Champions Showdown Chess 9LX: Aronian takes the lead

by Klaus Besenthal
9/13/2020 – With a run of three consecutive wins Levon Aronian has taken the lead on the second day of the 20+10 online tournament "Champions Showdown Chess 9LX". At this tournament, organized by the Saint Louis Chess Club, the Armenian grandmaster, with his now 4.5/6, has a half-point-lead on Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura. Former world champion Garry Kasparov, on the other hand, is towards the bottom of the standings after an underwhelming second matchday.
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"2020 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX"

In this tournament, which is played in Fischer Random mode, the arrangement of the pieces on the back rank is always determined just before the start of the game - the players do not have time for preparation. It is entirely up to them how they deal with the unusual and unique starting positions.

Standings after Day 2

4. Round

 Before the round, Starting position no. 777 was determined: 

Garry Kasparov lost a piece against Fabiano Caruana - he probably had a slip-up with his mouse:

This is how the former world champion commented on his mishap:

Table White Score Fed. Rating Black Score Fed. Rating Result
1 GM Kasparov, Garry 1.5 CRO 2812 GM Caruana, Fabiano 1.5 USA 2835 0-1
2 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 1.5 USA 2736 GM Carlsen, Magnus 2.5 NOR 2863 ½-½
3 GM So, Wesley 2.0 USA 2770 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 0.0 FRA 2778 ½-½
4 GM Firouzja, Alireza 0.5 FID 2728 GM Aronian, Levon 1.5 ARM 2773 0-1
5 GM Svidler, Peter 1.5 RUS 2723 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2.5 USA 2758 ½-½
 

5. Round

Ahead of round 5, position Nr. 476 was determined:

In this round Magnus Carlsen lost his lead after a defeat against Wesley So. In the end, the world champion could no longer mitigate the pressure on b2 and his poorly positioned knight on a4 and ended the game with an unmotivated queen move:

Table White Score Fed. Rating Black Score Fed. Rating Result
1 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier 3.0 USA 2758 GM Kasparov, Garry 1.5 CRO 2812 ½-½
2 GM Aronian, Levon 2.5 ARM 2773 GM Svidler, Peter 2.0 RUS 2723 1-0
3 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 0.5 FRA 2778 GM Firouzja, Alireza 0.5 FID 2728 0-1
4 GM Carlsen, Magnus 3.0 NOR 2863 GM So, Wesley 2.5 USA 2770 0-1
5 GM Caruana, Fabiano 2.5 USA 2835 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2.0 USA 2736 0-1

6. Round

Round 6 was played with starting position Nr. 75

Levon Aronian was able to separate himself from his co-leaders So and Dominguez: The Armenian won against Dominguez, while So only drew against Caruana. Magnus Carlsen also quickly got back on track with his victory over Alireza Firouzja. Hikaru Nakamura made it into the pursuer's group behind Aronian with a win against Garry Kasparov.

Table White Score Fed. Rating Black Score Fed. Rating Result
1 GM Kasparov, Garry 2.0 CRO 2812 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 3.0 USA 2736 0-1
2 GM So, Wesley 3.5 USA 2770 GM Caruana, Fabiano 2.5 USA 2835 ½-½
3 GM Firouzja, Alireza 1.5 FID 2728 GM Carlsen, Magnus 3.0 NOR 2863 0-1
4 GM Svidler, Peter 2.0 RUS 2723 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 0.5 FRA 2778 0-1
5 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier 3.5 USA 2758 GM Aronian, Levon 3.5 ARM 2773 0-1

 

Games


 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.g3 d5 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nb3 f5 5.f3 Nc7 6.Qf2 Ne6 7.Bd2 Nd7 8.0-0-0 Nb6 9.Kb1 Qf6 10.Bc1 Nc4 11.Rge1 0-0 12.Qg1 f4 13.gxf4 Nxf4 14.e3 Nh3 15.Qg3 Qg5 16.Rf1 Qxg3 17.hxg3 e5 18.dxe5 Bxe5 19.f4 Bg7 20.Rde1 g5 21.Bg2 Bf5 22.Nd4 Bxd4 23.exd4 g4 24.b3 Nd6 25.Ba3 Rf7 26.Re5 h5 27.Kb2 Kg7 28.Bxd6 Rxd6 29.Nd1 Re6 30.Ne3 Rxe5 31.dxe5 Kg6 32.c4 d4 33.Nxf5 Kxf5 34.Re1 h4 35.Be4+ Ke6 36.f5+ Kxe5 37.Bd5+ Kf6 38.Bxf7 Kxf7 39.Re2 hxg3 40.Rg2 Kf6 41.Rxg3 Kxf5 42.c5 Kf4 43.Rd3 g3 44.Rxd4+ Ke3 45.Rh4 Nf2 46.Rh7 g2 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Firouzja,A2728Kasparov,G28120–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20201.1
Svidler,P2723So,W27700–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20201.2
Dominguez Perez,L2758Nakamura,H27361–02020Champ Showdown 9LX 20201.3
Aronian,L2773Caruana,F2835½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20201.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2778Carlsen,M28630–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20201.5
Kasparov,G2812Carlsen,M2863½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20202.1
Caruana,F2835Vachier-Lagrave,M27781–02020Champ Showdown 9LX 20202.2
Nakamura,H2736Aronian,L2773½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20202.3
So,W2770Dominguez Perez,L2758½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20202.4
Firouzja,A2728Svidler,P2723½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20202.5
Svidler,P2723Kasparov,G28121–02020Champ Showdown 9LX 20203.1
Dominguez Perez,L2758Firouzja,A27281–02020Champ Showdown 9LX 20203.2
Aronian,L2773So,W2770½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20203.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2778Nakamura,H27360–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20203.4
Carlsen,M2863Caruana,F28351–02020Champ Showdown 9LX 20203.5
Kasparov,G2812Caruana,F28350–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20204.1
Nakamura,H2736Carlsen,M2863½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20204.2
So,W2770Vachier-Lagrave,M2778½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20204.3
Firouzja,A2728Aronian,L27730–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20204.4
Svidler,P2723Dominguez Perez,L2758½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20204.5
Dominguez Perez,L2758Kasparov,G2812½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20205.1
Aronian,L2773Svidler,P27231–02020Champ Showdown 9LX 20205.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2778Firouzja,A27280–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20205.3
Carlsen,M2863So,W27700–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20205.4
Caruana,F2835Nakamura,H27360–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20205.5
Kasparov,G2812Nakamura,H27360–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20206.1
So,W2770Caruana,F2835½–½2020Champ Showdown 9LX 20206.2
Firouzja,A2728Carlsen,M28630–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20206.3
Svidler,P2723Vachier-Lagrave,M27780–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20206.4
Dominguez Perez,L2758Aronian,L27730–12020Champ Showdown 9LX 20206.5

Live-Commentary from the St. Louis Chess Center

Tournament page

Translation from German: Arthur Paul

Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.

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