Nakamura and Mamedyarov Take Lead as Blitz Looms

Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (‎Azerbaijan) grabbed the lead at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz in the third day of play, both finishing with 12 out of a maximum 18 points (two points at stake in each rapid game). Fabiano Caruana entered the day in the lead, but he had a self described "blackout" moment in round seven against Leinier Dominguez. When Caruana played 54.Re7 in what should be a winning position (after 54.Rg3! ) he was relying on the "fake fork" of Nxf5+.Dominguez was "ready to take the rook", and revealed noticing Re7 prior in his post-game interview.

[pgn] [Event "St. Louis Rapid & Blitz GCT"] [Date "2018.08.13"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2739"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [EventType "blitz"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Cuba"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "CUB"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. h4 b6 12. h5 h6 13. g4 Bb7 14. Qe3 Nc6 15. a3 b5 16. Be2 a6 17. Rd1 Qa5+ 18. Kf1 f6 19. Rg1 Ne7 20. d5 exd5 21. exd5 Nxd5 22. Qe6+ Kh8 23. Nh4 Nf4 24. Qe7 Qc3 25. Qxb7 Qh3+ 26. Ng2 Nxe2 27. Kxe2 Qxg4+ 28. Qf3 Qc4+ 29. Qd3 Qg4+ 30. Kf1 Rad8 31. Qxd8 Rxd8 32. Rxd8+ Kh7 33. Ne3 Qxh5 34. Ra8 Qc5 35. Rb8 Qc7 36. Rf8 Qe7 37. Rc8 Qd7 38. Rc2 f5 39. f4 Qd4 40. Ke2 Qxf4 41. Rc5 Qh2+ 42. Rg2 Qh5+ 43. Kd2 Qf3 44. Rc7 h5 45. Rcxg7+ Kh8 46. Rg8+ Kh7 47. R2g7+ Kh6 48. Rg5 Qf4 49. R8g6+ Kh7 50. Rg7+ Kh8 51. Rg8+ Kh7 52. R5g7+ Kh6 53. Ke2 Qe4 54. Re7 Qxe7 0-1 [/pgn]

This game turned out to be quite fateful, as Mamedyarov and Nakamura both racked up points today, with key victories over MVL and Dominguez for Nakamura.

[pgn] [Event "St. Louis Rapid & Blitz GCT"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [EventType "blitz"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Be2 Ngf6 7. c4 g6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qe3 b6 11. Rd1 Bb7 12. Ng5 Qc7 13. f3 Rac8 14. Bd2 Ne5 15. b3 e6 16. Rac1 h6 17. Nh3 g5 18. Na4 Ned7 19. Bc3 Rfd8 20. Nf2 Nc5 21. Nxc5 bxc5 22. f4 gxf4 23. Qxf4 Qe7 24. Rd3 e5 25. Qh4 Rd7 26. Bf3 Kh7 27. Rf1 Rg8 28. Bd2 Bf8 29. Nh1 Nd5 30. Qxe7 Nxe7 31. Ng3 f5 32. exf5 Rxg3 33. hxg3 e4 34. Bg4 exd3 35. f6 Rc7 36. fxe7 Bxe7 37. Bf5+ Kg7 38. Bxd3 Rc8 39. Bc3+ Kg8 40. Bh7+ Kxh7 41. Rf7+ Kg8 42. Rxe7 Bc6 43. Re6 Rd8 44. Rxh6 Kf7 45. Be5 dxe5 46. Rxc6 Rd2 47. Rxa6 e4 48. a4 e3 49. Kf1 Rf2+ 50. Ke1 Rxg2 51. Rc6 Rxg3 52. Rxc5 Ke6 53. Rb5 Rg2 54. Rd5 Rb2 55. Rd3 e2 56. c5 Ke5 57. c6 Rc2 58. c7 Ke4 59. Rd8 Rxc7 60. Kxe2 Rc2+ 61. Kd1 Rb2 62. Rb8 Kd3 63. Kc1 Rh2 64. Rc8 Rg2 65. Kb1 Rh2 66. Rc5 Rg2 67. Rc4 Rh2 68. a5 1-0 [/pgn]

Shakhriyar defeated Karjakin in a beautiful game highlighted by 16.Bg6!, and followed it up with a win over Anand in the final round.

[pgn] [Event "St. Louis Rapid & Blitz GCT"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2773"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [EventType "blitz"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 Be7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. b3 b6 6. Bb2 Bb7 7. Qc2 c5 8. Ng5 h6 9. h4 Re8 10. O-O-O Nc6 11. a3 Kf8 12. Nh7+ Kg8 13. Ng5 Kf8 14. f4 Rc8 15. Bd3 d5 16. Bg6 hxg5 17. hxg5 Ng8 18. Bh7 Nf6 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. g4 Ke7 21. g5 Bxc3 22. dxc3 Rh8 23. cxd5 exd5 24. c4 d4 25. Qe4+ Kd6 26. exd4 Kc7 27. dxc5 Qe8 28. Bxg7 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "St. Louis Rapid & Blitz GCT"] [Date "2018.08.13"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2768"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [EventType "blitz"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bc5 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e3 Re8 6. Nge2 d6 7. O-O c6 8. b3 Bb6 9. Ba3 Bf5 10. d4 e4 11. h3 h6 12. g4 Bh7 13. Ng3 d5 14. h4 Bg6 15. Rc1 Bc7 16. f4 exf3 17. Qxf3 Nbd7 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. g5 hxg5 20. hxg5 Nh7 21. Nxd5 Nxg5 22. Qg4 Bxg3 23. Qxg3 Ne4 24. Qc7 Nb6 25. Ne7+ Rxe7 26. Bxe7 Qe8 27. Qxb7 Rb8 28. Qc7 Nd5 29. Qe5 Ndc3 30. Bxe4 Nxe4 31. Bh4 Qxe5 32. dxe5 Re8 33. Rc7 Rxe5 34. Rxa7 Rh5 35. Rf4 f6 36. Re7 Nc3 37. Rg4 Nd5 38. Ra7 1-0 [/pgn]

Mamedyarov called Nakamura the clear favorite going into the blitz portion, referring to the four-time US Chess Champion's legendary speed chess skills. Nakamura called it a nice compliment, and revealed that he is also paying close attention to Grand Chess Tour standings, where he is in excellent shape, having previously won the Paris leg. Watch the blitz action with 9 rounds a day on Tuesday-Wednesday starting at 1:50 ET with analysis from Maurice Ashley, Yasser Seirawan and Jennifer Shahade.