St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2019

[Wayne Komer]

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2019

August 14, 2019

Blitz Rounds Ten to Eighteen

Is Kasparov right? Are top chess players overworked these days? That might explain the bad form of Caruana, Carlsen and Mamedyarov in this tournament.

Round 10

MVL-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
Rapport-Caruana 1-0
Ding-Yu 0-1
Karjakin-Aronian 1-0
Mamedyarov-Dominguez 1-0

Round 11

MVL-Rapport 1-0
Yu-Caruana 0-1
Carlsen-Karjakin 1-0
Aronian-Mamedyarov 1-0
Dominguez-Ding 0.5-0.5

Round 12

Ding-Aronian 0-1
Caruana-Dominguez 1-0
Rapport-Yu 0-1
Mamedyarov-Carlsen 0-1
Karjakin-MVL 1-0

Round 13

Carlsen-Ding 1-0
Dominguez-Yu 1-0
MVL-Mamedyarov 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Caruana 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Rapport 1-0

Standings after Round Thirteen

1 MVL, Aronian 19.5
3-4 Yu, Karjakin 17.5
5 Ding 17
6 Carlsen 16
7 Rapport 15
8-9 Caruana, Dominguez 12
10 Mamedyarov 9

Round 10, August 14
MVL - Carlsen, Magnus
B22 Sicilian, Alapin

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 d5 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.O-O Be6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Na3 Bxb3 11.axb3 a6 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Be3 Nf5 14.Qxd6 Nxd6 15.Bxb6 Rc8 16.Rad1 Rc6 17.Be3 e5 18.Rd5 f6 19.Rfd1 Kf7 20.Nc2 Ke6 21.f4 Be7 22.fxe5 fxe5 23.c4 Ne4 24.Ne1 Rd6 25.Nd3 Rxd5 26.cxd5+ Kd6 27.b4 Rb8 28.Bb6 Bd8 29.Bxd8 Rxd8 30.Re1 Kxd5 31.Nf4+ Kc6 32.Ne6 Rd6 33.Nxg7 Rd4 34.Nf5 Rxb4 35.Re2 a5 36.g4 Ng5 37.Kf2 Rxg4 38.Rxe5 Rb4 39.Rxa5 Rxb2+ 40.Kg3 Ne4+ 41.Kf4 Nc5 42.h4 Kd5 43.Ne3+ Kc6 44.Nf5 b6 45.Ra7 Rb4+ 46.Kg5 Ne4+ 47.Kh6 Nd6 48.Ne7+ Kb5 49.h5 Rh4 50.Nd5 Ne4 51.Rxh7 Kc6 52.Nxb6 Rxh5+ 53.Kxh5 Nf6+ 54.Kg6 Nxh7 55.Kxh7 1/2-1/2

Round 10, August 14
Karjakin, Sergey – Aronian, Levon
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O d5 9.Bd2 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 dxe4 12.Qh5 Qd6 13.Rfe1 Re8 14.Re3 Re6 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.Rg3 Rg6 17.Qe5 Be6 18.Rxg6 fxg6 19.Qxe4 Re8 20.Qxc6 Bg4 21.Qc4+ Qe6 22.Qxc7 Qf7 23.Qxf7+ Kxf7 24.Rd5 Bf5 25.f3 Bxc2 26.Ra5 Re7 27.Bd4 Bd3 28.Rxa7 Rxa7 29.Bxa7 g5 30.Kf2 Ke6 31.Ke3 Bf1 32.g3 h5 33.Kd4 Be2 34.Kc5 Bxf3 35.a4 Kd7 36.a5 Kc7 37.b4 h4 38.b5 Be2 39.Bb6+ Kc8 40.a6 Kd7 41.Ba5 h3 42.g4 Kc8 43.Be1 Kb8 44.Kb6 Bxg4 45.Bg3+ Ka8 46.Ka5 Bc8 47.b6 g4 48.Be5 g5 49.Bd6 g3 50.Bxg3 g4 51.Bf4 g3 52.b7+ 1-0

Final position



Round 11, August 14
Carlsen, Magnus – Karjakin, Sergey
E27 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 O-O 6.f3 c5 7.e4 Nc6 8.Be3 b6 9.Bd3 Ba6 10.Nh3 Na5 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Qc7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Qd2 Kg7 15.Nf4 Rh8 16.Nh5+ Kf8 17.Qf2 Bxc4 18.Bxc4 Nxc4 19.O-O Rg8 20.Nxf6 Rg6 21.e5 d6 22.f4 Kg7 23.Rae1 cxd4 24.cxd4 Rc8 25.f5 exf5 26.Qxf5 dxe5 27.dxe5 Qc5+ 28.Kh1 Rc7 29.Ne8+ 1-0

Round 12, August 14
Karjakin, Sergey – MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Kristiansen Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Ng3 Be6 10.Nd5 Nbd7 11.c4 g6 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.b3 Rfc8 14.Bg5 Qf8 15.Qd2 Ne8 16.Rad1 f6 17.Bh6 Qe7 18.Bb1 b5 19.cxb5 axb5 20.Qe2 b4 21.Bd2 Rab8 22.Qe1 Bg4 23.f3 Be6 24.Bxb4 Nc5 25.Kh1 Qb7 26.Ba3 Qa7 27.Bb2 Bf7 28.Bc1 Qa6 29.Be3 Nc7 30.f4 exf4 31.Bxf4 Ne8 32.Qd2 Rd8 33.Qf2 Nd7 34.Ne2 Rbc8 35.Nd4 Ne5 36.h3 Qb7 37.Bg3 Rc3 38.Bh4 Nd7 39.Ne2 Rcc8 40.Rd2 Qb4 41.Rfd1 Qc5 42.Qxc5 Rxc5 43.Bf2 Ra5 44.Rc1 Ne5 45.Nd4 Ra6 46.Kg1 Ng7 47.Rc7 Ne6 48.Nxe6 Bxe6 49.Be3 Rd7 50.Rxd7 Bxd7 51.Kf2 Be6 52.Rc2 Nc6 53.Bd2 Kf8 54.Bc3 Ke7 55.Ke3 Na7 56.Rf2 f5 57.exf5 gxf5 58.Bd3 Rc6 59.Bd4 Nc8 60.Rc2 Rxc2 61.Bxc2 1-0

Round 13, August 14
Carlsen, Magnus – Ding, Liren
A28 English, Four Knights, Capablanca variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 Be7 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O Be6 9.Bd2 Qd7 10.a3 a5 11.Rc1 Rfd8 12.Ne4 f6 13.Nc5 Bxc5 14.Rxc5 a4 15.Qb1 Nde7 16.h3 Bf5 17.e4 Be6 18.Be3 Na5 19.d4 Nb3 20.dxe5 Nxc5 21.Bxc5 fxe5 22.Nxe5 Qe8 23.f4 Ra5 24.Bb4 Rxe5 25.fxe5 b6 26.Bxe7 Qxe7 27.Qc2 Rd4 28.Qc6 Qd7 29.Bb5 Qxc6 30.Bxc6 h5 31.Kf2 Rd2+ 32.Ke3 Rxg2 33.Bd5 Rg6 34.h4 c5 35.Rf5 b5 36.Rg5 Rh6 37.Rg1 Kf7 38.Rc1 c4 39.Rg1 Rh8 40.Kd4 Rc8 41.Rg5 Rb8 42.Kc5 Rc8+ 43.Kxb5 Rb8+ 44.Kxc4 Rxb2 45.Kc5 Rb1 46.Rxh5 Rb3 47.Rf5+ Ke7 48.Bxb3 Bxf5 49.Bxa4 1-0

Round 13, August 14
Karjakin, Sergey – Rapport, Richard
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.Bd2 O-O 9.O-O Rb8 10.Re1 Re8 11.a3 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 dxe4 13.Bxe4 Qxd1 14.Raxd1 Nxe4 15.Rxe4 Bf5 16.Rxe8+ Rxe8 17.h3 Bxc2 18.Rd7 Rc8 19.Rd4 Bb3 20.Rg4 g6 21.Rb4 Bd5 22.Ra4 Ra8 23.Ra6 c5 24.Ra5 c6 25.Rxc5 f5 26.Ra5 a6 27.Ra4 Kf7 28.Rb4 Ra7 29.f3 a5 30.Rb8 a4 31.h4 Ke6 32.Kf2 f4 33.Rb4 Kf5 34.Bd2 Bb3 35.Rxf4+ Ke6 36.Bc3 Re7 37.Kg3 Rf7 38.Re4+ Kd7 39.Rb4 Ke6 40.Rb6 Kd5 41.Ra6 c5 42.h5 gxh5 43.Rh6 Bc2 44.Rxh5+ Kc6 45.Kf2 Bg6 46.Re5 Kd6 47.Re1 Re7 48.Rd1+ Ke6 49.g4 h5 50.Kg3 hxg4 51.fxg4 Kf7 52.Rd5 Rc7 53.Rd6 Bc2 54.g5 Re7 55.Rf6+ Kg8 56.Rc6 Re3+ 57.Kf4 Re4+ 58.Kg3 Re3+ 59.Kf2 Re7 60.g6 Re8 61.g7 Bb3 62.Rxc5 Kf7 63.Rf5+ Kg8 64.Rh5 Kf7 65.Rh8 Rg8 66.Ke3 Ke7 67.Kf4 Re8 68.Kg5 Bg8 69.Rh6 Ra8 70.Rf6 Bf7 71.Bb4+ 1-0

Final position

[Hans Jung]

Some spectacular chess! Enjoying games and commentary. Knightmares for some if they cant wipe games from their memory!

[Wayne Komer]

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2019

August 14, 2019

Blitz Rounds Ten to Eighteen (continued)

Round 14

Ding-MVL 1-0
Rapport-Dominguez 1-0
Yu-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov-Karjakin 1-0
Caruana-Carlsen 1-0

Round 15

Aronian-Dominguez 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov-Rapport 1-0
Karjakin-Ding 0-1
MVL-Caruana 0-1
Carlsen-Yu 0-1

Round 16

Yu-MVL 1-0
Caruana-Karjakin 0-1
Rapport-Aronian 0-1
Dominguez-Carlsen 1-0
Ding-Mamedyarov 0.5-0.5

Round 17

Carlsen-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov-Caruana 0-1
Ding-Rapport 1-0
Karjakin-Yu 0-1
MVL-Dominguez 1-0

Round 18

Aronian-MVL 0-1
Rapport-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
Dominguez-Karjakin 0-1
Yu-Mamedyarov 0.5-0.5
Caruana-Ding 0-1

Final Standings

1 Aronian 22
2-4 Ding, MVL, Yu 21.5
5 Karjakin 19.5
6 Carlsen 17
7 Rapport 16.5
8 Caruana 15
9 Dominguez 13.5
10 Mamedyarov 12

Total Number of Wins, Losses and Draws in the Tournament

Name		+		-		=
Ding Liren		10		4		13
Carlsen		9		10		8
Yu Yangyi		12		6		9
MVL		13		10		4
Aronian		9		5		13
Karjakin		12		8		7
Caruana		7		12		8
Mamedyarov		6		14		7
Dominguez		6		13		8
Rapport		9		11		7

Round 14, August 14
Ding, Liren – MVL
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Ne5 Ne4 8.Nd2 Nd7 9.O-O O-O 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Nxd7 Bxd7 12.Bxe4 Bh3 13.Bxb7 Rb8 14.Bg2 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Bxd4 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Rb1 Bxb2 18.Qxd8 Rexd8 19.Rfd1 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 f6 21.Rd7 Kf7 22.Bf4 Ra8 23.a4 Bc3 24.Be3 a5 25.Bc5 Re8 26.Rb7 f5 27.Kf3 Ke6 28.e4 h5 29.h4 Kf6 30.Ke3 e6 31.Rb3 Be5 32.f4 Bb8 33.e5+ Kf7 34.Rb7+ Kg8 35.Kd4 Rc8 36.Bd6 Bxd6 37.exd6 1-0

Round 15, August 14
Carlsen, Magnus – Yu, Yangyi
C42 Petrov, Cochrane Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.d4 c5 6.Nc3 cxd4 7.Bc4+ Ke8 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qe3 Qb6 10.Qg3 Nd4 11.O-O Be6 12.Bxe6 Nxe6 13.Nd5 Qc6 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Qg4 Ke7 16.Bd2 h5 17.Qg6 Bh6 18.Bc3 Raf8 19.Rfe1 Bf4 20.Rad1 Be5 21.Re3 Rfg8 22.Qf5 Nf4 23.Bxe5 dxe5 24.h4 Nxg2 25.Rg3 Ne3 0-1

Final position



Round 16, August 14
Ding, Liren – Raport, Richard
E17 Queen’s Indian

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 Na6 8.h4 Re8 9.Nc3 Ne4 10.Bd2 c5 11.d5 exd5 12.cxd5 Bf6 13.Nxe4 Rxe4 14.Ng5 Rd4 15.Qc2 g6 16.Bc3 Nb4 17.Qb3 a5 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.d6 Qf6 20.Bxb7 1-0

Round 17, August 14
Aronian, Levon – MVL
A47 Queen’s Indian, Marienbad System

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 5.c4 cxd4 6.O-O e6 7.b3 Bc5 8.Bb2 O-O 9.Bxd4 Na6 10.Nc3 Qe7 11.Ne1 Bxg2 12.Nxg2 Rfd8 13.Rc1 Rac8 14.Nb5 d5 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Nxa7 dxc4 17.Nxc8 Rxd1 18.Rcxd1 c3 19.Nd6 h5 20.Ne4 Qe5 21.Nxc5 Nxc5 22.Ne3 b5 23.b4 Ne4 24.Rd3 h4 25.gxh4 Qf6 26.f3 Nd2 27.Rc1 Nxf3+ 28.Kh1 Nd4 29.Rf1 Qxh4 30.Ng2 Qe4 31.Rxc3 Qxe2 32.Rc8+ Kh7 33.Rcc1 f6 34.Rce1 Qxa2 35.Re3 e5 36.Rh3+ Kg8 37.Ne3 Qa8+ 38.Kg1 Ne2+ 39.Kf2 Nf4 40.Rf3 Qa2+ 41.Kg1 Qd2 42.Rd1 Qxb4 43.Nf5 Qe4 44.Nh4 Ne2+ 45.Kf2 Nd4 0-1

Round 18, August 14
Dominguez, Leinier – Karjakin, Sergey
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.c3 h6 7.O-O Nd7 8.Nbd2 Qc7 9.Re1 Bg6 10.b3 Nc8 11.Nf1 Be7 12.Ng3 c5 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Ncb6 15.Nh5 g6 16.Nf4 Qc6 17.Bd2 c4 18.Qc2 a5 19.Rab1 cxb3 20.axb3 a4 21.bxa4 Rxa4 22.Ra1 Ra6 23.h4 Nc4 24.g3 Kd8 25.h5 g5 26.Ng2 Ndb6 27.Nh2 Na4 28.Rec1 Kd7 29.Ng4 b5 30.N2e3 Nxe3 31.Bxe3 Qc4 32.Kg2 Rc6 33.Qd2 Rc7 34.Rc2 Nxc3 35.Qe1 Qd3 36.Rd2 Qf5 37.f3 Rhc8 38.Rb2 b4 39.Qf1 Qh7 40.Bf2 Ke8 41.Qa6 Kf8 42.Qb6 Kg7 43.Ra7 Rxa7 44.Qxa7 Bf8 45.Qd7 Ra8 46.Nf6 Qd3 47.Ne8+ Rxe8 48.Qxe8 g4 49.fxg4 Qe4+ 50.Kh2 Qxg4 51.Kg2 Qxh5 52.Qd7 Qg6 53.Rd2 Qe4+ 54.Kh2 Qf5 55.Kg2 Ne4 56.Rb2 Ng5 57.Qb5 Qh3+ 0-1

Round 18, August 14
Caruana, Fabiano – Ding, Liren
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.h3 Nf6 7.Na3 a6 8.Nc2 g6 9.Nf3 Bf5 10.Be2 e6 11.O-O h5 12.Nce1 Bd6 13.Nd3 Ne4 14.Be3 O-O-O 15.Rc1 g5 16.Nxg5 Rdg8 17.f4 Ng3 18.Rf2 f6 19.Nf3 Ne4 20.Rf1 Bxh3 21.Nfe1 h4 22.Kh2 Qg7 23.Bf3 Bxg2 24.Bxg2 Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Qxe3 26.Rf3 h3 0-1

_________

ChessBase: Levon Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament despite losing his last round game against former leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The French grandmaster ended up sharing second place with Yu Yangyi and Ding Liren — the Chinese duo had a strong showing at the blitz, as they got the best scores in the last two days of action (11½ out of 18, the same score obtained by Sergey Karjakin). World champion Magnus Carlsen finished in sixth place but still leads the overall GCT standings

https://en.chessbase.com/post/st-lou...litz-2019-live

__________

I never thought I would see a tournament where Magnus would lose ten games! One hopes for better things for him in the Sinquefield Cup coming up.

[Mike McDonald]

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz 2019

Carlsen: "Everything's going wrong. My confidence is long gone & now I just don't really care anymore... My no. 1 wish now is for the tournament to be over - it cannot come soon enough. You're probably going to see more of the same tomorrow”

This attitude makes me lose so much respect for Magnus. You've gotten to be number 1 all time in one of the pursuits with which number 1 has the the least emotionally draining career (maybe it's easier being Joey Chestnut or Floyd Mayweather but in 99% of pursuits the GOAT spends a lot of time losing). Mike Trout has lost more games than he's won and Magnus has literally gotten to go over a year without a real loss. Now he loses a few quick games in a format that doesn't affect his rating and bitches and moans like this? I just think it's embarrassing and disrespectful to all of these 2750+ players who've dedicated their lives to the game and earned these victories against him.