Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz: Kasparov was "too democratic"

Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz

Day 3

Levon Aronian has nothing to frown about. The current number two in the world completed the third and last day of the rapid gmaes with two victories and one draw and now leads the field with 12 points (rapid games count double in Saint Louis). Nakamura, and Caruana are trailing, just one point back. Nakamura knocked off Nepomniachtchi in the last round of rapid play to leapfrog over him. Caruana said Wednesday that it was his best day of chess thus far.

Levon Aronian was looking happier by the end of the day | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Levon Aronian speaks to Maurice Ashley at the end of day 3 | CCSCSL on YouTube

No comeback for Garry?

Kasparov began the day with a drama in three acts. He overwhelmed David Navara in the opening, and converted to a clearly won endgame where, however, he missed "simple" winning opportunities and then, as the clock ticked down, he threw it all away.

49.Nc6+?? Qxc6! 50.Qxc6 Rd6 1-0

What an incredible reversal! The moment was captured by ChessBase's reporter Venkatachalam Saravanan:

 This prompted the first tweet from Magnus Carlsen since leaving Saint Louis:

Brutal... when the clock is down and heart rate is up, common sense goes out the window #STLRapidBlitz #Garry

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) August 16, 2017

Kasparov was naturally shocked:

Oh my. Poor @Kasparov63. #STLRapidBlitz
LIVE: https://t.co/emLfO08P45 pic.twitter.com/zX8qFReoIQ

— Lennart Ootes (@LennartOotes) August 16, 2017

Master Class Vol.7: Garry Kasparov

On this DVD a team of experts gets to the bottom of Kasparov's play. In over 8 hours of video running time the authors Rogozenko, Marin, Reeh and Müller cast light on four important aspects of Kasparov's play: opening, strategy, tactics and endgame.

In an interview with Maurice Ashley, Navara explained that he is accustomed to playing bad positions because his opening preparation has been poor since his youth.

David Navara's post-game chat with Maurice Ashley | CCSCSL on YouTube

In the next round, Kasparov was the beneficiary of an freakish blunder from Le Quang Liem:

Relive the moment as it happened:

Kasparov - Le, Position after 38...Re6 | CCSCSL on YouTube

After these two games, Kasparov appeared a bit frazzled as he arrived to play Fabiano Caruana for his third game of the day. After an equal middle-game, Caruana obtained an outside passed a-pawn and got enough initiative in the rook and bishop ending to gain an advantage that only grew from there.

Caruana is never one to be intimidated | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Levon Aronian later said, "I think the last game especially he played passively. He's a bit shy yet — chess-wise — he's not yet playing the most obvious moves. He's trying to control it too much."

Kasparov's own verdict was a bit different:

I was too democratic today. I made quite a few good moves, but spread them evenly among all three games instead of concentrating them!

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) 16. August 2017

Standings after Round 9

Games and commentary

Commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley, and WGM Jennifer Shahade

Translated from German by Macauley Peterson

Links

• Official site
• Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
• Goodbye Sinquefield Cup, hello Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz
• Day 1 & 2: Nepomniachtchi first to clear lead