Three Tied for First as Sinquefield Resumes

The 2019 Sinquefield Cup resumes this afternoon after Thursday’s rest day, with three players sharing the lead heading into Round 6. Ding Liren defeated Anish Giri in Wednesday’s Round 5 to join Viswanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana in first place with 3 points. With only one point separating first and last place, and with the Saint Louis heatwave broken, there is still plenty of time for players to take their fates in their hands and climb the leaderboards. In today’s Round 6, key matchups include Nepomniachtchi-Ding and Anand-Giri. Nakamura takes White against Carlsen in a game that looks important for both players. Karjakin plays Aronian, Mamedyarov faces So, and Caruana has the White pieces against Vachier-Lagrave. Round 5 Ding’s win over Giri was a positional masterpiece. It appeared that Giri had made it out of the opening with a completely equal position, but a neat repositioning idea and some “small tactics” left Giri with an open king and Ding with a serious initiative. In the final position, and in a win for pawngrubbers everywhere, Ding took a trip to the “Yasser [Seirawan] school” and passed up a clear mating idea to grab a pawn and the game. https://twitter.com/GrandChessTour/status/1164304581616197632

[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.21"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

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 {Everything looks good for Giri thus far.} 22. dxc5 (22. Qb5 $5 b6 23.
Qa6 {tries to grab a pawn, but Black can respond with} cxd4 24. cxd4 Rxc1 25.
Rxc1 f4 $132) 22... Rxc5 23. Rd4 Bf7 24. Rcd1 Rdc8 {It looks like the isolated
c-pawn is going to fall, but White finds a very interesting regrouping idea.}
25. Bb5 g6 $6 (25... Rxc3 {fails to} 26. Bd7 {when Black's center begins to
crumble.}) (25... R8c7 26. Bd7 g6 27. Ba4 $11) 26. Ne2 Qf6 27. Ba4 Qe5 28. Bb3
$1 Nxb3 (28... Bxb3 $4 {loses to} 29. axb3 R5c6 30. Rd5 $18) (28... Nc4 29.
Bxc4 Bxc4 30. Rd8+ Rxd8 31. Rxd8+ Kf7 32. Qxb7+ Rc7 33. Rd7+ Rxd7 34. Qxd7+ $14
) 29. axb3 {No more isolated pawn!} R5c7 30. c4 a6 31. Nf4 b5 32. Nd5 Rc6 33.
c5 $1 {A nice idea, as the newly passed pawn can't be taken.} a5 (33... Rxc5 $2
34. Nb6 R8c7 (34... R8c6 35. Nd7) 35. Nd7) 34. b4 axb4 35. Qxb4 Rb8 (35... Rxc5
{still runs into} 36. Nb6) 36. Nb6 Be6 37. Nd7 {Forcing Black to give up the
bishop and loosening his kingside defenses.} Bxd7 38. Rd5 (38. Rxd7 {right
away is fine too.}) 38... Qe7 39. Rxd7 Qxc5 40. Qb3+ Qc4 41. Qb2 {The king
hunt is on.} Qc3 42. Qa2+ Rc4 43. g3 {Cool as you please, and with Giri tied
in knots, Ding takes time to avoid any back-rank threats.} Rbc8 44. R1d6 Kf8
45. Rxg6 b4 46. Rxh6 f4 47. gxf4 (47. Qd2 $1 {is quicker, with the idea of}
Qxd2 $2 48. Rh8# {, but just taking the pawn works too.}) 1-0

[/pgn]

Ian Nepomniachtchi kicked his tournament back into gear with a long technical win over Hikaru Nakamura. Nepomniachtchi found a sparkling series of moves to win a pawn in the late opening, but then gave it back by allowing Nakamura’s 23…Nxa2. Nakamura returned the favor (and the pawn) with his 27th move, reaching an objectively drawn ending whose defense was practically very difficult. https://twitter.com/GrandChessTour/status/1164306070493421571 After resisting stoutly for 20 moves, he slipped with 57…b4?, and with obvious loathing on his face, Nakamura resigned a few moves later.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.21"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2774"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "137"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

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 (13...
Bf6 14. Nf3 Qe7 15. h3 g6 16. Bb5 Bd7 17. Qxd5 Be6 18. Qe4 Bxb2 19. Bxc6 f5 20.
Bg5 fxe4 21. Bxe7 Bxc1 22. Bxb7 Bxe3 23. Bxf8 Rxf8 24. fxe3 exf3 25. Bxf3 {
½-½ (94) Carlsen,M (2822)-Nakamura,H (2792) Saint Louis 2017}) 14. Qc2 (14.
Nb3 g6 15. Qd2 Be6 16. Bb1 Rfd8 17. Nd4 Nxd4 18. exd4 Rdc8 19. a3 Bf6 20. Be3
Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Rc8 22. Rxc8+ {1/2-1/2 (22) Grischuk,A (2766)-Anand,V (2768)
Saint Louis 2018}) 14... Nb4 $2 {A forgivable error from the current American
champ, since the following is very hard to forsee.} 15. Bxh7+ $1 Kh8 {And now
Nepomniachtchi uncorks a brilliant series of moves.} 16. Qc7 $1 (16. Qb1 $2 {
loses to} g6) 16... Qxc7 17. Rxc7 Bd8 18. Bd6 $1 {Probably what Nakamura
missed in his original calculations.} Bxc7 (18... Re8 $2 {is worse:} 19. Rxf7
Kxh7 20. Bxb4 $18) (18... Kxh7 19. Bxf8 Bxc7 20. Bxb4 $16) 19. Bxf8 a5 20. Bb1
{And just like that, Nepo is up a pawn.} Be5 21. b3 Bg4 22. Bc5 Rc8 23. Bb6
Nxa2 $1 {Regaining the pawn.} 24. Bxa2 Rc2 25. Nf3 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Rxa2 27. Rd1
Ra1 $5 {Nakamura gives back the pawn (and goes back down a pawn) to reach a
drawable bishop ending.} (27... d4 $5 28. Bxd4 (28. exd4 Bd6 $11) 28... Bxd4
29. Rxd4 Rb2 30. Rd5 Rxb3 31. Rxa5 {White's a pawn up, but Black has the
b-pawn and an active rook. Probably drawn with best play?}) 28. Rxa1 Bxa1 29.
Bxa5 f5 30. Kf1 Kg8 31. Ke2 Kf7 32. Kd3 Be5 33. Bc3 Bd6 (33... Bxh2 $2 34. f4
g5 35. fxg5 Bd6 36. Kd4 $18) 34. e4 dxe4+ ({Engines prefer} 34... Ke6 35. Bxg7
Bxh2 36. Bd4 Bd6 $11) 35. fxe4 Ke6 36. Bxg7 {An interesting position.
Stockfish gives a +3.75(ish) evaluation, but it remains static as it analyzes
through depth 86. In other words, this is drawn, but of course Black has to
prove it over the board, and it's fiendishly difficult as a practical problem.}
Bxh2 37. Bd4 b5 38. Bb6 Be5 39. Ke3 Bb2 40. Bd4 Bc1+ 41. Kd3 Ba3 42. Bb6 Bb2 {
Keeping White out of the c3, c4, and d4 squares. White also can't stray too
far from e4, lest Black play ...fxe4.} 43. Bc7 Bf6 44. Ba5 Be5 45. Bb4 Bf6 46.
Bc5 Be5 47. Ba7 (47. Bd4 Bf4 48. Kc3 fxe4 $11) 47... 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+ (56... Bxe5 $4 57. fxe5 Kxe5 58. exf5 $18) 57. Kd3 b4 $2 (57... Ba3 $8
58. exf5+ (58. Kc3 fxe4) (58. Kd4 Bb2+ 59. Kc5 Ba3+ 60. Kxb5 fxe4 $11) 58...
Kxf5 59. Kd4 Bb4 $1 {and if the White king tries to 'go around' to get the
b-pawn with} 60. Kd5 Bd2 61. Kc6 b4 $11) (57... fxe4+ $2 58. Kxe4 Bd2 59. f5+
Ke7 60. Kd5 $18) 58. Bb8 Kf6 59. Bd6 Ke6 (59... Ba3 60. Bc5 $18) 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

[/pgn]

There were fireworks galore in the matchup between countrymen Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana. Caruana admitted in the post-game interview that the opening was part of his preparation, but he couldn’t remember all the concrete details. The result was a fascinating battle that petered out to a draw after So sac’d a piece to open Caruana’s king.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.21"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2776"]
[BlackElo "2818"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

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

[/pgn]

Players cannot offer draws in the Sinquefield Cup, so when they want to make a draw, they will often resort to a repetition of positions. Not satisfied with such mundane means, Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin found a more pleasing way to split the point in their Round 5 matchup.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.08.21"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2882"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5p2/p6p/5p1k/1p3P2/1P3P2/P4K1P/8 b - - 0 39"]
[PlyCount "16"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]

39... 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

[/pgn]

In the two remaining games, Vachier-Lagrave and Anand drew a sharp game by repetition, while Aronian and Mamedyarov game never really got off the ground, with a draw “agreed” after 54 moves. #restdayresearch https://twitter.com/GrandChessTour/status/1164286375409176576 We have no reports from Saint Louis about the Wednesday night karaoke party as of yet, but hints have emerged about what the players did with their rest day on Thursday. Resolute Twitter warriors Levon Aronian and Anish Giri traded friendly barbs around Giri’s trip to the Saint Louis Zoo. I will leave the reader to discover the content of these tweets on their own, as they are not entirely “workplace safe.” Magnus Carlsen took a more active approach to the rest day. https://twitter.com/olimpiuurcan/status/1164914123907354625

---

Sinquefield Cup quick links Grand Chess Tour homepage and live games starting at 1:50 ET YouTube channel (archives and live show) YouTube Russian stream Round 1  Grand Chess Tour twitter GCT tour standings