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.
Nakamura, the top American player ranked No. 9 in the world according to FIDE’s November 2014 rating list, is in the hunt for his first Candidates Tournament appearance and today holds second place, halfway through the 2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix cycle. Aronian, a veteran to the world ranks, has long-been regarded as the main rival to World Champion Magnus Carlsen and reached his career-peak rating of 2830 earlier this year. Along with providing both players with elite head-to-head match experience, the Showdown in Saint Louis will also settle the score from the players’ last meeting: drawing twice at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup in the U.S. Capital of Chess last September.
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Friday, November 21, 2:00 p.m. |
Classical Round 1 |
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Saturday, November 22, 2:00 p.m. |
Classical Round 2 |
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Sunday, November 23, 2:00 p.m. |
Classical Round 3 |
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Monday, November 24, 2:00 p.m. |
Classical Round 4 |
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Tuesday, November 25, 2:00 p.m. |
Blitz Round (16 games, one every 15 minutes) |
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.
Of special focus in the GM norm event is Samuel Sevian and Ashwin Jayaram, two players who have already collected three Grandmaster norms and need just a handful of rating points to pass the necessary FIDE watermark of 2500. If Sevian clears the mark, the 13-year-old will become the youngest American Grandmaster in the history of chess.
The Showdown in Saint Louis will be streamed live in its entirety on www.uschesschamps.com, featuring live play-by-play commentary and analysis from the renowned commentary team of GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade. Live spectators may take in all the action as it unfolds in the upstairs tournament hall of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, with admission free-of-charge for annual, monthly and day members.
Aronian played a warm-up blitz session yesterday against Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, one of the three commentators that are doing a live broadcast of the event at the official website. He is joined by WGM Jennifer Shahade and GM Maurice Ashley. The three have worked together in many top level events, including both Sinquefield Cups and many US Championships, and they never disappoint! As far as the blitz question, we can only quote the Saint Louis Chess Club's Facebook page:
Levon Aronian in the hizzouse! The World No. 4 arrived early for the Showdown in Saint Louis match against Hikaru Nakamura, which begins Friday -- and last night he got some pre-game warm-up against Yasser Seirawan. The two played 11 games of Blitz in front of a crowd: Yasser jumped out to an early 5-2 lead... but the former World Blitz Champion buckled down and won the next four straight!
Or, even better, you can see it for yourself:
Round one started with an unusual opening but it completely evolved in Nakamura's favor. Aronian must have underestimated the power of White's initiative and he was unable to find the precise continuation to control it. Once Nakamura seized the advantage he played a flawless game and he took home game one.
Nakamura in his standard thinking pose
Aronian had to think as early as move five, but he solved his opening problems
However he was unable to cope with the pressure later in the game
The GM-norm tournament has, of course, a different playing schedule. Today they played two fighting rounds and the star and hope of the tournament, IM Samuel Sevian, is off to a dashing start as he won both of his games. This puts him as the sole leader and he is quickly gaining the rating points he needs to completely his GM title at the tender age of thirteen!
Sevian started the tournament as the second-highest rated player with 2484 and with his two wins against Boros and Shoker he only needs six more points to fulfill the grandmaster title requirements. It could happen as soon as tomorrow if he wins both of his games again!
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
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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