Bb3 c6 12.h4 g4 13.Nh2 h5 14.f3 d5 15.fxg4 hxg4 16.O-O Be6 17.Nhxg4 Nh5 18.Qf3 Qd6 19.c4 dxe4 20.dxe4 O-O-O 21.Rd1 Qc5 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Nf2 Nf6 24.Kg2 a5 25.Nf1 Qd4 26.Rb1 Nd7 27.Be3 Qd6 28.Rd1 Qb4 29.Nd3 Qd6 30.Nc5 Qc7 31.Nxe6 fxe6 32.Qf7 Bh8 33.c5 Nd5 34.exd5 exd5 35.Bg5 Rf8 36.Qe6 a4 37.Bxa4 Qa5 38.Rxd5 cxd5 39.Bxd7+ Kb8 40.Qd6+ 1-0

Blitz Round 12, Game 21
Caruana, Fabiano –- 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.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bb4+ 11.Nd2 d4 12.e4 Na6 13.O-O Nc5 14.Nb3 Be6 15.Nxc5 Bxc5 16.Qe2 Rc8 17.Bd2 Re8 18.Kh1 Qb6 19.b4 Bf8 20.f4 a6 21.e5 Bd5 22.a3 Qe6 23.Rac1 f5 24.Qf2 Rcd8 25.Rfe1 b5 26.h3 Bc4 27.Qf3 g6 28.Kh2 Be7 29.Rc2 Rc8 30.Rec1 Bd8 31.Qe2 Bxd3 32.Qxd3 Bb6 33.Be1 Rxc2 34.Rxc2 Rc8 35.Rxc8+ Qxc8 36.Bf2 Qc6 37.Qg3 Qd5 38.Qd3 Kf7 39.a4 Ke6 40.axb5 axb5 41.Qa3 Kd7 42.Qg3 d3 43.e6+ Kxe6 44.Bxb6 d2 45.Qe3+ Kd7 46.Bc5 d1=Q 47.Qe7+ Kc8 48.Qe8+ Kc7 49.Qxb5 Qc6 50.Qa5+ Kd7 51.Qa7+ Qc7 0-1

Blitz Round 12, Game 21
MVL –- Dominguez, Leinier
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 h6 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.Nc3 Ne7 12.b3 Ng6 13.Bb2 Nf4 14.Rd2 Be7 15.Rad1 Ne6 16.Ne2 c5 17.Nc3 b6 18.Nd5 Bb7 19.c4 h5 20.h4 Rd8 21.Bc1 Bc6 22.Rd3 Rd7 23.Bg5 Bxg5 24.Nxg5 Nd4 25.Nf4 Rh6 26.Re1 Ke7 27.f3 a5 28.a4 Rd8 29.e6 fxe6 30.Nfxe6 Nxe6 31.Rxd8 Kxd8 32.Nxe6+ Kd7 33.Nxg7 Rg6 34.Nxh5 Bxf3 35.Nf4 Rg4 36.g3 Rg8 37.Kf2 Bg4 38.h5 Bf5 39.Nd5 Kd6 40.Rd1 Ke5 41.Nf4 Bc2 42.Re1+ Kf5 43.Re3 Rd8 44.Nd5 Kg5 45.Re5+ Kh6 46.g4 Bxb3 47.Nf4 Rg8 48.Kg3 Bd1 49.Re6+ Kh7 50.Ng6 Bxa4 51.Kf4 Bc2 52.Ne5 Rf8+ 53.Kg5 Rg8+ 54.Kh4 a4 55.g5 a3 56.g6+ Kg7 57.Kg5 Kh8 1-0

Blitz Round 12, Game 21
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar –- Aronian, Levon
A06 Reti, Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.e3 d5 4.b3 c5 5.Bb2 Nc6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nc3 Bd6 8.Rc1 O-O 9.Na4 b6 10.d4 Ne4 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Bb5 Ne7 13.O-O Bg4 14.h3 Bh5 15.Be2 Rc8 16.Nd2 Bxe2 17.Qxe2 Nxd2 18.Qxd2 Bd6 19.Qd4 Nf5 20.Rxc8 Qxc8 21.Qxd5 Rd8 22.Qe4 Bb8 23.Nc3 Re8 24.Qg4 Be5 25.Rc1 Qe6 26.Rd1 g6 27.Qe4 h5 28.Rd3 Qc8 29.Qa4 a6 30.Qd7 b5 31.Qxc8 Rxc8 32.Nd5 Bxb2 33.g4 Rc1+ 34.Kg2 hxg4 35.hxg4 Nh4+ 36.Kg3 g5 37.f4 Rg1+ 38.Kh3 Nf3 39.Ne7+ Kh7 40.Nf5 Bf6 41.Rd7 Kg6 42.Rd6 Rc1 43.Ne7+ Kg7 44.Nf5+ Kg6 45.Rxa6 Nd2 46.Ng3 Rc3 47.f5+ Kg7 48.Nh5+ Kf8 49.Nxf6 Rxe3+ 50.Kg2 Ne4 51.Ra8+ Kg7 52.Nh5+ Kh7 53.Re8 Re2+ 54.Kf3 Rf2+ 55.Ke3 Rxa2 56.Kxe4 Re2+ 1-0

Blitz Round 13, Game 22
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar -– Caruana, Fabiano
D32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Bg5 dxc4 8.Qxc4 b6 9.Rd1 Ba6 10.Qa4 h6 11.Bh4 Qe7 12.Nf3 Rd8 13.e3 Bxf1 14.Rxf1 c5 15.dxc5 Rxd1+ 16.Qxd1 bxc5 17.Qc2 Nbd7 18.Ke2 Rc8 19.Rd1 c4 20.Kf1 Nb6 21.h3 c3 22.Kg1 Qc5 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.bxc3 Qxa3 25.Rd3 Kg7 26.e4 Qa4 27.Qc1 Qxe4 28.Rd4 Qf5 29.Rg4+ Kf8 30.Nd4 Qe5 31.Rg3 Nd5 32.Qa3+ Ne7 33.Qxa7 Rxc3 34.Nf3 Rc1+ 35.Kh2 Qc7 36.Qa8+ Qc8 37.Qa3 Rc3 38.Qb4 Qc7 39.Kg1 Rc1+ 40.Kh2 Rc5 41.Nd4 Rc4 42.Qd2 Ke8 43.Nb5 1-0

Blitz Round 13, Game 22
Aronian, Levon -– MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e5 9.Nb3 Be6 10.Be3 Nbd7 11.g4 Be7 12.Qd2 b5 13.g5 b4 14.Ne2 Nh5 15.Ng3 Nf4 16.Bxf4 exf4 17.Nh5 O-O 18.h4 Ne5 19.Qxf4 Qc7 20.O-O-O Rfc8 21.Rh2 a5 22.Kb1 a4 23.Nd4 Bxa2+ 24.Kxa2 b3+ 25.Kb1 a3 26.cxb3 Qa5 27.Qd2 Qb6 28.Nf4 Nxf3 29.Nxf3 Qxb3 30.Nd4 Qb7 31.Nd5 Bd8 32.b4 a2+ 33.Ka1 Bb6 34.Nf5 1-0

Blitz Round 14, Game 23
Karjakin, Sergey –- Aronian, Levon
A00 Saragossa Opening

1.c3 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.cxd4 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bf4 Bd6 6.Bxd6 Qxd6 7.e3 Ne7 8.Bd3 Bf5 9.Nge2 Nd7 10.O-O O-O 11.Nf4 Rfe8 12.Qd2 Nb6 13.b3 a5 14.a4 Qh6 15.Nce2 Nbc8 16.b4 axb4 17.Qxb4 Qd6 18.Qxb7 Rb8 19.Qa6 g5 20.Bxf5 Nxf5 21.Nd3 Nb6 22.Ne5 f6 23.Nxc6 Qxc6 24.a5 Nd6 25.axb6 Rxb6 26.Qd3 Qc4 27.Qxc4 dxc4 28.Nc3 Rb3 29.Rfc1 f5 30.Ra5 h6 31.h4 f4 32.Nd5 Kf7 33.Ra7+ Kf8 34.Ra6 Rd8 35.exf4 Ne4 36.Nc7 Kf7 37.hxg5 hxg5 38.Ne6 Rc8 39.fxg5 c3 40.g6+ Ke7 41.g7 Kf7 42.d5 Nf6 43.Ra7+ Kg8 44.d6 Rb6 45.Rc7 Rxc7 46.dxc7 Rc6 47.Nd4 Rxc7 48.Nb5 Rc5 49.Nxc3 Kxg7 50.Ne2 Re5 51.Nf4 Ra5 52.g3 Ne4 53.Re1 Nd2 54.Kg2 Nc4 55.Re4 Nd6 56.Re7+ Kf8 57.Re6 Nf7 58.Nd3 Rb5 59.Re3 Kg7 60.Nf4 Ra5 61.Rb3 Nd6 62.Ne6+ Kf7 63.Nd4 Ra4 64.Rd3 Kf6 65.f4 Ne4 66.Ne2 Ra2 67.Re3 Nd6 68.Kf3 Nf5 69.Rd3 Ne7 70.Nc3 Ra5 71.Ne4+ Kf7 72.g4 Ng6 73.Kg3 Ra4 74.Re3 Kf8 75.f5 Ne5 76.Kf4 Nf7 77.Rd3 Ra1 78.g5 Rf1+ 79.Rf3 Rh1 80.Rg3 Rf1+ 81.Rf3 Rh1 82.g6 Rh4+ 83.Ke3 Ne5 84.Rf4 Nc4+ 85.Kf3 Rh6 86.Kg4 Ne5+ 87.Kg5 Rh1 88.Kf6 Nd7+ 89.Ke6 Nb6 90.f6 1-0

Blitz Round 14, Game 23
MVL –- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.O-O c5 7.c4 Nbc6 8.dxc5 dxc4 9.Na3 Nd5 10.Nxc4 Bxc5 11.Bg5 Qd7 12.a3 O-O 13.b4 Bb6 14.Rc1 h6 15.Be3 Rfd8 16.Bxb6 Nxb6 17.Qxd7 Rxd7 18.Nd6 Bg4 19.Bb5 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Rad8 21.Nxb7 Rxb7 22.Bxc6 Rc7 23.Be4 Nc4 24.Rc3 f5 25.exf6 gxf6 26.Rfc1 Rg7+ 27.Kf1 Nd2+ 28.Ke2 Nxe4 29.fxe4 Rd4 30.Ke3 Rgd7 31.Rc8+ Kf7 32.R8c7 Rd3+ 33.Ke2 Rd2+ 34.Ke1 Rd1+ 35.Rxd1 Rxc7 36.Rd6 a5 37.bxa5 Rc3 38.a6 Rxa3 39.Ke2 h5 40.h4 f5 41.exf5 exf5 42.Rb6 Ke7 43.Rh6 Kf7 44.Kd2 Kg7 45.Rb6 Rf3 46.Ke2 Rf4 47.a7 Ra4 48.Rb7+ Kf6 49.f4 Ke6 50.Kd3 Kd5 51.Re7 Ra3+ 52.Kc2 Kc4 53.Kb2 Ra6 54.Rf7 Rb6+ 55.Kc2 Ra6 56.Rc7+ Kb5 57.Kd3 Kb6 58.Rf7 Ra4 59.Kc3 Kc6 60.Kb3 Ra1 61.Kc4 Ra4+ 62.Kc3 Kb6 63.Kb3 Ra1 64.Kc4 Ra5 65.Kd4 Kc6 66.Rf6+ Kd7 67.Rf8 1-0

Standings after Round Fourteen

1 Nakamura 20
2 Mamedyarov 19.5
3 MVL 18.5
4 Caruana 18
5 Aronian 16
6 Karjakin 15.5
7 Dominguez 14
8 So 13.5
9 Grischuk 13
10 Anand 12

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 15th August, 2018, 09:25 PM

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz

August 15, 2018

Blitz Rounds Fifteen to Eighteen

Mike Klein at chess.com

“Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura thought he needed 5.5/9 in today's second blitz session to clinch his first Grand Chess Tour win on home soil. He scored exactly that, and in doing so, won the 2018 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz over a still-surging GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and a pesky GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

The title was sewn up in the eighth round today, the 17th blitz round overall, when the Azeri trailed by a point and thus went for glory against Nakamura. It didn't quite work, and Nakamura's win sealed the trophy as it left him up two points with one round to go.

Vachier-Lagrave had another brilliant day. Despite suffering a loss for the first time in the blitz, he scored 6.5/9 including a final-round win over Nakamura to move into second place and garner many much-needed tour points.”

https://www.chess.com/news/view/naka...is-rapid-blitz

Blitz Round 15, Game 24

MVL-Caruana 1-0
Mamedyarov-Karjakin 1-0
Aronian-So 1-0
Dominguez-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Anand 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 16, Game 25

Caruana-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Anand-Dominguez 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Aronian 1-0
So-Mamedyarov 1-0
Karjakin-MVL 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 17, Game 26

Karjakin-Caruana 0-1
MVL-So 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov-Nakamura 0-1
Aronian-Anand 1-0
Dominguez-Grischuk 0.5-0.5

Blitz Round 18, Game 27

Caruana-Dominguez 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Aronian 1-0
Anand-Mamedyarov 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-MVL 0-1
So-Karjakin 0-1

Final Standings

1 Nakamura 22.5
2 MVL 21.5
3 Mamedyarov 21
4 Caruana 20
5 Aronian 18
6 Karjakin 17
7 Dominguez 16
8 Grischuk 15.5
9 So 15
10 Anand 13.5

Selection of games from Rounds 15 to 18

Blitz Round 15, Game 24
MVL -– Caruana, Fabiano
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 h6 10.Be3 Re8 11.a4 b4 12.Nd5 Na5 13.Ba2 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 c6 15.Ba2 c5 16.Nd2 Bg5 17.f4 exf4 18.Bxf4 Be6 19.Bxe6 Rxe6 20.Bxg5 Qxg5 21.Rf5 Qe7 22.Nf1 Re5 23.Rf2 d5 24.exd5 Rxd5 25.Qf3 Rad8 26.Ne3 Re5 27.Nf5 Re1+ 28.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 29.Rf1 Qe5 30.c3 bxc3 31.bxc3 Kh7 32.d4 cxd4 33.cxd4 Qe6 34.Qc3 Rd5 35.Ne3 Rg5 36.d5 Qe5 37.Qd3+ Kg8 38.d6 Nc6 39.d7 Qe7 40.Nf5 Qc5+ 41.Kh1 Nd8 42.Qe4 Qb6 43.Qe8+ Kh7 44.Ne7 1-0

Blitz Round 15, Game 24
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar –- Karjakin, Sergey
A15 English Opening

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 Be7 4.b3 O-O 5.Bb2 b6 6.Rg1 d5 7.g4 c5 8.g5 Ne4 9.d3 Nd6 10.h4 Nc6 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bh3 Nb4 13.Ne5 d4 14.Ndf3 dxe3 15.fxe3 Nf5 16.Ke2 Qc7 17.a3 Nc6 18.Qf1 Rad8 19.Qf2 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Bd6 21.Ng4 Bg3 22.Nh6+ gxh6 23.gxh6 f6 24.Bxf5 exf5 25.Rxg3+ Kh8 26.Rg7 Qd6 27.Qxf5 Qh2+ 28.Kd1 Bf3+ 29.Kc1 1-0

Blitz Round 16, Game 25
Nakamura, Hikaru -– Aronian, Levon
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O Re8 9.Bg5 Rb8 10.Re1 h6 11.Bh4 Bd6 12.Rb1 g5 13.Bg3 Bxg3 14.hxg3 d6 15.Qd2 Kg7 16.b3 Qe7 17.Nd1 Qe5 18.Ne3 Be6 19.f4 Qd4 20.Rbd1 Ng4 21.c3 Qb6 22.Kh1 f6 23.Bc2 Re7 24.Re2 Nxe3 25.Rxe3 Bf5 26.Rf1 Rh8 27.e5 Be6 28.exf6+ Kxf6 29.fxg5+ Kg7 30.g6 Rhe8 31.Qf2 Kg8 32.Qf4 Qc5 33.Rxe6 1-0

Blitz Round 16, Game 25
So, Wesley –- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.h3 g6 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.Be2 Qc7 9.O-O Bg7 10.Re1 O-O 11.Nbd2 Rfe8 12.Nf1 Rad8 13.Ng3 Ne4 14.Nxf5 gxf5 15.Bf1 Bf6 16.g3 Kh8 17.Bf4 Qc8 18.Bg2 Rg8 19.Re2 Rg7 20.Kh2 Rdg8 21.Rc1 e6 22.c4 Qd7 23.Ne5 Nxe5 24.dxe5 Bg5 25.Bxg5 Rxg5 26.Bxe4 fxe4 27.Rxe4 Rd8 28.cxd5 exd5 29.Re2 d4 30.Qd3 Qe6 31.Rc4 Rxe5 32.Rxd4 Rxe2 33.Rxd8+ Kg7 34.Qd4+ Qe5 35.Qg4+ Kh6 36.Qh4+ Kg7 37.Qg4+ Kh6 38.Qf3 f5 39.Rf8 Qe4 40.Rxf5 Qxf3 41.Rxf3 Rxb2 42.a3 b5 43.g4 a5 44.Kg2 Kg6 45.Rf5 a4 46.Kg3 Rb3+ 47.f3 h6 48.h4 Rb1 49.h5+ Kg7 50.Rc5 Rb3 51.Kf4 Kf6 52.Rc6+ Kf7 53.Rb6 Ke7 54.Rxh6 Rxa3 55.Rb6 Rb3 56.h6 Kf7 57.g5 a3 58.g6+ Ke7 59.h7 1-0

Blitz Round 17, Game 26
Karjakin, Sergey -– Caruana, Fabiano
D12 QGD Slav

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.d4 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.O-O-O dxc4 11.Bxc4 a6 12.Be2 Nbd7 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Kb1 c5 15.d5 exd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 Nf6 18.Qb3 b5 19.e4 c4 20.Qe3 Rd8 21.e5 Nd5 22.Qe4 O-O 23.Bc1 Qc6 24.h4 Qe6 25.f4 c3 26.a3 cxb2 27.Bxb2 Bxa3 28.Rxd5 Rxd5 29.Bxa3 Rd2 30.Kc1 Qa2 31.Bg4 0-1

Blitz Round 17, Game 26
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar –- Nakamura, Hikaru
A15 English Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.e3 d5 4.b3 Be7 5.Bb2 dxc4 6.bxc4 c5 7.Nc3 b6 8.g4 Bb7 9.g5 Nfd7 10.h4 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxh1 12.Qa4+ Nd7 13.f3 b5 14.Nxb5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 O-O 16.Be2 f6 17.O-O-O Bg2 18.Rg1 Bh3 19.Ba1 e5 20.Nc3 Be6 21.Qc6 Qc8 22.Nd5 Bd8 23.Qxc8 Rxc8 24.gxf6 Bxf6 25.Nxf6+ Rxf6 26.Bxe5 Rf7 27.f4 Rc6 28.Kb2 Rd7 29.Bc3 Bf5 30.h5 Rb6+ 31.Ka1 Kf8 32.Bg4 Bxg4 33.Rxg4 h6 34.a3 Rdb7 35.Rg1 Re6 36.Be5 Rd7 37.Rg2 Rb7 38.Ka2 Rd7 39.Kb3 Rb7+ 40.Kc2 Ra6 41.Bb2 Rab6 42.Bc1 Rb1 43.Rg6 Ra1 44.d4 Ra2+ 45.Kd3 Rb1 46.Rg1 Rb3+ 47.Ke4 Rc2 48.dxc5 Rb1 49.Kd5 Rbxc1 0-1

Position after Black’'s 44…....Ra2+

Blitz Round 18, Game 27
Nakamura, Hikaru -– MVL
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nf6 6.O-O a6 7.Be2 g6 8.c4 Bg7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Qe3 b6 11.Rd1 Bb7 12.Ng5 Qc7 13.f3 Rac8 14.Bd2 e6 15.Rac1 Rfe8 16.Qf2 Qb8 17.Bf4 Bf8 18.Nh3 Red8 19.Be3 d5 20.cxd5 exd5 21.exd5 b5 22.a3 Bd6 23.Kh1 Re8 24.Ba7 Qa8 25.Bd4 Nxd5 26.Ne4 Be7 27.Bf1 Rxc1 28.Rxc1 Qd8 29.Rd1 Qc7 30.Qd2 N5f6 31.Nhf2 Nxe4 32.Nxe4 Bxe4 33.fxe4 Bf6 34.Bf2 Ne5 35.Qd6 Qxd6 36.Rxd6 Ng4 37.Bg3 Bxb2 38.Rxa6 Rxe4 39.h3 Re3 40.Bh4 Nh6 41.Bg5 Re1 42.Bxh6 Rxf1+ 43.Kh2 Be5+ 44.g3 f6 45.Kg2 Ra1 46.Ra7 f5 47.Bf4 Ra2+ 48.Kf3 Bd4 49.Ra8+ Kf7 50.Be3 Bxe3 51.Kxe3 b4 52.a4 Ra3+ 53.Kf2 Ke6 54.a5 Kd5 55.a6 Kc4 56.Ke2 Kb3 57.Kd2 Ka2 58.Rb8 b3 59.Rb6 Kb2 60.h4 Kb1 61.Rb7 b2 62.a7 h6 0-1

Blitz Round 18, Game 27
So, Wesley -– Karjakin, Sergey
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 e6 4.e3 Be7 5.g4 O-O 6.g5 Ne4 7.h4 c5 8.c4 Nc6 9.d3 Nd6 10.Nbd2 b6 11.Bg2 Bb7 12.a3 Qc7 13.cxd5 exd5 14.d4 Nf5 15.Qc2 Bc8 16.O-O Be6 17.dxc5 bxc5 18.b4 cxb4 19.axb4 Bxb4 20.e4 dxe4 21.Nxe4 Rfc8 22.Ne5 Nxe5 23.Qxc7 Rxc7 24.Bxe5 Rc2 25.Ng3 Re8 26.Be4 Nxg3 27.Bxg3 Rc4 28.Bd3 Rc3 29.Bb5 Rd8 30.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 31.Rxd1 Rc8 32.Ba6 Re8 33.Bb5 Rf8 34.Ba6 Bc8 35.Ra1 Bxa6 36.Rxa6 Bc5 37.Bf4 f6 38.Be3 Bxe3 39.fxe3 fxg5 40.hxg5 Rf5 41.Rxa7 Rxg5+ 42.Kf2 Rf5+ 43.Kg3 g6 44.e4 Rf7 45.Ra4 Kg7 46.Kg4 Kf6 47.Ra5 Kg7 48.Ra6 Re7 49.Kf4 h5 50.e5 Rf7+ 51.Ke4 Rf1 52.Ra7+ Kh6 53.e6 Re1+ 54.Kd5 h4 55.e7 h3 56.Ra3 Rxe7 57.Rxh3+ Kg5 58.Rh1 Re3 59.Rg1+ Kf5 60.Kd4 Rf3 61.Rh1 g5 62.Rh8 Kf4 63.Rf8+ 0-1

On chess24.com’'s Russian channel, Peter Svidler interviewed both MVL and Nakamura in English and then interpreted in Russian for his viewers. Hikaru was happy to win but mentioned his unfortunate 34..Nf7+ against Karjakin in this position in Round 19, several times;

The closing ceremonies were all televised. Hikaru accepted a giant novelty cheque for $37,500. The other prizes were:

2 MVL $25,000
3 Mamedyarov $20,000
4 Caruana $15,000
5 Aronian $12,500
6 Karjakin $10,000
7 Dominguez $7500
8 Grischuk $7500
9 So $7500
10 Anand $7500

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2018

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