Sinquefield Cup 2019

[Hans Jung]

Its now a 4 way tie for first at the half. Ding and Nepo won today to tie Vishy Anand and Fab Fabi.

[Wayne Komer]

Sinquefield Cup 2019

August 21, 2019

Round Five

Summary from the official site:

The round before the day off had the highest number of decisive results and a shake up in the leaderboard. There is now a three way tie for first place as Ding Liren joins Viswanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana with a win over Anish Giri. Anand had an easy day in the office while Caruana had to put in quite a lot of work to earn his half a point. With a win over Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi joins the big tie for fourth place. The games will resume Friday with a lot of exciting matchups ahead!

Ding Liren vs Anish Giri 1-0

With this beautiful high quality win, Ding Liren deservingly joins the leaders. Giri essayed the Ragozin Defense, the same line he played against Ding during Gashimov Memorial in April of this year. The Chinese player deviated from their earlier game on move 7, choosing a less common variation. In the resulting middlegame, White had control over the open d file, while Black was controlling the semi-open c file, attacking the isolated c3 pawn. The main mistake for Black was 25...g6, when Giri weakened his king and put another pawn on a light square, hindering his own light squared bishop. On move 33, Ding found a tactical way of creating a passed pawn and penetrating along the d file. Giri resigned after losing all of his kingside pawns.

Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Hikaru Nakamura 1-0

The Russian player finally bounced back from his first round loss and after missing winning chances in earlier rounds. Nakamura blundered a pawn on move 15 and had to suffer for the rest of the game. He forced the game into a dark colored bishops endgame where he had very decent chances of holding. Nepomniachtchi felt that he had to win the game three times, as he kept letting the advantage go. The fatal mistake happened on move 57, when Nakamura decided to push his pawn to b4, where it could be attacked by his opponent’s bishop. Nepomniachtchi explained that at that time trouble played a role and that Nakamura probably felt that White can make progress, winning another pawn. However, this decision also forced Nakamura to misplace his bishop on a3 and made losing another pawn inevitable.

Magnus Carlsen vs Sergey Karjakin ½ - ½

"Finally I showed some of my preparation to New York 3 years later", Karjakin told Maurice Ashley after the game, referring to his World Championship match against Carlsen. He played a novelty on move 14, stopping White’s e pawn push. Carlsen got stuck at that point, thought for a long time but couldn’t make up his mind. Ultimately, he went for an endgame that he thought was better but in fact wasn’t it wasn’t hard for Karjakin to neutralize the pressure. The players set up a stalemate in the king and pawn endgame, a cute way to end the game. The World Champion didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that he’s behind the leaders, pointing out that he started playing well after the rest day in Zagreb and hopes to do the same here.

https://grandchesstour.org/blog/2019...up-recap-day-5

Round 5, August 21
So, Wesley – Caruana, Fabiano
A20 English, Kingside Fianchetto

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 Qb6 6.Nb3 a5 7.d3 a4 8.N3d2 Bc5 9.O-O e3 10.fxe3 Bxe3+ 11.Kh1 Ng4 12.Ne4 O-O 13.Nbc3 d5 14.cxd5 Bxc1 15.Qxc1 Ne3 16.Rf3 Nxg2 17.Kxg2 Qd8 18.Qg5 f6 19.Nxf6+ Rxf6 20.Ne4 Nd7 21.Raf1 Kh8 22.Nxf6 Nxf6 23.e4 Bd7 24.Rxf6 gxf6 25.Rxf6 Qe7 26.Qf4 Kg8 27.d6 Qg7 28.e5 Re8 29.Qc4+ Kh8 30.Rf7 Qxe5 31.Rxd7 Qe2+ 32.Kh3 Qf1+ 33.Kh4 Qf6+ 34.Kh3 Qf1+ 35.Kh4 Qf6+ 36.Kh3 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 5, August 21
MVL – Anand, Vishy
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 a5 9.d4 Ba7 10.h3 g5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.Qxd8+ Kxd8 14.Bxf7 g4 15.hxg4 Nxg4 16.Be3 Bxe3 17.fxe3 h5 18.Bc4 h4 19.Nd2 h3 20.gxh3 Rxh3 21.Rf1 Rg3+ 22.Kh1 Rh3+ 23.Kg1 Rg3+ 24.Kh1 Rh3+ 25.Kg1 1/2-1/2

Round 5, August 21
Carlsen, Magnus – Karjakin, Sergey
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Qe2 Bxc4 10.Qxc4 c5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.O-O Qc8 13.Rfd1 Nbd7 14.Qe2 Re8 15.Nd2 Qb7 16.Qf3 Qxf3 17.gxf3 Rec8 18.Nde4 Bf8 19.Nd6 Rc6 20.Bg3 a6 21.Rac1 Bxd6 22.Rxd6 Rxd6 23.Bxd6 Rc8 24.Rd1 h6 25.f4 b5 26.Be7 Rc6 27.Kg2 Nb6 28.e4 Nc4 29.Rd8+ Kh7 30.Bxf6 gxf6 31.Nd1 Kg6 32.b3 Rd6 33.Rxd6 Nxd6 34.f3 Kh5 35.Kg3 b4 36.Ne3 f5 37.exf5 Nxf5+ 38.Nxf5 exf5 39.Kf2 Kh4 40.Kg2 a5 41.Kf2 Kh3 42.Kg1 h5 43.Kh1 h4 44.Kg1 f6 45.Kh1 a4 46.bxa4 b3 47.axb3 1/2-1/2

Final position



Round 5, August 21
Aronian, Levon – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C42 Petrov’s Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.O-O Be7 7.c3 O-O 8.Bc2 Bg4 9.d4 Re8 10.Bf4 d5 11.Nbd2 Bd6 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Qb1 h6 14.Bh4 c6 15.Bh7+ Kh8 16.Bd3 Qc7 17.Qc2 Re6 18.Rfe1 Rae8 19.Bg3 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 21.Nxe1 Bxg3 22.hxg3 g6 23.Qa4 b6 24.Qa3 Kg7 25.Nc2 Be6 26.Ne3 Ne8 27.Nf3 Nd6 28.Qa4 a5 29.Qc2 c5 30.Qd1 c4 31.Bc2 b5 32.a3 Nc8 33.Qd2 Qb8 34.Ne1 Ne7 35.Bd1 Nf6 36.Bf3 h5 37.N1c2 Qh8 38.Nd1 Bf5 39.Ne1 Qh6 40.Qxh6+ Kxh6 41.Ne3 Bd7 42.Kf1 Kg7 43.Bd1 Ng4 44.Nxg4 Bxg4 45.Bxg4 hxg4 46.Nc2 f5 47.Ke2 Ng8 48.Ne3 Nf6 49.f3 Kf7 50.fxg4 fxg4 51.Ke1 Ke6 52.Ke2 Kf7 53.Ke1 Ke6 54.Ke2 Kf7 1/2-1/2

Round 5, August 21
Ding, Liren – Giri, Anish
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.e3 O-O 9.Rc1 Rd8 10.Be2 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Bd7 13.Be2 e5 14.Qc2 Bf5 15.Qb2 e4 16.Nd2 Na5 17.O-O c5 18.Rfd1 Rac8 19.Nf1 Bg6 20.Ng3 Qg5 21.Qb1 f5 22.dxc5 Rxc5 23.Rd4 Bf7 24.Rcd1 Rdc8 25.Bb5 g6 26.Ne2 Qf6 27.Ba4 Qe5 28.Bb3 Nxb3 29.axb3 R5c7 30.c4 a6 31.Nf4 b5 32.Nd5 Rc6 33.c5 a5 34.b4 axb4 35.Qxb4 Rb8 36.Nb6 Be6 37.Nd7 Bxd7 38.Rd5 Qe7 39.Rxd7 Qxc5 40.Qb3+ Qc4 41.Qb2 Qc3 42.Qa2+ Rc4 43.g3 Rc8 44.R1d6 Kf8 45.Rxg6 b4 46.Rxh6 f4 47.gxf4 1-0

Final position



Round 5, August 21
Nepo, Ian – 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 Nc6 12.O-O Be7 13.Rc1 Qb6 14.Qc2 Nb4 15.Bxh7+ Kh8 16.Qc7 Qxc7 17.Rxc7 Bd8 18.Bd6 Bxc7 19.Bxf8 a5 20.Bb1 Be5 21.b3 Bg4 22.Bc5 Rc8 23.Bb6 Nxa2 24.Bxa2 Rc2 25.Nf3 Bxf3 26.gxf3 Rxa2 27.Rd1 Ra1 28.Rxa1 Bxa1 29.Bxa5 f5 30.Kf1 Kg8 31.Ke2 Kf7 32.Kd3 Be5 33.Bc3 Bd6 34.e4 dxe4+ 35.fxe4 Ke6 36.Bxg7 Bxh2 37.Bd4 b5 38.Bb6 Be5 39.Ke3 Bb2 40.Bd4 Bc1+ 41.Kd3 Ba3 42.Bb6 Bb2 43.Bc7 Bf6 44.Ba5 Be5 45.Bb4 Bf6 46.Bc5 Be5 47.Ba7 Bf6 48.Bd4 Be7 49.Ke3 Bg5+ 50.f4 Be7 51.Bb6 Ba3 52.Kd3 Bc1 53.Bc7 Bb2 54.Bb8 Bf6 55.Ke3 Bb2 56.Be5 Bc1+ 57.Kd3 b4 58.Bb8 Kf6 59.Bd6 Ke6 60.Be5 Ba3 61.Bd4 Bc1 62.Be3 Bb2 63.Bd2 fxe4+ 64.Kxe4 Ba3 65.Kd4 Kf5 66.Kd5 Kf6 67.Kc5 Kf5 68.Kb5 Ke4 69.Bxb4 1-0

Position after Black’s 60…Ba3



- Artemiev will replace Naka in these super tournaments soon
- Nepo deserves win, he had two unfortunate mishaps so this is justice.
- Wow, this loss knocks Naka out of the Top 20

Standings after Round Five

1-3 Caruana, Ding, Anand 3
4-9 Carlsen, MVL, So, Nepo, Mamedyarov, Karjakin 2.5
10-12 Giri, Aronian, Nakamura

Tomorrow is a rest day. Play resumes on Friday the 23rd

[Hans Jung]

Fab Fabi - MVL Rd 6 Now that is interesting chess! MVL sacrifices two exchanges! Congratulations and we are highly entertained!

[Hans Jung]

Vishy missed good chances to take the clear lead. Too bad.

[Wayne Komer]

Sinquefield Cup 2019

August 23, 2019

Round Six

The English Chess Forum has been examining a couple of the endings so far. For Nepo-Nakamura, Chris Rice has remarked that the ending has shown up before in two famous games:

Position after Black’s 57….b4



Nepo-Nakamura, Sinquefield Cup 2019, Round 5


Position after White’s 83.Kd5



Capablanca-Janowski, Rice Memorial Round 3, New York 1916

and


Position after White’s 86.Bb6



Taimanov-Fischer, Buenos Aires Round 9, 1960

https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic...10357&start=30

_____________

The broadcast from St. Louis did not start on time. Later, Chat mentioned that Peter Svidler via Skype was with Jan on the German transmission. Both spoke in English there! Then Peter said that he had not had a chance to see Tarantino’s latest “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, then left, only to reappear via Skype on the Russian broadcast.

From the official site:

The players returned to action today but the rest day did not seem to impact the player standings in the tournament as all of the round 6 games ended in a draw. Each player is unique in how they choose to spend their day off; Sergey Karjakin played in an online Fischer Random qualifier, Anish Giri went to the Saint Louis Zoo, and Magnus Carlsen was invited to throw the first pitch for the Cardinals in their game against the Colorado Rockies. The World Champion discussed his experience with Maurice Ashley, explaining how uncomfortable and nervous he felt in an unfamiliar territory. Unfortunately these fun-filled activities did not influence their play over the board as the games unfolded slowly. For a good part of the game, it seemed as though Viswanathan Anand would emerge as the sole leader. Unfortunately, the former World Champion was not able to convert his material advantage.

https://grandchesstour.org/blog/2019...up-recap-day-6

Round 6, August 23
Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar – So, Wesley
D20 QGA

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Bf5 6.Ne2 e6 7.Nbc3 Nb6 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.Ng3 Bg6 10.h4 h5 11.Nge2 Bf5 12.Ng3 Bg6 13.Nge2 Bf5 14.Ng3 Bg6 1/2-1/2

Round 6, August 23
Karjakin, Sergey – Aronian, Levon
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bg4 12.Be2 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Bf6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qc2 Ne6 16.Bxd5 Rac8 17.Qd2 Rfd8 18.O-O Nc7 19.e4 Nxd5 20.exd5 Rc5 21.Rad1 g6 22.b4 Rc3 23.a4 Rc4 24.d6 Rd7 25.g3 Kg7 26.b5 Re4 27.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 28.Qxe1 Rxd6 29.Rxd6 Qxd6 30.Qc3+ Qf6 31.Qc7 Qa1+ 32.Kg2 Qxa4 33.Qxb7 Qc4 34.Qxa7 Qd5+ 35.Kg1 Qd1+ 36.Kg2 Qd5+ 37.Kg1 Qd1+ 38.Kg2 Qd5+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, August 23
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Ding, Liren
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 O-O 7.h3 a5 8.Re1 h6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Bb5 Qb8 11.Nh4 a4 12.Nf5 Re8 13.Nc4 Bxf5 14.exf5 Qa7 15.Qf3 e4 16.dxe4 Ne5 17.Nxe5 Rxe5 18.Bd3 d5 19.Bf4 dxe4 20.Bxe4 Rxe4 21.Rxe4 Nxe4 22.Qxe4 Bxf2+ 23.Kh2 Qb6 24.Rd1 Qxb2 25.f6 Qxc3 26.fxg7 Qc6 27.Qf5 Re8 28.Bxh6 Qxh6 29.Qxf2 Qg5 30.Kh1 Re4 31.Rf1 Qe7 32.Qd2 Kxg7 33.Qb2+ Qe5 34.Qxb7 Re1 35.Qf3 Rxf1+ 36.Qxf1 c5 37.Qc4 Qe1+ 38.Kh2 Qb4 39.Qd3 a3 40.Qg3+ Kh7 41.Qd3+ Kg7 42.Qg3+ Kh7 43.Qd3+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

Round 6, August 23
Nakamura, Hikaru – Carlsen, Magnus
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.Re1 e5 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Qc7 8.Be3 b6 9.a3 a5 10.Nbd2 Nf6 11.b4 Ng4 12.bxc5 Nxe3 13.fxe3 bxc5 14.Nc4 Be6 15.Nfd2 O-O 16.Rf1 Rab8 17.Qe2 a4 18.Rf2 Rb7 19.Raf1 Qd8 20.Qe1 h5 21.Qa1 f6 22.h3 Bh6 23.Qd1 Kh7 24.Qe2 Rb8 25.Rd1 Qc7 26.Rff1 Kg7 27.Rb1 Rb5 28.Rbd1 Rbb8 29.Rb1 Rb5 30.Rbd1 Rbb8 1/2-1/2

Magnus on his draw vs. Nakamura: "I was worried about this line before and during the World Championship"

Round 6, August 23
Caruana, Fabiano – MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f4 g6 9.Be2 Nbd7 10.g4 Rc8 11.f5 Bxb3 12.axb3 Rxc3 13.bxc3 Nxe4 14.O-O Qh4 15.Bf3 gxf5 16.Bxe4 fxe4 17.Kh2 Rg8 18.Ra4 Nf6 19.g5 Rxg5 20.Bxg5 Qxg5 21.c4 Qh4 22.Qe1 Qxe1 23.Rxe1 Bh6 24.Rd1 Kd7 25.c5 d5 26.Rb4 Kc7 27.Rb6 Bf4+ 28.Kg2 Nd7 29.Rxd5 Nxb6 30.cxb6+ Kxb6 31.Rd7 a5 32.Rxf7 h6 33.Kf2 Kc6 34.Ke2 b5 35.Rf6+ Kc5 36.c3 a4 37.bxa4 bxa4 38.Ra6 Kb5 39.Ra7 Bg5 40.Ra8 Be7 41.Kd2 a3 42.Ke3 Kc4 43.Kxe4 Kxc3 44.Kxe5 Kb3 45.Ke4 a2 46.Rxa2 Kxa2 47.Kf3 Kb3 48.h4 Kc4 49.h5 Kd3 50.Kg2 Ke2 51.Kh1 Kf2 52.Kh2 Bd6+ 53.Kh1 Be5 1/2-1/2

Svidler on Caruana-MVL: "One of the weirder positions I've seen recently, and I like weird positions, and I don't have to play it, so I'm happy!"

MVL had the position with the double exchange sacrifice 30 minutes before the round on his computer but decided to spend some time over the board to figure out what's going on!

Round 6, August 23
Anand, Vishy – Giri, Anish
B40 Sicilian, Anderssen variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.a3 Be7 7.f4 d6 8.Nf3 O-O 9.Bd3 a6 10.O-O b5 11.b4 a5 12.Rb1 axb4 13.axb4 d5 14.e5 Ne8 15.Nxb5 Ba6 16.Nbd4 Nxb4 17.Bxa6 Rxa6 18.f5 exf5 19.Nxf5 Nc7 20.c3 Nc6 21.Qd3 Ra4 22.Be3 Re4 23.Bb6 Qd7 24.Bxc7 Qxc7 25.Qxd5 Rf4 26.N5d4 Nxd4 27.cxd4 Rd8 28.Qb7 Qxb7 29.Rxb7 Kf8 30.g3 Rf5 31.Kg2 f6 32.Re1 fxe5 33.dxe5 h5 34.e6 g5 35.Re2 Rd6 36.h3 g4 37.hxg4 hxg4 38.Nh4 Rg5 39.Ra7 Ke8 40.Ra4 Rd3 41.Ra8+ Rd8 42.Ra1 Rdd5 43.Rf2 Bd8 44.Ra8 Ke7 45.Re2 Rc5 46.Ra6 Ra5 47.Rc6 Rad5 48.Rf2 Rd6 49.Rxd6 Kxd6 50.Rd2+ Rd5 51.Rxd5+ Kxd5 52.Nf5 Kxe6 53.Ne3 Bc7 54.Nxg4 Bxg3 1/2-1/2

Anish Giri on a tough day at the office! "I think it was my own fault. I did a terrible thing in the opening - I played the Sicilian, which is a good thing, but then I switched to the French, which is a disaster!"

Anish Giri survives against Vishy Anand so we ended with all games drawn in Round 6

Standings after Round Six

1-3 Caruana, Ding, Anand 3.5
4-9 Carlsen, MVL, So, Nepo, Mamedyarov, Karjakin 3
10-12 Giri, Aronian, Nakamura 2.5

[Wayne Komer]

Sinquefield Cup 2019

August 24, 2019

Round Seven

Peter Svidler visited again, initially wearing a hoodie so that he would look like a poker player! He has no explanation as to why there are so few decisive games.

At the end, Anish Giri comes in to talk to Maurice. He says in spite of the draws there is much to watch – opening ideas, tactical patterns, attacks. Personally he doesn’t worry about the results. Maurice can’t believe this attitude. Giri says in the Anand game being played, it was fascinating – opening, middle game and endgame. What is the big deal if Anand finally does not win?

Maurice asks how he would feel if all the game in the Cup were drawn but the games were full of content. How would he feel? Anish once played a four-person double-round tournament and there was only one win and that was all right with him.

Anand had a chance to win the game but it ends in a draw.

Round 7, August 24
Giri, Anish – Caruana, Fabiano
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Qe2 Qc8 10.O-O Bxc4 11.Qxc4 c5 12.dxc5 Qxc5 13.Qxc5 Bxc5 14.Rac1 Rd8 15.h3 h6 16.Bxb8 Raxb8 17.Rc2 Nd5 18.Nxd5 Rxd5 19.Rfc1 a5 20.Kf1 f5 21.Ke2 Kf7 22.Rc4 Rbd8 23.g4 g6 24.h4 e5 25.e4 fxe4 26.Rxe4 Ke6 27.a3 Rf8 28.Rc3 h5 29.Rc2 b5 30.b4 axb4 31.axb4 Bd6 32.Ng5+ Kd7 33.Nh7 Rf7 34.Ng5 Rf4 35.gxh5 gxh5 36.Rxf4 exf4 37.Ne4 Be7 38.Kf3 Bxh4 39.Nc3 Rf5 40.Ke4 Ke6 41.Ra2 Re5+ 42.Kxf4 Rf5+ 43.Ke4 Rxf2 44.Rxf2 Bxf2 45.Kf3 Bd4 46.Nxb5 Kd5 47.Nxd4 Kxd4 48.Kg3 Kc4 49.Kh4 Kxb4 50.Kxh5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, August 24
Carlsen, Magnus – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
D85 Grunfeld, Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Nf3 c5 9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O Nb6 11.Qa3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Bg4 13.Rd1 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Bxd4 15.e5 Nc4 16.Qb4 Rc8 17.Bh6 Bxa1 18.Rxd8 Rfxd8 19.e6 Ne5 20.exf7+ Nxf7 21.Be3 Bd4 22.Qxe7 Re8 23.Qa3 b6 24.Bd5 Rc5 25.Bxf7+ Kxf7 26.Qxa7+ Re7 27.Qa6 b5 28.h3 Bxe3 29.fxe3 Rce5 30.Qb6 R7e6 31.Qb7+ Re7 32.Qb6 R7e6 33.Qb7+ Re7 34.Qb6 1/2-1/2

Round 7, August 24
MVL – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O h6 7.Re1 O-O 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.d4 Bb6 10.Bb3 Nc6 11.Nc4 exd4 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.Nxd4 Re8 14.Bc2 Bg4 15.f3 Bh5 16.c4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Nd7 18.b3 Qf6 19.Qxf6 Nxf6 20.Bb2 Nd7 21.g4 Bg6 22.Kf2 Bh7 23.h4 g5 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Rh1 Ne5 26.Kg3 Kg7 27.a4 f6 28.Bc3 Bg6 29.Rh2 Rf8 30.Rah1 Rfe8 31.Ra1 Rf8 32.Rah1 Rfe8 33.Ra1 Rf8 1/2-1/2

Round 7, August 24
So, Wesley – Karjakin, Sergey
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 b6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Qxd5 9.Be2 Qa5+ 10.Nd2 Ba6 11.O-O c5 12.Nc4 Bxc4 13.Bxc4 cxd4 14.exd4 Nc6 15.d5 exd5 16.Qxd5 Qxd5 17.Bxd5 Rac8 18.Rfd1 Bf6 19.Rab1 Nd4 20.Kf1 Rfe8 21.g3 Rc5 22.Bg2 Ne6 23.Be3 Rc2 24.Rd7 Re7 25.Rxe7 Bxe7 26.Be4 Rc7 27.Rc1 Bc5 28.Bd2 Rd7 29.Be1 a5 30.a3 g6 31.b4 axb4 32.axb4 Be7 33.Rc8+ Kg7 34.Rc6 Rd1 35.Ke2 Rd4 36.Rxe6 fxe6 37.Bc3 Bf6 38.Bxd4 Bxd4 39.Bc2 Kf6 40.Be4 Kg7 41.Bd3 Kf6 42.Be4 Kg7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, August 24
Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 g6 7.O-O Bg7 8.Re1 O-O 9.Bf1 Nc6 10.Nb3 b5 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Bg4 14.f3 Be6 15.Bf2 d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.c3 b4 19.Nc5 Qxd1 20.Rexd1 bxc3 21.bxc3 Bf5 22.Bxa6 Bxc3 23.Bb7 Nb4 24.Bxa8 Rxa8 25.a4 Bxa1 26.Rxa1 f6 27.a5 Bc8 28.h3 Kf7 29.Rb1 Na6 30.Ne4 Rb8 31.Rc1 Bd7 32.Bd4 h5 33.Bb6 Rc8 34.Rxc8 Bxc8 35.Nc5 Nxc5 36.Bxc5 h4 37.Bb4 Ba6 38.Bc5 Bc8 39.Bb4 Ba6 40.Bc5 Bc8 1/2-1/2

Round 7, August 24
Ding, Liren – Anand, Vishy
E00 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.a4 a5 10.Na3 Bd6 11.Ne1 Re8 12.Nd3 e5 13.cxd5 e4 14.Nf4 cxd5 15.Nb5 Bb8 16.Rac1 Ra6 17.Bh3 Rc6 18.Qb3 Nb6 19.Bxa5 Bxh3 20.Nxh3 Qc8 21.Kg2 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Qxc1 23.Bxb6 e3 24.f3 h5 25.Ba5 h4 26.gxh4 Qc6 27.Be1 Nh5 28.Bg3 Qc4 29.Qxc4 dxc4 30.Ng5 Nf6 31.Na3 Bxg3 32.hxg3 Ra8 33.Nxc4 Rxa4 34.Nxe3 Rxd4 35.Kf2 Nd5 36.Nf5 Rb4 37.h5 Rxb2 38.h6 f6 39.Ne4 gxh6 40.Nxh6+ Kf8 41.Nf5 b5 42.Ne3 Nb6 43.Ke1 b4 44.Kd1 Na4 45.Nd5 f5 46.Nd2 b3 47.e4 fxe4 48.fxe4 Kf7 49.g4 Nc5 50.Nb4 Ke6 51.Kc1 Na4 52.g5 Ke7 53.Nc6+ Kf7 54.Nd4 Kg6 55.N4xb3 Ra2 56.Nf3 Nc3 57.Nbd2 Rxd2 58.Kxd2 Nxe4+ 59.Ke3 Nxg5 60.Nxg5 1/2-1/2

Position after 44. Kd1





Standings after Round Seven

1-3 Caruana, Ding, Anand 4
4-9 Carlsen, MVL, So, Nepo, Mamedyarov, Karjakin 3.5
10-12 Giri, Aronian, Nakamura 3

[Ian Findlay]

Sinquefield Cup 2019

August 23, 2019

Round Six

The English Chess Forum has been examining a couple of the endings so far. For Nepo-Nakamura, Chris Rice has remarked that the ending has shown up before in two famous games:

Position after Black’s 57….b4



Nepo-Nakamura, Sinquefield Cup 2019, Round 5


Position after White’s 83.Kd5



Capablanca-Janowski, Rice Memorial Round 3, New York 1916

and


Position after White’s 86.Bb6



Taimanov-Fischer, Buenos Aires Round 9, 1960

https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic...10357&start=30

_____________

I am pretty sure I remember seeing the 2 aforementioned games in a book on Bishop Endgames by Averbach. The secret being for the player without the pawn to attack the pawn from behind.
I also remember reading that Fischer played the ending very quickly as he had just seen this ending analysed in a Russian magazine. That might have been while the game was adjourned.

[Hans Jung]

The Magnus - Ding game in rd 8 had me glued to my screen but the checkmate for Magnus turned out to be elusive. Fascinating nonetheless. Many interesting variations.

[Hans Jung]

Karjakhin-MVL game ended with pawn checkmate. Very sporting of MVL.

[Wayne Komer]

Sinquefield Cup 2019

August 25, 2019

Round Eight

In the Petrosian Memorial Tournament 1999, there were 42 draws in the 45 games. The players: Ivkov, Portisch, Taimanov, Spassky, Smyslov, Hort, Balashov, Tseshkovsky, Gligoric and Larsen.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=80793

In the last round, this was the position after White’s last move 26. gxh4 in Ding-Anand:



ChessBase had this to say about Anand’s reply of 26…Qc6:

“Looks strange to me” said Nakamura about the move.

This position was analysed by many of the participants of the tournament (who came to the studio to analyse their own games) as well as commentators including Maurice Ashley, Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, Cristian Chirila and Alejandro Ramirez, all of whom found the winning move 26...Ne4!! at varying speed. Especially striking was the analysis of Nakamura who found the move in about 20 seconds of thinking out loud. The underlying point is that, white cannot capture 27.fxe4 Rxe4 28.Qxd5 Rxh4 29.Kf3 Qh1+ winning. If white doesn't capture the knight, for example against 27.Qxd5, he continues 27...Nd2 28.Bxd2 exd2 and he wins in a variety of ways.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/sinque...p-2019-round-7


Round 8, August 25
Caruana, Fabiano – Anand, Vishy
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 b6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Qxd5 9.a3 Ba6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.b4 Bd6 12.Bg3 Nb8 13.Qd3 b5 14.e4 Qb7 15.d5 exd5 16.e5 Be7 17.Nd4 a5 18.Nf5 Re8 19.Nxe7+ Rxe7 20.O-O Nd7 21.Qc3 axb4 22.axb4 Rc8 23.Rfc1 c6 24.f4 f6 25.Bf2 Qc7 26.Ra7 Qd8 27.Qh3 fxe5 28.fxe5 Rc7 29.Ra3 Nxe5 30.Bb6 Qc8 31.Bxc7 Qxh3 32.Rxh3 Rxc7 33.Re1 Nc4 34.Rf3 h6 35.Re6 c5 36.bxc5 Rxc5 37.h4 Nd2 38.Rd3 Ne4 39.Rb6 Kh7 40.g4 Rc1+ 41.Kg2 Rc2+ 42.Kg1 Rc1+ 43.Kg2 Rc2+ 44.Kg1 Rc1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 8, August 25
Carlsen, Magnus – Ding, Liren
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 b6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Qxd5 9.a3 Ba6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.b4 Bd6 12.Bg3 Nb8 13.Qd3 b5 14.e4 Qb7 15.d5 exd5 16.e5 Be7 17.Nd4 a5 18.Nf5 Re8 19.Nxe7+ Rxe7 20.O-O Nd7 21.Qc3 axb4 22.axb4 Rc8 23.Rfc1 c6 24.f4 f6 25.Bf2 Qc7 26.Ra7 Qd8 27.Qh3 fxe5 28.fxe5 Rc7 29.Ra3 Nxe5 30.Bb6 Qc8 31.Bxc7 Qxh3 32.Rxh3 Rxc7 33.Re1 Nc4 34.Rf3 h6 35.Re6 c5 36.bxc5 Rxc5 37.h4 Nd2 38.Rd3 Ne4 39.Rb6 Kh7 40.g4 Rc1+ 41.Kg2 Rc2+ 42.Kg1 Rc1+ 43.Kg2 Rc2+ 44.Kg1 Rc1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 8, August 25
Karjakin, Sergey – MVL
D86 Grunfeld, Exchange, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O b6 11.dxc5 Qc7 12.Nd4 Ne5 13.Nb5 Qb8 14.Bd5 Ng4 15.g3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 a6 17.Nd4 bxc5 18.Rb1 Qa7 19.Nc6 Qc7 20.Nxe7+ Qxe7 21.Bxa8 Bh3 22.Bd5 Bxf1 23.Qxf1 Bxc3 24.Qxa6 Qg5 25.Qe2 Kh8 26.Kg2 f5 27.Qd3 Be5 28.Rf1 Kg7 29.exf5 Rxf5 30.a4 Rxf1 31.Kxf1 Bd4 32.Bc4 Bxe3 33.Qd7+ Kh6 34.Qh3+ Kg7 35.Qe6 Bd4 36.Qf7+ Kh6 37.a5 Bf6 38.Kg2 Qd2+ 39.Kh3 Qg5 40.Qf8+ Bg7 41.Qf3 Bd4 42.a6 Qe7 43.Qa8 Bf6 44.a7 Qd7+ 45.g4 Qe7 46.Qf3 Qxa7 47.Qxf6 Qa3+ 48.Bd3 Qxd3+ 49.Kh4 Qd4 50.Qf8+ Qg7 51.g5# 1-0

Mate



Round 8, August 25
Nepo, Ian – Aronian, Levon
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 a6 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Bb3 O-O 9.h3 Re8 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Ba4 b5 12.Bc2 h6 13.Nf1 d5 14.exd5 Bxd5 15.Ng3 Nh7 16.a4 Nf8 17.b4 Ng6 18.Be3 Bxe3 19.fxe3 Qd7 20.Nd2 Nce7 21.Nb3 Qc6 22.Qd2 Nh4 23.e4 Qg6 24.Kh2 Bc6 25.Nc5 f5 26.exf5 Nexf5 27.Nge4 Bd5 28.Re2 Rad8 29.Rf1 Nd6 30.Qe1 Nhf5 31.a5 Rf8 32.Ref2 Rf7 33.Rf3 h5 34.Nxa6 h4 35.Nac5 Rdf8 36.Kg1 Qh6 37.Qc1 Ne3 38.Rxf7 Rxf7 39.Rxf7 Kxf7 40.Qe1 Nxc2 41.Qf2+ Ke8 42.Qxc2 Bxe4 43.Nxe4 Nxe4 44.dxe4 Qe3+ 45.Kf1 Qf4+ 46.Qf2 Qc1+ 47.Qe1 Qf4+ 48.Kg1 Kd8 49.Qf2 Qc1+ 50.Kh2 Qxc3 51.a6 Ke8 52.Qxh4 Qa3 53.Qh5+ Kf8 54.Qf3+ 1-0

Round 8, August 25
Nakamura, Hikaru – So, Wesley
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 b6 7.Rc1 Bb7 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.a3 c5 11.Bc4 Qd8 12.O-O Bf6 13.dxc5 Bxb2 14.Rb1 Qxd1 15.Rfxd1 Bxa3 16.Bd6 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Rc8 18.cxb6 axb6 19.Bxa3 Rxa3 20.Rxb6 Rc3 21.Rbd6 Kf8 22.Rd8+ Rxd8 23.Rxd8+ Ke7 24.Rxb8 Rxc4 25.f4 Rc7 26.Ra8 Rd7 27.Rb8 Rc7 28.Ra8 Rd7 29.Rb8 Rc7 1/2-1/2

Round 8, August 25
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Giri, Anish
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 g6 8.Ne5 Bg7 9.f4 Nd7 10.h4 Qe7 11.Qc2 O-O 12.O-O-O Nxe5 13.fxe5 Bd7 14.g4 f6 15.Qxg6 fxe5 16.Bd3 e4 17.Nxe4 Be8 18.Nf6+ Rxf6 19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.g5 hxg5 21.hxg5 Rf7 22.Qh3 Rd8 23.g6 Rf6 24.Qh8+ Bxh8 25.Rxh8+ Kg7 26.Rh7+ Kf8 27.Rh8+ Kg7 28.Rh7+ Kf8 29.Rh8+ 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Eight

1-5 Caruana, Ding, Nepo, Anand, Karjakin 4.5
6-8 Carlsen, So, Mamedyarov 4
9-11 Giri, MVL, Nakamura 3.5
12 Aronian 3

[Hans Jung]

In the Ding Liren-Vishy Anand game quoted from chessbase above: 26...Ne4 27.fxe4 Rxe4 28.Qd5 they give Rxh4. Much clearer is 28...Rg4+ forcing 29.Kf3 and then Qh1+ wins the queen.

26...Ne4 is a breakthru sacrifice but (maybe) not easy to see at first because if declined the knight doesnt seem to have anywhere to go. Its only on understanding that 27...Nd2 produces winning threats that one realizes that Ne4 must be played. Its the only good breakthru. A little more thought and Vishy Anand would have found it. The move is much easier to find when the position is presented and you know somethings there but in game situation its entirely different. However the move Vishy Anand chose (Qc6) doesnt do much and surely he couldnt have been satisfied with it. It was definitely time to burn the clock and find a good move.

[Brad Thomson]

I enjoyed what Anish Giri had to say about draws. If the game is good with a fight, then who cares if it is a draw? Maurice Ashley strongly disagreed. But I have never understood this attitude. When we watch a hockey game, or any other sporting competition, we hope to see great play, not blunders. Why should it be any different in chess? Why do most chess fans root for blunders?

[Hans Jung]

Hi Brad, Have you taken a look at the live stream chatting of the fans recently at Sinquefeld? It seems like anyone with a computer engine can be a fan now. There are some thought out posts but the majority are boisterous posters and lets say emotionally charged. I fear there is a lack of chess culture out there. I for one am happy to see well played draws with substance to them but I appreciate well played endgames (cant say Im in the majority). I object to the grandmaster draw which is just X number of moves of theory followed by peace signed with no further independent thought or continuation on the board. A well played draw is good to see.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2019...mniachtchi_Ian Now thats how to do it. 132 moves and lead with your king. Nepo has got my vote to win the tournament.

[Hans Jung]

Although Ding won a very nice game against Fab Fabi and is tied for first with Nepo.