The United States’ super Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura is set to square off against GM Levon Aronian, the World No. 4, in the Showdown in Saint Louis, a five-round contest for the lion’s share of a $100,000 purse. The special head-to-head exhibition will include four classical games of chess and a final round featuring 16 games of Blitz. The event will run from Friday, Nov. 21 to Tuesday, Nov. 25, with each round’s first move made at 2:00 p.m. daily.
Alongside the Showdown are two specialized invitational tournaments designed for up-and-coming players attempting to earn chess’ elite master titles: International Master and, the superior, Grandmaster. The 2014 GM/IM Invitational events are two 10-player, round-robin tournaments designed to award title “norms,” or superior performances required by FIDE for player titles.
An interesting and somewhat unpredictable affair. Aronian came out with 1...Nf6 and 2...g6 against Nakamura's 1.d4 and 2.c4, which signaled a probable Grunfeld, with the slight risk of it actually being a King's Indian Defense. Nakamura played the anti-Grunfeld 3.f3 and a strange position arose on the board, where Aronian's risky but accurate play was rewarded when he obtained good play across the board and pressure against an isolated pawn. However, he was too cautious, and he traded off into an equal endgame instead of trying to push for an advantage.
Nakamura pondering how to use his
powerful-looking queen on h6.
It turned out to be a really good idea!
Black's position here is already slightly superior.
Aronian simplified too quickly, and reached this drawn endgame
A typical small post-mortem
What can you do? A draw is a draw! Aronian finishes the classical
portion of the match tomorrow with the white pieces.
Meanwhile in the GM Norm section Samuel Sevian continues his reign of terror by drawing against Priyadharshan, a young Indian International Master that attends Lindenwood University in Saint Louis, and defeating grandmaster Ben Finegold, a Saint Louis resident also. Sevian is gaining so much rating that he is the only person in the entire event winning rating; everyone else is either even or losing.
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
| Friday, November 21, 2:00 p.m. | Classical Round 1 |
| Saturday, November 22, 2:00 p.m. | Classical Round 2 |
| Sunday, November 23, 2:00 p.m. | Classical Round 3 |
| Monday, November 24, 2:00 p.m. | Classical Round 4 |
| Tuesday, November 25, 2:00 p.m. | Blitz Round (16 games, one every 15 minutes) |
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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