Champions Showdown Chess 9LX: Carlsen and Dominguez in the lead

by Klaus Besenthal
9/12/2020 – Yesterday, the 20+10 online tournament "Champions Showdown Chess 9LX" of the Saint Louis Chess Club started with the first of a total of three matchdays. Ten world-class grandmasters play against each other in a round robin tournament of "Chess 960". The difference to regular chess is that the starting position varies each game. After three rounds, world champion Magnus Carlsen and Leinier Dominguez Perez share the lead in the standings with 2.5 points each. Former world champion Garry Kasparov is also doing well with 1.5/3.
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"2020 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX"

"Chess960" is a quite popular variation of chess today: In the recent past a number of tournaments at top level have been held. In 2019 Wesley So became the first official world champion in this discipline. In contrast to a normal game of chess, the arrangement of the pieces on the back rank is randomly determined before the game begins, with a total of 960 different possibilities. Because this method was developed by the former world champion Bobby Fischer, it is also called "FischerRandom Chess"; as well as "Chess 9LX" as in this tournament by the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Standings after Day 1 

1. Round

In the 1st round starting position 490 was the opening position:

The highlight of the opening round was the victory of the 40 years older former world champion Kasparov against the young phenom Alireza Firouzja.

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

2. Round

Start position 90 was drawn:

The match between world champion Carlsen and Garry Kasparov, one of Carlsen's most famous predecessors, ended in a draw - Carlsen missed a win in the rook ending.

 
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 Position after move 34 from Black. 1.Ke3 With 1.h3! White could have taken control of the square g4, keeping the black rook away. 1...Rg4 2.Rd2+ Ke6 3.Rc2 Rxg5 4.Rc7 Rb5 5.Rxh7 With 5.b3 White could have been more adamant in his defense. 5...Rxb2 6.a4 a5 7.h4 Rb4 8.Rh6
This position should be clearly winning for Black. 8...Kf7? After this move, Kasparov gets back in the game. Right was 8...Kd7! Now White lacks a good continuation: The black king is in time, to protect his pawn on b7. 9.h5 gxh5 10.Rxh5 b6 11.Re5 Kf6 12.Re4 Rb3+ 13.Kd2 Kf5 14.Rh4 Ke5 This position is drawn. 15.Kc2 Rf3 16.Rh6 Rf6 17.Rxf6 Kxf6 18.Kd3 Ke5 19.Ke3 Kd6 20.Kd4 Kc6 21.Kc4 b5+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kasparov,G-Carlsen,M-½–½20202020 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX
Table White Score Fed. Rating Black Score Fed. Rating Result
1 GM Kasparov, Garry 1.0 CRO 2812 GM Carlsen, Magnus 1.0 NOR 2863 ½-½
2 GM Caruana, Fabiano 0.5 USA 2835 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 0.0 FRA 2778 1-0
3 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 0.0 USA 2736 GM Aronian, Levon 0.5 ARM 2773 ½-½
4 GM So, Wesley 1.0 USA 2770 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier 1.0 USA 2758 ½-½
5 GM Firouzja, Alireza 0.0 FID 2728 GM Svidler, Peter 0.0 RUS 2723 ½-½
 

3. Round

Starting position 909 was drawn: 

Garry Kasparov had to admit his first defeat against Peter Svidler, while Magnus Carlsen stayed at the top of the standings with a victory over Fabiano Caruana. There he is (still?) tied with Leinier Dominguez at 2.5/3. Vachier-Lagrave has not scored in the first three rounds and is in last place.

Table White Score Fed. Rating Black Score Fed. Rating Result
1 GM Svidler, Peter 0.5 RUS 2723 GM Kasparov, Garry 1.5 CRO 2812 1-0
2 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier 1.5 USA 2758 GM Firouzja, Alireza 0.5 FID 2728 1-0
3 GM Aronian, Levon 1.0 ARM 2773 GM So, Wesley 1.5 USA 2770 ½-½
4 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 0.0 FRA 2778 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 0.5 USA 2736 0-1
5 GM Carlsen, Magnus 1.5 NOR 2863 GM Caruana, Fabiano 1.5 USA 2835 1-0
 

Games

 
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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
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
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

Live-Commentary by the Saint Louis Chess Club

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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