Sinquefield Cup: Nepo collapses in the opening

A Dragon slip-up

Earlier this year, Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi played one of the most dramatic and consequential chess games of the current World Championship cycle. In the final round of the Candidates, Caruana failed to convert his advantage into the win that would have gained him the right to face D. Gukesh in a rapid tiebreaker to decide the winner of the all-important event - the game lasted 109 moves. Once the draw had been agreed, Nepo told Caruana, "I'm very sorry", to which the American replied, "My fault".

Now, in round 6 of the Sinquefield Cup, Nepo made a baffling mistake out of a Sicilian Dragon, allowing Caruana to play a couple of good-looking sacrifices to get a devastating attack. Nepo could not believe what he had just done, as demonstrated by his gestures in the clip shared by Olimpiu Di Luppi on X.

Only 7 moves after the blunder, Nepo resigned the game. This was Caruana's second win of the event. The US star is now sharing second place with Wesley So, a half point behind sole leader Alireza Firouzja, who safely held So to a draw with the black pieces on Sunday.

Much later in the day, Anish Giri and Gukesh kept trying to convert advantages into wins in their games against Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave respectively. In the end, both encounters finished drawn.

There are 3 more rounds to go in the all-play-all tournament. Firouzja will play white against world champion Ding Liren - who has so far drawn all his games - in Monday's seventh round.

Round 6 results

	Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.		Pts.		Name	Rtg	Nt.
	So,W	2751		3	½-½	3½		Firouzja,A	2751
	Nepomniachtchi,I	2767		2½	0-1	2½		Caruana,F	2793
	Gukesh D	2766		2½	½-½	2½		Vachier-Lagrave,M	2721
	Ding,L	2745		2½	½-½	2½		Praggnanandhaa R	2749
	Giri,A	2746		1½	½-½	2		Abdusattorov,N	2762

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

Wesley So happily posing for photos with chess fans on a beautiful sunny day in Saint Louis | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Nepomniachtchi 0 - 1 Caruana

Nepomniachtchi, Ian2767

0–1

Caruana, Fabiano2793

GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024 Saint Louis25.08.2024[CC]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 Entering an accelerated version of the Dragon Sicilian. While Caruana never plays this system, the likes of Dubov and Andreikin often try this move in their games with black. 2...d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.0-0 a6 5.Be2 Ngf6 was seen in Firouzja v. Caruana earlier this year. 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3

This whole line is standard theory. 9...Qa5 The main variation here goes 9...Bd7 10.Qd2 Rc8 11.0-0-0 Ne5 12.h4 with typical opposite-side castling play in the Sicilian. 10.Qd3 An uncommon continuation, played instantly by Nepo. Ne5 11.Qd2 Bd7 12.0-0-0 Rfc8 13.Kb1 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.g4 Be6 16.Nb3 Qa6 17.Bd4 Rac8 White has begun the typical expansion on the kingside, while Black attempts to create counterplay with his bishops, rooks and queen on the opposite flank. 18.g5 And here comes the bewildering mistake! 18.Qe3 would prevent Black from playing the sacrifice seen in the game, and e.g.: b5 19.g5 (now this is not a mistake!) Nd7 and the battle continues. Not 19...Nxe4 20.fxe4 Bxd4 and the rook can capture first, unlike what happened in the game: 21.Rxd4 18...Nxe4

19.fxe4 Bxd4 20.Nxd4 Rxc3 The killer idea! A topical exchange sacrifice in the Sicilian. 21.a3 21.bxc3 Qxa2+ 22.Kc1 Qa1# Also losing is 21.Nxe6 Rxc2 22.Qxc2 Rxc2 23.Kxc2 Qc4+ 24.Kd2 Qxe6 21...Qc4 22.b3 Qc5 23.Rc1 Qxa3 24.h4 R8c5 Black has all his firepower ready for the final onslaught. 25.Rcf1

25...Bxb3 25...Bxb3 26.cxb3 Rxb3+ 27.Nxb3 Qxb3+ 28.Ka1 28.Qb2 Qd3+ 29.Ka1 Ra5+ 30.Qa2 Qc3+ 31.Kb1 Rb5+ 28...Rc4 0–1

At this point, Fabiano Caruana had it all figured out - Ian Nepomniachtchi is probably trying to deal with negative emotions before the game inevitably ends with a win for his opponent | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gukesh ½ - ½ Vachier-Lagrave

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Gukesh D2766

½–½

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime2721

GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024 Saint Louis25.08.2024[Mueller,Karsten]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 e5 7.Nde2 Nc6 8.Be3 Be6 9.f4 exf4 10.Nxf4 Ne5 11.0-0 Be7 12.Bd4 Rc8 13.h3 0-0 14.Nce2 Bd7 15.Qe1 Bc6 16.Rd1 Re8 17.Ng3 g6 18.Bxa6 Nfd7 19.Bd3 Bh4 20.Nfe2 Nc5 21.Nc3 Ne6 22.Be3 Ng7 23.Be2 f5 24.Bf2 f4 25.Nh1 Bg5 26.Bd4 Bh4 27.Qd2 Ne6 28.Nf2 Nxd4 29.Qxd4 Qg5 30.Nd3 Bg3 31.Nxe5 dxe5 32.Qb6 Kh8 33.Bb5 Red8 34.Bxc6 bxc6 35.Ne2 Bh4 36.Rxd8+ Qxd8 37.Qxd8+ Rxd8 38.Rc1 Rd2 39.Kf1

Right roads. Even in the endgame a direct attack against the king can be a topic: 39...g5 Black's counterplay arrives just in time. 40.a4 h5 41.a5 g4 42.hxg4?! 42.a6!? was a better try, but Black can hold, e.g. f3 43.gxf3 gxf3 44.Nc3 Rf2+ 45.Kg1 Rg2+ 46.Kh1 Bf2 47.Rf1 Bd4 48.Rxf3 Rxc2 49.Rf8+ Kg7 50.Rc8 Rxb2 51.a7 Bxa7 52.Rc7+ Kf6 53.Rxa7 Rb3 54.Nd1 Rxh3+ 55.Kg2 Rd3 56.Nf2 Rc3 57.Rh7 Kg6 58.Re7 Kf6 59.Rd7 c5 60.Rd6+ Kg5 61.Re6 c4 62.Rxe5+ Kf4 63.Rf5+ 63.Rxh5 Rb3= 63...Ke3 64.Rf3+ Kd4 65.Rxc3 Kxc3= 42...hxg4 43.a6 Now an amazing pawn race arises. f3 44.gxf3 gxf3 45.Nc3 Rh2 46.Kg1 Bg3 47.a7 f2+ 48.Kf1 Rh1+ 49.Kg2 Rxc1 50.a8Q+ Kg7 51.Qb7+ Kg6 52.Qxc6+ Kg5 53.Qc4! The right retreat. 53.Qb5? Rg1+ 54.Kh3 Bf4-+ 53...Rg1+ 54.Kh3! The right king road to the right. 54.Kf3? is met by Kh4-+ 54...f1Q+ Now 54...Bf4 can be met by 55.Qg8+ Kh6 56.Qh8+ Kg6 57.Qg8+= 55.Qxf1 Rxf1 56.Kxg3 Rc1 57.Kf3 Rxc2 58.Nd1 Rd2 59.Nf2!

The right knight road. 59.Ne3? Rxb2 60.Nd5 Rb3+ 61.Kf2 Ra3 62.Ke2 Kg4 63.Kf2 Ra1 64.Ke2 Kg3 65.Nc3 Kf4 66.Kd3 Ra3-+ 59...Rxb2 60.Nd3 White has a fortress. Of course not 60.Kg3?? Rb3+ 61.Kg2 Kf4-+ 60...Rb5 61.Ke3 Kg4 62.Ke2 Ra5 63.Ke3 Ra3 64.Ke2 Rxd3 65.Kxd3 Kf3 66.Kd2 Kxe4 67.Ke2 White draws by opposition. Kd4 68.Kd2 e4 69.Ke2 e3 70.Ke1!

The right retreat. 70...Kd3 71.Kd1 e2+ 72.Ke1 Ke3 ½–½

Magical Chess Endgames Vol. 1 & 2 + The magic of chess tactics

In over 4 hours in front of the camera, Karsten Müller presents to you sensations from the world of endgames - partly reaching far beyond standard techniques and rules of thumb - and rounds off with some cases of with own examples.

Dommaraju Gukesh on his way to the Saint Louis Chess Club next to second Grzegorz Gajewski | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Expert analysis by GM Daniel King

Expert analysis by IM Robert Ris

Calculation Training - Sharpen Your Game!

In Calculation Training – Sharpen Your Game! a total of 73 examples have been selected, the vast majority containing multiple questions, and more than 160 questions of varying difficulty.

Standings after round 6

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB	Perf.
1		Firouzja,A	2751		4.0	6		½	1	½	½			½		1	11.50	2882
2		So,W	2751		3.5	6	½		½			½	½		1	½	10.25	2816
3		Caruana,F	2793		3.5	6	0	½		½		½		1	1		9.75	2807
4		Vachier-Lagrave,M	2721		3.0	6	½		½		½		½	½	½		9.25	2765
5		Gukesh D	2766		3.0	6	½			½		½	½	½	½		9.00	2749
6		Ding,L	2745		3.0	6		½	½		½		½		½	½	8.75	2762
7		Praggnanandhaa R	2749		3.0	6		½		½	½	½		½		½	8.50	2749
8		Abdusattorov,N	2762		2.5	6	½		0	½	½		½			½	7.50	2697
9		Nepomniachtchi,I	2767		2.5	6		0	0	½	½	½				1	6.50	2697
10		Giri,A	2746		2.0	6	0	½				½	½	½	0		6.00	2629
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games

Links

• Grand Chess Tour website
• Carlsen astonishes: 10 wins in a row grant him Superbet Poland triumph
• Caruana scores 3/3 in rapid playoff, wins Superbet Chess Classic
• Unstoppable Caruana dominates SuperUnited Croatia
• With two rounds to spare: Firouzja bags Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz