I have no doubt that I am part of the chess elite
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave couldn’t have asked for a better time to win a top-level tournament, such as the Sinquefield Cup. Scoring six points in nine rounds, he became the only player to outrightly win the event twice. Equally important for him, the win beckons a return to top form. “It’s a huge win (for me) as it has given me more comfort and confidence for the next tournaments,” MVL, as he is popularly known, told Chessbase.
The Winawer Variation in just 60 minutes - that can only work by reducing it to a clear repertoire for Black and, where possible, general recommendations rather than variations. Alexei Shirov was surprised at how quickly he managed to make of the French Winawer an opening he himself could play. And now he will let you share in his conclusions.The victory also helped him return to the world’s top 10 ranking after recently dropping to number 16 following a slump in form in the first half of 2021. MVL contended that nothing seemed to be going his way at the beginning of the year, which made him lose confidence.
“It's very difficult to get it back. But I worked a lot on my chess and played many events. My calculations were turning out to be right, and things started to click. I am pleased that I have regained confidence and am back on track. The Sinquefield Cup win was a culmination of that process,” he remarked.
“I have absolutely no doubt that I am part of the chess elite. I want to prove it tournament after tournament,” he added.
Back in the top 10 — Maxime Vahcier-Lagrave | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Despite the significance of this year’s win in Saint Louis, MVL cherishes his 2017 Sinquefield Cup triumph more. “In the 2017 event, Magnus was playing and so were most of the top players. Moreover, since it was my first win, it’s quite special,” he said.
In this year’s event, MVL scored four wins, four draws and one loss. “The loss (against Dominguez Perez) was unpleasant and annoying, as I had forgotten something in my notes. But I told myself not to get distracted by the loss and maintain the focus.” He bounced back by defeating Darius Swiercz in the next round, a game the Frenchman considers one of his tournament highlights.
“I was quite happy about the way I reacted to his preparation, and found a way to play that would be most unpleasant for him (like the Nd2, NC4 idea). In general, I played a lot of good games with white pieces. To be playing for a win with white was another feature of my play here,” he says.
His other tournament highlight was the drawn encounter against Fabiano Caruana. Playing black, MVL employed his favourite Najdorf defence. “It was very intense. There was a lot that both of us knew. But these kinds of positions are quite crazy. Even though you calculate well, somehow it’s not always enough. But I was happy at the amount of things I could foresee during the game,” he says.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Nb6 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bb3! Kh8 11...Qxd3 12.Bc2 Bxf3 13.Nxf3 Qxd1 14.Bxd1 Rae8 12.Ne4 Nd7 13.Bd5 Bb6 14.Ng3 14.b4!± 14...Bxf3= 15.Qxf3 f5! 16.d4 16.Nxf5? g6-+ 16...f4 17.Ne4 17...Qh4N 17...exd4 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.Bxf4 dxc3 20.bxc3 Ne5 21.Qg3 Nd3 22.Rad1 Nxe1 23.Rxd8 Raxd8 18.Nd2 exd4 19.Nc4 Rad8 20.Bxc6 bxc6 21.Bd2 Nf6 22.Nxb6 22.Bxf4 dxc3 23.Qg3 23.bxc3? Nh5-+ 23...Qxg3 22.Qxf4 Qxf4 23.Bxf4 dxc3 22...cxb6 23.cxd4 c5 24.Re7 Rxd4 25.Bc3 Nd5 26.Rxa7 Nxc3 27.bxc3 Rdd8 28.Re1 c4 29.Re4 b5 30.a4 Rd3? 30...bxa4 31.Rxc4 a3 32.Rxa3 Qe7 31.Qxf4‼+- Qxf4 31...Rd1+ 32.Kh2+- 32.Rxf4 Rg8 33.axb5 Rxc3 34.Rc7 Rb3 35.Rc5! 35.Rcxc4?! Rb1+ 36.Kh2 Rxb5 35.Rfxc4?! Rxb5 36.f3 Rbb8 35...c3 36.Rfc4 h6 37.Rxc3 Rb1+ 38.Kh2 Kh7 39.Rg3 Rb2 40.f4 g6? 40...Kh8 41.h4 Rb4 41.f5 g5 42.Rd3 Re8 42...Rg7+- 43.Rd6 Rb7 43.Rd7+ Kg8 44.Rc6 Rxb5 45.Rg6+ Kf8 46.Rxh6 Kg8 47.f6 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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| Vachier Lagrave,M | 2751 | Swiercz,D | 2655 | 1–0 | 2021 | | GCT Sinquefield Cup 2021 | 5.2 |
| Caruana,F | 2806 | Vachier Lagrave,M | 2751 | ½–½ | 2021 | | GCT Sinquefield Cup 2021 | 6.1 |
| Dominguez Perez,L | 2758 | Vachier Lagrave,M | 2751 | 1–0 | 2021 | | 8th Sinquefield Cup 2021 | 4.5 |
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That he was regaining form had become apparent even before the Sinquefield Cup. The French GM had a good run in the World Cup where he lost to Sergey Karjakin in the quarterfinals in the tiebreakers. “The match was really intense and could have gone either way. But credit to Karjakin for playing close to his best in this match.”
Having achieved the target of making it back into the world’s top 10, MVL has set his sights on qualifying for the next Candidates. “That’s my next and obvious objective,” he said.
He also had a word of praise for the Sinquefield Cup organizers. “They put a lot of effort into making us feel comfortable during the event. It was not an easy task given the pandemic situation and the restrictions associated with it.”
This Najdorf-DVD is suited for the beginner as well as experienced club players. Pelletier presents a classical repertoire that's easy to learn and covers all you need to know about the Najdorf.
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