Sinquefield Rd1: An excellent start

2016 Sinquefield Cup The 2016 Sinquefield Cup is an elite international event, featuring 10 of the strongest chess players in the world. Over the course of nine rounds, these competitors will battle for $300,000 in prize money (first: $75,000, second: $50,000, third: $40,000, last: $15,000) plus points toward the Grand Chess Tour and the coveted title of 2016 Sinquefield Cup Champion. The venue is the Chess Club and Scholastic Center at 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108. Tickets cost $10 per round or $80 for all ten rounds. Full information available at the official web site.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators worldwide are expected to enjoy the all-star commentary team of GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade as they provide keen insights and analysis, in depth player interviews and witty discussions. Commentary is also available on DailyMotion, the CCSCSL YouTube Channel, Livestream and Twitch.

Round one

Chess patron and benefactor Rex Sinquefield opens the tournament (photo by Austin Fuller)

Prior to the event was Signing Day where fans came to autograph anything and everything (photo by Austin Fuller)

Vishy cracks up at one of the autograph pages being passed around (photo by Spectrum Studios)

Mission accomplished! (photo by Lennart Ootes)

The Sinquefield Cup began amidst surprises and unexpected turns before it had even begun. It was well-known that Magnus Carlsen would be missing out on it to focus on preparation for his forthcoming title defense, yet in spite of this, the event lost little luster thanks to the amazing lineup. Pretty much everyone in the Top Ten was there, though Vladimir Kramnik withdrew not long before due to health reasons, and thus came surprise number one.

Alejandro Ramirez makes last-minute retouches before going live. "How's the hair?" (photo by Austin Fuller)

Getting ready for the weigh-in for the tournament (photo by Austin Fuller)

The next surprise was the top seed: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman has long been recognized as a great talent, and despite being only 25, the same age as Magnus Carlsen, he had seemed to have peaked, having to claw his way into the Top Ten. However, the last twelve months have seen him just rocket up nearly 100 Elo as he finished a big win in Dortmund just now, followed by a crushing victory over Peter Svidler in their match at Biel. This took him to 2819 Elo, one of the all-time greatest, and less than 40 Elo behind Magnus, and the clear world number two.

Anish Giri came armed to the teeth and came very close to a decisive advantage against the new world number two, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In the end a mistake let the potential win slip through his fingers. (photo by Spectrum Studios)

Anish Giri - MVL (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

Replacing Vladimir Kramnik was Peter Svidler, a player always considered dangerous, and owner of seven Russian titles, an absolute record. Who can forget when Carlsen found himself gunned down in the 2013 Candidates in the last round, by the talented Russian.

It was a solid game between Svidler and Topalov until disaster struck (photo by Lennart Ootes)

Topalov - Svidler

Anand and Caruana watch the symbolic first move (photo by Lennart Ootes)

Anand - Caruana

One of the round one shocks was Hikaru Nakamura's loss to Wesley So (photo by Austin Fuller)

Wesley So - Hikaru Nakamura (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

Wesley So had plenty to smile about in round one (photo by Lennart Ootes)

Replay games of round one

Select games from the games list below the board

About GM Elshan Moradiabadi Elshan Moradiabadi is a GM born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He moved to the US in 2012. Ever since, he has been active in US college chess scenes and in US chess. Elshan co-authored "Chess and the Art of War: Ancient Wisdom to Make You a Better Player" with Al Lawrence. He has also published written articles for ChessBase, and edited opening materials for fellow authors. Elshan Moradiabadi is a veteran instructor and teaches chess to every level, with students ranging from beginners to IM. He can be contacted for projects or teaching at his email. You can contact him at his email or follow him on Twitter.

The games are being broadcast live on Playchess, with expert analysis. In round one commentary was done by IM Oliver Reeh and Georgios Souleidis

Schedule

Pairings

Links Official tournament site Download all games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the 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 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.