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From 3 to 7 December, the Saint Louis Chess Club held its Saint Louis Chess Masters, an open tournament with almost 60 players, almost all of them titled players, including numerous grandmasters. The tournament was a 9-round-Swiss, with four of the five days of play featuring two rounds per day.
Top seed was Fabiano Caruana, followed by several other top US grandmasters, including Ray Robson, Samuel Sevian and Sam Shankland.
By participating in open tournaments Caruana hopes to improve his standing in the FIDE Circuit before the end of the year. In the FIDE Circuit, FIDE awards points for results in listed tournaments and the winner of the 2024 FIDE Circuit will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Currently Arjun Erigaisi and Caruana fight for the number one spot.
Among the players who travelled from the US Masters in Charlotte to Saint Louis was Alexander Donchenko, who is apparently warming up in the USA for the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York at the end of the year.
The prize money of $100,000 was no doubt another good argument for many players to take part in the Saint Louis Masters. The tournament was not held at the Saint Louis Chess Club - it wouldn't be big enough for 60 players - but in the Maryland Ballroom of the Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza Hotel in Saint Louis.
Caruana started with two wins, then drew with Aram Hakoyan and then beat Sam Shankland. In round five Caruana drew against Nikolas Theodorou, the only player to beat Caruana at the U.S. Masters. After two more wins and a draw against Grigoriy Oparin in round 8, Caruana had 6.5/8 and was one point ahead of his closest rivals with one round to go.
Fabiano Caruana
Alexander Donchenko's tournament also went well, but not quite as well as Caruana's. The German grandmaster took a bye in the first round and then had three wins and four draws.
Alexander Donchenko
Going into the final round Donchenko was part of a group of six players with 5.5/8 each, one point behind Caruana. In the final round Donchenko had to play Caruana with Black and won with energetic play.
With this win Donchenko caught up with Caruana and as none of the other players with 5.5/8 could win in the last round, Caruana and Donchenko were declared joint winners of the tournament.
Though sole victory at the Saint Louis Masters would have given Caruana even more FIDE Circuit points, he still managed to overtake Erigaisi and now leads the Circuit. However, Erigaisi is likely to pick up points at the Qatar Masters and the race will probably only be decided at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York at the end of the year.
FIDE Circuit 2024
Final standings
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2805 | 6,5 |
| GM | Donchenko, Alexander | 2618 | 6,5 | |
| 3 | GM | Sevian, Samuel | 2696 | 6 |
| GM | Saric, Ivan | 2669 | 6 | |
| GM | Oparin, Grigoriy | 2653 | 6 | |
| GM | Hakobyan, Aram | 2625 | 6 | |
| GM | Zhou, Jianchao | 2572 | 6 | |
| IM | Can, Isik | 2499 | 6 | |
| 9 | GM | Robson, Ray | 2700 | 5,5 |
| GM | Shankland, Sam | 2672 | 5,5 | |
| GM | Bok, Benjamin | 2593 | 5,5 | |
| GM | Quesada Perez, Yasser | 2577 | 5,5 | |
| GM | Khanin, Semen | 2568 | 5,5 | |
| GM | Woodward, Andy | 2530 | 5,5 | |
| GM | Kacharava, Nikolozi | 2510 | 5,5 | |
| 16 | GM | Mishra, Abhimanyu | 2616 | 5 |
| GM | Swiercz, Dariusz | 2574 | 5 | |
| GM | Kevlishvili, Robby | 2556 | 5 | |
| GM | Kantor, Gergely | 2550 | 5 | |
| GM | Cordova, Emilio | 2531 | 5 | |
| GM | Harsha, Bharathakoti | 2531 | 5 | |
| GM | Dudin, Gleb | 2506 | 5 | |
| IM | Heimann, Mark | 2459 | 5 | |
| 24 | GM | Theodorou, Nikolas | 2600 | 4,5 |
| GM | Vazquez, Guillermo | 2569 | 4,5 |
59 players...
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