8/22/2024 – All five games in round 3 of the Sinquefield Cup could have easily finished decisively. Three players missed winning chances, though, while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana did make the most of their opportunities and scored full points. With his win over Anish Giri, Nepo joined Alireza Firouzja in the lead. Caruana, on his part, beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov and now has a 50-percent score. | Photo: Crystal Fuller
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Nepo and Caruana score, missed chances galore
The third round of the Sinquefield Cup featured 5 exciting encounters, but only 2 of them ended decisively. Theoretical battles in the opening, quick kingside attacks and complex technical battles were all seen on Wednesday at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
In the end, the winners of the day were Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana. Nepo played a risky line out of a Nimzo-Indian Defence and created all kinds of tactical problems for Anish Giri, who eventually erred amid a sharp struggle. Caruana, meanwhile, was first on the defensive and then outplayed Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a simplified - yet complicated - position with a queen, a rook and a knight per side.
Nepo thus joined Alireza Firouzja in the lead. Firouzja got the white pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and saw MVL agreeing to a draw (by threefold repetition) from a superior position - the cold-blooded engines, in fact, evaluate it as clearly winning.
Firouzja v. Vachier-Lagrave
The final position in the all-French confrontation
MVL was not the only player to miss a golden chance in round 3. Ding Liren (against Wesley So) and R Praggnanandhaa (against D Gukesh) failed to find accurate continuations from superior positions - Ding in the middlegame and Pragg in the endgame.
The fourth round will see co-leaders Nepo and Firouzja both playing with the black pieces, against So and Gukesh, respectively.
Nepo went for a risky line out of the Nimzo-Indian,
giving up a pawn, leaving his king in the centre and going all-in on the
kingside. The Russian GM later noted that he deliberately chose this approach
against Giri, a player who performs better in more traditional setups. Here
engines prefer Black, but Giri faltered under pressure.17...fxg6Better is the
cold-blooded17...h6allowing18.Bxh6gxh619.Qc1Kg720.gxf7+Kxf721.Qxh6Ke8and the king finds shelter in the centre - surely a difficult line
to find for Giri.18.hxg6Rxf319.gxh7+Kh820.Rhg1Rf721.Bh6gxh622.Rg8+Kxh723.Rxa8Nf624.dxe5Nxe4The decisive mistake, and the white army
will successfully create an attack against the weakened opposite monarch.
Again it was difficult for Giri to find the correct defensive idea:24...Nd725.Qd2Qxe426.e6Qxe627.Rgg8and White is still better anyway.25.Qc1Ng5
26.Rxg5Nepo is merciless in the conversion of his advantage, as
he finds the exchange sacrifice which is the one move that keeps the attack
going. It was yet another remarkable showing of his insane ability to play
quickly and accurately in sharp struggles - he finished the game with 55
minutes on his clock!Qh4+27.Rg3Qh1+28.Rg1Qxa829.Qc2+Kh830.Qg6Qf831.e6Re732.Rh1Rh733.Rf1Qd834.Rf7Rxf735.exf7Qf836.Qf6+Kh737.Nf41–0
Anish Giri looking at his position from a distance | Photo: Crystal Fuller
34...c6A controversial decision by Abdusattorov from a positional point
of view. Granted, he had a slight advantage, but it's always dangerous to
underestimate a player as tricky as Caruana.Abdusattorov could have
entered the following line, which leads to an endgame with an extra pawn:34...Rxh135.Rxh1Qb2+36.Qf2Qxf2+37.Kxf2Nxb338.Nd5It is tough to
convert this position into a win with Black, but he is surely playing for two
results. The game might continue:c639.Nc3Rh840.Rd1Rh2+41.Ke3Rc242.Kd3Rh2with a long technical battle ahead.35.Nh3Rd836.g5Qb2+37.Nf2Rxh138.Rxh1d539.cxd5cxd540.Rd1Nxb341.exd5Nc542.Qf4
42...Kg8
The decisive mistake. Black should have gone for an active defence with ...
Rd8-e8.Correct is42...Re843.d6Re244.d7Ne6and the main line goes45.Qf6+In case of45.Qg3Black hasRd246.Rxd2Qxd245...Qxf646.gxf6+Kxf647.d8Q+Nxd848.Rxd8Ra249.Rd6+Ke550.Rxb6Rxa4with good
drawing chances.43.Kg3Nb744.Qc7Kg745.Ng4White has the much more
active pieces, and is now clearly winning.Rh846.Qxb7Qe247.Rg1Qd248.Qe71–0
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Fabiano Caruana v. Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Ding's preparation was excellent, and his
handling of the early middlegame granted him a considerable advantage. However,
he failed to find the correct way to recapture on f3 at this point.24.gxf3
Looks logical, fixing White's pawn structure and preparing to play f3-f4. In
this case, this was not the priority though - Ding should have gone for the
more active alternative.Much stronger is24.Nxf3and e.g.:Qc5Not24...Qxe4due to25.Nd5Qg426.Rxe725.e5h426.g4Black's pieces are
uncoordinated, while White has a strong initiative - in a practical game,
defending this position with Black looks much more difficult than creating
threats with White.24...Kf825.f4Qg726.Qf3Rg827.Nef5Nxf528.Nxf5Bxf529.exf5
Engines already evaluate this position as close to equal.29...h430.Rg2hxg3+31.Rxg3Qxg3+32.Qxg3Rxg333.Kxg3Re834.Rxe8+Kxe835.Kf3Ke736.Ke4c637.Bd1d5+38.Kd3Kf639.Bh5b540.b3a541.a4bxa442.bxa4Kxf543.Bxf7Kxf444.Be8Ke545.Bxc6Bb646.Bb5Ba747.Bc6Bb648.Bb5Ba749.Bc6½–½
Ding Liren, the current world chess champion | Photo: Lennart Ootes
34...Kd7This position is evaluated as close to equal
by the engines - moreover, it is well-known that it is really difficult to
convert small edges into wins in rook endings. However, this was a mistaken
king manoeuvre by Gukesh, as now White has a winning position.Correct is34...Rd135.Rc6+Ke736.Kxf4Rxd4+37.Kxf5Rh4and White has the more
active king - but again, rook endgames are often (always?) drawn.35.Rb8Kc736.Rh8Rf1+37.Ke2Rb138.Rxh7+Kc639.Rh6+Kc740.Rh7+Kc641.h4Rb2+42.Kf3Rxb3+43.Kxf4Rb444.h5Rxd4+45.Kxf5Rd146.e6d447.Rd7Rf1+48.Kg6Rg1+49.Kf7Rf1+
50.Ke8Pragg had made a lot of progress, but
here lost his advantage by playing (like his opponent earlier in the game) a
mistaken king manoeuvre. Figuring out the details of the endgame is very
difficult, surely.50.Ke7is winning, and there might followRf451.Rd8
and there is little Black can do here, e.g.:Kc752.Ke8Rh453.e7with a
winning setup for White.50...Rh151.e7Rxh552.Rxd4b553.Kf7Rh7+54.Ke6Rxe7+55.Kxe7bxa456.Rxa4
56...Kb5The point! Black holds the draw
with his passed pawn and active king.57.Rh4a458.Kd6a359.Rh2Kc460.Kc6Kb361.Kb5a262.Rxa2Kxa2½–½
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Indian prodigies Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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