2022 Sinquefield Cup – Day 2 Recap
Round 2 of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup saw tournament underdog Hans Niemann score his first win of the event, defeating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to join the early lead alongside Magnus Carlsen, who drew with Levon Aronian. Meanwhile the 2022 FIDE Candidates winner, Ian Nepomniachtchi bounced back from yesterday’s loss to defeat Alireza Firouzja in fine technical style. ARONIAN – CARLSEN | ½-½, 37 moves Surprised by the Bogo-Indian Defense, Aronian opted for the solid 4.Bd2 variation over the more ambitious 4.Nbd2. Carlsen exchanged dark-squared bishops and quickly played d7-d5, obtaining a slightly worse but very holdable position. Aronian did not manage to pose any significant problems in the middlegame and the players soon simplified into a drawn bishop endgame. Carlsen: “I think nobody really loves these games, but at this level they happen”. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes NEPOMNIACHTCHI – FIROUZJA | 1-0, 50 moves After sacrificing a pawn early in the Catalan, Nepomniachtchi put Firouzja under serious positional pressure, as it was not obvious how Black should untangle. Firouzja decided to give back the pawn in order to trade down into a rook ending, but the endgame proved more difficult for Black than anticipated. A further error gave Nepomniachtchi an extremely comfortable position, where he could calmly advance his kingside majority until his advantage was completely decisive. After 31.f4, Black’s position was practically lost, with no counterplay against White’s simple plan of pushing the e- and f-pawns. 1-0, 50 moves A nice comeback win for Ian, who is back on 50%. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes NIEMANN – MAMEDYAROV | 1-0, 49 moves A sharp line of the English left Mamedyarov in some danger out of the opening, as he deviated from known theory with the questionable 13…b6. However Niemann did not find the right way to capitalize, as Black managed to create serious counterplay against White’s king, soon winning an exchange. It was then Mamedyarov’s turn to go wrong, as he missed the strongest continuation and was forced to give back the exchange, leaving Niemann with an extra pawn. A further mistake left Mamedyarov in a lost queen and pawn endgame, which Niemann converted with good technique. After 30.Rb1!, the unnatural 30…Bxd5 might have held, but instead Black faltered with 30…Ba8, allowing 31.Rxb8 Qxb8 32.Bxa8 Qxa8 33.Qxd7!+- with a won queen endgame for White. 1-0, 49 moves The 19-year-old Niemann scored his first ever win over a 2750+ rated player. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes CARUANA – DOMINGUEZ | ½-½, 46 moves In a battle of Petroff specialists, the players entered an incredibly sharp middlegame where Caruana had sacrificed a pawn in order to establish a strong central grip. Dominguez started to spend lots of time, and went for complications where Caruana could sacrifice an exchange and force Black to walk a tightrope to survive. Caruana then missed two opportunities for a decisive advantage, eventually allowing Dominguez to escape with a draw. After Dominguez’s 26…Rf8, 27.Qd7! would have been very strong, where both 27…Rxf4 28.Nf7++- and 27…Qb6 28.Nf7+ Kg8 29.Re7!+- would be winning for White. Instead Caruana played 27.Qe4, keeping a large advantage for the time being. ½-½, 46 moves Caruana missed some serious chances against Dominguez today. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes VACHIER-LAGRAVE – SO | ½-½, 43 moves A theoretical Berlin endgame that featured lots of early trades left the players with a rook and bishop each after twenty moves, with MVL having a small edge due to his slightly better structure. Facing a difficult defense, So chose to sacrifice a pawn in order to activate his rook – a decision that proved fruitful as the position soon simplified into a drawn rook ending. MVL was a bit better, but could not crack So’s Berlin. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes The 2022 Sinquefield Cup continues Sunday, September 4, starting at 12:50 PM CT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Peter Svidler, Yasser Seirawan, and Alejandro Ramirez on grandchesstour.org and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Sponsors Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club September 02-12, 2022 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org Photos:Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum StudiosCredits available on Flickr.
2022 Sinquefield Cup – Day 1 Recap
The 2022 Sinquefield Cup kicked off with a bang today as World Champion Magnus Carlsen defeated World No.3 Ian Nepomniachtchi in a clean first round game. Meanwhile, all four other games in the round were drawn, netting Carlsen the early lead in the final stop of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour. CARLSEN – NEPOMNIACHTCHI | 1-0, 43 moves In a rematch of the 2021 World Championship, Carlsen chose a quiet line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined and did not achieve much out of the opening as the queens came off early. However the endgame seemed to suit Carlsen’s style, as he slowly put Nepo under pressure and started to improve his position. Nepomniachtchi tried to hold the draw by sacrificing a pawn, but it wasn’t enough as Magnus kept his initiative and a further mistake by Nepo left Black losing a second pawn and ending up in a hopeless position. After Carlsen’s 36.Bb1!, Black was losing a second pawn on d5 by force. | 1-0, 43 moves Carlsen: “I think I did well in creating a situation that was not pleasant for him but certainly he could have done better.” | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes FIROUZJA – CARUANA | ½-½, 34 moves In a Symmetrical English that featured the rare move 5.Qb3, things quickly got heated as at first it was Firouzja, then Caruana who fell into some difficulties. It seems as though Firouzja missed his chance to pose more serious problems later on, letting Caruana escape into a drawn rook endgame. Caruana: “After 16…f5, I started to get worried that I would get a very bad position, but then he surprised me with 17.Bh3 (instead of 17.Ke2)–after that I thought I should be OK.” World No. 4 Firouzja had Caruana sweating today, but could not maximize his chances. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes NIEMANN – ARONIAN | ½-½, 50 moves Tournament newcomer GM Hans Niemann, who replaced GM Richard Rapport at the last second before the event, started off well in his first game, catching Aronian in a rare line (6.a4) of the 5.Re1 Berlin. While Niemann gained a large strategic advantage on the board, thanks to his extra space and more active minor pieces, he fell behind on the clock and eventually lost his advantage, allowing Aronian off the hook with a three-fold repetition. After 26.Qe1, Hans’ position looked fantastic, but Aronian managed to wriggle out. | ½-½, 50 moves Despite being the lowest rated player in the field, GM Hans Niemann is off to a solid start. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes MAMEDYAROV – SO | ½-½, 65 moves An interesting strategic battle in the trendy 5…cxd4 line of the Semi-Tarrasch saw Mamedyarov with a small positional advantage, as he tried to make the most of his slightly superior structure. But So defended well, and Shakhriyar could only end up with an extra pawn in a drawish rook and knight vs. rook and bishop endgame, which soon ended peacefully. A long fight which nearly came down to bare kings in Mamedyarov – So. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes DOMINGUEZ – VACHIER-LAGRAVE | ½-½, 72 moves The last game of the round to finish featured the English Attack of the Najdorf, the same variation which earned Dominguez the brilliancy prize in last year’s Sinquefield Cup. Once again Dominguez was much better prepared, gaining nearly an hour edge on the clock, but he wasn’t able to fully capitalize on his advantage. An exchange sacrifice by Dominguez left him with enough compensation for equality, but not more, and the game eventually petered out into a draw. The 2021 Sinquefield Cup champion managed to defend a difficult position. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Today’s special guests included American rapper Logic, who stopped by to watch the games. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Professional hockey player Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues also showed up during Round 1. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes The 2022 Sinquefield Cup continues Saturday, September 3, starting at 12:50 PM CT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Peter Svidler, Yasser Seirawan, and Alejandro Ramirez on grandchesstour.org and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Sponsors Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club September 02-12, 2022 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org Photos:Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum StudiosCredits available on Flickr.