Sinquefield Rd7: Nothing rotten in the state of Denmark

by Albert Silver
8/13/2016 – It would be easy to complain there was, and that the five draws in round seven were a sign of something amiss, but like it or not, it is sometimes the nature of the beast. The games were all top-notch efforts, with genuine attempts to break the status quo in the positions, but at no point did any bear the unquestionable hallmarks of a win. The closest any really got was perhaps Anand’s good initiative against Aronian, or Caruana’s marathon efforts to try to beat Ding Liren. Report with GM commentary.

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2016 Sinquefield Cup

The 2016 Sinquefield Cup is an elite international event, featuring 10 of the strongest chess players in the world. Over the course of nine rounds, these competitors will battle for $300,000 in prize money (first: $75,000, second: $50,000, third: $40,000, last: $15,000) plus points toward the Grand Chess Tour and the coveted title of 2016 Sinquefield Cup Champion.

The venue is the Chess Club and Scholastic Center at 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108. Tickets cost $10 per round or $80 for all ten rounds. Full information available at the official web site.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators worldwide are expected to enjoy the all-star commentary team of GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade as they provide keen insights and analysis, in depth player interviews and witty discussions. Commentary is also available on the CCSCSL YouTube Channel, Livestream and Twitch.

Participants

No.
Player
Rating
W-Rnk
Age
Country
1
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
2819
2
25
France
2
Fabiano Caruana
2807
4
24
USA
3
Levon Aronian
2784
5
31
Armenia
4
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
6
28
USA
5
Wesley So
2771
7
22
USA
6
Viswanathan Anand
2770
8
47
India
7
Anish Giri
2769
9
22
Holland
8
Veselin Topalov
2761
12
41
Bulgaria
9
Ding Liren
2755
13
23
China
10
Peter Svidler
2751
18
40
Russia

Rounds start at 1 p.m. local time (CDT), which is UTC-5, 20:00h Europe, 23:30 India.
Check the start time at your location here.

Round Seven - Friday, August 12, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Viswanathan Anand
2770
½-½
Levon Aronian
2784
Veselin Topalov
2761
½-½
Anish Giri
2769
Peter Svidler
2751
½-½
Wesley So
2771
Fabiano Caruana
2807
½-½
Ding Liren
2755
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
2791

Round seven

Photos by Lennart Ootes from official site

Perhaps a crystal ball would have helped the players?

Although it is not wrong to say there was nothing suspicious in the many draws, and by that we mean players were not just pushing wood, but fighting on the boards, nor was it a very inspired day at the Sinquefield Cup.

Not a lot happened in their game, and the draw between Anish Giri and Veselin Topalov came as no surprise

Vishy came prepared with an interesting novelty in an Italian game, but somehow the position turned into a situation where it instead looked like a wasted tempo. This was enough for Levon Aronian to keep the balance and a draw ensued. (photo by Spectrum Studios)

Vishy Anand - Levon Aronian (analysis by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

One game many looked forward to was the bout between MVL and Nakamura

Even Anish Giri came to see if it might inspire his own game

Unfortunately, even with uncompromising players such as Nakamura, no sparks flew and it drew uneventfully

Although Fabiano Caruana certainly tried his best to squeeze blood from a stone, he was unable to get his opponent...

... Ding Liren to crack. After 95 moves, they shook hands.

Fabiano Caruana - Ding Liren (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

Peter Svidler drew a quiet game against leader Wesley So

About GM Elshan Moradiabadi

Elshan Moradiabadi is a GM born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He moved to the US in 2012. Ever since, he has been active in US college chess scenes and in US chess.

Elshan co-authored "Chess and the Art of War: Ancient Wisdom to Make You a Better Player" with Al Lawrence. He has also published written articles for ChessBase, and edited opening materials for fellow authors.

Elshan Moradiabadi is a veteran instructor and teaches chess to every level, with students ranging from beginners to IM. He can be contacted for projects or teaching at his email.

You can contact him at his email or follow him on Twitter.

Replay games of round seven

Select games from the games list below the board

Standings after seven rounds

The games are being broadcast live on Playchess, with expert analysis.

Schedule

Day Date Time Event
Playchess commentary
German
Friday
Aug. 12
1 p.m.
Round 7
Yannick Pelletier
Thomas Luther
Saturday
Aug. 13
1 p.m.
Round 8
Simon Williams
Yannick Pelletier
Sunday
Aug. 14
1 p.m.
Round 9
Yannick Pelletier
Klaus Bischoff
Monday
Aug. 15
1 p.m.
Playoffs
 

Pairings

Round One - Friday, August 5, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Ding Liren
2755
½-½
Levon Aronian
2784
Wesley So
2771
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
Anish Giri
2769
½-½
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
Viswanathan Anand
2770
½-½
Fabiano Caruana
2807
Veselin Topalov
2761
1-0
Peter Svidler
2751
Round Two - Saturday, August 6, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Levon Aronian
2784
1-0
Peter Svidler
2751
Fabiano Caruana
2807
½-½
Veselin Topalov
2761
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
1-0
Anish Giri
2769
Ding Liren
2755
½-½
Wesley So
2771
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
0-1
Viswanathan Anand
2770
Round Three - Sunday, August 7, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Wesley So
2771
½-½
Levon Aronian
2784
Anish Giri
2769
½-½
Ding Liren
2755
Viswanathan Anand
2770
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
Veselin Topalov
2761
½-½
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
Peter Svidler
2751
½-½
Fabiano Caruana
2807
Round Four - Monday, August 8, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Levon Aronian
2784
½-½
Fabiano Caruana
2807
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
½-½
Peter Svidler
2751
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
½-½
Veselin Topalov
2761
Ding Liren
2755
½-½
Viswanathan Anand
2770
Wesley So
2771
½-½
Anish Giri
2769
Round Five - Tuesday, August 9, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Anish Giri
2769
½-½
Levon Aronian
2784
Viswanathan Anand
2770
½-½
Wesley So
2771
Veselin Topalov
2761
1-0
Ding Liren
2755
Peter Svidler
2751
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
Fabiano Caruana
2807
½-½
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
Round Six - Thursday, August 11, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Levon Aronian 2771
0-1
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
Hikaru Nakamura 2731
½-½
Fabiano Caruana
2807
Ding Liren 2793
1-0
Peter Svidler
2751
Wesley So 2779
1-0
Veselin Topalov
2761
Anish Giri 2765
½-½
Viswanathan Anand
2770
Round Seven - Friday, August 12, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Viswanathan Anand
2770
½-½
Levon Aronian
2784
Veselin Topalov
2761
½-½
Anish Giri
2769
Peter Svidler
2751
½-½
Wesley So
2771
Fabiano Caruana
2807
½-½
Ding Liren
2755
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
Round Eight - Saturday, August, 13, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Levon Aronian
2784
  Hikaru Nakamura
2791
Ding Liren
2755
  M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
Wesley So
2771
  Fabiano Caruana
2807
Anish Giri
2769
  Peter Svidler
2751
Viswanathan Anand
2770
  Veselin Topalov
2761
Round Nine - Sunday, August 14, 1pm
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Veselin Topalov
2761
  Levon Aronian
2784
Peter Svidler
2751
  Viswanathan Anand
2770
Fabiano Caruana
2807
  Anish Giri
2769
M. Vachier-Lagrave
2819
  Wesley So
2771
Hikaru Nakamura
2791
  Ding Liren
2755

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
 

Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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