Halftime at the Sinquefield Cup

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the current tournament leader. Photo: Spectrum Studios

Entering round 6, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave currently leads the Sinquefield Cup with an undefeated 3.5 points out of 5 rounds. The tournament is far from over, though. The two most recent World Champions, Vishwanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen, trail MVL by just half a point. In addition, the entire field is within 1.5 points of the leader, leaving many possibilities for the finish. Here are a few of the most interesting tactical, positional, and endgame moments that have occurred in the event so far.

Puzzle #1

Levon Aronian vs. Fabiano Caruana

On the previous move, Aronian made a rare blunder, 33. Ke2. How did Caruana take advantage?

Black to move.

Level: Warm-Up, Tactic

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2017.08.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Levon Aronian"]
[Black "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2809"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r4/5pk1/1p4pp/2b1N3/8/1P4P1/4KPP1/4R3 b - - 0 33"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2017.07.31"]33... Bb4 $1 {Once the white rook is chased off the e-file, the black rook
pins and wins the e5-knight.} 34. Rc1 Re8 35. f4 f6 {And Caruana went on to
win a long game:} 36. Rc7+ Kh8 37. Rc6 fxe5 38. Rxb6 exf4+ 39. Kf3 Re3+ 40.
Kxf4 Bd2 41. Rxg6 Kh7 42. Kf5 Rxb3 43. Rd6 Bg5 44. Rd7+ Kg8 45. Kg4 Bf6 46. Kf5
Bg7 47. g4 Rb2 48. g3 Rb5+ 49. Ke4 Bf6 50. Rd3 Rb4+ 51. Kf3 Bg5 52. Rd5 Rb3+
53. Kg2 Kf7 54. Rd6 Ke7 55. Rc6 Rd3 56. Ra6 Rd6 57. Ra3 Ke6 58. Kf3 Ke5 59.
Ra5+ Rd5 60. Ra3 Kd4 61. Ra4+ Kd3 62. Ra3+ Kd2 63. Ra1 Rc5 64. Kf2 Rc2 65. Rb1
Bf6 66. Kg2 Ke3+ 67. Kh3 Kf2 68. Rb5 Re2 69. Rb6 Bg5 70. Rb5 Bd2 71. Kh2 Kf1+
72. Kh1 Re4 73. Rf5+ Ke2 74. Kg2 Rxg4 75. Rf2+ Kd3 76. Rf6 Rd4 77. Rf1 Ke4 78.
Rf8 Bg5 79. Rf1 Be3 80. Rf8 Rd2+ 81. Kh3 Bg1 82. Kg4 Ke5 83. Rf5+ Ke6 84. Rf1
Bd4 85. Rh1 Bg7 86. Kf3 Kf5 87. Rh5+ Kg6 88. Rb5 Rd3+ 89. Kf4 Bf8 90. Rb6+ Bd6+
91. Ke4 Rd1 92. Kf3 Kf5 93. Rb5+ Be5 94. Rb6 h5 95. Rh6 Kg5 96. Re6 Bd6 97. Re8
Rc1 98. Re6 Rd1 99. Re8 Rg1 100. Kf2 Rc1 101. Kf3 Kf5 102. Re3 Bc5 103. Rd3 Ke5
104. Rd2 Rc3+ 105. Kg2 Ke6 106. Kh3 Bd6 107. Kh4 Bxg3+ 108. Kxh5 Kf5 109. Rd5+
Be5 110. Kh4 Rc4+ 0-1[/pgn]

Carlsen is tied for 2nd and has had a very turbulent tournament so far, losing a better position against MVL but winning nice games against Wesley So and Sergey Karjakin. Photo: Lennart Ootes

Puzzle #2

Magnus Carlsen vs. Sergey Karjakin

The World Champion and Challenger face off once again. Carlsen has a significant advantage due to his better placed pieces and safer king. What quiet, maneuvering move led to Karjakin's resignation?

White to move.

Level: Intermediate, Positional Move

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "St. Louis MO USA"]
[Date "2017.08.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Black "Sergey Karjakin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A05"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5pk1/4b1q1/1p2PpNp/n2Q3P/3P2P1/6BK/8 w - - 0 42"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2017.08.02"]42. Nh3 $1 {The knight re-routes to the f4-outpost. The knight combined with
Bf3, and the h5-pawn will drop.} 1-0[/pgn]

Fabiano Caruana was in clear 2nd until his 5th round loss to Anand. Photo: Lennart Ootes

Puzzle #3

Levon Aronian vs. Fabiano Caruana (cont.)

Should Black aim for a rook trade in this endgame?

Black to move.

Level: Advanced, Endgame

Show Solution

Yes, a rook trade is winning for Black, even though he has a rook pawn and the wrong color bishop (usually a theoretical draw)---because White has two g-pawns. Black can create a zugzwang position where White is forced to sacrifice one of his g-pawns to the h6-pawn, allowing Black to change his h-pawn into a g-pawn and avoiding the "wrong color bishop and rook pawn" draw. Here's the goal position for Black:

[pgn][Event "Hypothetical Position"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/7p/8/3b2P1/6P1/7K/5k2 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "10"]1. Kh1 (1. Kh3 {loses to} Kg1 2. Kh4 Be3 3. Kh3 Kh1 4. Kh4 Kg2 5. Kh5 Kxg3 6.
Kg6 Kxg4 {and White's king will not be able to return to h1 corner to draw by blocking the pawn.}) 1... Bg1 {Since White has no king moves, he
must give up his g-pawn with g4, allowing Black to turn his wrong-color pawn
into a g-pawn, making the game an easy win.} 2. g5 hxg5 3. g4 Bc5 4. Kh2 Kf2 5.
Kh3 Kf3 *[/pgn]

After his tactical victory against Caruana, Anand is tied for 2nd. Photo: Lennart Ootes

Puzzle #4

Viswanathan Anand vs. Fabiano Caruana

White to move.

Level: Advanced, Tactic

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Fabiano Caruana"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r2k1/p5pp/2p2P2/1p5q/1P4b1/2BP2P1/P1RQr2P/5RK1 w - - 0 23"]
[PlyCount "6"]
[EventDate "2017.07.31"]23. f7+ $1 Kf8 24. Bxg7+ $3 Kxg7 25. Qc3+ Re5 $4 {How does White win from here? Continued in the next puzzle.} (25...
Qe5 {is better, but White is still winning:} 26. Rxe2 Qxc3 27. Re8 Qd4+ 28. Rf2
Qxb4 29. f8=Q+ Qxf8 30. Rfxf8 Rxd3 31. Rg8+ Kf7 32. Ref8+ Ke7 33. Ra8 Bf5 34.
Rxa7+)*[/pgn]

Puzzle #5

Viswanathan Anand vs. Fabiano Caruana (cont.)

White to move.

Level: Intermediate, Tactic

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2017.08.06"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r4/p4Pkp/2p5/1p2r2q/1P4b1/2QP2P1/P1R4P/5RK1 w - - 0 26"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2017.07.31"]26. Qd4 $3 {Threatening both the rook on d8 (which is tied to the defense of
the f8-square) and Rc5 to win the pinned e5-rook. Black has no defense.} Qg5
27. Rc5 Rxd4 28. f8=Q+ Kg6 29. Qf7+ 1-0[/pgn]

Watch the games live and enjoy engaging commentary by Yasser Seirawan, Jennifer Shahade, and Maurice Ashley on the Official Grand Chess Tour Website. The Sinquefield Cup runs from August 2-12 with rounds everyday at 1 P.M. CST (except for August 7, the rest day). Find updates, photos, and more on the US Chess Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, including live Twitter takeovers by IM Eric Rosen, which will resume with the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz starting on 8/14. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/894288694743576578 https://twitter.com/USChess/status/893904539140730882 https://twitter.com/USChess/status/894312313443975168