Five Tied for Lead in Sinquefield Cup

Heading into its final days, the 2019 Sinquefield Cup is lined up for a potential “photo finish,” with five players tied for the lead at 4.5/8 as today’s ninth round gets underway.
courtesy STLCC
Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin, Ding Liren, and Ian Nepomniachtchi are all at +1 after eight rounds in a tightly compressed leaderboard. Three players – Magnus Carlsen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and Wesley So – trail by just a half-point with even scores. Here’s a look back at Rounds 6, 7, and 8. Included are notes to two games from IM Bryce Tiglon, annotated exclusively for CLO.
photo John Hartmann
Tiglon recently took the 2019 Denker Tournament of High School Champions title on tiebreaks, and he tied for shared 4th-8th place at the 2019 U.S. Open with 7/9. This is his first authorial appearance for Chess Life Online. Round 6
courtesy STLCC
Friday’s Round 6 saw another six-for-six set of draws, although once more it wasn’t for lack of trying. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave sacrificed two exchanges in an effort to defeat Fabiano Caruana, but the American navigated the intensely complex middlegame before giving back one exchange to ensure the draw. Afterwards MVL told Maurice Ashley that he’d had the key position after 21.c4 on the board at the hotel 30 minutes before the round started!

[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.23"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2818"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

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 (21. Qe2 Bh6 22. Qc4 Qd2+ 23. Kh1 Bf4 24. Qc8+ Ke7 25. Qxb7+ Nd7 26.
Rxf4 Qxf4 {1/2-1/2 (26) Tiemann,C (2403)-Savoca,A (2447) GER email 2017}) 21...
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

[/pgn]
Viswanathan Anand got what appeared to be a winning position against Anish Giri, but let the win slip in the endgame. A crestfallen Anand was bereft of words in his interview with Maurice Ashley, such was his disappointment in the half-point squandered.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.23"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2756"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

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

[/pgn]
Round 7
courtesy STLCC
Anand’s profligacy continued in Round 7, when he was unable to convert a tricky ending in his game with Ding Liren. Bryce Tiglon analyzes the game for CLO.

[pgn]

[Event "Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.24"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2756"]
[Annotator "Tiglon"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.24"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 {The Catalan has been Ding's primary weapon of choice
against Nf6-e6 setups throughout his career.} Bb4+ {Anand attempts to
transpose into well-known territories that often occur via 3. Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+.
} 4. Bd2 {Ding obliges.} ({The alternative was} 4. Nd2 {where I invite the
readers to check out} c5 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 cxd4 7. Nf3 d5 8. cxd5 e5 $1) 4...
Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 c6 9. a4 {This is all quite normal.
The main line here is 9.Rd1 b6 10.Bf4. However, white has been struggling to
demonstrate any advantage. Hence, Ding opts for something less common.} a5 10.
Na3 Bd6 ({In 2017, Ding chose the more rambunctious} 10... Ne4 {with black
against Boris Gelfand.}) 11. Ne1 Re8 $1 $146 {A great novelty!} ({One idea is
that after the previously played} 11... Qe7 12. Nd3 e5 13. cxd5 {,} e4 14. Nf4
cxd5 15. Nb5 Bb8 {is not so great due to} 16. b4 $1 {when white's Bishop will
likely hit the a3-f8 diagonal with devastating effect. Note: Tomashevsky chose
13.Nxd5 against Gelfand two years ago.}) 12. Nd3 e5 13. cxd5 e4 14. Nf4 cxd5
15. Nb5 Bb8 {Here, the a3-f8 diagonal is empty! Anand now has a comfortable
position.} 16. Rac1 $6 {My engine indicates that this might be the first
inaccuracy.} (16. Rfc1 {is the machine's choice with the point being that
after} Ra6 {white has the f1 square for his Bishop} 17. Bf1 {and now any h6-g5
plans can be met with a knight-manuever through g2. For instance,} h6 18. Ng2
Nf8 19. Bf4 {The position is fairly balanced.}) 16... Ra6 ({The immediate}
16... h6 {preparing a future g5 was also worth considering, but the a8-rook
belongs on a6 regardless.}) 17. Bh3 $2 {This is definitely a mistake. Ding
likely wanted to try to reposition his f4 knight on g2 as in the 15.Rfc1 line,
however here the tactics favor black.} Rc6 18. Qb3 Nb6 $1 $19 {After the game,
Ding admitted that he had missed this move and that he felt black was now
already winning.} 19. Bxa5 $2 (19. Bxc8 {was best according to the computer,
but black is winning nonetheless} Qxc8 20. Rxc6 bxc6 21. Na3 Bxf4 22. Bxf4 Qh3
23. f3 exf3 24. Qxf3 Nxa4 $19) 19... Bxh3 20. Nxh3 Qc8 $1 {Here, the computer
gives an evaluation of roughly -4.5 pawns!} 21. Kg2 Rxc1 $5 (21... Nc4 $1 22.
Bb4 Ng4 {is already crushing with Rh6 to follow.}) 22. Rxc1 Qxc1 23. Bxb6 e3
24. f3 h5 25. Ba5 h4 26. gxh4 $2 Qc6 $2 {Anand misses his second chance to
finish the game.} (26... Ne4 $1 {is simply lights out e.g.} 27. fxe4 Rxe4 28.
Nc7 Bxc7 29. Bxc7 Qxc7 $19) 27. Be1 Nh5 $5 (27... Qc1 $1 {attempting to return
to the previous position is best.}) 28. Bg3 Qc4 {Now the worst for White has
past.} (28... Qg6 {doesn't work.} 29. Ng5 Nxg3 30. hxg3 f6 31. Qxd5+ Kf8 32.
Qc5+ Kg8 33. Qd5+ {white is okay.}) 29. Qxc4 dxc4 30. Ng5 Nf6 31. Na3 Bxg3 $15
{Black is certainly pushing, but there's still a lot of work to be done.} 32.
hxg3 Ra8 33. Nxc4 Rxa4 34. Nxe3 (34. Ne5 {might be more stubborn with the idea
of planting a Knight on d3.}) 34... Rxd4 $19 35. Kf2 Nd5 36. Nf5 Rb4 37. h5
Rxb2 38. h6 {White now threatens h7 and mate!} f6 $1 {black is careful.} 39.
Ne4 gxh6 40. Nxh6+ Kf8 41. Nf5 b5 42. Ne3 Nb6 43. Ke1 b4 $1 {Anand is making
all the right moves and is now inching closer to winning the game for a third
time!} 44. Kd1 Na4 $2 {Unfortunately a large step in the wrong direction.
Anand lets Ding back into the game.} (44... b3 $1 {should be just winning.} 45.
Nd2 Kf7 46. g4 Kg6 $19 {It's strange, but white has no constructive moves!} 47.
f4 Kf7 48. g5 fxg5 49. fxg5 Kf8 $3 {Simply brilliant! Any other move would
have allowed a strong knight jump. For instance, if the Black knight moves,
white will play Nec4! winning the b-pawn. If the king moves to either e7 or g7,
White will play Nf5+ and then pick up the b-pawn after Nd4. If the king goes
to e8, g8, or g6, White will play Ng4! threatening both a saving check AND the
maneuever Nf2 to d3, winning the b-pawn once more.} ({Finally if} 49... Ke6 {
, then} 50. g6 Kf6 51. Ne4+ Kxg6 52. Nc3 $1 {and the rook is lost in view of
Kc1!}) 50. g6 ({After 49.Kf8!!, white can only move the g-pawn.} 50. Ng4 {
is impossible since the black king can not be checked, and} Nd5 51. Nf2 Nc3+
52. Ke1 Rxd2 {is game over.}) 50... Kg8 $1 51. g7 Kh7 $1 $19) 45. Nd5 $1 {
Ding seizes his chance.} f5 46. Nd2 $1 {A fantastic defensive construction!
Now Anand's task is extremely difficult, if not impossible.} b3 47. e4 fxe4 48.
fxe4 Kf7 49. g4 Nc5 50. Nb4 $1 {The black rook is now trapped!} Ke6 51. Kc1 Na4
52. g5 ({The cheeky} 52. e5 {is also possible as} Kxe5 $2 {is met by} 53. Nc4+)
52... Ke7 (52... Kf7 {was the last try, but after} 53. e5 Kf8 54. e6 Ke7 55.
Nc6+ Kxe6 56. Nd4+ Kd5 57. N4xb3 {the game should still be drawn.}) 53. Nc6+
Kf7 54. Nd4 Kg6 55. N4xb3 {The game is now completely drawn.} Ra2 56. Nf3 Nc3
57. Nbd2 Rxd2 {and Anand calls it a day.} 58. Kxd2 Nxe4+ 59. Ke3 Nxg5 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]
After admitting to Maurice Ashley that he needed to make his move soon after Round 6, Magnus Carlsen tried to break his draw streak with a sharp idea in the Grunfeld against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Nepomniachtchi was up to the task, and the game was drawn in 34 moves.
photo Austin Fuller
[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.24"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2882"]
[BlackElo "2774"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

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

[/pgn]
The draw trend continued in Round 7, with all six games drawn for the fourth time in the tournament. Should this trouble chess fans? Or do all the interesting ideas and fighting chess make up for the lack of decisive results? Anish Giri is clearly in the second camp. https://twitter.com/GrandChessTour/status/1165390639548092416 Is chess just hard? CLO welcomes reader perspectives in the comments to this article. https://twitter.com/GrandChessTour/status/1165710760338763776 Round 8
courtesy STLCC
Sergey Karjakin and Ian Nepomniachtchi broke through with key victories in Round 8 to claim their shares of the lead.

Karjakin took advantage of an error in the opening by Vachier-Lagrave to win a nice game that is annotated by Bryce Tiglon.
[pgn]

[Event "Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.25"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D87"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[Annotator "Tiglon"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.24"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {The Grunfeld defense! Of course, since MVL only
plays the Grunfeld against 1.d4, this is hardly a surprise for Karjakin.} 4.
cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 {Karjakin curiously repeats this
topical main line against MVL, the same line in which he managed to beat the
frenchman last year in Norway Chess 2018. But, does he really expect to catch
MVL in opening preparation once more? Apparently so.} c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O
10. O-O b6 {MVL likes to play this move.} ({But there are several worthy
alternatives:} 10... Qc7) (10... Bg4) (10... cxd4) 11. dxc5 Qc7 12. Nd4 Ne5 13.
Nb5 Qb8 {This is all pretty forcing. We're still following Karjakin's game
with Vachier-Lagrave from Norway Chess 2018.} 14. Bd5 $5 {This however, is a
very rare move.} ({The previous encounter between Karjakin and MVL continued}
14. Be2 bxc5 15. Rb1 a6 16. Na3 Qc7 17. f4 Rd8 18. Qc2 Ng4 19. Bxg4 Bxg4 20. f5
gxf5 21. Nc4 e6 22. h3 Bh5 23. exf5 exf5 24. Bg5 f4 25. Qf2 f3 26. Bxd8 Rxd8
27. Qh4 fxg2 28. Rfe1 Bf3 29. Re3 Bc6 30. Rbe1 Rf8 31. Ne5 Bd5 32. Rg3 f6 33.
Nd3 Bxa2 34. c4 Qd6 35. Nf4 Qd4+ 36. Kh2 Bxc4 37. Qh6 f5 38. Nh5) 14... Ng4 15.
g3 Nxe3 16. fxe3 a6 {It should be noted that Maxime has had this position
before against Boris Gelfand, but with the White pieces! Perhaps he thinks
this is the best way for White to play against his favorite defense?} 17. Nd4 (
17. Bxf7+ {was MVL's choice against Gelfand. But after} Kh8 18. Nd4 bxc5 19.
Bd5 Rxf1+ 20. Qxf1 cxd4 21. Rb1 Qa7 22. Qf7 Be6 23. Qxe6 dxc3 24. Bxa8 Qxe3+
25. Kg2 Qe2+ 26. Kh3 Qh5+ 27. Kg2 Qe2+ {, the game was drawn.}) 17... bxc5 $6 (
{The immediate} 17... Bh3 18. Bxa8 Bxf1 19. Kxf1 Qxa8 20. cxb6 Qxe4 {is just
equal accoriding to the engine.}) 18. Rb1 {It seems now MVL is under quite
some pressure. The thing about the Grunfeld opening is that even one wrong
move is rarely okay.} Qa7 $2 (18... Qc7 19. Bxa8 cxd4 20. cxd4 Bh3 21. Bd5 Bxf1
22. Qxf1 Bh6 23. Qd3 {was a better alternative. Here, at least white doesn't
get any passed pawns yet.}) 19. Nc6 Qc7 20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21. Bxa8 Bh3 22. Bd5
Bxf1 23. Qxf1 Bxc3 24. Qxa6 {But now, after a relatively forced sequence of
moves, white's a-pawn should give him very good chances.} Qg5 25. Qe2 Kh8 26.
Kg2 f5 $6 {Dynamic strikes like this one are very common in the Grunfeld,
however it doesn't help here. With fewer pieces on the board, White's a-pawn
becomes increasingly dangerous.} 27. Qd3 $1 {The best reaction.} Be5 28. Rf1 {
Karjakin knows what he is aiming for. If he can trade rooks, it seems the
a-pawn should decide.} Kg7 29. exf5 Rxf5 30. a4 Rxf1 31. Kxf1 {I'm sure
Karjakin was happy with his chances here. It's always good to be able to push
for a win freely with absolutely no risk!} Bd4 {A clever move, but objectively
this shouldn't change much.} 32. Bc4 (32. exd4 $2 Qxd5 $1 {Of course, this is
black's point. With the d-pawn falling the game is now drawn.}) 32... Bxe3 {
MVL grabs his pawn back, but unfortunately this isn't going to help. His
c-pawn remains in the way, blockaded by the bishop on c4.} 33. Qd7+ $1 {
Putting the queen on a great square. Now all Karjakin has to do is avoid
perpetuals.} Kh6 34. Qh3+ Kg7 35. Qe6 {With the queen on e6 and bishop on c4,
White's king can now safely head over to h3.} Bd4 36. Qf7+ Kh6 37. a5 Bf6 38.
Kg2 {Karjakin decides to be safe.} Qd2+ 39. Kh3 Qg5 40. Qf8+ Bg7 41. Qf3 {
A perpetual check just isn't going to happen.} Bd4 42. a6 Qe7 43. Qa8 $1 {
A star move. Karjakin understands that there are no checking pattens against
his king, and now the a-pawn will seal his opponent's fate.} Bf6 44. a7 Qd7+
45. g4 Qe7 46. Qf3 $1 {It's mate in 9 now according to the engines.} Qxa7 47.
Qxf6 Qa3+ 48. Bd3 $1 {The final touch. Black's king is just getting mated on
h6.} Qxd3+ 49. Kh4 Qd4 50. Qf8+ Qg7 51. g5# {A beautiful victory by Karjakin!
It seemed MVL made only one or two inaccuracies, but unfortunately at the
highest level, sometimes this is all it takes.} 1-0

[/pgn]

Nepomniachtchi had a decent advantage against Levon Aronian before Aronian slipped with 30…Nhf5. After that, Nepo ratcheted up his edge and took the game in 54 moves.
[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.25"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2774"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

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

[/pgn]
Magnus Carlsen came loaded for bear in his game with Ding Liren, sacrificing multiple pawns in a frantic effort to mate his opponent. But Ding cooly defended, and soon it was Carlsen who had to begin to think about navigating his way to the draw.
photo Justin Kellar
[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.25"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E21"]
[WhiteElo "2882"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. Rc1 h6 7. Bh4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 d5 9. cxd5 g5 10. Bg3 Qxd5 11. e3 Qxa2 12. Qc2 Nd5 13. h4 Nxc3 14. bxc3
Qxc2 15. Rxc2 Be7 16. hxg5 hxg5 17. f4 Nc6 18. fxg5 Bxg5 19. Rh5 f6 20. Nf3
Bxe3 21. Re2 Bc1 22. Re4 e5 23. Bc4+ Kg7 24. Reh4 Kg6 25. Rh7 Bg4 26. Bd3+ f5
27. Nxe5+ Nxe5 28. Bxe5 Kg5 29. g3 Rg8 30. Rxb7 Rae8 31. Rb5 Rg6 32. Kf2 Rb6
33. Rxb6 axb6 34. Rh1 Rxe5 35. Rxc1 f4 36. gxf4+ Kxf4 37. Rb1 Rc5 38. Rb4+ Kg5
39. Rxb6 Rxc3 40. Ke3 Bf5 41. Rd6 Rxd3+ 42. Rxd3 Bxd3 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]
Today’s Pairings
courtesy STLCC
 

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