Sinquefield Cup: Nepo on the attack, joins Firouzja in the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
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.

Round 3 results

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Nepo goes for it, quickly

Nepomniachtchi, Ian27671–0Giri, Anish2746
GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024
Saint Louis21.08.2024[CC]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 d6 7.f3 Nc6 8.e4 Qe8 9.h4 b6 10.h5 Ba6 11.Ra2 Na5 12.g4 Qc6 13.Rg2 Bxc4 14.Bxc4 Qxc4 15.Ne2 Nd7 16.g5 e5 17.g6
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...fxg6 Better is the cold-blooded 17...h6 allowing 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Qc1 Kg7 20.gxf7+ Kxf7 21.Qxh6 Ke8 and the king finds shelter in the centre - surely a difficult line to find for Giri. 18.hxg6 Rxf3 19.gxh7+ Kh8 20.Rhg1 Rf7 21.Bh6 gxh6 22.Rg8+ Kxh7 23.Rxa8 Nf6 24.dxe5 Nxe4 The 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...Nd7 25.Qd2 Qxe4 26.e6 Qxe6 27.Rgg8 and White is still better anyway. 25.Qc1 Ng5
26.Rxg5 Nepo 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.Rg3 Qh1+ 28.Rg1 Qxa8 29.Qc2+ Kh8 30.Qg6 Qf8 31.e6 Re7 32.Rh1 Rh7 33.Rf1 Qd8 34.Rf7 Rxf7 35.exf7 Qf8 36.Qf6+ Kh7 37.Nf4
1–0

Anish Giri

Anish Giri looking at his position from a distance | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Caruana emerges victorious

Caruana, Fabiano27931–0Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2762
GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024
Saint Louis21.08.2024[CC]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Re1 d6 7.a4 Be6 8.Nbd2 Bxc4 9.Nxc4 a5 10.Bg5 Nd7 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.d4 exd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 Rfe8 15.Qd2 Qh4 16.f3 Re6 17.Ne3 Qg5 18.Rad1 Qc5 19.Kh1 Rae8 20.b3 Nf6 21.Nf5 g6 22.Ne3 b6 23.c4 Qg5 24.Qf2 Nd7 25.Nd5 Qd8 26.g4 Re5 27.Re3 Nc5 28.Qg3 h5 29.h3 Kg7 30.Nf4 Rh8 31.Kg2 hxg4 32.hxg4 Ree8 33.Ree1 Qf6 34.Rh1
34...c6 A 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...Rxh1 35.Rxh1 Qb2+ 36.Qf2 Qxf2+ 37.Kxf2 Nxb3 38.Nd5 It is tough to convert this position into a win with Black, but he is surely playing for two results. The game might continue: c6 39.Nc3 Rh8 40.Rd1 Rh2+ 41.Ke3 Rc2 42.Kd3 Rh2 with a long technical battle ahead. 35.Nh3 Rd8 36.g5 Qb2+ 37.Nf2 Rxh1 38.Rxh1 d5 39.cxd5 cxd5 40.Rd1 Nxb3 41.exd5 Nc5 42.Qf4
42...Kg8 The decisive mistake. Black should have gone for an active defence with ... Rd8-e8. Correct is 42...Re8 43.d6 Re2 44.d7 Ne6 and the main line goes 45.Qf6+ In case of 45.Qg3 Black has Rd2 46.Rxd2 Qxd2 45...Qxf6 46.gxf6+ Kxf6 47.d8Q+ Nxd8 48.Rxd8 Ra2 49.Rd6+ Ke5 50.Rxb6 Rxa4 with good drawing chances. 43.Kg3 Nb7 44.Qc7 Kg7 45.Ng4 White has the much more active pieces, and is now clearly winning. Rh8 46.Qxb7 Qe2 47.Rg1 Qd2 48.Qe7
1–0

Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Fabiano Caruana v. Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Ding chooses the wrong way to capture

Ding, Liren2745½–½So, Wesley2751
GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024
Saint Louis21.08.2024[CC]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 a6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Ba7 9.Nbd2 Qe7 10.Re1 0-0 11.Bb3 g5 12.Bg3 g4 13.Nh4 Nh5 14.Nf1 Qg5 15.Ne3 Bd7 16.Rc1 Ne7 17.d4 Rad8 18.Rc2 Nxg3 19.hxg3 h5 20.Rd2 Kg7 21.Kh2 Rh8 22.dxe5 Qxe5 23.f4 gxf3
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 is 24.Nxf3 and e.g.: Qc5 Not 24...Qxe4 due to 25.Nd5 Qg4 26.Rxe7 25.e5 h4 26.g4 Black'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...Kf8 25.f4 Qg7 26.Qf3 Rg8 27.Nef5 Nxf5 28.Nxf5 Bxf5 29.exf5
Engines already evaluate this position as close to equal. 29...h4 30.Rg2 hxg3+ 31.Rxg3 Qxg3+ 32.Qxg3 Rxg3 33.Kxg3 Re8 34.Rxe8+ Kxe8 35.Kf3 Ke7 36.Ke4 c6 37.Bd1 d5+ 38.Kd3 Kf6 39.Bh5 b5 40.b3 a5 41.a4 bxa4 42.bxa4 Kxf5 43.Bxf7 Kxf4 44.Be8 Ke5 45.Bxc6 Bb6 46.Bb5 Ba7 47.Bc6 Bb6 48.Bb5 Ba7 49.Bc6
½–½

Ding Liren

Ding Liren, the current world chess champion | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Pragg's missed chance

Praggnanandhaa R2749½–½Gukesh D2766
GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024
Saint Louis21.08.2024[CC]
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.Rd1 a5 10.Bf4 b6 11.Nbd2 Nh5 12.Be5 Ba6 13.e4 Rc8 14.Rac1 Bb7 15.Qb3 f6 16.Bf4 f5 17.exd5 Nxf4 18.gxf4 cxd5 19.Ne5 Bb4 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.cxd5 Bxd5 22.Bxd5 Qxd5 23.Qxd5 exd5 24.Nf3 Kf7 25.Kg2 Ke6 26.a4 Bd6 27.Re1+ Kd7 28.Ne5+ Bxe5 29.fxe5 Ke6 30.b3 g5 31.f4 gxf4 32.Kf3 Rg8 33.Rg1 Rxg1 34.Rxc8
34...Kd7 This 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 is 34...Rd1 35.Rc6+ Ke7 36.Kxf4 Rxd4+ 37.Kxf5 Rh4 and White has the more active king - but again, rook endgames are often (always?) drawn. 35.Rb8 Kc7 36.Rh8 Rf1+ 37.Ke2 Rb1 38.Rxh7+ Kc6 39.Rh6+ Kc7 40.Rh7+ Kc6 41.h4 Rb2+ 42.Kf3 Rxb3+ 43.Kxf4 Rb4 44.h5 Rxd4+ 45.Kxf5 Rd1 46.e6 d4 47.Rd7 Rf1+ 48.Kg6 Rg1+ 49.Kf7 Rf1+
50.Ke8 Pragg 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.Ke7 is winning, and there might follow Rf4 51.Rd8 and there is little Black can do here, e.g.: Kc7 52.Ke8 Rh4 53.e7 with a winning setup for White. 50...Rh1 51.e7 Rxh5 52.Rxd4 b5 53.Kf7 Rh7+ 54.Ke6 Rxe7+ 55.Kxe7 bxa4 56.Rxa4
56...Kb5 The point! Black holds the draw with his passed pawn and active king. 57.Rh4 a4 58.Kd6 a3 59.Rh2 Kc4 60.Kc6 Kb3 61.Kb5 a2 62.Rxa2 Kxa2
½–½

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Dommaraju Gukesh

Indian prodigies Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 3

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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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