9/6/2019 – Hikaru Nakamura made a strong comeback in his match against Levon Aronian to score 6-2 and clinch his match with a margin of 14½:11½ in a remarkable comeback after a disastrous first day. Caruana and So completed the formalities in their matches against Kasparov and Topalov respectively to win with wide margins, while Peter Svidler too prevailed against Dominguez with a 4½:3½ margin. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from Saint Louis. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

9/5/2019 – The third day of the Champions Showdown Chess 9LX almost continued on the same lines of the previous two days. Fabiano Caruana has already defeated Garry Kasparov in their match with a day to go, with a score of 14½:3½, while Wesley So too has almost crossed the threshold against Veselin Topalov at 13:5. Leinier Dominguez showed a fightback against Peter Svidler to narrow the trailing margin to 7:11. Kudos to Hikaru Nakamura who narrowed Aronian's lead to a point before the last day of 8 blitz games. Aronian leads 9½:8½. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

9/4/2019 – The Champions Showdown 9LX continued on the same lines as the first day, with Garry Kasparov and Hikaru Nakamura suffering more heartbreaks and continuing to trail their opponents with scores of 3:9 and 4:8 respectively. Peter Svidler and Wessley So gained further ground on their opponents. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVAN reports all action from the venue. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

9/3/2019 – Garry Kasparov has a very steep climb ahead if he wants to get back into contention in his Champions Showdown match versus Fabiano Caruana. He arrived several days early to participate in the now traditional post-Sinquefield "Ultimate Moves" exhibition. Presumably he found some time to practice before taking on super-GM Fabiano Caruana. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN has been in St. Louis throughout, reporting all the action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/30/2019 – Ding Liren carried the day in St. Louis, surprising spectators by winning a rapid and blitz tiebreak against World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen was consistently behind on the clock which proved a decisive factor, as a tentative move in the first blitz game actually resulted in his losing on time, despite the 3-second delay. After that Ding needed only a draw to secure his first Sinquefield Cup and a nearly certain ticket to the Grand Chess Tour final in London later this year. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart / Grand Chess Tour

8/29/2019 – The tense last round of the Sinquefield Cup ended in a dramatic way, with emotions and competitive tension taking centre-stage rather than skills. Magnus Carlsen completed his comeback in the tournament with yet another victory — with black pieces too — to jump to the top at the last minute and tie for the first place with 6½ points and force playoffs against Ding Liren for Thursday. Ding held his nerve to hold Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to a draw, while Karjakin missed a chance to finish at the top by not converting an advantageous ending against Caruana. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/28/2019 – Another intense day of fighting chess and drama in the tenth round of the Sinquefield Cup. Ding Liren shot into sole lead with six points out of ten games. It was a day when joint leader Ian Nepomniachtchi once again produced a horrendous blunder akin to the first round to lose dramatically against Maxim Vachier-Lagrave. Magnus Carlsen's winless drought finally ending with a smooth victory over Wesley So. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/27/2019 – Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi showed their guts to rise to the occasion and score crucial wins in the ninth round of the Sinquefield Cup, to jointly jump into the lead with 5½ points. Vishy Anand once again enjoyed a clear advantage against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who fought back admirably to draw the game. World Champion Magnus Carlsen failed to capitalise on chances offered to him by Aronian and drew yet again. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/26/2019 – The spell of draws was finally broken but the leading pack became a jumbo five-men crowd as Karjakin and Nepomniachtchi joined them at 4½ points from 8 rounds. While erstwhile joint leaders Fabiano Caruana and Viswanathan Anand drew their mutual encounter after a long fight, world champion Magnus Carlsen waged a spirited battle against Ding Liren but was forced to settle for a draw too. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/25/2019 – The seventh round of the Sinquefield Cup followed the same pattern of the previous day – all draws and status quo continued in tournament standings, with another heartbreak for Vishy Anand who once again missed converting a clearly better position. Thus, Anand along with Caruana and Ding continue to lead the tournament jointly with 4 points. But other games almost didn't show the fighting content worthy of a top tournament, though most of them were decently fought out. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/24/2019 – Vishy Anand missed a great opportunity to finish off Anish Giri while holding the upper hand — many times during the game — to settle for a heart-breaking draw in the sixth round. He continues to share the lead with 3½ points along with Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren after another all-draw round at the Sinquefield Cup. Caruana versus Vachier-Lagrave was a fantastic fight from a razor sharp Sicilian Najdorf, showing the depth of the players' opening preparation and boldness. Other games contained relatively less fighting content. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/22/2019 – Ding Liren joined the leaders Viswanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana at the top of the table with 3 points after a round of hard fought battles in almost all games at the Sinquefield Cup. Nemponiachtchi was the other winner of the round after his opponent Hikaru Nakamura played unevenly to lose a game where he didn't seem to be in his best of form. Anand, Caruana and So demonstrated very sharp opening preparations which made this round the most memorable of the tournament so far. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports from the venue. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

8/21/2019 – The spell of draws was finally broken when Levon Aronian blundered under time pressure handing Fabiano Caruana a well-deserved victory in the only decisive game of the fourth round. All other games ended in draws, as Vishy Anand messed up a complicated calculation to miss a certain win while Magnus Carlsen overlooked another opportunity to grind his opponent down. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/20/2019 – For the second day in succession, it was six draws in Saint Louis at the Sinquefield Cup. That enabled Vishy Anand to continue to lead as the only winner from the first round. The story of the day was the players with white pieces getting good advantages only to fritter them away in a spate of carelessness. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports about all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/19/2019 – Whenever we see the pairing of Anand vs Carlsen, it is expected to be nothing short of spectacle. It did not disappoint this time either. Carlsen kept things interesting in both game and his choice words at the confession booth. Mamedyarov and Nakamura had a sharp game which fizzled out to a draw. Caruana missed a good opportunity against Nepomniachtchi. All games in round two ended up in a draw. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/18/2019 – Viswanathan Anand got lucky against Ian Nepomniachtchi when the latter made a one-move blunder and lost his rook which resulted in his immediate resignation — the only decisive game of round one of the Sinquefield Cup 2019. Carlsen would like to improve on his forgettable Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz. Nakamura, Giri, So who are fresh for this event will definitely look forward to making an impact. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports from the venue. Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

8/17/2019 – The Grand Chess Tour crossed its half way mark with the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz yesterday, and continues with the Sinquefield Cup – one of the only two events with classical time control – tomorrow. Apart from higher point scores up for grabs, this is also the only event where only the 12 players part of the Grand Chess Tour play together, without any wild cards. It also carries a total prize fund of $325000, with a first prize of $90000.

8/16/2019 – Levon Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2019 despite losing the first and last game on the final day. Aronian managed to score only 5 points out of the last nine rounds but that was enough to beat Vachier-Lagrave. MVL's only consolation is that he beat Aronian in both of their blitz encounters. Caruana got his much awaited revenge against Carlsen in round fourteen. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports from Saint Louis. | Pictured: Aronian on being just informed by fellow Armenian GM Manuel Petrosyan that he has won the tournament. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour