
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.
Round Two
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.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Bb5 8.d5 8...0-0 9.Nge2 Qd6 10.e5 10.h4!? 10...Qd8 11.h4 Nb4 12.Nf4 N6d5 13.Nfxd5 Nxd5 14.Qd2 Be6 14...Nxe3 15.Qxe3 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 f6 17.Bc4 17.h5 g5 17...Qd7 18.Ne4 Nb4! 19.Rc1 19.Nc5 Nc2+ 19...Bxc4 20.Rxc4 Nd5 21.Rc5 b6 22.Rc4 22.h5 g5 23.Nxg5 Qf5 22...Qb5 23.exf6 exf6 24.b3 Qa5+? 24...Rae8! 25.Kf2 Qd7 25.Qd2 Qxd2+ 26.Kxd2 Rad8 27.Rc6= f5 28.Nc3 Nb4 29.Rxc7 Rxd4+ 30.Kc1 Rf7 31.Rxf7 Kxf7 32.a3 Rd3 33.Nb5 a6 34.axb4 axb5 35.Kc2 Rd6 ½–½
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Nakamura,H | 2767 | Aronian,L | 2797 | ½–½ | 2014 | D70 | Nakamura-Aronian m 2014 | 3.1 |
Please, wait...

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.
GM Norm Tournament
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.
GM Norm Tournament Standings

Round Five and Six - GM Norm

Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c6 8.Nf3 a6 9.0-0 d5 10.exd5 cxd5 11.cxd5 Nb6 12.Rfe1 Nbxd5 13.Bc4 Be6 14.Bb3 Re8 15.Bh6 Nc7 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Bxe6 Nxe6 18.Rxe6 fxe6 19.Ng5 Qd6 20.Re1 e5 21.Rxe5 e6 22.Qf4 Qd7 23.Rc5 Rac8 24.Rxc8 Qxc8 25.h4 Qb8 26.Nxe6+ Kf7 27.Nc7 Kg8 28.d5 Nh5 29.Qd6 Re1+ 30.Kh2 Ng7 31.f3 Nf5 32.Qf4 Qa7 33.Ne4 Qg1+ 34.Kh3 Qd4 35.Kh2 Qg1+ 36.Kh3 Re2 37.Qh2 Qe1 38.Qf4 Rxg2 39.Kxg2 Ne3+ 40.Qxe3 Qxe3 41.d6 Qe2+ 42.Kg3 Kf7 43.Ng5+ Kf6 44.Nd5+ Kf5 45.Ne7+ Ke5 46.d7 Qe1+ 47.Kh3 Qh1+ 48.Kg3 Qg1+ 49.Kh3 Qf1+ 50.Kg3 Qe1+ 51.Kh3 ½–½
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Gorovets,A | 2482 | Bregadze,L | 2458 | ½–½ | 2014 | E73 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 5 |
Priyadharshan,K | 2460 | Sevian,S | 2484 | ½–½ | 2014 | D45 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 5 |
Finegold,B | 2493 | Shoker,S | 2474 | ½–½ | 2014 | B08 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 5 |
Matikozian,A | 2447 | Boros,D | 2470 | ½–½ | 2014 | C77 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 5 |
Ashwin,J | 2442 | Panjwani,R | 2421 | ½–½ | 2014 | A41 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 5 |
Sevian,S | 2484 | Finegold,B | 2493 | 1–0 | 2014 | B89 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 6 |
Gorovets,A | 2482 | Priyadharshan,K | 2460 | ½–½ | 2014 | A33 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 6 |
Shoker,S | 2474 | Matikozian,A | 2447 | | 2014 | A05 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 6 |
Boros,D | 2470 | Ashwin,J | 2442 | | 2014 | B68 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 6 |
Bregadze,L | 2458 | Panjwani,R | 2421 | ½–½ | 2014 | A41 | CCSCSL Nov GM 2014 | 6 |
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Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
Schedule
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) |