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.
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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 the CCSCSL YouTube Channel, Livestream and Twitch.
Round Two - Saturday, August 6, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
1-0
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
½-½
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
1-0
|
Anish Giri |
2769
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
½-½
|
Wesley So |
2771
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
0-1
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
All photos by Lennart Ootes from official site
After seeing an excellent movie that you know will have a sequel, the first concern is whether the sequel can live up to the original. It can certainly happen of course, but overall the statistics are not in favor, and more often than not we find ourselves trying to rationalize why it really was ‘pretty good’. Sticking with the analogy, if round one was that excellent first movie, then one can confidently say that round two was a tremendous sequel that improved on round one in many ways.

Alejandro Ramirez and Robert Hess are on lcoation providing live commentary to the audience visiting
In round two there were more wins, more drama, and not a single dull draw. In fact, the draws that happened had seemed destined to a decisive result, while two games saw very unexpected wins.
The first game to end, and the one that had seemed headed towards a win, was Ding Liren against Wesley So. Wesley found himself in trouble fairly early on against Ding Liren, who was nursing a nice advantage, when suddenly he played a tactic winning a pawn…. Or so he thought.
Ding Liren - Wesley So
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.e3 0-0 8.Be2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.0-0 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Nb6 12.Bb3 Nbd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Bg3 Bf6 15.Rc1 Nb6 16.Qe2 Bd7 17.Nb5 a6 18.Nd6 Bc6 19.Nxb7? Bxb7 20.Bc7 Qe7 21.Bxb6 21...Bxg2! 22.Kxg2 Qb7+ 23.Qf3 Qxb6 24.Rc6 Qb7 25.Rc2 Qxf3+ 26.Kxf3 Rfc8 27.Rfc1 Rxc2 28.Rxc2 Rb8 29.Rc6 a5 30.Rc5 Ra8 31.Rb5 Ra7 32.Bc2 Kf8 33.a4 Ke7 34.b4 Bc3 35.bxa5 Rxa5 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
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Ding,L | 2755 | So,W | 2771 | ½–½ | 2016 | D37 | 4th Sinquefield Cup 2016 | 2 |
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Wesley So, with good reason to smile
Ding Liren’s tactical ability is not to be underestimated, but here he got impatient to take it home and was lax in his thoroughness. As a result, Wesley So left the battlefield without a scratch, albeit after a small scare.
If So got off easy, then Fabiano Caruana has to consider he really dodged a bullet. Veselin Topalov was quite simply crushing him and had played a masterful attack with tactical finesses. Unfortunately, as soon as he reached the winning line, he seemed distracted, and began to miss moves badly, allowing Caruana to escape with fortress ideas.
Fabiano Caruana - Veselin Topalov

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.c3 Na5 10.Ba2 c5 11.Bg5 0-0 12.axb5 axb5 13.Na3 Qb8 14.Nc2 h6 15.Bh4 c4 16.Nb4 Be6 17.Re1 Qb7 18.d4 Bg4 19.Bb1 Nb3 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.Ba2?? Nxe4 22.Bxe7 - Start an analysis engine:
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Caruana,F | 2807 | Topalov,V | 2761 | ½–½ | 2016 | C84 | 4th Sinquefield Cup 2016 | 2 |
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Topalov had to be wondering how things got so out of hand after what promised to be a day of victory
Maxime Vachier Lagrave had been enjoying one of the great runs in elite chess, and had been undefeated in 67 games… until today. He came out of the opening against Vishy Anand with a nice edge, and even seemed likely to win, but the former world champion is not without a large set of tools.

Anand faced an MVL who had gone 67 moves without losing. His 2819 rating was a direct result.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave - Vishy Anand (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

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1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Ne4 4...Nfd7 5.e6!? fxe6 6.d4 5.Ne2!? Qb6 6.d4 e6 7.Nfg1 f6 7...h6 8.h4 8.f3 Ng5 9.exf6 gxf6 10.f4 Ne4 10...Nf7 11.Nf3 Be7 12.c4 dxc4 13.Nc3 Nd6 14.b3 cxb3 15.axb3 0-0 16.Bd3 Rf7 17.0-0 11.Ng3 Bd7 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.c3 Na6?! 13...c5 14.d5 exd5 15.Qh5+ Kd8 16.Qxd5 Qc6 17.Qf7 Qe6 18.Qh5 Kc7 19.b3 Nc6 20.Bc4 Qe8 14.Qh5+ Kd8 15.Bc4 Kc7 15...Nc7 16.Qf7 Be7 17.f5‼ 17.Qg7 Re8 18.f5 Qa5 19.Ne2 Qxf5 20.Ng3 Qg6= 17...exf5 18.Ne2 Ne8 19.Nf4 Nd6 20.Qg7 Re8 21.Be2 16.a4 c5 17.Ne2 Rd8 18.Be3 f5 19.0-0 Kb8 20.Qf7?! Nc7 21.a5 Qc6 22.Qf6 Bd6 23.dxc5 Bxc5 24.Nd4 Qd6 25.b4 Qe7 26.Qh6 Bd6 27.Rad1 Rhf8 28.Bf2 Rf6 29.Qh4 Nd5 29...Ba4 30.Rd2 Rg8 30.Nxe6?? 30.Bxd5 exd5 31.Qh3! Qg7 31...Bxf4 32.Bh4 32.Qe3 32.Bh4 Rh6 32...Rg6 33.g3 a6 33...h5 34.Nxf5 34.Nc2 30...Bxe6 31.Bxd5 e3! 32.Bxe3 Bxd5 33.Bxa7+ Kxa7 34.Qf2+ Bc5! 35.Qxc5+ Qxc5+ 36.bxc5 Rd7 37.Rfe1 h6 38.Kf2 Kb8 39.c4 Bc6 40.Rxd7 Bxd7 41.Rb1 Ra6 42.Rb6 Rxa5 43.Rxh6 Rxc5 44.h4 Rxc4 45.g3 Kc7 46.h5 b5 0–1 - Start an analysis engine:
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Vachier-Lagrave,M | 2819 | Anand,V | 2770 | 0–1 | 2016 | B11 | 4th Sinquefield Cup 2016 | 2 |
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A fantastic win for Anand, who has a great start

Maxime knew the run had to end one day, and just wished it did not have to be today
With this win Anand moves into a tie for first after two rounds. Naturally it is much too early to begin talking about leaders in any serious way.
If MVL had been on a run to end all runs, Svidler is having trouble getting out of a pit that seems to get deeper every time he looks. Naturally, his opponent Levon Aronian is one of the all-time greats, but Svidler is no slouch and the endgame seemed a relatively simple thing to draw. Instead, with all the pieces off the board except one pair, the Russian seemed to forget some of the most basic fundamentals, and declined to develop and centralize his king! This cost him very soon, and decisively so.

Levon Aronian was quite perplexed by Svidler's decision to leave his king in the corner
Levon Aronian - Peter Svidler
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nf3 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.Qd2 Nbd7 8.Ne5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nd7 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Qxd5 e6 12.Qd4 h5 13.Bd2 Qb8 14.Ne4 Qxe5 15.a4 Bf5 16.Ng3 Bc2 17.axb5 h4 18.Ne2 Qxb5 19.Qc3 Bh7 20.Nd4 Qb7 21.h3 Be7 22.Be2 0-0 23.Bf3 Be4 24.Bxe4 Qxe4 25.Qc6 Nc5 26.Qxe4 Nxe4 27.Nc6 Bc5 28.Ra4 Nxd2 29.Kxd2 Rfc8 30.Na5 Be7 31.Rc1 Rxc1 32.Kxc1 Rc8+ 33.Rc4 Rxc4+ 34.Nxc4 g5 35.Kd2 35...f5? 36.Ne5 Bd6 37.Nf3 Be7 38.Ne5 Bd6 39.Nf3 Be7 40.Kd3 Kg7 41.Ne5 Bb4? 42.Kc4 a5 43.Kb5 Kf6 44.Nc4 Be1 45.f3 g4 46.Nxa5 gxh3 47.gxh3 Ke5 48.Nc4+ Kd5 49.Nb6+ Kd6 50.Kc4 Kc6 51.Na4 Bf2 52.e4 fxe4 53.fxe4 Kd6 54.Nb2 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Aronian,L | 2792 | Svidler,P | 2751 | 1–0 | 2016 | D10 | 4th Sinquefield Cup 2016 | 2 |
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The final game of the day, and the longest by far, was the battle between Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri. After playing quite poorly, and losing to an opponent he bests more often than not, Nakamura had pronounced fighting words in the post-game interview, but with great optimism, a sign he was ready to do battle. He pointed out that even Magnus had had terrible starts and bounced back to win the event he was playing, so there was no reason to overreact.

It was a very tense and thrilling battle between Anish Giri and Hikaru Nakamura
Anish Giri - Hikaru Nakamura (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

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His positive thinking paid off and in spite of some rocky moments, Nakamura emerged victorious and is back in the mix.
The tournament is clearly on the way to provide intense excitement, so be sure to follow it!
Replay games of round two

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Select games from the games list below the board
Standings after two rounds

The games are being broadcast live on Playchess, with expert analysis.
Schedule
Day |
Date |
Time |
Event |
Playchess commentary
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German |
Saturday |
Aug. 6 |
1 p.m. |
Round 2 |
Oliver Reeh/Georgios Souleidis
|
Klaus Bischoff |
Sunday |
Aug. 7 |
1 p.m. |
Round 3 |
Chris Ward
|
Christian Bauer |
Monday |
Aug. 8 |
1 p.m. |
Round 4 |
Simon Williams
|
Klaus Bischoff |
Tuesday |
Aug. 9 |
1 p.m. |
Round 5 |
Simon Williams
|
Klaus Bischoff |
Wednesday |
Aug. 10 |
Rest Day |
Thursday |
Aug. 11 |
1 p.m. |
Round 6 |
Chris Ward
|
Thomas Luther |
Friday |
Aug. 12 |
1 p.m. |
Round 7 |
Yannick Pelletier
|
Thomas Luther |
Saturday |
Aug. 13 |
1 p.m. |
Round 8 |
Simon Williams
|
Yannick Pelletier |
Sunday |
Aug. 14 |
1 p.m. |
Round 9 |
Yannick Pelletier
|
Klaus Bischoff |
Monday |
Aug. 15 |
1 p.m. |
Playoffs |
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Pairings
Round One - Friday, August 5, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
½-½
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
Wesley So |
2771
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1-0
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Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
Anish Giri |
2769
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½-½
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
½-½
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
1-0
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
Round Two - Saturday, August 6, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
1-0
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
½-½
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
1-0
|
Anish Giri |
2769
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
½-½
|
Wesley So |
2771
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
0-1
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
Round Three - Monday, August 7, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Wesley So |
2771
|
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
Anish Giri |
2769
|
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
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M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
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Peter Svidler |
2751
|
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
Round Four - Tuesday, August 8, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
Ding Liren |
2755
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|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
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Wesley So |
2771
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Anish Giri |
2769
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Round Five - Wednesday, August 9, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Anish Giri |
2769
|
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
|
Wesley So |
2771
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
Round Six - Friday, August 11, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Levon Aronian |
2771 |
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2731 |
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
Ding Liren |
2793 |
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
Wesley So |
2779 |
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
Anish Giri |
2765 |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
Round Seven - Saturday, August 12, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
|
Anish Giri |
2769
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
|
Wesley So |
2771
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
Round Eight - Sunday, August, 13, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
Wesley So |
2771
|
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
Anish Giri |
2769
|
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
Round Nine - Monday, August 14, 1pm
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Veselin Topalov |
2761
|
|
Levon Aronian |
2784
|
Peter Svidler |
2751
|
|
Viswanathan Anand |
2770
|
Fabiano Caruana |
2807
|
|
Anish Giri |
2769
|
M. Vachier-Lagrave |
2819
|
|
Wesley So |
2771
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
2791
|
|
Ding Liren |
2755
|
Links
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. |
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