Sinquefield 01: Five decisives games!

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/24/2015 – What a scintillating start to the 2015 Sinquefield Cup! We could not have asked for more: a round full of brilliancies, attacks, and many confusing moves! Topalov beat Carlsen again, and it was not the only repeat performance... Giri also beat Grischuk, like in Norway! Anand was unable to hold against Nakamura, while So commited suicide against MVL while Aronian played a brilliancy.
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2015 Sinquefield Cup

This super-GM single Round Robin brings together some of the best players in the world. This is the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour.

The players – Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Viswanathan Anand (India), Wesley So (USA).

The venue is the Chess Club and Scholastic Center at 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108. Tickets can be purchased at the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Round One

Round One
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Giri, Anish 2793
1-0
 Grischuk, Alexander 2771
So, Wesley 2779
0-1
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
Aronian, Levon 2765
1-0
 Caruana, Fabiano 2808
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
0-1
 Topalov, Veselin 2816
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
1-0
 Anand, Viswanathan 2816

What a scintillating start to the 2015 Sinquefield Cup! We could not have asked for more: a round full of brilliancies, attacks, and many confusing moves!

The hall was a bit packed

Some needed extra assistance to see the games

The first game to finish was brilliant. Aronian smashed Caruana’s position when there was a tremendous amount of tension in the center. Caruana released it too early, the Armenian saw his opportunity and sacrificed a full rook! His devastating continuation with a quiet move, Rf1, was sufficient to topple the American’s defenses and Caruana lost soon after.

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1.d4 3 Nf6 7 2.c4 5 e6 4 3.Nf3 4 d5 7 4.Nc3 4 Be7 5 5.Bf4 5 0-0 12 6.e3 11 Nbd7 61 7.c5 16 Ne4 8.Rc1 Nxc3 6 9.Rxc3 4 b6 17 10.c6 6 Nf6 4 11.a3 3 a5 29 12.Bd3 59 Ne4 16 13.Rc2 32 f6 32 The first deviation of the game. 12...Ba6 has been played before by Caruana (against Giri in Wijk aan Zee). Although the game was drawn, his position was a little suspicious. 14.Qe2 157 Bd6 55 15.0-0 246 g5!? 29 Black didn't want to capture on f4, so he forces White to capture himself! 15...Bxf4 16.exf4?! leaves the e6 pawn weak in the long run, and e5 will never be achieved. 16.Bxd6 421 Nxd6 9 17.Re1 4 a4 744 18.Nd2 116 e5!? 243 19.e4! 208 Creating serious tension on the center... f5! 871 A funny looking move! The tension accumulates, but Black is ok no matter which pawn Aronian takes. 20.f3 473 20.dxe5 fxe4 20...Nxe4!? 21.exd6 exd3 22.Qxd3 Qxd6∞ 20.exd5? e4 20...dxe4?! 902 Releasing the tension at the wrong moment. 20...Re8! 21.fxe4 30 Ra5? 124 Caruana underestimates White's attack and allows a brilliancy! 21...exd4 22.e5 Re8 22.exf5 761 Nxf5 1054 23.Bc4+ 109 Kg7 8 24.d5 4 Now e5 is very weak. Re8 7 25.Ne4 780 Perhaps Fabiano underestimated this move? The knight is magnificently placed and Nd4 doesn't work... Nd4 376 26.Qh5! 8 The point. Nxc2 409 otherwise he is just lost 27.Nxg5 179 Bf5 245 28.Rf1 172 Simple and sufficient. Black is up a rook, but Black simply cannot defend his position: Qf6 798 28...Bg6 29.Rf7+ Kg8 29...Bxf7 30.Qxh7+ Kf6 31.Ne4+ Ke7 32.d6+ and Black gets mated. 30.Qh6+- 29.Ne6+ 7 29.Rxf5 Qxf5 30.Ne6+ seemed easier, but everything wins. 29...Rxe6 45 30.Rxf5 5 Qg6 173 31.dxe6 21 Being up two pawns usually forces resignation, but Black is lucky to still be alive. 31.Rg5! Was stronger according to the computer, and flashier, but Aronian's move is winning also. 31...Qxh5 32 32.Rxh5 5 Nd4 115 33.e7 193 Ra8 9 34.Rxe5 10 Two pawns is too much. Caruana flutters for a few more moves, but it is over. Re8 4 35.Re4 28 Nf5 19 36.Be6 5 Nd6 97 37.Bd7 7 Nxe4 4 38.Bxe8 3 Kf6 15 39.Bg6 5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2765Caruana,F28081–02015D373rd Sinquefield Cup 20151

A big victory for Aronian

Three games then finished almost at the same time. First, Giri finished off Grischuk with a nice novelty from a blitz game played some time ago. Grischuk was caught off guard. got low on time and his position collapsed. A clean victory for the Dutch.

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1.Nf3 3 d5 32 2.d4 34 Nf6 10 3.c4 4 e6 15 4.g3 96 Bb4+ 98 5.Bd2 42 Be7 26 6.Bg2 7 0-0 56 7.0-0 7 Nbd7 111 8.Qc2 49 c6 32 9.Rd1 28 b6 36 10.Bf4 9 Ba6 114 11.b3 43 Rc8 179 12.Nc3 19 dxc4 767 13.e4 28 Nh5 868 14.Be3 474 Nhf6 43 15.h3 247 b5 1200 16.bxc4 77 bxc4 203 17.Rab1 77 Qa5 541 18.Bd2 104 Qa3?! 256 18...Qc7 as pointed out by Giri after the game, is much better. 19.Re1 74 Surprisingly, this has all been played before... in a blitz game! Anand-Leko, 2009. In that game Vishy went g4 instead of Re1. Giri was perhaps somewhat familiar with the position judging on how quickly he played, but Grischuk played, as usual, extremely slowly. Nb6 1678 after a long though, Grischuk makes a big mistake. 19...Rb8! 20.Re3 367 The queen feels very uncomfortable. Rb8 274 21.Rxb6! 1919 21.Nd5 cxd5 22.Rxa3 Bxa3 is perhaps better for White, but Black has a lot of compensation for that missing queen. 21...Rxb6 80 21...axb6 22.e5! Nd7 23.Nb1 and the queen is trapped. White wins. 22.Na4 44 Rb1+! 287 23.Kh2 263 23.Qxb1 Qxa4 is no good for White. 23...c3! 1 The only way to fight on 24.Rxc3 189 Qb4 1 25.Rxc6 239 Qb5 7 25...Bd3 26.Qxd3 Qxa4 27.Rc7 is dangerous for Black: Bd8 28.Rxf7 Rxf7 29.Qxb1± 26.Ne5! 58 Ra1 81 27.Bc3 1118 Rf1 1 28.Nb2 13 28.Bxf1 Qxf1 gives Black way too much counterplay. 28...Qb7 1 29.Rxa6 294 Qxa6 8 30.Nbc4 13 The rook is trapped on f1! Nxe4 145 31.Bxe4 23 Three pieces are more powerful than two rooks in most situations, they coordinate much better, and you can easily see it in this position. Rb8 1 32.Bxh7+ 155 Kf8 1 33.Qe2 90 Rc1 7 34.Qh5 58 Mate is inevitable. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2793Grischuk,A27711–02015E153rd Sinquefield Cup 20151

Giri: "My wife knew about 7...g5 in that Sicilian (Carlsen-Topalov) I don't know why Carlsen didn't"

Next MVL won his game against Wesley So. So’s greedy approach in the opening was severely punished. Despite having an extra pawn, his position was simply terrible. Black’s pieces were too active and controlled the board. After White had to give up his light-squared bishop for the opponent’s knight it was clear that So was just trying to survive. He was unable to do so, and MVL took his extra exchange to victory.

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1.Nf3 3 Nf6 10 2.c4 6 g6 4 3.Nc3 6 d5 2 4.cxd5 6 Nxd5 3 5.g3 7 Bg7 109 6.Bg2 7 c c5 7 7.Qa4+ 574 Nc6 257 8.Ng5 237 An unusual move, though the maneuver is well know. White wants to put his knight on e4 to target c5. e6 772 9.Nge4 61 Nb6 34 10.Qb5?! 580 Going for the pawn, this is too dangerous. c4 328 11.Na4? 242 White is too greedy. He will win a pawn, but his position will be awful. 11.0-0 was a better move. 11...0-0 333 12.Nxb6 269 axb6 135 13.Qxc4 184 e5 425 White is up a pawn, but Black has a huge initiative. Be6 is coming soon, Nd4 is up in the air, and White is not close to finishing his development. So will soon be punished. 14.Qc2 854 Be6 1174 Around this time So went in the confessional booth, claiming that he would have to work hard to not simply lose - he was aware that something went wrong. 15.Nc3 76 b5! 475 A very nice move. White cannot really take on b5: 16.Bxc6 420 16.Nxb5 Nb4 17.Qd1 Bd5 18.f3 Qb6 Black's position is so active and White can't even castle. 16...bxc6 25 17.b3 115 Bf5 266 18.d3 1206 18.Qb2 b4 is just over. 18...e4! 222 The bishops are way too powerful. So must give back material. 19.dxe4 1 Bxe4 398 20.Nxe4 9 20.Qxe4 Bxc3+-+ 20...Bxa1 5 21.0-0 4 Re8 55 22.f3 476 Bd4+ 266 23.e3 190 Bg7 194 24.Rd1 114 Qc7 203 25.Rd6 254 c5 68 26.Rd5 116 Re5 107 27.Rd1 239 c4 236 28.a3 46 Re7 259 29.bxc4 135 Qxc4 66 White's position is no good, and he is down material. MVL cleans up from here. 30.Qd2 21 Qb3 98 31.Qd6 136 Rc8 213 32.Nf2 314 Rec7 135 33.Bd2 2 Bf8 7 34.Qd4 48 Bxa3 60 35.Kg2 6 Bb2 21 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2779Vachier-Lagrave,M27310–12015A343rd Sinquefield Cup 20151

The Frenchman punished big greed

Nakamura was trying to pressure Anand, who defended in clever ways. However the Indian player missed a couple of chances to fully equalize, and after a series of inaccuracies he saw himself unable to protect his pawn. In an awful position, but perhaps not 100% lost, Anand decided to resign.

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1.d4 20 Nf6 13 2.c4 9 e6 6 3.Nf3 59 d5 15 4.g3 16 Be7 34 5.Bg2 14 0-0 11 6.0-0 11 dxc4 7 7.Qc2 9 a6 9 8.a4 5 Bd7 70 9.Qxc4 32 Bc6 9 10.Bg5 4 Bd5 273 11.Qc2 51 Be4 468 12.Qd1 17 c5 237 13.dxc5 32 Bxc5 29 14.Qxd8 59 Rxd8 10 15.Nbd2 1 Bc6 172 16.Nb3 18 Be7 82 17.Na5 59 h6 220 18.Be3 120 Nd5 390 19.Bd2 487 Even though this position has been reached before (twice!) it seems that neither player was 100% familiar with the position. Anand finds a good equalizing plan though. Nb6! 858 The double attack on a4 and d2 (after Bxf3) is annoying. White doesn't want to take on b8 since Black's development would be seriously accelerated. 20.Bf4 659 Nd5 76 21.Ne5 268 g5!? 1016 Kicking out the bishop, but weakening the kingside. This seems to be a good move, though not the most obvious. 22.Bd2 263 Bf6 112 23.Nd3 115 23.Nexc6 Nxc6 24.Nxc6 bxc6 maybe is a bit better for White, but Black's activity is considerable. 23...b6 330 24.Nc4 101 b5 277 25.Bxd5 1443 25.Nce5 bxa4 26.Nxc6 Nxc6= 25...bxc4 19 25...Bxd5 26.Nb6 Ra7 27.axb5 doesn't work. 25...exd5!? 26.Bxc4 14 Bxb2 21 27.Ra2 593 White keeps a little bit of pressure with his superior development, but Black is close to equality. Bg7 172 27...Bd4! 28.Rc1 Be4= 28.Rc1 118 Be8 96 A little passive, but White has to prove his advantage somehow. 29.Nc5 114 Bf8 493 30.Bd3 171 Nc6 321 31.Be4 508 Rdc8 120 32.Kf1 110 Ra7 269 White has a little bit of pressure, but it isn't too bad for Black yet. 33.Nb3 642 Rac7 169 34.Rac2 56 Bd6?! 46 34...Ba3! Was much better 35.Ba5? is what Anand was worried about. Nxa5 36.Rxc7 Rxc7 37.Rxc7 Nxb3-+ and Black has Nd2+ as a threat, so White can't do anything. 35.f4 51 f5 177 36.Bd3 27 Nb8? 147 36...Rb8! keeps the game interesting, with White being a bit better. 37.Rxc7 23 Rxc7 5 38.Rxc7 57 Bxc7 6 39.fxg5 176 hxg5 74 40.Nc5 0 Now Black just loses a pawn. Bd6 0 41.Nxe6 12 Bxa4 27 42.Nxg5 147 Bd7 14 43.Bc3 12 Perhaps premature resignation, but Black has a horrible position and the h-pawn is rolling down the board. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2814Anand,V28161–02015E053rd Sinquefield Cup 20151

Anand could not find the precise moves to hold

Last, but certainly not least, a spectacular series of fireworks in the Carlsen-Topalov game. Topalov opened with a crazy novelty: 7...g5!? which apparently had been analyzed in an article recenntly. Carlsen sacrificed a piece for two pawns an an initiative, but the Bulgarian was unfazed. He defended well, Carlsen continued to be aggressive, but it was to no avail. The attack never crashed through, and the pawns were not enough compensation for the extra piece. In a big time scramble Topalov won with his extra material.

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1.e4 3 c5 10 2.Nf3 6 d6 5 3.Bb5+ 12 Nd7 33 4.0-0 12 Ngf6 106 5.Re1 26 a6 37 6.Bd3 34 b5 330 7.c4 29 g5!? 15 An improvement over Carlsen-Nakamura from Zurich 2014 (rapid). The move is bold, but objectively it does look strange. 8.Nxg5 1756 Picking up the gauntlet! This is the most principled continuation. If Black doesn't play Ne5 and recapture on c4, he is basically down a pawn, but if he does do that c4 will be a weakness. Ne5 72 9.Be2 196 bxc4 799 10.Na3? 1002 Played after a substantial think, White does not choose the correct continuation. 10.Nf3! Nd3 10...Nfd7 11.Na3 is now slightly better for White: Nxf3+ 12.Bxf3 Ne5 13.Be2 and Rg8 doesn't attack anything. 11.Bxd3 cxd3 12.e5! dxe5 13.Nxe5 and White has a dangerous initiative since Bb7 loses instantly. Bb7? 14.Qa4+ Nd7 15.Nxf7! Kxf7 16.Qb3+ Kg7 17.Qxb7+- 10...Rg8 401 11.Nxc4!? 1201 A piece sacrifice! Black has no choice but to accept it, after which Carlsen will get two pawns for a piece but some interesting initiative. 11.f4 Nd3 12.Bxd3 cxd3∞ 11.Nf3 Nd3 12.Bxd3 cxd3 13.Nc4∞ 13.e5 dxe5 14.Nxe5 Qd5 is not the same at all. 11...Nxc4 295 12.d4 6 Nb6 896 13.Bh5 440 13.dxc5 dxc5 14.Qxd8+ Kxd8 15.Nxf7+ Ke8 is not something anyone wants to go for Black will have difficulties converting, but he has all the chances. 13...Nxh5 435 14.Qxh5 43 Rg7 606 14...Rg6 was stronger. The rook is much more active, and after 15.Qxh7 Rg7 16.Qh8 cxd4 17.Nh7 Rxh7 18.Qxh7 e5 Black is nearly winning. 15.Nxh7 300 Qd7?! 301 A strange move. Black wants to develop, but it was about time to get rid of this knight on h7. 15...Rxh7 16.Qxh7 cxd4 17.Qh8 e5 18.h4 Kd7! 16.dxc5 174 dxc5 141 17.e5?! 377 17.Nxf8 Qh3 17...Qg4 18.Qxg4 Rxg4 19.Nh7 f6 20.Ng5! 18.Qxh3 Bxh3 19.g3 Kxf8 19...Rg8 20.Nh7 f6∞ White is up two pawns, but that knight isn't going anywhere. 20.Bh6 might even favor White as Black's pieces are not well coordinated. 17...Qc6! 1117 18.f3 662 Qg6! 144 A very good move! 19.Nf6+ 92 Kd8! 9 Very precise. The Black king simply slides over to safety. 20.Qxg6 117 Rxg6 14 21.Ne4 8 Black is basically up a piece for no compensation. Two pawns are not enough. Bb7 388 22.h4 26 Rc8 174 23.h5 33 Rg8 20 24.Bd2 65 Nc4 100 White's position has not improved much. 25.Bc3 28 Bh6 128 26.Rad1+ 78 Ke8 175 27.Rd3 120 Bf4 37 28.Nf2 84 Bc6 125 29.Nh3 199 Bg3 44 30.Re2 1 Bb5 19 31.Rd1 1 Bc6 82 32.Nf2 36 Bxe5! 50 A beautiful shot in time scramble. White's position is now hopeless. 33.Ng4 16 Bxc3 9 34.bxc3 1 Kf8 8 35.Kf2 1 Rh8 9 36.Ne5 3 Nxe5 23 37.Rxe5 1 Be8 13 38.g4 1 f6 7 39.Re6 3 Bb5 8 40.Rde1 0 Rc7 0 Magnus resigned with time pressure reached. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2853Topalov,V28160–12015B513rd Sinquefield Cup 20151

Carlsen's reaction to 7...g5

Round One Games

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Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos by Lennart Ootes

Pairings

Round One
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Giri, Anish 2793
1-0
 Grischuk, Alexander 2771
So, Wesley 2779
0-1
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
Aronian, Levon 2765
1-0
 Caruana, Fabiano 2808
Carlsen, Magnus 2853
0-1
 Topalov, Veselin 2816
Nakamura, Hikaru 2814
1-0
 Anand, Viswanathan 2816

Games start at 1 p.m. local time (20:00h CEST, 22:00h Moscow, Thursday 12:30 New Delhi, 03:00h Tokyo, 04:00 Canberra – check your location here).

Playoffs, if necessary, will be on the 2nd at 1pm.

The games will be broadcast live on Playchess, with expert analysis (see schedule below).

Broadcast Schedule

Day Date Time Event German
English
Sunday Aug. 23 1 PM Round 1 Thomas Luther   
Mihail Marin
Monday Aug. 24 1 PM Round 2 Calrstedt/Pähtz
Mihail Marin
Tuesday Aug. 25 1 PM Round 3 S. Siebrecht  
Simon Williams
Wednesday Aug. 26 1 PM Round 4 S. Siebrecht  
Simon Williams
Thursday Aug. 27 1 PM Round 5 S. Siebrecht  
Simon Williams
Friday Aug. 28 Rest Day
Saturday Aug. 29 1 PM Round 6 Reeh/Breutigam
Y. Pelletier
Sunday Aug. 30 1 PM Round 7 Reeh/Breutigam
Y. Pelletier
Monday Aug. 31 1 PM Round 8 S. Siebrecht  
Daniel King
Tuesday Sept. 1 1 PM Round 9 Y. Pelletier
Daniel King
Wednesday Sept. 2 1 PM Playoffs  
 

Links

The 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.
Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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