Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: Nakamura does it again

by Venkatachalam Saravanan
8/16/2018 – Hikaru Nakamura triumphed at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz leg of the Grand Chess Tour with a round to spare and landed at the top spot in the overall standings of the tour with 33 points. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scored 6½ from the final nine blitz games of the tournament to top the section, just outpacing Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at the finishing line to place himself second in the tour with 25 points. His score of 13½/18 in the Blitz was a whopping three points more than Nakamura, who finished second on 10½. V. SARAVANAN's report includes a full pictorial look at the final day. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

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Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into the practice of today's world elite, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the subject for ChessBase: none other than Grandmaster Wesley So!

Naka repeats Paris feat

Nakamura’s play in the blitz was steady, if not spectacular, scoring 5 out of 9 on the last day. However, what was important was that no one could overtake him the combined standings of Rapid and Blitz. The crowning glory of the tournament was his crucial win against Mamedyarov in the 17th round:

 
Round 17: Mamedyarov - Nakamura
Position after 44…Ra2+

Mamedyarov held the upper hand for most of the game, but Nakamura was rewarded for his fighting spirit. After 45.Kd3?? Rb1 46.Rg1 Rb3 47.Ke4 the white bishop got trapped.

Nakamura’s game against Mamedyarov, which gave him the overall title with a round to spare — needless to say, it was intently watched | Photo: V. Saravanan

The final moments of the deciding game:

To theory or not to theory? It is an eternal double-edged sword in blitz. On one hand, you are confident that your play is fundamentally sound, but you might be exposing yourself to an overzealous opponent who has an improvement, even in your own pet line. Or simply, he might find a glitch in your own favourite position, which might cost you dearly. And this is what happened to Aronian against Caruana:

 
Round 11: Aronian - Caruana
Position after 12...Bf5

In a theoretical position which is definitely familiar to his opponent — who plays the Petroff frequently — Aronian played 13.Qd5 (a new move) h6 14.Ne4 Be5 15.Bd3? (an uncharacteristic immediate error) Be6 16.Qb5 f5! and Black is on top.

But Aronian was able to turn the tables against Vachier-Lagrave in the 13th round, in the Frenchman's pet Najdorf:

 
Round 13: Aronian vs Vachier-Lagrave
Position after 19...Ne5

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Vachier-Lagrave has boldly gone for a theoretical melee, where black has to be careful with his kingside while pursuing the white king himself. This is a known position played in earlier games though not in the top level, and 15.Be2 is the best move here, as played before and also as suggested by engines. And it is precisely such positions that one doesn’t enter unless you know your openings inside out.

Here, Aronian uncorked 19.Qxf4!? Qc7 20.0-0-0 Rfc8. A few moves later:

 
Position after 23.Nd4

Suddenly Vachier came up with 23…Bxa2?! (Looks nice optically, but nothing comes out of it) 24.Kxa2 b3 25.Kb1 a3 26.cxb3 Qa5? (Better was 26…axb2 but after 27.Qd2 it isn’t clear what Black has) 27.Qd2! and White was already winning, prompting an excited Maurice Ashley to shout in the live commentary, “This is unreal! … Vachier’s head is in his hands! … I have my doubts about this!” A clear case of a game lost without much of a fight, against an unexpected new move on the board, even in a position which is a player’s own speciality. 

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e5 9.Nb3 Be6 10.Be3 Nbd7 11.g4 Be7 12.Qd2 b5 13.g5 B90: Sicilian Najdorf: Unusual White 6th moves, 6 Be3 Ng4 and 6 Be3 e5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 0-0 15.Na5 Nb8 16.g5 Ne8 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 Qd7 19.b3 Bd8 20.Bd3 f5 1-0 (43) Kryvoruchko,Y (2693)-Yu,Y (2725) Baku 2016 CBM 175 [Havasi,G] 13...b4 14.Ne2 Nh5 15.Ng3 Nf4 16.Bxf4 exf4 17.Nh5 LiveBook: 4 Games 0-0 17...Bxb3!? 18.axb3 Ne5± 18.h4 Ne5 19.Qxf4N 19.Be2 Predecessor (2): 19.Be2 d5 20.0-0-0 dxe4 21.Qxf4 1/2-1/2 (55) Szabo,K (2467)-Nechepurenko, R (2463) Balatonlelle 2006 19...Qc7= 20.0-0-0 Rfc8
21.Rh2 a5 22.Kb1 a4 23.Nd4 White mounts an attack. Bxa2+ 23...Bd7 24.Kxa2± Black must now prevent Qc1. b3+ 24...Bf8± 25.Qc1 d5 25.Kb1+- 25.cxb3 axb3+ 26.Kxb3 Qa7-+ 25...a3 Strongly threatening ...axb2. 26.cxb3 Threatens to win with Rc2. 26.Nxb3 axb2 27.c4 27.Kxb2 Qc3+ 28.Kb1 Rcb8 29.Bb5 Rxb5 30.Qxf7+ Nxf7 31.Nf6+ Bxf6 32.Kc1 Rxb3 33.gxf6 Ra1# 27...Qa7± 26...Qa5?
26...axb2 keeps fighting. 27.Rxb2 Qa7 27.Qd2! White is clearly winning. Qb6 28.Nf4 Nxf3 29.Nxf3 Qxb3 30.Nd4 Qb7 31.Nd5 Bd8 32.b4 a2+ 33.Ka1 Bb6 34.Nf5
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2871Vachier Lagrave,M28781–02018GCT Saint Louis Blitz 201813

However, continuing from yesterday, Vachier-Lagrave continued to be precise in his conversions in the endgame. Samples:

 
Round 11: Grischuk - Vachier-Lagrave
Position after 48…fxe6

Black has an extra pawn, but White has two bishops against two knights. Who could take a guess how the game would go? The Frenchman won, of course.

 
Round 12: Vachier-Lagrave - Dominguez
Position after 28…Rd8

Now came the breakthrough 29.e6! fxe6 30.Nfxe6 Nxe6 31.Rxd8 Kxd8 32.Nxe6+ Kd7 and White has achieved a considerable advantage, though the pawns are equal. This is a classical Berlin Defence going wrong for Black — his pawn majority on the queenside is ineffective due to the doubled pawns, while White can create a passed pawn on the kingside. Watch Maxime's precision here:

 
Position after 32...Kd7

33.Nxg7! (A precise move!) Rg6 34.Nxh5 Bxf3 35.Nf4 Rg4 and now:

 
Position after 35…Rg4

36.g3! (Fantastic! It is impossible to go into this whole variation unless you have seen this move when you played 33.Nxg7! To calculate with such precision in blitz earns our whole praise and respect for the Frenchman) Rg8 (36…Rxg3 37.Kf2 wins the white bishop) 37.Kf2 with a winning position.

Vachier-Lagrave in his characteristic pose, even during Blitz. The Frenchman showed amazing consistency to score 6½ on the final day | Photo: V. Saravanan

 
Round 14: Vachier-Lagrave - Mamedyarov
Position after 38…Rxa3

White started with a good advantage in the rook endgame…

 
Position after 59.Kc3

…expanded it considerably…

 
Position after 66...Kd7

…and finally won with a nice little trick: 67.Rf8! 1-0

But even otherwise, Mamedyarov did not start the day too well and fell for the following beauty:

 
Round 11: Dominguez - Mamedyarov
Position after 37…Qa5

Here came 38.Rxd5 cxd5 39.Bxd7 Kb8 40.Qd6 1-0

True to blitz chess, there were countless instances of chaos. Some samples:

 
Round 12: So - Anand
Position after 37.Qxd5

White is a healthy exchange up, when the 'wily old pro' in Anand decided to make it difficult for his rival with 37…Bd3 38.Ree1 Qb6 39.Rd2? b4?! (39…Rd8) 40.Be4?? Rd8 and White loses material.

Anand had his second, Polish GM Grzegorz Gajewski, joining him from Wednesday| Photo: V. Saravanan

 
Round 12: Karjakin - Grischuk
Position after 17.Nxe5

One can trust Grischuk to cook up wild tactics, and that is precisely what he did here: 17…Bxg2?! (the simpler 17…Nf4 was good enough for a large advantage) 18.Bxg6!? Nf4 19.Bxf7+ Rxf7 and Black went on to win.

Grischuk has the most striking board presence of all the players here. And worse, he sometimes flexes his muscles too! | Photo: V. Saravanan

But probably the most dramatic twin turnaround of the day was the following game:

 
Round 12: Mamedyarov - Aronian
Position after 31…Rxc8

White is a healthy pawn up and doing well. In a moment of rare blindness, Mamedyarov played 32.Nd5?? Bxb2 33.g4 Rc1 and Black was winning.

But Aronian soon returned the compliments in the course of the game:

 
Position after 41.Rd7

41…Kg6?? 42.Rd6 and the pinned bishop ultimately got lost.

 
Position after 50.Kg2

50…Ne4?? 51.Ra8 Kg7 52.Nh5 Kh7 53.Re8! and the pin is fatal. White went on to win.

Being such an intense event of nine games at a stretch in a single afternoon, the players tend to relax and enjoy each other's company – Vachier-Lagrave, Gajewski, Anand and Karjakin while waiting for the next game to start | Photo: V. Saravanan

Mamedyarov again benefitted from a big oversight in the following position:

 
Round 13: Mamedyarov - Caruana
Position after 42.Qd2

In a perfectly level position, an ambitious Caruana came up with 42…Ke8?? 43.Nb5 1-0

Caruana is another guy with perfectly controlled emotions on the board | Photo: V.Saravanan

…and Leinier Dominguez | Photo: V. Saravanan

Nakamura

Even the champion cannot contain emotions most of the time | Photo: V.Saravanan

Anand looks perfectly balanced on the board, till you notice his hands towards the end of the blitz games | Photo: V.Saravanan

Talking of hands, So has a strange Albatross hold on the board once in a while! | Photo: V. Saravanan

And continuing in the counter-to-Red Bull stories, So held Nakamura to a draw with a perfect counter strategy on Wednesday! | Photo: V. Saravanan

Closing ceremony

Final combined standings

Final blitz standings

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TBPerf.
1
2878
13.5
18
114.75
3006
2
2913
10.5
18
90.00
2866
3
2831
9.5
18
82.25
2839
4
2871
9.0
18
80.50
2814
5
2795
9.0
18
74.25
2822
6
2709
9.0
18
71.75
2832
7
2898
8.0
18
71.25
2768
8
2812
7.5
18
66.50
2763
9
2800
7.0
18
66.25
2742
10
2687
7.0
18
58.50
2754
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

Games and commentary - Day 5

 
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Commentary by Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley and Jennifer Shahade

All rapid games and commentary

Scroll through the complete list of games, or select any video from the playlist below.

 
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Commentary by Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley and 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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