Aronian wins Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz

by Venkatachalam Saravanan
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

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Levon pips a trio at the post

Levon Aronian emerged as the winner of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz leg of the Grand Chess Tour after a tumultuous day of blitz games here at the Saint Louis Chess Club. The day almost belonged to the wildcard participant from China, Yu Yangyi, who excelled and barely missed tying for the title — which would have forced an eagerly awaited tiebreak match — as well as winning the blitz tournament. The day was disappointing for the overnight leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and for World Champion Magnus Carlsen, as they could score only 4 and 4½ points respectively.

To keep things in perspective, there was almost no one who managed to score heavily on the last day, with Yu (6 points out of the final nine rounds) the top scorer of the day, followed by Levon Aronian, Ding Liren and Sergey Karjakin with 5 points each. It underscores the tough level of this tournament, as well as the great battles seen throughout.

Yu

Yu Yangyi | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

The World Champion suffers

To begin with, Magnus Carlsen continued his indifferent form in a topsy-turvy encounter with Vachier-Lagrave:

 
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1.e41,170,31954%2421---
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 d5 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.0-0 Be6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Na3 [Surprising to see that both the players went for a sharp line of the Sicilian Alapin] Bxb3 11.axb3 a6 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Be3 Nf5 14.Qxd6 Nxd6 15.Bxb6 Rc8 16.Rad1 Rc6 17.Be3 e5
[The opening has gone well for Vachier-Lagrave and he has a clear way to increase his advantage here] 18.Rd5 f6 19.Rfd1 Kf7 20.Nc2 ..and he misses it! 20.Nc4 Nxc4 20...Ke6 21.Na5 Rc7 22.Bb6 Rc8 22...Rf7 23.Bc5 23.b4 and white is clearly better 21.Rd7+ Be7 22.bxc4 Rxc4 23.Rxb7± 20...Ke6 21.f4 Be7 22.fxe5 fxe5 23.c4 Ne4 24.Ne1 Rd6 25.Nd3 Rxd5 26.cxd5+ Kd6 27.b4 Rb8 28.Bb6 Bd8 29.Bxd8? [After this exchange, white's pawn weaknesses become more pronounced] 29.Ba7 Ra8 30.Nc5! Nxc5 31.Bxc5+ Kd7 with a complex ending 29...Rxd8 30.Re1 Kxd5 31.Nf4+ Kc6 32.Ne6 Rd6 33.Nxg7 Rd4
[Carlsen has slowly outplayed MVL in the ending, and is much better now] 34.Nf5?? Rxb4 35.Re2 a5 36.g4 Ng5 37.Kf2 Rxg4 38.Rxe5 Rb4? It was important to create a future passer on the queenside with 38...a4 39.Rxa5 Rxb2+ 40.Kg3 [It's no more an easy win for white] Ne4+ 41.Kf4 Nc5 42.h4 Kd5 43.Ne3+ Kc6 44.Nf5 b6 45.Ra7 Rb4+ 46.Kg5 Ne4+ 47.Kh6 Nd6 48.Ne7+ Kb5 49.h5 Rh4 50.Nd5 Ne4 51.Rxh7 Kc6 52.Nxb6 Rxh5+ 53.Kxh5 Nf6+ 54.Kg6 Nxh7 55.Kxh7
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2778Carlsen,M2882½–½2019B22GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201910

Vachier-Lagrave and Carlsen

Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ Carlsen | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

Carlsen followed that with a very smooth win over Karjakin, and then a win over Ding, outfoxing his opponent in a typical endgame grind:

 
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30.Bxc6 h5 31.Kf2 Rd2+ 32.Ke3 Rxg2 33.Bd5 Rg6 34.h4 c5 35.Rf5 b5 36.Rg5 Rh6 37.Rg1 Kf7 38.Rc1 c4 39.Rg1 Rh8 40.Kd4 Rc8 41.Rg5 Rb8 42.Kc5 Rc8+ 43.Kxb5 Rb8+ 44.Kxc4 Rxb2 45.Kc5 Rb1 46.Rxh5 Rb3 47.Rf5+ Ke7 48.Bxb3 Bxf5 49.Bxa4
1–0
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Carlsen,M2882Ding,L28051–02019A28GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201913

Just when there was a hope that Carlsen was indeed coming back to form, another old rivalry popped up again:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.0-0 d6 7.Bc4 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.Nc3 Qd7 10.Be3 Be7 11.a4 Rf8!? [Can you understand the idea behind this move?] 12.Be2 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Kf7 [He actually wanted to castle short with 11...Rf8?! Can anyone recall anyone doing this over the chess board, EVER?!] 14.Nd5 Kg8 15.a5 a6 16.c3 Kh8 17.Qb3± Nd8 18.Rad1 Nxd5 19.Bg4! Qb5 20.Qxd5 Qxb2? 21.Qc4 c6 22.Rb1 Qa3 23.Bb6 Nf7 24.Ra1 Qb2 25.Rfb1 d5?? [Black loses a piece by force now] 25...Qc2 26.Rc1 Qd2 27.Be3 d5 28.Qb3 Qd3 29.exd5 Qxd5 30.Qxb7± 26.Qd3 dxe4 27.Qd7 Qxc3 28.Qxe7 and Caruana went on to convert his advantage slowly
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2818Carlsen,M28822019C63GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201914

You can also follow the game from 6.0-0 directly with the video:

Pause if you want to try your own variations or analyse with the engine!

The next game was an absolute shock!

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6
4.Nxf7!? [It is difficult to believe that such moves can work in modern chess! It is impossible to believe that the world champion was in a proper frame of mind to play so aggressively] Kxf7 5.d4 c5 6.Nc3 cxd4 7.Bc4+ Ke8 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qe3 Qb6 10.Qg3 Nd4 11.0-0 Be6 12.Bxe6 Nxe6 13.Nd5 Qc6 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Qg4 Ke7 and black went on to win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2882Yu,Y27522019C42GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201915

With a further loss to Dominguez in the 16th round, Carlsen finished a forgettable tournament.

Carlsen

At least his hair was in form for the occasion! | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

Rapport fades

It was also a day when Richard Rapport couldn't build upon the momentum he had gained over the previous day's blitz games. He too lost a topsy-turvy, but very interesting game to Vachier-Lagrave with a glorious trading of 'shots' between the two heavyweights of sharp play:

 
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20.h3 Bd7 21.bxc5 dxc5 22.Bxc5 Bxc5 23.Qxc5
23...Bxh3!? 24.Qxe5 Qxd3 25.Rad1 Bg4?
26.Bxf7+‼ Kxf7 27.Qf4+ Kg8 28.Qxg4 Qxa3 29.Nf3 Qe7 30.e5 Nc4 31.Rd5 Qe8 32.Rb1 Qc6 33.Rd7 Qg6 34.Qxg6 hxg6 35.e6 Rbe8 36.Rxb5 Rxe6 37.Rbb7 Rf5 38.Rxg7+ Kf8 39.Rh7 Rh5 40.Rhf7+ Ke8 41.Rfc7 Rb6 42.Rc8#
1–0
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Vachier-Lagrave,M2778Rapport,R27471–02019C84GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201911

He missed a golden chance against Yu Yangyi in the twelfth round: 

 
Rapport vs Yangyi, Round 12
Position after 69.♖a5

In a winning position, Yangyi blundered with 69...e5??

The point is, the pawn ending is a draw after 70.♖xe5 fxe5 71.♔e3 ♚h4 72.♔d2!! ♚h3 73.♔d3!! keeping the opposition. If Black goes back with the king: 71...♚g6, 72.♔f2 ♚f6 73.♔e3 ♚f5 74.♔e2!! holds. Check the variations for yourselves — it's a lot of fun!

Trusting his opponent, Rapport too blundered with 70.a4?? after which he went on to lose the game.

Another disaster struck soon after:

 
Mamedyarov vs Rapport, Round 15
Position after 25.e4

25...c2 26.b4 and White went on to win. He lost two more games in the tournament —  momentum killed.

Rapport

Richard Rapport turned out in a colourful shirt on the last day | Photo: V.Saravanan

A Ding down day

Ding Liren started the day disappointingly, losing to his own countryman:

 
Ding vs Yu, Round 10
Position after 30.♖hc1

Ding conducted the game well for the most part, nursing a slight advantage from the opening phase. But Yu showed his dynamic skills here:

30...d4! Ding is suddenly faced with a big surge of counterplay from Black now. 31.exd4 d5! 32.dxc5 f4+ and Black's mating attack succeeded further on.

In a repetition of the same story, Ding further mishandled an equal position against the eventual winner:

 
Ding vs Aronian, Round 12
Position after 29...♜b8

Here, 30.a5! ♚f8! (30...♜bxb4 31.♖xb4 ♜xb4 32.♖e7) 31.b5 ♜c5 32.b6 might have led to a draw. Liren missed his changes with 30.e7? a5 31.b5 xa4 and black went on to win the game. He further lost to Carlsen in the 13th round.

Though he did fight back and won four games after that, there was simply no time to fight for the top honours.

 
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.h3 Nf6 7.Na3 a6 8.Nc2 g6 9.Nf3 Bf5 10.Be2 e6 11.0-0 h5 12.Nce1 Bd6 13.Nd3 Ne4 14.Be3 0-0-0 [It is not everyday that you will see Ding Liren play such directly tactical chess] 15.Rc1 g5 16.Nxg5? [Opening up the kingside for attack - Caruana never recovered from this] Rdg8 17.f4 17.h4 f6 17.Nxe4 dxe4! 18.Ne1 Bxh3-+ 17...Ng3 17...Rxg5! 18.fxg5 Bh2+ 19.Kh1 Ng3+ 20.Kxh2 Nxf1+ 21.Kg1 Nxe3-+ 18.Rf2 f6 19.Nf3 Ne4 20.Rf1 Bxh3 21.Nfe1 h4 22.Kh2 Qg7-+ [Black's attack flows easily and decisively] 23.Bf3 Bxg2 24.Bxg2 Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Qxe3 26.Rf3 h3! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2818Ding,L28050–12019B13GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201918

Ding

Ding Liren had poor start to the final day | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

Crackin' Karjakin

Counting the games from the first day of blitz, Karjakin blazed to a 5½ out of 6 games streak in the middle of the tournament, only to be stopped by Carlsen in the eleventh round. His chances ended with a peculiar piece of play in the fifteenth round:

 
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29.Kg3? [Where is the white king going?!] 29.Raa2! [Safeguarding the 2nd rank] Rb3 29...Rcc3 30.a4 30.Re3!= 29...Rb3 30.a4 Rcxb4 31.axb5 axb5 and black went on to convert this position 32.Ra7 Rb2 33.Rxb2 Rxb2 34.Rb7 b4 35.h4 h5 36.Kh3 b3 37.g4 hxg4+ 38.Kxg4 Rb1 39.Kg3 b2 40.Kg2 Kg6 41.Rb5 e5 42.Rb8 f5 43.Rb6+ f6 44.exf5+ Kxf5 45.h5 Kg5 46.h6 Kg6 47.Kh2 Kh7 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2750Ding,L28050–12019D04GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201915

Karjakin

Karjakin's promising run ended midway through | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Vachier-Lagrave disappointment

One of the most disappointing stories of the last day was the leader from the previous day, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Though he was in lead with three games to go, his Waterloo came in the 16th game:

 
Yu vs Vachier-Lagrave, Round 16
Position after 17.♗h5

Here, MVL could have maintained his advantage with 17...♛a6+ after which it is Black who has the initiative. But for a second, he lost his sense of danger and played 17...e5, after which he was hit with 18.xh7!!

The point is, 18...♝xh7 is met with 19.♗xf7! ♚xf7 20.♖xf7 and White's attack will be decisive. 18...a6+ 19.e2 d6 20.xf6+ and White had an overwhelming advantage, which he converted.

Though he defeated Aronian in the last round, it was not enough to catch up with the Armenian, as he had already built up a full point advantage over his opposition and 1½ points more than the Frenchman.

 
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[Badly needing a win in the last round, MVL goes for his chances] 16...dxc4! 17.Nxc8 Rxd1 18.Rcxd1 c3 19.Nd6 h5 19...c2! 20.Ne4 20.Rd2 Qxf2+! 20...Qb2 21.Nxc5 21.Rc1 Ba3-+ 21...cxd1Q 22.Rxd1 Kf8! 23.Nxa6 Qxe2 24.Ne3 24.Rd8+ Ke7 25.Ra8 Qd1+ 24...Qxa6-+ 20.Ne4 Qe5 21.Nxc5 Nxc5 22.Ne3 b5 23.b4 Ne4 24.Rd3 h4 25.gxh4 Qf6 26.f3 Nd2 27.Rc1? 27.Rd1 with fighting chances 27...Nxf3+! 28.Kh1 28.exf3 Qg6+ 29.Kf2 Qxd3 28...Nd4 29.Rf1 29.Rdxc3 Nxe2 30.Rc8+ Kh7 31.Rf1 Qxh4-+ 29...Qxh4-+ 30.Ng2 Qe4 31.Rxc3 Qxe2 32.Rc8+ Kh7 33.Rcc1 f6 34.Rce1 Qxa2 35.Re3 e5 36.Rh3+ Kg8 37.Ne3 Qa8+ 38.Kg1 Ne2+ 39.Kf2 Nf4 40.Rf3 Qa2+ 41.Kg1 Qd2 42.Rd1 Qxb4 43.Nf5 Qe4 44.Nh4 Ne2+ 45.Kf2 Nd4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2765Vachier-Lagrave,M27780–12019A47GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201918

MVL

'MVL' suffered from a poor run on the last day | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

We have seen bits and pieces of Yu Yangyi's performance throughout, and one of his best efforts came against the previous challenger to the throne:

 
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19...g5! 20.Bg4 h3 21.Nf3 hxg2 22.Rfe1 Nh4 23.Bxh4 gxh4 24.f5 Rg8 25.Re4 Qd5? 26.fxe6 fxe6
27.Ncxd4?? Nxd4 28.Rxc8+ Bxc8 29.Nxd4 Bc5 30.Qe3 Bb7-+ 31.b4 axb4 32.axb4 Bb6 33.h3 Rf8 34.Kh2 Qa2 35.Bh5+ Kd7 36.Be2 Rg8 37.Kg1 Qa1+
0–1
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Yu,Y2752Caruana,F28180–12019C00GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201911

But Yu Yangyi missed a golden opportunity in the last round when he missed a beautiful shot in a bishop ending. Arguably, it could have been the most interesting game of the tournament if Yu had won, as it featured one of the best elements of the endgame: Zugzwang. Actually not just one — a total of three of them in succession!

 
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[The ending should be equal, but both the players were down to their last few seconds] 48.Kh4 Kg6 [It is important for black to stop the white king from penetrating into his camp] 49.Bh5+ Kf6?? 49...Kh6 50.Bf7 Bc6 51.Be6 51.Bg8 Kg7 52.Be6 Kg6 51...Kg6 and white cannot make progress 50.Bf3 Be6 50...Bc6 51.Kh5 51.Kh5+- Bf7+ 52.Kh6 Be6 53.Bh5 53.Kh7! [The point is, white has to penetrate white's positin through the g8 square, for which he has to create a zugzwang and force the black bishop out of the a2-g8 diagonal] Bf7 54.Bg2! Be6 55.Bh1! [Wasting a move - ultimately white's bishop has to get to h5-square] Bf7 56.Bf3! [Zugzwang-1] Be6 57.Bh5! [And white wins!] Bd7 58.Kg8! Ba4 58...Bc6 59.Kf8 Ke6 60.Kg7 Bb7 61.Bg6 Bc6 62.Bf7+ Ke7 63.Kg6 Bb7 64.Bg8 and black loses either of his pawns on f5 or d5 59.Bf7 Bc6 60.Kf8! [Watch THAT King!] Bb7 61.Bh5 Bc6 62.Bf3! [Zugzwang-2!] Ke6 62...Bb7 63.Be2! Bc6 64.Bh5 transposes to a later position resulting in a zugzwang 63.Be2! Kf6 64.Bh5! Ke6 64...Bb5 65.Bf7 Bc6 66.Bg8 Zugzwang 65.Bf7+ Kf6 65...Kd6 66.Be8 Bb7 67.Kf7 and the f5-pawn will fall 66.Bg8 [Zugzwang-3] Bb7 67.Ke8 Kg6 68.Be6 Kf6 69.Kd7 and the d5-pawn will fall 53...Bg8 54.Be8 Be6 54...Ke7 55.Kg7! 55.Kh7 Ke7 56.Bb5 56.Bg6! Kf6 57.Bh5 leads to zugwang analysed earlier 56...Kf6 57.Bc6 Kf7 58.Kh6 Kf6 59.Be8 Ke7 60.Bb5 Kf6 61.Bc6 Bf7 62.Bd7 Bg8 63.Kh5 Bf7+ 64.Kh4?? [There is no win anymore] Bg6 65.Bc6 Bf7 66.Bb7 Be6?? [Black allows a win, but by this time both the players were convinced that the position was a draw] 67.Kh5 Bf7+ 68.Kh6 Be6 69.Kh7 Kf7 70.Bc6 Kf6 71.Be8 Ke7 72.Bb5?
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yu,Y2752Mamedyarov,S2764½–½2019B29GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201918

Yu interview

Yu Yangyi interviewed by Maurice Ashley (with an interpreter) after one of his best ever performance | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

And then there was Lev...

That finally brings us to the winner of the day, Levon Aronian. He showed his brilliance most of the time, as in his win over Mamedyarov. But an important point to understand is that, Aronian messed up two easy positions, against the world champion and the erstwhile challenger, which could have given him a point more:

 
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11...Ne7?? 12.Ng5 Qf5 13.g3+-
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2765Mamedyarov,S27641–02019A16GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201911
Carlsen,M2882Aronian,L27652019E24GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201917
Aronian,L2765Caruana,F2818½–½2019A15GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201913

I was curious about his pronouncements after the end of the first day of Blitz. So, what did he do different on the last day?

“I played fast throughout the day, and focussed on keeping the initiative more. And except some of the games, it worked. It was done consciously done, though it didn't happen in every game, but it was fine.”

I pointed out the two wins he missed against Carlsen and Caruana. After those two misses, how confident was he before the last round, on winning the tournament?

“I was certain to win the tournament, but did not expect to win in such a dramatic way! Which doesn't really do me any good, losing in such a stupid way”.

Did his emotions get the better of him?

“Yeah, I was too eager to see what would happen to Yu Yangyi, which was not a good thing. I was not happy about that”.

After all the games were over and Aronian was about to enter commentary enclosure for his interviews, he encountered his friend Vachier-Lagrave in the hallway, and both of them had a laughter with a handshake, when Aronian proclaimed, “Maestro! I promised you and I haven't let you down!”

Aronian

Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave share a laugh after the end of the tournament | Photo: Austin Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

So, what were they talking about?!

Aronian grinned broadly. “Yesterday we were having dinner. I (told him), if you need any help (tomorrow) I am there for you! Jokingly, obviously”, he explains, as everyone around us break into a smile. Truly, he is one of the friendliest of all the top players around.

Thus, thanks to Yu Yangyi's miss against Mamedyarov, Aronian goes on to win the title, $37,500 and 13 tour points. This is the second win for Aronian since the inception of the tournament in 2017, and he has also ended Carlsen's streak winning all the tournaments he has participated this year!

Final blitz standings

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TBPerf.
1
2752
11.5
18
101.00
2888
2
2805
11.5
18
97.00
2882
3
2750
11.5
18
95.00
2888
4
2765
9.0
18
80.50
2784
5
2882
9.0
18
78.25
2771
6
2778
8.5
18
72.25
2762
7
2747
8.5
18
71.25
2765
8
2764
7.0
18
61.50
2704
9
2818
7.0
18
59.25
2698
10
2763
6.5
18
60.50
2683
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

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Final overall standings

overall standings

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Live commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade
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Saravanan is an IM from Chennai, the southern-most state of Tamil Nadu, India. He has been an active chess player in the Indian circuit, turning complete chess professional in 2012, actively playing and being a second to strong Indian players. He has been consistently writing on chess since late 1980s and is a correspondent to national newspapers and news channels.

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