8/29/2024 – A draw against R. Praggnanandhaa was all Alireza Firouzja needed to take first place at the Sinquefield Cup - and he safely kept the balance until getting the required half point after 47 moves. Firouzja had secured overall victory in the Grand Chess Tour with a round to spare. The eventful final round saw Fabiano Caruana (who grabbed second place), Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave collecting full points. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
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Déjà vu
Alireza Firouzja made his first trip to Saint Louis only 2 years ago. In a memorable showing, the youngster (who was already representing France at that point) collected back-to-back victories at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament and the Sinquefield Cup. The 3-week performance allowed the then 19-year-old to also win the Grand Chess Tour, which meant an extra $100,000 in prize money. Firouzja climbed to 4th place in the next official FIDE ranking (October 2022), with a 2785 Elo rating to his name.
Now, at 21, Firouzja repeated the feat, winning both tournaments in Saint Louis and grabbing first place at the yearly GCT series. In 2022, he had finished the Sinquefield Cup with 5/8 points - that was the infamous edition which saw Magnus Carlsen withdrawing from the tournament after losing to Hans Niemann - and had to beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in playoffs to claim the title. This time around, he finished undefeated with 6/9 points to become the outright winner.
Another curious coincidence is that the 2 times Firouzja got twin victories in Saint Louis, he came from obtaining disappointing results at the Candidates Tournament. In Madrid 2022 he finished sixth with 6/14 points, while in Toronto 2024 he finished seventh with 5/14 points. This might be the beginning of yet another ascendant streak for the resilient youngster - and his fans will surely be hoping third time's the charm for the 21-year-old.
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For his efforts in the GCT series, Firouzja received $323,750 in prize money, as besides his victories in Saint Louis he grabbed shared second place both at the Superbet Classic in Romania and the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz in Croatia. Second and third place went to Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, both in the series and in the Sinquefield Cup (more on their round-9 victories below).
While Firouzja safely obtained the draw he needed to secure outright victory in his game against R. Praggnanandhaa, the final round of the event featured 3 interesting battles, all of which ended with decisive results - D. Gukesh and Wesley So signed a 35-move draw in a game that was evaluated as close to equal throughout. Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave and Abdusattorov ended the event with victories.
The first one to secure a full point on Wednesday was Abdusattorov, who took advantage of Ian Nepomniachtchi's overly optimistic play to get a 27-move win with the black pieces. The Uzbek ace finished the event with a +1 score, as he recovered from his round-3 loss against Caruana with wins over Ding and Nepo in rounds 7 and 9 respectively.
Later on, MVL joined Abdusattorov in third place by defeating Ding while marshalling the white pieces. The world champion found himself down on the clock in a complex middlegame arising from a Ruy Lopez, lost the thread on move 26 and blundered decisively on move 30. Remarkably, MVL's win put an end to a 25-game streak of draws. A good omen going into the Chess Olympiad in Budapest?
The last game to finish in the round (and the event) was Caruana's victory over Anish Giri. Caruana, who entered the event as the top seed and defending champion, suffered a loss against Firouzja in the inaugural round. However, wins over Abdusattorov, Nepomniachtchi and now Giri allowed him to finish in clear second place both in the Sinquefield Cup and the Grand Chess Tour.
Round 9 results
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave stopped a lengthy streak of draws by defeating world champion Ding Liren | Photo: Lennart Ootes
GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024 Saint Louis28.08.2024[Schulz,A]
1.c4Nf62.Nf3e63.g3d54.Bg2Be75.0-00-06.d3There are many interesting alternatives.6.d4would be a Catalan opening.6...c57.Ne5Nbd77...Qc78.f4Rd89.Nc3a610.Qe1b511.cxb5axb512.Nxb5Qb613.a4Ba614.Bd2Bxb515.axb5Rxa116.Qxa1Qxb517.Qa7Nc618.Nxc6Qxc619.Ra1Bf820.Qa6Qd721.Bc3Ng422.Bf3Ne323.Qa4Qe724.Qa7Rd725.Qb8Rd826.Qa7Rd727.Qb8Rd8½-½ Yu,Y (2720)-Giri,A (2762) Shenzhen Longgang 5th 2024 (7)8.Nxd7Bxd79.e4dxe49...Bc610.e5Nd711.cxd5Bxd512.Bxd5exd513.d4cxd414.Qxd41-0 Eljanov,P (2706)-Janaszak,D (2322) Titled Tuesday intern op 15th Nov Late Chess.com INT blitz 2022 (4)Nb6=10.dxe4Bc611.Qe2Nd712.f4a612...Qc713.Nc3Rad814.Be3Bf615.e5Bxg216.Qxg2Be717.Qe4a618.Rae1Rde819.Qg21-0 Bernadskiy,V (2530)-Gavrilescu,D (2526) Rubinstein Memorial 59th Polanica Zdroj 2023 (3)13.a4Qc714.Nc3Bf6
With roughly the same prospects. White has a space advantage, but his king is somewhat weakened.15.e5Bxg216.Kxg2Be717.Bd2Rae818.Ne4Qc618...Nb8!?with the idea of playing19.--Nc619.Qf3f5Black is cramped and wants to give his pieces more freedom of movement - at the cost of some weaknesses.20.exf6gxf621.Bc3f522.Rfd1Nb622...fxe4fails due to23.Qg4++-22...Qxe423.Qxe4fxe424.Rxd7+-23.Nd2Qxf3+24.Kxf3Rd825.Ke2Rd626.a5Nd7
27.Ne4!?Interesting. Once again White exploits the weakness of the d7-knight.Objectively better, however, was27.Nf3Rxd128.Rxd1Rd829.h3±27...Rxd128.Rxd1Rd829.Nd629.Ng5Nf830.Re129...Nf6?This move proved to be a difficult mistake to predict. Much better was29...Nb830.Nxb7Rxd131.Kxd1Nc6=with a pawn down for Black, but the b7-knight is restricted.30.Bxf6Bxf631.Nxb7Rxd132.Kxd1Be7
It looks like the e7-knight dominates the b7-knight, but...33.b4cxb434.c5Very well played.Kf735.Kc2Ke836.c6The knight and pawn on c6 form a fortress. The king can't get close, but has to be careful that the pawn doesn't advance.Bf837.Kb3Be738.Kc4h539.Kd3Bf840.Kd4Bg7+41.Kc5Bf8+42.Kb6b343.c7Kd744.Nc5+Kc844...Bxc5+45.Kb7!+-45.Nxb3Bd646.Nd4Bxc7+47.Kxa61–0
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.
GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024 Saint Louis28.08.2024[Schulz,A]
1.d4Nf62.Nf3g63.c4Bg74.Nc3d55.e3After5.cxd5Nxd56.e4Nxc37.bxc3c5many forced variants are created in the Grünfeld.5...0-06.Bd2c67.Qb3Qb67...e68.Bd3dxc49.Bxc4Nbd710.0-0c511.Rfd1Qe712.Rac1b613.d5exd514.Bxd5Rb815.e4Ne516.Bf4Nh517.Bxe5Bxe518.Nxe5Qxe519.g3Bg420.Rd2Qe721.f4Rbd822.e5Nf623.Rcc2Nxd524.Nxd5Qe625.Nf6+Kg726.Nxg4Qxg427.Kg2Qf528.Kf3h529.Qe3Qh330.Qe2h431.Rxd8hxg332.hxg3Rxd833.Rd2Rh834.Rd1Qh5+35.g4Qh436.Ke4Qe737.Kd3Qd7+38.Ke3Rh3+39.Ke4Qc6+0-1 Korobov,A (2675)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2740) Olympiad-42 Baku 2016 (4.3)8.Qa3Bf59.Rc1Nbd710.cxd5cxd511.Be2Rfc8
The chances are even.12.0-0Bf813.Na4Qd814.Qb3Rcb815.Nc3e616.h3Ne417.g4Nxc318.Bxc3Be419.Ne5With the idea of f3 and a bishop capture.19.Nd2!?Qh420.Nxe4dxe421.Kg219...Nxe520.dxe5Qh420...g520...Qg5!?21.Be121.Kh2h522.Be1hxg423.Bxg4Qe724.f3Bf5=21...Qxh322.f3Bh6?!A better version of this idea was22...Rc823.Rxc8Rxc824.fxe424.Rf2?Rc124...Bh625.Rf325.Bf2Bg725...Qxg4+26.Kh2dxe427.Rf2Qh4+28.Kg2b629.Rf1Qg5+23.Rf2Qg3+?Even better was23...d4which results in24.Rh2Bxe3+25.Qxe3Qxh2+26.Kxh2dxe327.fxe4Rc8and Black can still fight for a draw.24.Rg2Qxe525.Bg3Qf626.fxe4dxe4+-26...d427.e5+-27.Rf21–0
Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos 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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