Sinquefield Cup: No decisive games, Rapport and Firouzja make it fun

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/24/2023 – No decisive games have been played in the first three rounds of the Sinquefield Cup, despite players entering fighting lines out of the opening more often than not. In other news, Jan-Krzysztof Duda withdrew from the tournament due to health issues, and his round-1 game will be taken out of consideration for the final standings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Duda withdraws due to health issues

On Thanksgiving Day in the United States, Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda announced his withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup due to health reasons. Since he had only played one game in the tournament, his draw from round 1 with Anish Giri will be simply taken out of consideration, making this edition of the event a 9-player single round-robin.

Leinier Dominguez, who was supposed to face Duda on Thursday, thus automatically received a free day — and he decided to visit a coffee shop with his famed trainer, Vladimir Chuchelov.

A consequence of Duda’s withdrawal will be that only four players will receive points for the FIDE Circuit — according to the regulations, half the field of each eligible tournament grabs points for the circuit. This factor mildly affects Anish Giri, who is the frontrunner in the race to reach the Candidates via this ranking, and now needs to get at least fourth place to improve his score in the leaderboard.

Anish Giri

Anish Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 3 saw Giri and Wesley So each keeping seven pawns on the board in a completely closed position, which resulted in a 39-move draw. Levon Aronian and Ian Nepomniachtchi, in the meantime, also showed great opening preparation to keep their encounter balanced throughout — and a draw was agreed after 32 moves.

It was not all a display of deep theoretical knowledge, though, as we could count on the creative duo of Richard Rapport and Alireza Firouzja to produce an exciting confrontation.

Rapport ½ - ½ Firouzja

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Rapport, Richard2748½–½Firouzja, Alireza2777
GCT 10th Sinquefield Cup 2023
Saint Louis23.11.2023[Mueller,Karsten]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nb6 10.Bd3 d5 11.h4 c5 12.Ng5 12.Be5!? is favored by the engines. 12...h6 13.c4
Rapport adds fuel to the fire in his typical attacking style. 13...f5? This weakens Black's kingside too much. 13...Nxc4 was called for, e.g. 14.Bxc4 dxc4 15.Qe3 Qe8 16.Rde1 hxg5 17.hxg5 Bf5 18.g4 Bxg5 18...Bg6 19.Qh3 f6= 19.Bxg5 Qxe3+ 20.Bxe3 Bxg4= However, not 13...hxg5? 14.hxg5 Re8 15.Rh7 Bd6 16.Rdh1 Kf8 17.g6+- 14.Qe3 14.cxd5!? is also very strong, e.g. c4 15.Be2 c3 16.Qe3 cxb2+ 17.Kb1+- 14...Bf6 15.Ne6 Bxb2+ 16.Kb1!
White's king amazingly is much safer than Black's as White's forces can come quicker and White's king can often escape to the kingside. 16.Kxb2? is met by Qf6+ 17.Be5 Qxe6= 16...Bd4 After 16...d4? 17.Qe5 Bxe6 18.Qxe6+ Kh8 19.Kxb2 Rf6 20.Qe5 Na4+ White's king escapes with 21.Kc1 Qb6 22.Qc7 Qb4 23.a3 Qxa3+ 24.Kd2 Qb4+ 25.Ke2 Nc3+ 26.Kf3+- 17.Nxd4 Re8?! 17...cxd4 18.Qxd4 Be6 19.c5 Nc4± is the lesser evil. 18.Bc7? But here Rapport misses the moment. After 18.Qg3! his attack on the dark squares is strong, e.g. cxd4 18...Na4 19.Be5 Rxe5 20.Qxe5 Nc3+ 21.Kc1 cxd4 22.Rde1 Qa5 23.Qxd4 Qb4 24.a3 Qxa3+ 25.Kd2 Ne4+ 26.Ke2+- 19.Be5 Qe7 20.Bxd4 Be6 20...Qf7 21.Rhe1 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 dxc4 23.Be2 f4 24.Qa3 Qf8 25.Qxf8+ Kxf8 26.Bf3± 21.Rhe1 Qf7 22.c5 Nc4 23.Bc3 Rac8 24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.Bxf5± 18...cxd4!
The resulting endgame is completely equal. 19.Bxd8 dxe3 20.Bxb6 axb6 21.cxd5 exf2 22.Rhf1 Ra4 23.Rxf2 Rxh4 24.Bxf5 Rb4+ 25.Ka1 Bxf5 26.Rxf5 Rd8 27.d6 Rd7 28.a3 Rc4 29.Kb2 Rc6 30.Rfd5 Kf7 31.R5d3 Ke6 32.Re1+ Kf7 33.Red1 Ke6 34.Re1+ Kf7 35.Red1 Ke6 ½–½

Richard Rapport

Richard Rapport | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The game between Rapport and Firouzja featured some good-looking tactical lines, but nonetheless finished before reaching the 40-move mark.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave versus Fabiano Caruana did reach the time control, on the other hand. An endgame with rook against two minor pieces was eventually reached, with Caruana (the side with the rook) showing good technique to keep the balance.

Vachier-Lagrave ½ - ½ Caruana

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime2734½–½Caruana, Fabiano2795
GCT 10th Sinquefield Cup 2023
Saint Louis23.11.2023[Mueller,Karsten]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.Nf3 Re8 13.a3 h6 14.Nbd2 Bf8 15.Bc2 Nb8 16.b3 Nbd7 17.Bb2 g6 18.Bd3 Bg7 19.a4 bxa4 20.Rxa4 d5!
This counterblow equalises. 21.dxe5 Nxe4 22.Nxe4 dxe4 23.Bxe4 Bxe4 24.Raxe4 Nxe5 25.Rxe5 Bxe5 26.Qxd8 Raxd8 27.Rxe5 Rxe5 28.Nxe5
Usually the two pieces are stronger than the rook. But Black's activity equalises the position relatively easily in this case. Usually the pieces want statical control for their slow manoeuvres and the rook wants quick dynamics. And here it gets good counterplay. 28...Rd1+ 29.Kh2 Rd2 30.Ba3 30.Bc1 is met by Rxf2 31.Bxh6 Rc2 and one sample line runs 32.c4 Rb2 33.Nc6 Rxb3 34.Bf4 Rc3 35.Na5 c5 36.Be5 Ra3 37.Nb7 a5 38.Nxc5 a4 39.Nd7 f6 40.Nxf6+ Kf7 41.Ne4 Re3 42.Ng5+ Kg8 43.Bd4 Rd3= 30...Rxf2 31.Bc5 Rc2 32.Bd4 c5! This advance disrupts White's coordination. 33.Bxc5 Rxc3 34.b4 g5 35.Bb6 f5 Black's kingside counterplay gives him a draw. 36.Ba5 Rc2 37.Nd7 f4 38.Kg1 Rc1+ 38...h5 can even be met by 39.Nf6+ Kf7 40.Nxh5 Kg6 41.g4 Rc3 42.Kg2= 39.Kf2 Rc2+ 40.Kg1 Rc1+ 41.Kf2 Rc2+ 42.Kg1 ½–½

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Fabiano Caruana

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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