Sinquefield Rd8: Exhaustion, gumption, and redemption

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

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 eight

Photos by Lennart Ootes from official site

Sounding the opening bell

There really wasn’t a lot to say about the first draws. The games were innocuous at best, and never seemed like any serious effort was made to change this destiny. Of course, one could argue that Wesley So, playing against Fabiano Caruana, was content to nurse his plus two tournament score into the last round, he is also setting himself up for a potential headache as well. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave trails by a full point but will play him with white.

Fabiano Caruana versus Wesley So was uneventful, and So keeps his lead going into the last round

Should he beat him, there is a very serious possibility the tournament might end in a vast tie for first, and an equally large tiebreak to decide the title. When asked about this by GM Maurice Ashley in the post-game interview, So explained that it was a long tournament, and that after seven rounds the players were feeling very tired. Perhaps time to start hitting the gym?

Ding Liren’s game with MVL went nowhere very quickly, and it was quite literally symmetrical down to the pawns and pieces after 16 moves. The result was never in doubt.

Ding Liren - MVL

This was the position after 16 moves. 'Mirror, mirror, on the board...'

The same cannot be said of Anand’s fascinating fight with Topalov. Commentators and fans might have groaned when the dreaded Berlin appeared on the board, but with players such as these, and notably their longstanding rivalry, the chance of a coordinated peace effort seemed unlikely. There was more to it than that of course: after 27 moves, when a draw seemed probable, the leader Wesley So had already signed his score sheet, leaving him wide open to a decisive result in round eight, and another in round nine.

Vishy Anand: draws are only acceptable as a last resort

Needless to say, Veselin Topalov barely knows the meaning of the word

Anand made his move, putting himself in potential jeopardy, re-igniting the fires of war on the board. In the end, though certainly fascinating to accompany, they did draw, but it was a good fight to watch.

Vishy Anand - Veselin Topalov

The game that seemed most likely to end in a decisive result, from early on, was Levon Aronian against Hikaru Nakamura. The opening got an interesting treatment from both players, and is analyzed in depth by QGD expert, GM Elshan Moradiabadi, who shares his insights.

Levon Aronian - Hikaru Nakamura (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

Levon Aronian was inspired and played a superb positional game to punish...

... Hikaru Nakamura for his unorthodox handling of the QGD.

If Anish Giri has certainly not been having a good event, it had been a dream compared to Peter Svidler’s thus far. When the two clashed, it was not ridiculous to expect them to quietly take their lumps and move on to the next event with a clean slate, but that was not in the cards. Anish played an interesting pawn sacrifice to generate play and an initiative, but never really seemed to get any momentum going from it, and in the end the pawn was the deciding factor.

The playing area with fans enjoying an up-close view

Anish Giri - Peter Svidler (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

Peter Svidler cannot believe his eyes: the torment is over and he scored a win

The tournament will now enter the final round, and anything goes. Wesley So is the leader with a very modest (at this point) +2 score with 5.0/8, followed by Anand and Aronian on 4.5/8, and more a half point behind them. So will face MVL with black, and a loss might leave a considerable number tied for first. Even a draw could mean a tiebreak with Anand or Aronian, or both, so round nine promises to be exciting and tense, and is not to be missed!

In Playchess, Swiss GM Yannick Pelletier will be providing the live commentary, and it bears remembering that this commentary is interactive and open to comments, group chat and of course questions on the positions or more to the GM.

Standings after eight rounds

Schedule

Pairings

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN 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.