2015 Sinquefield Cup
This super-GM single Round Robin brings together some of the best players in the world. This is the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour.
The players – Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Viswanathan Anand (India), Wesley So (USA).
The venue is the Chess Club and Scholastic Center at 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108. Tickets can be purchased at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
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Recap
"It is the land of opportunity!". Maurice Ashley asked Levon Aronian during the opening ceremony about his chances in the Sinquefield Cup. The Armenian could not have been more correct!
The 2015 Sinquefield Cup had an amazing start, and even though the games in the end were considerably longer and had a higher draw ratio, the drama was always there.
The happiest man from this tournament has to be, without a doubt, Levon Aronian. It isn't only that he won the tournament, but he has finally bounced back from over a year of mediocre to bad results. He started the tournament with a brilliant win and he never let go:
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 Ne4 8.Rc1 Nxc3 9.Rxc3 b6 10.c6 Nf6 11.a3 a5 12.Bd3 Ne4 13.Rc2 f6 14.Qe2 Bd6 15.0-0 g5!? 15...Bxf4 16.exf4?! 16.Bxd6 Nxd6 17.Re1 a4 18.Nd2 e5!? 19.e4! f5! 20.f3 20.dxe5 fxe4 20...Nxe4!? 21.exd6 exd3 22.Qxd3 Qxd6∞ 20.exd5? e4 20...dxe4?! 20...Re8! 21.fxe4 Ra5? 21...exd4 22.e5 Re8 22.exf5 Nxf5 23.Bc4+ Kg7 24.d5 Re8 25.Ne4 Nd4 26.Qh5! Nxc2 27.Nxg5 Bf5 28.Rf1 Qf6 28...Bg6 29.Rf7+ Kg8 29...Bxf7 30.Qxh7+ Kf6 31.Ne4+ Ke7 32.d6+ 30.Qh6+- 29.Ne6+ 29.Rxf5 Qxf5 30.Ne6+ 29...Rxe6 30.Rxf5 Qg6 31.dxe6 31.Rg5! 31...Qxh5 32.Rxh5 Nd4 33.e7 Ra8 34.Rxe5 Re8 35.Re4 Nf5 36.Be6 Nd6 37.Bd7 Nxe4 38.Bxe8 Kf6 39.Bg6 1–0
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Aronian,L | 2765 | Caruana,F | 2808 | 1–0 | 2015 | D37 | 3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015 | 1 |
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Interestingly, all of the Armenian's victories came against Americans. Despite the high hopes of the locals for one of the three American players to succeed, the best performance was by Nakamura who managed +1, while So and Caruana finished last and antepenultimate, respectively.
It is unusual that a player wins an event a full point ahead, especially in this caliber of event, but that is what happens when a total of four players finish with a +1 score.
Despite disappointing results in the last half of the tournament, where Carlsen should have scored one more point than he did, the World Champion was able to clinch second thanks to his superior tiebreaks. Carlsen's draw against Nakamura was certainly a let down as he was basically winning at some point, but a huge hallucination caused him to erroneously trade rooks in an endgame, letting his opponent have enough counterplay. Another difficult to explain result was the following:
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.Qd3 Nbd7 10.Nd5 0-0 11.0-0 Bxd5 12.exd5 Rc8 13.c4 Ne8 14.Qd2 b6 15.Rac1 a5 16.Na1 g6 17.b4!? Ng7 17...axb4 18.Nc2 18.bxa5 bxa5 19.Bd3 Nc5 20.Bc2 a4 21.Rb1 e4!? 22.Bxc5 Rxc5 23.Bxa4 23.Qe2!? Qc7 23...f5!? 24.Bxa4 Rxc4 25.Bc6± 23.Bxe4 Rxc4 24.Qd3= 23...Rxc4 24.Bc6 Nf5 25.Qe2 Rc3 26.Qxe4 Ra3 27.Qe2 Bf6 28.Nb3 Qe7 29.Qxe7 Nxe7 30.Nd2 Rxa2 31.Nc4 Rd8 32.g4? 32.Rbd1= 32...Bd4 33.Rbd1 Bc5 34.Rd2 Rxd2 35.Nxd2 Nxc6 36.dxc6 Rc8 37.Ne4 Rxc6 38.Rd1 h6 39.h4 Kf8 40.Kg2 Ke7 41.Rc1 Rc8 42.Kf3 Ke6 43.Rc2 Rc7 44.h5!? gxh5 45.gxh5 Bb6 46.Re2 Bd4 47.Kg3 d5 48.Nd2+ Kf5 49.Kg2 Be5 50.Nf3 Bf6 51.Ra2 Rd7 52.Ne1 Rc7 53.Kf3 Bg5 54.Ra5 Ke5 55.Ke2 Ke4 56.Ra4+ d4 57.f3+ Kd5 58.Ra5+ Kc4 59.Nd3 Re7+ 60.Re5 Re6 60...Kc3 61.f4 Bf6 62.Rxe6 fxe6 63.Nf2?? 63.Kd2! 63...Be7! 64.Ng4 Kc3 65.f5 65.Kd1 Bf8 66.Nf2 d3 65.Nf2 Kc2 66.Nd3 Ba3 67.Nf2 Bd6 68.Nd3 Kc3 65...exf5! 66.Nxh6 Kc2! 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
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Carlsen,M | 2853 | Grischuk,A | 2771 | 0–1 | 2015 | B92 | 3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015 | 7 |
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Some interesting facts about the events so far:
- Aronian beat every American player and no one else (in Norway he only beat Caruana).
- Giri has not lost a game in the Grand Chess Tour.
- Anand was the only player not to win a game in Saint Louis.
- Aronian's score in Saint Louis would only have been good enough for a tie 2-4 in Norway.
- Both Wildcards have finished last, though Jon Ludvig Hammer was only last due to tiebreak.
- Nakamura has finished third in both tournaments due to tiebreak: in both he has tied for second.
- There were as many 3.Bb5+ Sicilians as Najdorfs in Saint Louis.
- The Spanish had two white wins, two draws and three black wins.
- The only player to lose with 1.d4 was So, who lost against Aronian and Nakamura.
- Carlsen, Nakamura, Grischuk and So all had five decisive games.
- Out of the five 2800s in the World, only Nakamura and Carlsen finished in the top half at the Sinquefield.
Out of the melee of rating changes, Nakamura emerges as the #2 player in the World
Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony was a short and private event. No big Grand Chess Tour announcement for 2016 was made, besides the dates of the events. There was a short Q&A session towards the end.

Levon Aronian with his trophy. Next to him (from left) are
Major of Saint Louis Francis Slay, Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield

Aronian's speech was rather motivating!

The deserved winner in Saint Louis
Some of the players took a flight straight to Baku, where they will be preparing for the next big event: the World Cup which starts next week!
Standings

Grand Chess Tour Standings

*rank refers to the rank before Saint Louis
Despite the fact that Topalov was only seventh in Saint Louis, his win in Norway keeps him in the lead. If Topalov, Nakamura or Aronian win the London Chess Classic without the need for a tiebreak, they guarantee themselves the Grand Chess Tour victory. Every player is still in contention for the title!
Replay all games

Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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- Start an analysis engine:
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Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
Photos by Austin Fuller
Pairings
Round One
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
1-0
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
So, Wesley |
2779 |
0-1
|
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
1-0
|
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
0-1
|
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
1-0
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
Round Two
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
1-0
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
1-0
|
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
½-½
|
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
½-½
|
So, Wesley |
2779 |
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
0-1
|
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
Round Three
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
So, Wesley |
2779 |
1-0
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
½-½
|
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
1-0
|
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
½-½
|
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
½-½
|
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
Round Four
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
½-½
|
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
½-½
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
½-½
|
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
½-½
|
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
So, Wesley |
2779 |
0-1
|
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
Round Five
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
½-½
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
1-0
|
So, Wesley |
2779 |
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
½-½
|
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
½-½
|
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
0-1
|
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
Round Six
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
1-0
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Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
1-0
|
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
½-½
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
So, Wesley |
2779 |
0-1
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Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
½-½
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Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
Round Seven
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
½-½
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Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
0-1
|
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
½-½
|
So, Wesley |
2779 |
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
½-½
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Giri, Anish |
2793 |
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
0-1
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Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
Round Eight
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Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
½-½
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Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
½-½
|
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
So, Wesley |
2779 |
½-½
|
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
½-½
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
½-½
|
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
Round Nine
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Res.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Nakamura, Hikaru |
2814 |
1-0
|
Grischuk, Alexander |
2771 |
Anand, Viswanathan |
2816 |
½-½
|
Carlsen, Magnus |
2853 |
Topalov, Veselin |
2816 |
½-½
|
Aronian, Levon |
2765 |
Caruana, Fabiano |
2808 |
½-½
|
So, Wesley |
2779 |
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime |
2731 |
½-½
|
Giri, Anish |
2793 |
Games start at 1 p.m. local time (20:00h CEST, 22:00h Moscow, Thursday 12:30 New Delhi, 03:00h Tokyo, 04:00 Canberra – check your location here).
Playoffs, if necessary, will be on the 2nd at 1pm.
The games will be broadcast live on Playchess, with expert analysis (see schedule below).
Broadcast Schedule
Day |
Date |
Time |
Event |
German |
English
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Sunday |
Aug. 23 |
1 PM |
Round 1 |
Thomas Luther |
Mihail Marin
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Monday |
Aug. 24 |
1 PM |
Round 2 |
Calrstedt/Pähtz |
Mihail Marin
|
Tuesday |
Aug. 25 |
1 PM |
Round 3 |
S. Siebrecht |
Simon Williams
|
Wednesday |
Aug. 26 |
1 PM |
Round 4 |
S. Siebrecht |
Simon Williams
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Thursday |
Aug. 27 |
1 PM |
Round 5 |
S. Siebrecht |
Simon Williams
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Friday |
Aug. 28 |
Rest Day |
Saturday |
Aug. 29 |
1 PM |
Round 6 |
Reeh/Breutigam |
Y. Pelletier
|
Sunday |
Aug. 30 |
1 PM |
Round 7 |
Reeh/Breutigam |
Y. Pelletier
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Monday |
Aug. 31 |
1 PM |
Round 8 |
S. Siebrecht |
Daniel King
|
Tuesday |
Sept. 1 |
1 PM |
Round 9 |
Y. Pelletier |
Daniel King
|
Wednesday |
Sept. 2 |
1 PM |
Playoffs |
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