Showdown in Saint Louis goes to Nakamura

The United States’ super Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura is set to square off against GM Levon Aronian, the World No. 4, in the Showdown in Saint Louis, a five-round contest for the lion’s share of a $100,000 purse. The special head-to-head exhibition will include four classical games of chess and a final round featuring 16 games of Blitz. The event will run from Friday, Nov. 21 to Tuesday, Nov. 25, with each round’s first move made at 2:00 p.m. daily.

Alongside the Showdown are two specialized invitational tournaments designed for up-and-coming players attempting to earn chess’ elite master titles: International Master and, the superior, Grandmaster. The 2014 GM/IM Invitational events are two 10-player, round-robin tournaments designed to award title “norms,” or superior performances required by FIDE for player titles.

Blitz Match

American super Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura stood victorious in his nation’s centerpoint, using a furious blitz offensive in the final round of the Showdown in Saint Louis to earn its $60,000 winner’s purse.

Nakamura fell back on his instincts Tuesday afternoon, peppering Armenian heavyweight GM Levon Aronian with 9.5 points across 16 games of Blitz chess in the fifth round. The speed attack tipped the Showdown’s scorecard just before its last bell, after the match had entered Tuesday’s final round tied after four Classical games of chess. Nakamura and Aronian traded wins in the first two rounds, then fought to a pair of draws.

In his post-game interview, Aronian admitted the 3-minute, 2-second-increment time control had often served as kryptonite in his blitzing history, perhaps revealed by his clock falling tragically behind in nearly every game played at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The American, however, looked comfortable in his zone on Tuesday, upholding his reputation as one of the chess world’s fastest thinkers.

The blitz ready to kick-off

The match could be summarized by saying that Aronian kept finding himself in good, advantageous positions, but always somehow managing to lose or draw at the end due to time pressure. His time management was very bad compared to his opponent's. A clear example of that started already from game number one:

After four games Nakamura found himself in a nice 3-1 lead. He forgave his strong advantages in game five and six which ended in draws.

The layout of the transmissions and the commentary provided was absolutely top-notch

After two more draws Aronian struck back with another win on game ten, but it was already late. On game eleven Aronian again achieved a great position from the opening only to lose the game in time pressure. The draw in game 14 sealed the deal for Nakamura as the winner, but they played two more games that were split 1-1.

Nakamura won the match with six wins, besting Aronian’s three. They drew seven times.

Aronian, ranked as the World No. 4 Blitz player, earned $40,000 for his efforts in the Showdown.

Kapow! Nakamura has just played Bxc4, a poisoned bishop due to Qb7.
The match was full of interesting and unusual tactics.

Watch the Showdown in Saint Louis' Tuesday Blitz, and each of the match's first four classical games with Grandmaster commentary, on the event's video replay page. 

We will be bringing you a separate report on the conclusion of the GM-Norm tournament and Samuel Sevian's rise to success as the youngest American grandmaster in history.

Replay Blitz Games

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Schedule

Links Official tournament site The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.