Spanish Team Championship gets underway in Linares
From September 23 to September 29 Linares, the city known for its chess traditions, is hosting the highest division of the Spanish Team Championship (Campeonato de España por Equipos de Club de División de Honor). Eight best teams with six boards in each (one woman) are competing in the round-robin format. The defending champion C.A. MAGIC EXTREMADURA from Merida will face a real challenge battling with higher-rated teams such as C.A.C. BENIAJÁN – DUOCHESS (headed by David Navara and David Anton), C.A. SILLA – BOSCH SERINSYS (with Anton Korobov and Alexei Shirov on top boards), and C.A. ANDREU PATERNA (lead by Jorden Van Forrest and Francisco Vallejo) In Round 1 C.A. MAGIC EXTREMADURA suffered a somewhat unexpected defeat at the hands of C.A. SOLVAY 2½-3½, as C.A.C. BENIAJÁN – DUOCHESS clobbered C.A. COLLADO VILLALBA 4½-1½, whereas two other rating favorites C.A. SILLA – BOSCH SERINSYS and C.A. ANDREU PATERNA drew their match 3-3. Photo: FEDA Official site: www.feda.org
Ranindu Liyanage and Nethmi Fernando are new Sri Lanka champions
A 16-year old schoolboy from Ananda College, Colombo, Ranindu Liyanage is crowned as the National Chess Champion. Ranindu who was playing excellent сhess from the very start on 11th September finished with an excellent score of 10 ½ points out of 13. On his way to the top spot Young Ranidu suffered an unnecessary loss to CC Weerasinghe at the penultimate round but conceded only three draws to LMST De Silva, Lakshitha Randil and Gayantha Dissanayake. Ranindu won the National Chess Champion title, Rs. 100,000/= with a trophy and gold medal. Minul Doluweera of Royal College Colombo also had a good tournament, scoring 10 points out of 13, but lost the race for the title to Ranidu and had to settle for silver. The youngest participant, 14-year old Susal De Silva of Nalanda College took bronze. Nethmi Fernando of Girls High School clinched the title of Sri Lanka Women’s National Chess Champion scoring 10/13. After an impressive start 6½ points out of 7 she lost two games to Sandeepani Tharushi and Newanji Hewawasam in the second half of the event but came back strongly to earn 3 ½ out of 4 in the last four rounds. Along with the title the 16-year old Nethmi received Rs. 60,000/= in cash plus a trophy and gold medal. After losing her first three games of the event Sandeepani Tharushi of Devi Balika rebounded strongly to score 9 ½ points, shared the second place with Ashvini Pavalachandran of Wicherly International School, and got silver thanks to better tiebreaks. The Sri Lanka National Chess Championship 2020 held by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka at Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo, from September 11th to 21st September 2020 was a great success. Mrs. Sandamali Aviruppola, Principal and Mr. Luxman Wijesuriya, the President of Chess Federation, General Secretary of South Asian Chess Council and Commonwealth Chess Association, and Vice President of Asian Chess Federation presented the awards to the winners. The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka invited several National Champions such as Harinlal Aturupane and Suneetha Wijesuriya who attended the closing ceremony. Final Standings – Men Rk. Name Club/City Pts. 1 CM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan Ananda College – Colombo 10.5 2 FM Doluweera Minul Sanjula Royal College – Colombo 10 3 FM De Silva L M S T Nalanda College – Colombo 8 4 Theekshana H G Denuwan Ananda College – Colombo 8 5 IM Weerawardane Romesh 7.5 6 Randil Lakshitha Japura Chess Club 7 7 Dabarera G W D M Maliyadeva College – Kurunegala 6.5 8 FM Galappaththi Chinthaka Anuruddha Kandy YMCA Chess Club 6.5 9 Amarasinghe A A C B Japura Chess Club 5.5 10 Samaranayake K P R N Pera Knights Chess Club 5.5 11 Bandara Dhanushka Kandy YMCA Chess Club 5 12 Sivathanujan S Kokuvil Hindu College 4 13 Weerasinghe C C Maroons Chess Club 4 14 Dassanayake D M G S St Sylvesters College – Kandy 3 Final Standings – Women Rk. Name Club/City Pts. 1 Fernando Nethmi L Girls’ High School – Kandy 10 2 Sandeepani M Tharushi Devi Balika Vidyalaya – Colombo 9.5 3 Pavalachandran Ashvini Wycherley International School 9.5 4 WCM Tharushi T H D Niklesha Visakha Vidyalaya – Colombo 9.0 5 WIM Ranasinghe S D Nf3 Chess Club 8.5 6 WCM Jayaweera Sayuni Gihansa Dharmasoka College – Ambalangoda 7.5 7 WCM Pallie Ehsha Mishela Visakha Vidyalaya – Colombo 7.0 8 Wijesinghe W M M N Girls’ High School – Kandy 7.0 9 WFM Hewawasam H Y Nevanjee Dimanya Visakha Vidyalaya – Colombo 6.5 10 Abeysinghe H M H Janandani NSBM Green University 5.0 11 WCM Wickramasinghe Minethma Lasandi Sujatha Vidyalaya – Matara 3.5 12 Ranganath Tharuli Vihasna Yoshida Shokanji International Scho 3.0 13 Koswatte C T Sri Lanka Airport & Aviation 2.5 14 Mapa M M W H Girls’ High School – Kandy 2.5 Text and photo: Luxman Wijesuriya, President of CFSL and Vice-President of Asian Chess Federation
OSG Baden-Baden wins Schachbundesliga championship
The ending of the 2020 German Championship tournament in Karlsruhe turned into a real thriller. OSG Baden-Baden defeated SC Viernheim in the last round 4.5: 3.5 in a tense battle and defended the German Champion title. Viernheim was on the verge of springing a big surprise but had to settle for the runner-up position. Third place went to Schachfreunde Deizisau, which clobbered Solingen 6.5: 1.5. In the final round, Werder Bremen prevailed over Berlin 5.5:2.5 and finished in fourth place. Solingen came fifth ahead of Bayern Munich which beat Aachen 5.5:2.5. Berlin and Aachen found themselves at the bottom of the final standings. Before the final round battle between Baden-Baden and Viernheim, the setup was clear. Thanks to the better board points a draw was enough for the reigning champion to defend the title. This topsy-turvy match was ultimately decided on the tail boards. Fabiano Caruana and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov were the first players to shake hands – after 20 moves an absolutely even endgame emerged on the board. Three more draws on boards two, three, and four followed shortly. The first decisive outcome was registered on board eight. Here Sergei Fedorchuk won a fine positional against Etienne Bacrot. However, Viernheim’s optimism was short-lived as Francisco Vallejo Pons quickly leveled the score by defeating Amin Bassem. With 3:3 on the scoreboard, it looked like the final result would be 4:4, as David Anton Guijarro had a clear advantage against Michael Adams while Arkadij Naiditsch had a winning position in his game with Kovalenko although his king was exposed to various threats. Eventually, Naiditsch maneuvered his king to safety and scored the full point. Meanwhile, Anton Guijarro missed a forced win and allowed Adams to transpose into an equal rook endgame so that Baden-Baden even won this great fight. As a result, the defending champion scored a hard-fought victory. OSG Baden-Baden expanded the winning streak, which was only interrupted by SG Solingen in the 2015/16 season, and won the German championship for the 14th time in 15 years. The tournament went very well for Vincent Keymer. The 15-year-old grandmaster won the last encounter against Jan Smeets and with 5.5/7 result he picked up 20 rating-points. Final standings: Place Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. OSG Baden-Baden + 4½ 6½ 5 6 7 7 7 2. SC Viernheim 3½ + 5 6 5 5½ 6 7 3. Chess friends Deizisau 1½ 3 + 5 6½ 4½ 5 7½ 4. SV Werder Bremen 3 2 3 + 4½ 5 5½ 6 5. SG Solingen 2 3 1½ 3½ + 5 7 5½ 6. FC Bayern Munich 1 2½ 3½ 3 3 + 5 5½ 7. SF Berlin 1 2 3 2½ 1 3 + 4 8. Aachener SV 1 1 ½ 2 2½ 2½ 4 + Official website: https://www.schachbundesliga.de/ Text: Georgios Souleidis Photos: Christian Bossert
Russia dominates EOYCC
The first European Online Youth Team and Individual Chess Championship brought together more than 700 players from 40 European federations and stretched over three days. The event was played in a 9-round Swiss tournament format with the time control 25 min + 5 sec in eight different sections: Open U18, U16, U14, U12, Girls U18, U16, U14, and U12. The first winners, the top seed of the Open U18 section Andrey Esipenko (RUS) and Yana Zhapova (RUS) playing of Girls U12, took gold in their groups with one round to spare. Team Russia In other sections, the tension was there until the very last minutes. After nine rounds of play in the Girls U18 section, two Russian players WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya and WIM Elizaveta Solozhenkina tied for the first place scoring 8 points, each with the former taking the title thank to better tiebreaks. Laman Hajiyeva from Azerbaijan took third place with 7 points. In the Open U18 section while three players – Casper Schoppen (NED), Arseni Nesterov (RUS), and Shant Sargsyan (ARM) – tied for second place and finished a full point behind the champion Andrey Esipenko. Better tiebreaks secured Schoppen silver medal while Nesterov took bronze. Team Armenia In the section for Girls U16, Viktoria Kirchei and Alisa Nur-Mukhametova both from Russia emerged on the top with 8 points each, but again the former was proclaimed the winner due to better tiebreaks. Nur-Mukhametova came second, while Marie Ruzic Pia (SLO) won the bronze medal. Rudik Makarian (RUS) and Frederik Svane (GER) netted 8 points each and tied for the top of the Open U16 section, but the tiebreaks favored Makarian. Svane took silver, while another Russian player Gleb Dudin finished third with 7.5 points. Team Germany Tiebreaks criteria were the decisive factor in determining the winner in the Girls U14 group, where Aliaksandra Tarasenka (BLR) and Aydin Gulenay (TUR) shared the top position with 7.5 points each. Tarasenka won the event, Gulenay had to settle for the silver medal and Eline Roebers (NED) came third. Volodar Murzin (RUS) confidently won the Open U14 section leading throughout the event. Ilya Makoveev (RUS) came second with 7.5 points and Denis Lazavik (BLR) took third place scoring 7 points and having better tiebreaks than Read Samadov(AZE). Yana Zhapova (RUS) mounted to the top of the Girls U12 section as became the only player in the European Youth Online Chess Championship to achieve a perfect score of 9/9. Anna Shukhman (RUS) finished second 1.5 points behind the winner, Alexandra Shvedova (RUS) got bronze with 7 points thus making the all-Russian podium in this group. Team North Macedonia In the team competition, the four best results (one player per category with the highest score) determined the team winners in the Open and Girls sections. Team Russia took first place in both sections winning 13 medals. Open: 1. Russia – 30.52. Azerbaijan – 283-4. Armenia (182.5) and Germany (179.5) – 26 Girls: 1. Russia – 292. Germany – 25.53. Netherlands – 24.5 Text and photo: ECU official website
Webinar on Arbiters’selection in FIDE tournaments
The third webinar by the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, scheduled for September 28, 2020, and will focus on the selection of arbiters in FIDE Tournaments. Following a request by the FIDE Council to explain the criteria for the selection of arbiters, Laurent Freyd, FIDE Arbiters’ Commission Chairman, and Nebojsa Baralic, FIDE Arbiters’ Commission Secretary, will try to give you a global overview on the topic “selections”: An analysis of the current regulations and practices A case study about the recent call of interest for the Chess Olympiad This will also be an opportunity to share a status on the transition to a more structured way of handling selections Join us live on FIDE Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2IfpsH45l4
Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So tie for first in St. Louis
The final day of Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz concluded with a tie for first between World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen and Chess960 World Champion GM Wesley So, splitting $90,000 between them. This year’s event featured nine rapid and eighteen blitz games over five days and a $250,000 prize fund – $100,000 more than in 2019. This fast-paced event featured some of the top players of the world, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen and two previous winners, Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura. Historically, Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz is a regular stop on the Grand Chess Tour, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 tour was canceled. This year’s stand-alone tournament featured five exciting days of online rapid and blitz games, keeping fans and commentators guessing who would rise to the top until the very last game. Day one ended with Levon Aronian and Pentala Harikrishna emerging as co-leaders. While Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz in both 2017 and 2019, this was Harikrishna’s first appearance in the event. Day two of the tournament kicked off with an all-decisive bloody round. Magnus Carlsen came back powerfully, winning all three games on the second day, taking a full point lead over his closest rivals, Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The rapid portion concluded with Alexander Grischuk defeating the World Champion in the final round, allowing Wesley So to leapfrog to 1st place. The tournament moved on to blitz with 18 rounds over the next two days. The end of day four became a two-horse race for first as Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So separated themselves from the rest of the field with a three-point lead. The World Champion maintained his slim lead in day five, with Wesley So close on his heels throughout the final day. The American went on a hot streak, winning his three final games, including a clutch last-round victory against Pentala Harikrishna, securing a tie for first place. “What a thrilling event. While the players weren’t able to be in Saint Louis, they nonetheless showed the same fighting spirit and grit that we’ve come to expect from the world’s best,” said Tony Rich, Executive Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club. “While internet chess is a different beast, the thrills and spills certainly entertained our worldwide audience.” “I’ve had a lot of experience in these events from the Grand Chess Tour and I tend to lose one game after another; if I lose one game, it can snowball to a second or third loss, so I was trying to avoid that at all costs”, said Wesley So in his interview at the end of the day. “It is often hard to compete against Magnus for first place and generally in these blitz games a lot of things can happen very quickly so I’m grateful for today’s win.” Magnus Carlsen reflected upon the five-day event in his post-game interview, “Obviously, I am happy to win anything that I play. I thought overall the rapid portion was successful with many good moments and I congratulate Wesley So on a fantastic tournament, he played solidly throughout, especially with his three consecutive wins. It was an overall amazing performance that you can only tip your hat to,” said the World Champion of his tournament co-winner. Place Name Total Points Total Prize Winnings T1 Magnus Carlsen 24 $45,000 T1 Wesley So 24 $45,000 3 Hikaru Nakamura 21 $35,000 T4 Alexander Grischuk 18.5 $27,500 T4 Levon Aronian 18.5 $27,500 6 Ian Nepomniachtchi 18 $20,000 T7 Pentala Harikrishna 15.5 $14,000 T7 Jeffery Xiong 15.5 $14,000 T9 Leinier Dominguez 12.5 $11,000 T9 Alireza Firouzja 12.5 $11,000
Carlsen forges ahead again
The Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz is now a two-horse race, as Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So have separated themselves from the rest of the field with a three-point lead. After nine exhilarating blitz rounds, the World Champion leads the tournament, overtaking So by half a point. Ian Nepomniachti finished the day in third place but expressed doubt in his chances of catching the leaders. He promised to play 1.b3 again tomorrow, an unusual opening with which he defeated Carlsen today. The tournament will conclude tomorrow after another full day of blitz with the winner taking home the $50,000 prize. Magnus Carlsen had the best result of the day, scoring 6.5 points out of 9. Even so, the World Champion had many tumultuous games and was visibly unsettled from time to time. He was lost against Alireza Firouzja, but with just 10 seconds left on the 17-year-old’s clock, Carlsen ultimately won the game. In the following round, Dominguez first failed to capitalize on a blunder then went on to lose an opposite-colored bishops endgame where he had excellent chances to draw. Tumultuous or not, the World Champion showed an impressive performance, scoring three points in the first five rounds and another three and a half points in the last four rounds. Carlsen’s two losses today came against Harikrishna and Nepomniachtchi, and his only draw was against So, guaranteeing him a half a point lead going into the final day. Wesley So, on the other hand, had a quiet day, drawing six of his games. He started with a loss against his countryman Jeffery Xiong in an instructive rook endgame. His recovery came quickly in the next round with a crushing defeat over Harikrishna. After drawing Aronian in a quick game, So was completely dominant against Nepomniachtchi, first getting a big edge in the opening, then winning a queen for a rook and a bishop, and finally showing the high-level technique to convert his advantage. The American Grandmaster went on to draw the rest of his games. There was a tight race for third place between Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi, and Nakamura. In the first half of the day, Grischuk and Nepomniactchi bounced back and forth in the standings. The two entered the day tied for third place, and when the dust settled, Nepomniactchi ultimately led by half a point. Nepo’s crucial win in the final round against Nakamura ensured the Russian clear third place going into the second day of blitz. After losing to Carlsen in the first round, Hikaru Nakamura went on to score 5.5 points in the next 7 rounds, including a crucial win over Grischuk in round two. The five-time U.S. Champion ended the day on a heartbreaking note as he blundered checkmate in one against Nepomniachtchi in an already worse position. Nakamura had the second-best score of the day behind Carlsen ending the day tied for fourth place with Grischuk. Pentala Harikrishna and Levon Aronian have identical results both in the rapid and the blitz, scoring 3.5 points each today. Harikrishna can gain some satisfaction for his round-three victory over the World Champion, but Aronian would just as soon forget today. The young Jeffery Xiong showed his mettle, defeating So, Aronian, and Firouzja on his way to scoring a very commendable 50%. Leinier Dominguez stayed in 9th place after a minus-two result. Alireza Firouzja keeps struggling in this tournament, even though he achieved several winning positions today, including the one against Carlsen. But as the youngster said in his post-game interview, “What can you do?” Nevertheless, the youngster felt grateful for the opportunity, and the preparation this tournament will serve for his next over the board event starting in 2.5 weeks. Text: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan Photo: official website Press Contact: Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org
Wesley So takes the lead
The dramatic third day of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz certainly shook up the standings. After going 3 – 0 yesterday, it seemed as if Magnus Carlsen was going to be unstoppable. The World Champion scored a lukewarm 50% today, and with three players hot on his heels, it wasn’t enough to maintain the lead. With the exception of Carlsen’s loss due to disconnection in round two, Alexander Grischuk spoiled what was otherwise a perfect event thus far for the World Champion. Grischuk joked, “Coming to the tournament I had only one ambition: 9th place”, as he entered the tournament “extremely tired and ill”. The former World Blitz Champion, apparently in better shape than he claimed, is now tied for third place with the blitz double round-robin to come. Grischuk’s triumph allowed Wesley So to leapfrog to 1st place, one point ahead of Carlsen. With nine points on the line tomorrow and a hungry pack chasing So, day one of blitz promises to be full of action. Round 7 The day kicked off with a bloody round of four decisive results. Magnus Carlsen continued his winning streak, this time defeating the 17-year-old Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja with the black pieces. Carlsen had an edge out of the opening, netting him a pawn and ultimately the game. This victory allowed him to take a two-point lead over the field as his two close rivals, Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi drew their respective game. The epic matchup of the round was between Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura. The Armenian grandmaster sacrificed two pieces for an attack on move 16. The players went on to play an impressively precise game, finding phenomenal resources at a rapid pace. The game remained complex as the players entered an endgame with a material imbalance. Even though the engine was showing a big edge for Nakamura, the U.S. Champion had to wrap things up accurately to secure the full point. Leinier Dominguez suffered a heartbreak against Alexander Grischuk when he blundered in a drawing pawn endgame. This win allowed Grischuk to inch his way into fifth place after a slow start. Pentala Harikrishna won an instructive knight and pawn versus knight endgame by trapping Jeffery Xiong’s knight on the edge of the board. Round 8 Carlsen faced off against the other teenager of the tournament, the American Jeffery Xiong. The World Champion narrowly escaped as his young opponent misplayed the rook endgame. Xiong was clearly disappointed that he let such a big game escape unscathed, while Carlsen had a smile of relief on his face. Carlsen later tweeted that the game was a “proper bullet scramble”, as at one point he made a move with a mere second left on his clock. So struck while the iron was hot and defeated Levon Aronian with the white pieces. So masterfully demonstrated the superiority of a bishop over a knight in the endgame, dominating Aronian’s knight, which helplessly watched as So’s passed pawn marched down the board. Yesterday, Ian Nepomniachtchi lost a 21 move game in round five against Xiong. Today, he suffered the same fate against Leinier Dominguez. While the Caro Kann has been a popular opening this tournament, Ian struggled with it and ultimately found himself in a lost position after 15 moves. Firouzja and Nakamura drew Grischuk and Harikrishna respectively. Round 9 The players saved the best for last as the final round of the day was full of drama. Carlsen chose the unusual Dragondorf opening against Alexander Grischuk. The Dragondorf is a hybrid of the Dragon and Najdorf variations of the Sicilian Defense and was first surveyed in the mid 20th century. On move 19 Carlsen chose to go for the thematic exchange sacrifice on c3. Grischuk played flawlessly, first warding off his opponent’s attack, and ultimately converting the material advantage. Wesley So was pleasantly surprised to learn after his victory that he leapfrogged the World Champion to take the lead. So’s technique in the knight endgame was praised by commentator Yasser Seirawan; the former U.S. Champion distracted Harikrishna’s king with an outside passed pawn and marched his own king to collect all the kingside pawns. He ultimately sacrificed a knight for an unstoppable pawn avalanche. Aronian recovered from two losses with a swift 33 move victory against Leinier Dominguez. The normally quiet Italian Opening quickly became unpleasant for Dominguez as he found no compensation for the bishop pair. After losing a pawn, Dominguez quickly collapsed, allowing Aronian’s rook to infiltrate the position, ultimately winning the pinned dark-squared bishop. There were peaceful results in both Xiong vs Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi vs Firouzja. Text: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan Photo: official website Press Contact: Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org
Carlsen shoots ahead
Day two of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz kicked off with an all-decisive bloody round. Magnus Carlsen came back powerfully, winning all three games today after finishing day one with a fifty percent score. While the World Champion called his games from rounds four and six “gifts”, he particularly enjoyed his round five win against Leinier Dominguez. Carlsen now sits on top of the leaderboard, a full point ahead of his closest rivals. Tomorrow is the last day of the rapid portion of the tournament, where each win is worth double the points. Round 4 The day kicked off with the crucial pairing of Carlsen vs. Aronian. The Armenian’s opening experiment with the Grunfeld turned out disastrous as the World Champion held all the cards: a dominant center, better pieces, and the safer king. The win was quite effortless as Aronian’s position simply fell apart. Ian Nepomniachtchi leapfrogged Pentala Harikrishna and took the lead after outplaying the latter. The Russian’s passed “d” pawn was a thorn in the position that became more dangerous as pieces were traded off. Ultimately, Harikrishna had to give up a piece to stop the pawn from queening and resigned a move later. Wesley So joined Nepomniachtchi in the lead by defeating his countryman Leinier Dominguez. The game was extremely imbalanced with So attacking his opponent’s king and Dominguez pushing his passed pawn. Dominguez’ innocent-looking check misplaced his bishop, making the only defensive idea impossible. Both Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja were coming off of a difficult first day. The players reached a fresh position with an unusual pawn structure after trading queens in the opening. Nakamura got the upper hand by winning a pawn in the endgame, then picking up a few more. He gave up his rook for his opponent’s passed pawn, but his pawn avalanche was too much for Firouzja’s lone rook to handle. Jeffery Xiong and Alexander Grischuk reached an interesting imbalanced position with two minor pieces against a rook but the game ended abruptly when the American teen blundered his rook. Round 5 This was the calm after the storm with only two decisive results. Carlsen was quite pleased with his victory over Dominguez, instantly spotting a beautiful rook sacrifice and taking advantage of his opponent’s overloaded rook. The American resigned four moves later. Xiong chose an unusual opening, the Alekhine Defense, against Nepomniachtchi in order to get a playable position. To his surprise, the game resulted in a 21-move miniature where he demolished his more experienced opponent. The Russian player suffered the consequences of a greedy pawn grab while leaving his king in the center. Grischuk and Firouzja drew Nakamura and So respectively. Aronian had good chances against his former co-lead Harikrishna but was unable to make anything out of them. Round 6 Carlsen continued his winning streak, this time defeating Harikrishna. A one-move blunder cost “Hari” the game. His close rival Wesley So was not able to keep pace and fell a point behind after drawing Grischuk. Nepomniachtchi joined So in a tie for second after defeating Nakamura in a tumultuous game. The U.S. Champion sacrificed three pawns but misplayed the position and found himself down material. As it was starting to look like Nakamura might escape, he grabbed a poisoned pawn and fell into a mating net. Firouzja suffered his own heartbreak when he ran out of time in a complicated position against Dominguez. The game between Xiong and Aronian was a solid draw. Text: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan Photo: official website Press Contact: Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org
Aronian and Harikrishna jointly lead after Day 1
The Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz has been one of the stops of the Grand Chess Tour since 2017. This year, it’s a stand-alone online tournament with 9 rapid and 18 blitz games over five days and a $250,000 prize fund, attracting some of the top players of the world, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen and the two previous winners, Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian. After three rapid games, Levon Aronian and Pentala Harikrishna emerged as the co-leaders. While Aronian has won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz in 2017 and 2019, this marks Harikrishna’s first appearance in the event. Round 1 The tournament kicked off with an epic matchup between Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen; these two players tied for first in Champions Showdown: Chess9LX tournament which concluded less than 2 days ago. Nakamura sacrificed a pawn for the initiative in the middlegame but his follow up lacked flair leaving his opponent up a healthy pawn. The World Champion had no difficulties capitalizing on his material advantage. The game between Alireza Firouzja and Levon Aronian was a total rollercoaster with a long sequence of zwischenzugs, or in between moves, starting on move 16. Ultimately, Aronian got the upper hand in the pawn race in the endgame, when his opponent blundered, allowing a promotion with a check. Harikrishna also scooped up the full point in an endgame, first grabbing a pawn, then destroying his opponent’s structure and picking up the rest of the pawns. Wesley So was the only player to win with the white pieces, inflicting a defeat on his countryman Jeffery Xiong. So won an intrusive rook endgame just by one tempo. The draw between Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi was the only peaceful result of the round. Round 2 The second round of the day saw the pitfalls of online chess: the World Champion lost due to disconnection in an equal position. The dust finally settled after a complex middlegame when the server suddenly showed that Nepomniachtchi had won. The commentators assumed it was some kind of a glitch but it was later confirmed that with only 35 seconds left on the clock Carlsen had suddenly disconnected and lost on time. The only other decisive result of the round was the game between Aronian and Grischuk. The Armenian star found himself in trouble right out of the opening, with his king stranded after losing the castling right. Grischuk played a remarkable dynamic game, until he let the advantage slip away being low on time. The players entered a bishop endgame which should have ended in a draw, but after making a few more inaccuracies, the Russian player found himself in a theoretically lost position. The rest of the games ended in relatively quiet draws: Nakamura vs So, Xiong vs Dominguez, and Harikrishna vs Firouzja. Round 3 The day concluded with a peaceful round that saw only one decisive result. In a time scramble, a check cost Grischuk the game, as it tangled his pieces. As a result, Alexander was forced to lose his bishop and found himself in a mating net. Nepomniachtchi and Aronian played an enterprising opening which resulted in a dynamic middlegame. After losing the thread of the game a bit, Aronian opted out for an opposite-colored bishops endgame which resulted in a draw. This result was enough to guarantee him a tie for first. Carlsen did not manage to bounce back from the misfortune of the previous round; So was very solid with the white pieces and the game ended with lone kings left on the board. Nakamura was on a verge of disaster as his position was completely lost in a knight endgame, but a one-move blunder by Dominguez allowed the reigning U.S. Champion to escape unscathed. The battle between the two teenagers, Firouzja and Xiong, saw a lot of tactical elements but eventually ended in a draw in a position with a material imbalance of queen against a rook and a bishop. Text: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan Photo: official website Press Contact: Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org