Sole leader
Magnus Carlsen’s unflagging energy continues to bear good results in the era of online tournaments. The world champion has played almost nonstop since the pandemic forced organizers to set up online events for the world’s elite, and has consistently fought for first place in all events no matter the format.
After ending day one on an even score, beating Hikaru Nakamura and losing due to a disconnect to Ian Nepomniachtchi, the world champion scored a perfect 6 out of 6 on Wednesday, winning all three of his games each worth two points for the overall standings. Carlsen beat Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez and Pentala Harikrishna to take the sole lead.
Wesley So and Nepomniachtchi had grabbed the lead after winning in round 4, and finished the day sharing second place a point behind Carlsen — while So drew his last two games on Wednesday, Nepomniachtchi lost to Jeffery Xiong and defeated Hikaru Nakamura to remain in the fight for first place.

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Round 4: All decisive
No points were split in round 4, as then co-leaders Aronian and Harikrishna lost their games and allowed So and Nepomniachtchi to climb to first place. Aronian’s creative handling of the Grünfeld Defence was no match to Carlsen’s straightforward play in the centre of the board:
The Grünfeld Defence was invented by the famous Austrian Grandmaster Ernst Grünfeld in the early twenties of the last century. One of the first reactions to it came from the great Akiba Rubinstein - the g3 system, fianchettoing the bishop to g2. After that many systems were tried to refute the Grünfeld and nothing really worked. So, Rubinstein's recipe remains a very important positional approach against this dynamic opening.
Carlsen vs. Aronian - Round 4
The world champion converted his positional trumps into a tangible edge with 14.Bxh6 Bxh6 15.Bxf5 gxf5 16.0-0 e6 17.dxe6 Nc5 18.exf7+ Rxf7 19.Qa3 — Black is a pawn down and has weakened his king’s position. Aronian resigned on move 34.
Meanwhile, Harikrishna was trying to defend a materially-balanced position in which Nepomniachtchi, playing black, had a strong passer on the d-file:
Harikrishna vs. Nepomniachtchi - Round 4
White’s 38.Qe4 was the losing move, as Nepomniachtchi now had 38...Rc3, and after 39.Re8+ Rxe8 40.Qxe8+ Kg7 41.Qe2 Rc1 there is no defence for White:
42.Nxd2 Rxd1+ 43.Qxd1 Qd4 and the knight is lost. Harikrishna resigned two moves later.
Alexander Grischuk also won with the black pieces, taking down Xiong in a complex struggle. So and Nakamura, on the other hand, won with white, defeating Leinier Dominguez and Alireza Firouzja respectively.
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 a6 8.e5 b5 9.Qb3 Ng4 10.h3 Nh6 11.Bd3 11...Be6N 11...Bf5 12.Be2 c6 11...Nf5 12.Be4 Ra7 13.g4 Nh6 14.Be3 c6 15.0-0-0 Qa5 16.Kb1 Rc7 17.Bd2 Rb7 18.Ne2 Qb6 19.Bf4 12.d5± Nd7 12...c5± 13.Bb1+- 13.dxe6?! Nc5 13...Bf5 14.Bxh6 Bxh6 15.Bxf5 gxf5 16.0-0 e6 16...Qe8 17.a4 Bg7 17.dxe6 Nc5 18.exf7+ Rxf7 19.Qa3 Ne6 20.Rad1 Qf8 21.Qb3 Re8 22.Nd5 Bg7 23.Rfe1 c5 24.Qa3 Ra7 25.Qa5 c4 26.a4 b4 26...Kh8 27.axb5 Qc5 27.Nf6+! Bxf6 28.exf6 Qxf6 29.Qxb4 Rg7 30.Qxc4 Kh8 31.Rd6 Reg8 32.Rexe6 Rxg2+ 33.Kf1 Qxb2 34.Qd4+ 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Carlsen,M | 2863 | Aronian,L | 2773 | 1–0 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 4 |
So,W | 2770 | Dominguez Perez,L | 2758 | 1–0 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 4 |
Nakamura,H | 2736 | Firouzja,A | 2728 | 1–0 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 4 |
Harikrishna,P | 2732 | Nepomniachtchi,I | 2784 | 0–1 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 4 |
Xiong,J | 2709 | Grischuk,A | 2777 | 0–1 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 4 |
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Round 5: Carlsen shines
While he thought his remaining two wins were rather lucky, Carlsen was happy with his victory over Dominguez in round 5. Out of a sharp Philidor Defence, the world champion correctly gave up an exchange in the middlegame:
This increasingly popular opening is easy to pick up as the Black pieces can usually be developed quickly and smoothly. Many of the ideas are thematic and Black can achieve attacking positions in several of the variations.
Dominguez vs. Carlsen - Round 5
Black chose to keep his dark-squared bishop alive by capturing with the rook — 30...Rxe5 31.Nxe5 Bxe5. Six moves later, the well-placed bishop was key in allowing Carlsen to execute a beautiful tactical shot:
37...Rxb2+ 38.Kxb2 d3+, opening up the diagonal, 39.Kc1 Qc5+ 40.Kd2 Qc2+ 41.Ke1 Bh4+ (again, the bishop) and Dominguez resigned.
Earlier in the round, then co-leader Nepomniachtchi lost in barely 21 moves against Xiong. The Russian star badly miscalculated as early as move 10:
Nepomniachtchi vs. Xiong - Round 5
White’s greedy 10.Qxb7 was duly punished by the American youngster. It all started with 10...Ndb4 11.Bb5 Nxc2+ 12.Ke2 0-0 13.Bxc6 Rb8 and White could not survive such a grave disadvantage in development.
The three remaining games finished drawn.
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1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 g6 6.Qf3 Be6 7.Bc4 Bg7 8.Qb3 8.0-0 8...Bxe5N 8...0-0 9.Qxb7 Nb6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Qe4 Qe8 12.Nc3 a6 13.0-0 N8d7 14.Ng4 e5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 9.dxe5 Nc6 10.Qxb7? 10.Bb5= 10...Ndb4!-+ 11.Bb5 Nxc2+ 12.Ke2 0-0 13.Bxc6 Rb8 14.Qxa7 Nd4+? 14...Nxa1 15.Na3 14...Bc4+ 15.Kf3 Qd3+ 16.Be3 f5 15.Ke1 Nc2+? 15...Nxc6 16.Qe3 Nb4 16.Ke2 Rb6 16...Nxa1 17.Na3 17.Na3 17.Qa4 Rxc6 18.Na3 17...Nd4+ 17...Nxa1 18.Rd1 18.Ke1 Nxc6 19.Qa4 Nxe5 20.Bh6 20.h3 Qd5 21.Kf1 20...Qd5 21.f3 Rxb2 0–1 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
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Nepomniachtchi,I | 2784 | Xiong,J | 2709 | 0–1 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 5 |
Grischuk,A | 2777 | Nakamura,H | 2736 | ½–½ | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 5 |
Aronian,L | 2773 | Harikrishna,P | 2732 | ½–½ | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 5 |
Dominguez Perez,L | 2758 | Carlsen,M | 2863 | 0–1 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 5 |
Firouzja,A | 2728 | So,W | 2770 | ½–½ | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 5 |
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Round 6: Nepomniachtchi bounces back
True to his style, Nepomniachtchi did not shy away from entering a sharp battle after his quick loss with the white pieces. He was facing a hungry-for-points Nakamura, who gave up no fewer than three pawns in order to keep the initiative:
The interactive format encourages the viewer to study and find the brilliancy, following the footsteps of some of the greatest players of the game.
Nakamura vs. Nepomniachtchi - Round 6
29.Nd4 is a good-looking move, but it is also a mistake, as Black now has 29...Qe4. After 30.Rf4, Nepomniachtchi correctly assessed that 30...Qxf4 31.Qxf4 Bxd4+ 32.Rxd4 cxd4 gives him a comfortable edge with the pair of rooks and the extra pawns against the queen.
Notice that only 29...Qe4 wins for Black, with other sharp lines favouring White — for example, 29...Bxd4 30.Rxd4 Nf5 31.Rxf5 and White is ready to set up a battery on the h-file.
Carlsen beat Harikrishna with white in 31 moves after the latter miscalculated in a complex position, while Firouzja strangely lost on time against Dominguez. So v Grischuk and Xiong v Aronian were rather uneventful draws.
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.c3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nge7 9.Nxf5 Nxf5 10.Bd3 g6 10...Nxe5? 11.Bxf5 exf5 12.Re1+- 11.Qe2 Bg7 12.f4 0-0 13.Nd2 f6 14.exf6 Qxf6 15.Nf3 Rae8 16.Bb5 Qd8 17.Bd2!?N 17.Kh1 Qb6 18.Ba4 Re7 19.Re1 Kh8 20.Bb3 Na5 21.Bc2 Nc6 22.Bb3 Na5 23.Bc2 Nc6 24.Bb3 17...Nd6 18.Bd3 e5 18...Qb6+ 19.Be3 d4 20.cxd4 Nxd4 21.Nxd4 Bxd4 22.Rae1 e5 19.fxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 21.Rxf8+ Qxf8 22.Qg4 Ne4 22...Nc4!? 23.Bf4 Re8= 23.Be3 Nc5 23...a6= 24.Rf1± Rxe3? 24...Nxd3± 25.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Rxf8++- Bxf8 26.Bc2 Re1+ 27.Kf2 Re5 28.Qc8 b6 29.b4 Ne6 30.Bb3 Ng5 31.Bxd5+ 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Carlsen,M | 2863 | Harikrishna,P | 2732 | 1–0 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 6 |
So,W | 2770 | Grischuk,A | 2777 | ½–½ | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 6 |
Dominguez Perez,L | 2758 | Firouzja,A | 2728 | 1–0 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 6 |
Nakamura,H | 2736 | Nepomniachtchi,I | 2784 | 0–1 | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 6 |
Xiong,J | 2709 | Aronian,L | 2773 | ½–½ | 2020 | | Saint Louis Rapid 2020 | 6 |
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Standings after Round 6
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