Sinquefield Cup: Caruana beats So, Dominguez scores

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/29/2023 – Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez both scored back-to-back wins in rounds 6 and 7 of the Sinquefield Cup to join Wesley So in the lead of the standings. Caruana, in fact, defeated So on Tuesday, and he did it in remarkable style. By beating the former sole leader, Caruana also secured first place in the Grand Chess Tour and crossed the 2800-mark in the live ratings list! | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Caruana wins Grand Chess Tour

Fabiano CaruanaFabiano Caruana is having a fantastic year. Besides qualifying to the 2024 Candidates Tournament by getting third place in the demanding FIDE World Cup, he obtained outright victories at the SuperBet Chess Classic in Romania, the U.S. Championship and the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament — note that two of the three events were part of the Grand Chess Tour. Moreover, after beating Wesley So in round 7 of the Sinquefield Cup, he has now secured overall victory in the tour!

The remarkable results of the former World Championship challenger have allowed him to, once again, cross the 2800-mark in the live ratings list — only he and Magnus Carlsen belong to the exclusive ‘club’ at the moment.

As for the Sinquefield Cup, Caruana is now sharing the lead with So and Leinier Dominguez. Importantly, So has played one more game than his fellow co-leaders, as he was supposed to face Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the event’s final round, which means he will end his tournament in Wednesday’s eighth round. Both Caruana and Dominguez collected back-to-back wins in rounds 6 and 7.

In the fight for the two spots in the Candidates still up for grabs, So is the frontrunner in the rating race and might climb to first place in the FIDE Circuit leaderboard if things go his way on the last two days of action in Saint Louis.

Meanwhile, Dominguez is now merely 0.4 points behind So in the live ratings list, but to become eligible to play the Candidates he would need to play a classical event outside the United States in December. The Cuban-born star described this sudden opportunity to reach the Candidates as “quite unexpected”.

Leinier Dominguez

Leinier Dominguez | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Caruana 1 - 0 So

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Caruana, Fabiano27951–0So, Wesley2752
GCT 10th Sinquefield Cup 2023
Saint Louis28.11.2023[Mueller,Karsten]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Ba5 7.dxc5 dxc4 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.Ng3 b6?
This runs into a refutation. 9...Nxc5 10.Bxc4 Bc7 was called for. 10.Qf3! The sting of the queen-scorpion. Rb8 11.c6 Ne5 12.Qf4 Bxc3? This opens up too many attacking roads. 12...Nxc6 was forced, e.g. 13.Qxc4 Bb7 14.b4 b5 15.Nxb5 Bb6 16.Bc3 0-0 and White is better, but it is still a game. 13.Bxc3 Nxc6 14.Rd1 Qe7 15.Bxc4 b5 15...0-0 runs into 16.Bb5 Bb7 17.Bxc6 Bxc6 18.Bb4+- 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 16...gxf6 is met by 17.Ne4 f5 18.Nd6+ Kf8 19.Bxb5+- 17.Qd6! Another sting of the scorpion. e5 17...bxc4 18.Qxc6+ Kf8 19.Qd6++- 18.Bxf7+!
The point. 18...Kxf7 18...Qxf7 19.Qxc6+ Bd7 20.Qd6+- 19.Qc7+ Qe7 19...Kg6 20.Rd6 20.Ne4+- 20...Be6 21.Qxc6 Rhc8 22.Qe4+ Kf7 23.0-0+- 20.Qxc6 Bb7 21.Qxb5 Bxg2?! 21...Rhd8 22.0-0 g6 is more tenacious. 22.Qc4+ Kf8 22...Qe6 runs into 23.Rd7+ Kf6 24.Nh5+ Kf5 25.Nxg7++- 23.Nf5
Caruana continues his attack. The normal 23.Rg1 wins as well. 23...Qf6 24.Qc5+ Kg8 25.Qc7 25.Qc7 Bxh1 26.Qxb8+ Kf7 26...Qf8 27.Rd8+- 27.Nd6+ Kg6 28.Qxh8+- 1–0

Fabiano Caruana, Anastasiya Karlovich

Anastasiya Karlovich interviewing GCT winner Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Dominguez 1 - 0 Rapport

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Dominguez Perez, Leinier27451–0Rapport, Richard2748
GCT 10th Sinquefield Cup 2023
Saint Louis28.11.2023[Mueller,Karsten]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 a5 7.Ne1 a4 8.c3 Qb6 9.Bd3 9.Nd3!? 9...Bg6 10.Nd2 Ne7 11.Ndf3 c5 12.Rb1 Bh5 13.Be3 Nc6 14.a3 Be7 15.h3 Qc7 16.Be2 Bg6 17.Bd3 Bh5 18.Be2 Bg6 19.Bd3 b5 20.g3?! 20.dxc5 is favored by the engines. 20...cxd4 21.cxd4 Nb6 22.Bxg6 hxg6 22...fxg6!? was also an option. 23.h4 Nc4 24.Bg5 f6 25.Bf4 g5!?
An interesting dynamic counterblow. But now Black must play very precisely to justify it. 26.hxg5 fxe5? This opens many roads for White. After 26...fxg5! 27.Bxg5 27.Nxg5 Bxg5 28.Bxg5 Qf7 27...Qd8 28.Bxe7 Qxe7
Black's position is not bad at all. 27.dxe5 27.Bxe5 N6xe5 28.dxe5 is favored by the engines. But Dominguez' choice is also very strong. 27...Bc5? This just activates White. Only after 27...0-0-0 28.Qd3 is Bc5 a good option. But White is better also in this case. 28.Nd3 Bb6 29.g6 Ne7? This runs into a strong blow. 29...Qe7 30.Ng5 Kd7 is more tenacious. 30.Ng5! Qd7 30...Nxg6 31.Nxe6 Qf7 32.Qg4+- 31.Nf7 Rf8 32.Qh5 d4?!
This weakens too many squares. But Black is already lost in any case. 32...Nf5 33.g4 Ne7 34.Kg2 d4 35.Kg3 Qd5 36.f3 Kd7 37.Qh7 Rg8 38.Bg5 Bc5 39.Rfe1 Kc6 40.b3 axb3 41.Rxb3+- 33.Nd6+ Kd8 34.Rbc1 Qc6 35.Nb4 35.Nb4 Qd7 36.Bg5 Nxe5 37.Bxe7+ Kxe7 38.Qxe5 Qxd6 39.Qxg7+ Ke8 40.Rc6+- 1–0

Leinier Dominguez, Richard Rapport

Leinier Dominguez and Richard Rapport | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 7

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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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