Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Takes Sinquefield Cup

The Sinquefield Cup ended with a thrilling victory by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. This paved the way to a clear victory for the Frenchman, as his main rivals Levon Aronian and Vishy Anand could not catch up.

[pgn]

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2017.08.11"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2789"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "France"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]
[WhiteClock "0:31:32"]
[BlackClock "1:14:59"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bg5
Nbd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nd2 Nc5 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nc4 Be7 13. a5 Rb8 14. Nb6 Nd7 15.
Ncd5 Nxb6 16. Nxb6 Be6 17. Bc4 Qc7 18. Qd3 Bd8 19. c3 Qc6 20. Bd5 Qe8 21. Bxe6
Qxe6 22. Nd5 f5 23. O-O Rc8 24. Rfd1 fxe4 25. Qxe4 Qf5 26. Qe2 Kh8 27. c4 Bh4
28. g3 Bg5 29. Ra3 Rce8 30. h4 Bd8 31. b4 Qg6 32. h5 Qf5 33. Ne3 Qe6 34. Rad3
Be7 35. Nd5 Bd8 36. Rf3 Rxf3 37. Qxf3 Kg8 38. Kg2 e4 39. Qe2 Qe5 40. Ne3 Bg5
41. Rd5 Qf6 42. Nf5 Re6 43. c5 dxc5 44. Qc4 Qf7 45. Rxc5 h6 46. Rc8+ Kh7 47. g4
Re7 48. Qd4 Re6 49. Qd5 g6 50. hxg6+ Kxg6 51. Rf8 Qxf8 52. Qxe6+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Vishy Anand could only draw with Wesley So with Black, all but eliminating his chances for the Cup. Magnus Carlsen won a precise game against Levon Aronian, ending the Armenian's dreams of becoming the first repeat victor of the Cup, and leaving The World Champion a half point behind Maxime.

[pgn]

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2017.08.11"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2822"]
[BlackElo "2799"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]
[WhiteClock "0:26:16"]
[BlackClock "0:19:25"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
b4 9. a5 d6 10. d3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nbd2 Rb8 13. c3 Qe8 14. Nc4 Qg6 15. h3
Nd7 16. Be3 d5 17. Ncd2 bxc3 18. bxc3 Nc5 19. Bxc5 Bxc5 20. Qa4 Rb2 21. Rf1 Na7
22. Nxe5 Qh6 23. Ndf3 Nb5 24. Rae1 Nxc3 25. Qc6 Bb4 26. Kh1 dxe4 27. dxe4 Ne2
28. Rb1 Rxb1 29. Rxb1 Bd6 30. Qxa6 Nf4 31. Qb5 c5 32. a6 Bxe5 33. Nxe5 Qg5 34.
Ng4 h5 35. Ne3 Nxg2 36. Nxg2 Rxf2 37. Rg1 Kh7 38. Qd3 Qe5 39. Qe3 Ra2 40. Qf4
Qc3 41. Ne3 Qf6 42. Qxf6 gxf6 43. Rc1 Rxa6 44. Kg2 Ra2+ 45. Rc2 Ra5 46. Kf3 Kg6
47. h4 Rb5 48. Ra2 Rb1 49. Rc2 Rb5 50. Rc3 f5 51. exf5+ exf5 52. Rd3 1-0

[/pgn]

Carlsen's clash with MVL earlier in the tournament turned out to be fateful.

[pgn][Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"][Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2017.08.05"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "2822"]
[BlackElo "2791"]
[PlyCount "142"]
[EventDate "2017.08.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2017.08.07"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bf5
8. Nd2 Nc6 9. e4 Bg6 10. Bb5 Rc8 11. h4 h5 12. Re1 e6 13. a4 Be7 14. g3 O-O 15.
a5 Rfd8 16. a6 b6 17. Kc2 Ne5 18. f4 Ng4 19. Kb3 f6 20. Nc4 Nf2 21. e5 Ne4 22.
Be3 Bf5 23. Rg1 Rd5 24. Rae1 Kf7 25. Bc1 Bh7 26. Re3 Rcd8 27. Bc6 Nf2 28. Re2
Nd3 29. exf6 gxf6 30. Bb5 Rg8 31. Bd2 Rgd8 32. Be3 Be4 33. Rd2 Rg8 34. Ka4 Rgd8
35. Kb3 Rg8 36. Ka2 f5 37. Rh2 Rc8 38. Rd2 Rg8 39. Re2 Bf3 40. Rh2 Bf6 41. Nd2
Bg4 42. Rf1 Rgd8 43. Nc4 e5 44. fxe5 Bxe5 45. Bg5 Bxg3 46. Rg2 Bh3 47. Rxg3
Bxf1 48. Rf3 Be2 49. Bxd8 Bxf3 50. Bxb6 axb6 51. Bc6 Be4 52. a7 Rd8 53. Nd6+
Rxd6 54. Bxe4 Rd8 55. a8=Q Rxa8+ 56. Bxa8 Ne5 57. Kb3 f4 58. Kc2 Kg7 59. Kd2
Ng6 60. Kd3 Nxh4 61. Ke4 f3 62. Ke3 Kf6 63. b4 c4 64. Bd5 Kf5 65. Bxc4 Kg4 66.
Kf2 Ng6 67. Be6+ Kf4 68. Bf7 Ne5 69. Bxh5 Nd3+ 70. Kf1 Kg3 71. Bf7 Nf2 0-1

[/pgn]

Congratulations all over the World poured in for the popular "MVL." https://twitter.com/LawrenceTrentIM/status/896147469569974273 https://twitter.com/chesscom/status/896135374128390144 https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/896151552808763392 Find more on the Grand Chess Tour website, including the Cup Chronicle. Also find archives of full shows in English and Spanish on the STL Chess Club YouTube channel. Next up in Saint Louis: The Rapids and Blitz (August 14-19), featuring the anticipated return of Garry Kasparov.