Sinquefield Cup: Firouzja takes down Caruana

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/20/2024 – The two most anticipated matchups of the Sinquefield Cup were seen in the very first round of the event. The duel between World Championship contenders Ding Liren and D Gukesh ended drawn after Ding went for a trying line with the white pieces only to see Gukesh defending the position accurately. Meanwhile, the two frontrunners in the Grand Chess Tour standings, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja, played a tense, 85-move game. Firouzja ended up prevailing with the black pieces. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

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Ding attempts to surprise Gukesh

After signing a 28-move draw with white against D Gukesh, world champion Ding Liren confessed in the post-game interview with Cristian Chirila:

I wanted to surprise Gukesh in the opening and, in the meantime, save my preparation.

The line played by Ding from the white side of an Italian Opening granted him the initiative and a considerable advantage on the clock. Gukesh spent over 20 minutes before playing his 18th move, which was an inaccuracy.

Better than 18...d4 would have been 18...Kh8, preventing 19.Qh6, as played in the game. However, after 19...g6, Ding failed to find the most trying continuation - the Chinese GM played 20.Bd3, when 20.Re1, threatening to transfer the rook to the h-file, was stronger.

Gukesh further pushed his central pawns with 20...c4 21.Be4 d3

Black's central pawns look truly disturbing for White, so Ding understandably chose to force a perpetual check with 22.Bxg6 fxg6 23.Rxg6+ hxg6 24.Qxg6+ Kh8 25.Qh6+, etcetera.

It was an interesting theoretical battle which served as a prelude to the match for the World Championship, set to start in November in Singapore.

Gukesh, Ding Liren

Gukesh and Ding Liren will play the much anticipated 14-game match three months from now | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Firouzja scores crucial win

Ding v. Gukesh was one of four draws in the first round of the Sinquefield Cup. Wesley So and Anish Giri played an interesting 41-move battle in a Benoni structure, while Praggnanandhaa failed to find an accurate move which would have granted him a dangerous kingside attack against Nodirbek Abdusattorov out of a Sicilian Defence.

Once all the draws had been signed, though, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja were still dealing with a tense position in their key encounter. Firouzja and Caruana are the frontrunners in the Grand Chess Tour overall standings.

Caruana played an interesting pawn sacrifice in the opening, but it was Firouzja who prevailed in the end. There was no lack of evaluation swings in the 85-move encounter.

Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja

Fabiano Caruana resigns the game | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 1

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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.