Sinquefield Cup: All The Information
The Sinquefield Cup is an annual chess tournament held in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Named for Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield, the founders of the Saint Louis Chess Club where it is held, the tournament first ran in 2013. Since 2015, it has been part of the Grand Chess Tour.
The 2021 Sinquefield Cup was held from August 17-26 and won by GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with a score of 6/9.
- 2021 Final Standings
- Broadcast
- Schedule
- Location
- Format
- Players
- Prize Fund
- Regulations
- Community Contest
- History
2021 Final Standings
| Rank | Fed | Title | Player | Score | + | - | = |
| 1 | GM | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2 | GM | Leinier Dominguez Perez | 5.5 | 2 | 0 | 7 | |
| 2 | GM | Fabiano Caruana | 5.5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2 | GM | Wesley So | 5.5 | 2 | 0 | 7 | |
| 5 | GM | Richard Rapport | 4.5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 6 | GM | Jeffery Xiong | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | GM | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | GM | Sam Shankland | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 9 | GM | Peter Svidler | 3.5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |
| 10 | GM | Darius Swiercz | 2.5 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
Broadcast
You can keep up with the Sinquefield Cup at our Events page.
You can also watch the live broadcast on Chess.com/TV or on our Twitch and YouTube channels. IM Danny Rensch and GM Robert Hess, as well as guests, will anchor coverage of the event with their expert commentary.
Schedule
The 2021 opening ceremony was held at 6:00 PM local time (4:00 PM Pacific, 01:00 Central European). All games began at 3:00 PM local time (1:00 PM Pacific, 22:00 Central European)
Round 1: August 17
Round 2: August 18
Round 3: August 19
Round 4: August 20
Round 5: August 21
Round 6: August 23
Round 7: August 24
Round 8: August 25
Round 9: August 26
August 22 was a rest day. Any playoff needed for the Grand Chess Tour was scheduled for August 27 at 1:00 PM, but it was not needed.
Location
The tournament is held at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, MO.
Format
The tournament is a 10-player single round-robin played at classical time controls. Each player has 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment throughout. No draws by agreement are permitted.
There are no tiebreak games, with prize money and GCT points split evenly if players finish the tournament at the same score. If there is a tie at the top of the standings, the winner is determined by statistical tiebreakers in the following order: head-to-head score among tied players; total numbers of wins; and Sonneborn-Berger score.
Players
The players in 2021 were announced on August 16. The field included five full Grand Chess Tour participants and five wild cards.
The full Tour participants are:
- GM Fabiano Caruana
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (won 2021 GCT Croatia Rapid/Blitz)
- GM Wesley So (won 2021 GCT Paris Rapid/Blitz)
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (won 2021 GCT Bucharest)
- GM Richard Rapport
The wild cards are:
- GM Peter Svidler
- GM Leinier Dominguez
- GM Sam Shankland
- GM Jeffery Xiong
- GM Darius Swiercz
Eight of the ten players also participated in the 2021 Saint Louis Rapid & Biltz.
Prize Fund
The prize fund in 2021 is $325,000. The winner receives $90,000. The full table of prizes and GCT points is below.
| Place | Prize | GCT Points |
| 1 | $90,000 | 13* |
| 2 | $60,000 | 10 |
| 3 | $45,000 | 8 |
| 4 | $30,000 | 7 |
| 5 | $25,000 | 6 |
| 6 | $20,000 | 5 |
| 7 | $17,500 | 4 |
| 8 | $15,000 | 3 |
| 9 | $12,500 | 2 |
| 10 | $10,000 | 1 |
*12 if a tiebreaker is needed.
Regulations
The official FIDE regulations for the 2021 Grand Chess Tour, which includes the 2021 Sinquefield Cup, can be found here.
Community Contest
Chess.com holds a Vote The Result contest for the event. At Chess.com/events, Members can vote on who they think will win every game. Contest winners earn cash prizes and premium memberships.
History
The inaugural Sinquefield Cup was held in 2013 as a four-player double round-robin. It was won by GM Magnus Carlsen, who later that year became world champion by defeating GM Viswanathan Anand. The 2014 Sinquefield Cup was a six-player double round-robin. GM Fabiano Caruana went on a historical tear, winning his first seven games and the overall tournament by three full points with 8.5/10.
In 2015, the Sinquefield Cup became part of the Grand Chess Tour and took its present form of a 10-player single round-robin. GM Levon Aronian was the winner. GM Wesley So won in 2016, followed by GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in 2017. Carlsen, Caruana, and Aronian shared first place in 2018. The 2019 tournament featured 12 players and was won by GM Ding Liren after he defeated Carlsen in a playoff.
In 2020, the tournament (as well as the entire Grand Chess Tour) was canceled amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles, player biographies, Titled Tuesday reports, video scripts, and more. He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington, DC, USA.
