Sinquefield 08: Carlsen forgives Nakamura

Caitano05

Sep 1, 2015, 5:46 AM | 0

by Alejandro Ramirez

9/1/2015 – Today's round featured three solid draws, after which two very long games were the only ones left in the playing hall. Giri suffered slightly against Caruana as he lost a pawn and had to defend, but it wasn't too hard. Nakamura, however, is the one that was lucky. Carlsen's prep basically gave him a winning position, but the World Champion was careless, and Naka found a way to survive!

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.

Round Eight

Name

Rtg

Res.

Name

Rtg

Grischuk, Alexander 2771

½-½

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

Even in tournaments in which the level of fighting spirit is extremely high, such as the 2015 Sinquefield Cup, sometimes there is a chance that every game ends in a draw simply due to the high class strength of the players.

The draws today came in many different flavors, and a few players must be disappointed with the result, either because they were pressing and were unable to convert or because they allowed their opponent’s such advantages to begin with. As it stands, the tournament has been served to Aronian in a platter as he will only need a half a point in his last round to clinch first place - he will be playing Topalov with the Black pieces. If he loses, there are four hungry players behind him one point behind that could potentially catch him.

Despite the fact that So-Topalov played over 50 moves, it didn’t last long in regards to playing time. Wesley So obtained a slight advantage somehow after Topalov made inaccurate form during the opening. Unfortunately, the position was so locked up that an incredible amount of precision was required in order to create even minor problems. So kept lashing out his moves, and was even above two hours on the clock (more than he started with, due to the extra hour at move 40) at some point. Topalov held comfortably in the endgame.

Topalov with two solid draws, unusual for him

Nimzoindian Rubinstein E46 - CBM 141

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Nimzoindian Rubinstein E46 - CBM 141

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So, Wesley2779–Topalov, Veselin2816½–½

E463rd Sinquefield Cup 2015831.08.2015Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro

1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.e3 0-0 5.ge2 d5 6.a3 d6 7.c5 e7 8.b4 b6 9.b2 a5 10.f4 axb4 11.axb4 xa1 12.xa1 c6 13.d3 bxc5 14.bxc5 e4?! Topalov mentioned that this move was not good.

14...b7 followed by 15.e2 d7 16.0-0 a8 17.c1 a6 close to equal.

15.e2 d7 16.f3 xc3 17.xc3 Black is suffering here slightly. a8 18.d2 b8 19.xa8

19.b1! keeping some pressure.

19...xa8 20.a1 xa1 21.xa1 f8 22.c3 e8 23.g4 g6 24.f4 h6 25.h3 f6 26.f3 c8 White is still better thanks to his space advantage but it is difficult to create any kind of play. Wesley tried to maneuver around for a long time, but was unable to create something. 27.d1 d7 28.e1 a7 29.a5 d8 30.f3 The position is so locked up. The players actually blitzed out many moves, as there is not much going on. So needs to create some pawn break to do anything but it seems almost impossible to find. b5 31.c3 c6 32.e1 b8 33.c2 d7 34.a5 f6 35.g5 hxg5 36.fxg5 d7 37.h4 b8 38.e5 c6 39.xc6 xc6 40.f2 d7 41.g3 e7 42.f4 b5 43.e5 c6 44.d1 d3 45.b6 f1 46.a7 d3 47.b8 b1 48.d6 d8 49.b8 d3 50.d6 b1 There is simply nothing to do here in this position.

½–½

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Aronian tried to put some pressure against Anand, but he ran into some deep opening preparation. The Indian player successfully neutralized White’s strong pawn center with some clever moves. Aronian sacrificed a pawn for some pressure on the b-file, taking advantage of an awkward knight on a5 for Anand, but Black had everything under control.

All draws? Aronian will take it!

Chess Endgames 14 - The golden guidelines of endgame play

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Aronian, Levon2765–Anand, Viswanathan2816½–½

A293rd Sinquefield Cup 2015831.08.2015Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro

1.c4 e5 2.c3 f6 3.f3 c6 4.g3 b4 5.g2 0-0 6.0-0 e4 7.g5 xc3 8.bxc3 e8 9.f3 exf3 10.xf3 d5 11.d4! dxc4

11...e4 12.c2 dxc4 13.b1 f5 was the game Kasparov-Ivanchuk from 1988. The former World Champion mentioned how he had prepared this position quite deeply, including the variations that happened in the game. Back in 1988 he thought that White was much better with his central control, while it seems that Anand played confidently enough, perhaps trusting his engine evaluation that keeps it around equal.

12.g5 h6 13.xf6 xf6 14.e4!

14.e5 e6 15.xc6

15.xf7 f8=

15...bxc6 16.xf7

16.xf7 c5 is messy, but not better for White.

16...e3+-+

14...g4 15.a4 d6 16.ae1?!

16.xc4 Anand said he analyzed this, but not 16.Rae1. xe4? 17.g5±

16...ab8! 17.xc4 b5 18.e5 changing the character of the position, going into an endgame. If White refused to go into this he would have to allow some interesting pawn breaks.

18.b3 a5

18...b4!?

19.c2 c5

18.d3 b4 19.e5 d7=

18...bxc4 19.exd6 cxd6 20.xe8+ xe8 21.d2 Black is up a pawn, but he is under some pressure because c4 and d6 are weak. a5 22.e4 d8! 23.b1 d5! Precise play from the Indian player. He finds a tactical way to solve his knight on a5 problem. 24.c5 e6 25.b5 c6 26.a6=

26.b7 b8 27.c7 b1+ gives Black enough counterplay.

26...d7 27.a4 f8 28.c5 c7 29.a6 d7 30.c5 c7 31.a6 There is simply no way of making progress.

½–½

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Grischuk repeated the variation that Carlsen played against Vachier-Lagrave earlier in the tournament, but MVL was not going to be caught off-guard in this variation twice. He came up with the strong early Qb6 idea, neutralized all play from Grischuk and the game was eventually drawn when neither side could find a constructive idea.

Grischuk tried to repeat the success of Carlsen

Grischuk, Alexander2771–Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime2731½–½

3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015831.08.2015Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro

1.f3 f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 g7 4.g2 c5 5.d4 cxd4 6.xd4 0-0 7.c3 c7 8.d5 a repeat from Carlsen-MVL earlier this tournament. The Frenchman obviously had an improvment over that game xd5 9.cxd5 In the annotations to the aforementioned game we noticed that Qb6 was a move, though most people played Qa5. Kasparov mentioned that Qb6 is better, and that he prepared this position for a match a long time ago. b6 10.b3 d6 11.0-0 a6 12.e3 b4 13.d2 a4 14.a5 xd1 15.axd1 xb2 Perhaps giving up the b7 pawn for the b2 pawn is not necessary.

15...c5!?

15...g4 was perhaps an improvement.

16.b1 f6 17.xb7 g7 18.a5 thanks to the weakness of c6, White has a little pressure. That being said it is not the end of the World. c5 19.fc1 a6 20.f1 fb8 21.b4 xb4 22.xb4 b8 23.a3 b5 White's pressure has been basically neutralized. There aren't any real threats that Grischuk can create in this position. a7 is the only pawn to attack, and it can only be done so by the knight. 24.f3 a6 25.c6 b7 26.a5 b6 27.d2 c5 28.b4 a6 29.d2 c5 30.b4 a6 Vachier-Lagrave even thought that at some point he was slightly better, but couldn't find anything constructive to do.

½–½

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MVL had a good counter ready

The next two games took a very long time to finish. Caruana was able to minimize the danger from the opening with his typical Grunfeld, though this time he brought in an interesting idea with an early e5 break. Giri’s advantage was negligible, and he started playing carelessly. Suddenly he saw himself down a pawn without full compensation. He had to suffer in a very long two pawns and rook vs. one pawn and rook endgame that he eventually drew.

Giri made life hard on himself

Giri, Anish2793–Caruana, Fabiano2808½–½

3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015831.08.2015Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro

1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 4.cxd5 xd5 5.e4 xc3 6.bxc3 g7 7.e3 c5 8.c1 0-0 9.d2 e5!? An unusual approach to a known position. This double break 10.f3 cxd4 11.cxd4 exd4 12.xd4 d7 13.c4 c6 Black is close to equality, but Whtie will retain a small pressure as he can still avoid the trade of pieces and can install a bishop on d5 at some point. 14.f3 g4 15.xd8 axd8 16.0-0 fe8 17.b1

17.g5 was what Kasparov thought was going to happen. e5?!

17...e7! 18.h3 c8 19.c5 c7

18.b3!

18.d5 h6 19.f4 xd5! 20.exd5 d3-+

18...h6 19.f4 hxg5 20.fxe5 e6 21.xg5 d4 22.xe6 fxe6 23.f6±

17...a5 18.d5 e6 19.xe6 xe6 20.xa7 a8 21.d4 xd4 22.xd4 xe4 This position is very close to equal, but somehow White finds his a-pawn hard to defend. 23.f3

23.b5=

23...e2 24.a4 e4 25.fc1 xa4 26.h3 Black is up a pawn now, after not putting in much effort. The game is close to a draw because b7 is so weak and the kingside is easy to attack for White, but it still involves plenty of suffering. e8 27.c7 h6 28.b5 e2 29.e5 a1+ 30.h2 xf2 31.g4 ff1 32.xh6+ g7 33.g4 h1+ 34.g3 hb1 35.d5 d1 36.b5 d6 37.e5 f6 Black is hard pressed to find something to do. 38.c3?!

38.g4 just not releasing the pressure from the seventh rank, should be fine for White.

38...f5 39.cc5 This clearly seems artificial. b6?!

39...a3+! keeps the pressure up 40.h2 b3! 41.xa5 b6 42.cb5 bxa5 43.xb3 xe5 is probably a draw, but with more chances than the game.

40.xb6! Caruana must have thought this wasn't possible.. g5+ 41.f2 a2+ 42.f1

42.f3! gxg2 43.bb5!=

42...gxg2 43.xa5 xa5 44.xg2 xe5 45.h4 This position is a draw, but Black has some chance of pushing. e6 46.b7 f6 47.a7 e3 48.a5 e5 49.a7 e4 50.g3 e6 51.a5 f6 52.a6+ f5 53.a5+ e5 54.a3 d5 55.f3+ e6 56.e3+ e5 57.a3 e4 58.a6+ f5 59.a5+ e5 60.a3 d5 61.f3+ e6 62.e3+ f7 Black can't make any progress. 63.a3 d4 64.a6 e7 65.a3 e6 66.e3+ f5 67.f3+ e5 68.e3+ e4 69.a3

½–½

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Last and certainly not least was the game between Carlsen and Nakamura. The American player very clearly was in trouble straight from the opening. Kasparov came around to talk about the game with me and he was saying how it was a position that Carlsen and he had analyzed a few years ago, and that Black wasn’t lost, but it was very very bad. Slowly the World Champion pushed Nakamura around, got a winning position… and then made mistake after mistake. Somehow Nakamura was able to create counterchances in what should have been a straightforward win. Eventually, after a long torture, he survived.

Naka survived... somehow!

Carlsen, Magnus2853–Nakamura, Hikaru2814½–½

3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015831.08.2015Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.c3 e7 4.f4 f6 5.e3 0-0 6.a3 c5

6...b6! Is better, according to Kasparov.

7.dxc5 xc5 8.f3 c6 9.c2 a5 10.d1 e7 11.e2 e4?!

11...dxc4 12.xc4 h5 13.0-0 xf4 14.exf4 gives White some pressure, and Kramnik used to win against Carlsen in 2009. Kasparov and Carlsen worked on the position and concluded that White has pressure, but Black's position is "somewhat playable".

12.cxd5 xc3 13.xc3 xc3+ 14.bxc3 exd5 15.xd5 xa3 16.d4 Kasparov mentioned that this position was already bad for Black. It was based on a 2009 game by Sokolov (against Meier). Black isn't lost, but it is not fun to play this, especially against Carlsen. xd4 17.exd4 b6 18.d2 e6

18...b7 19.d7 xg2 20.a1 susprisingly traps the bishop.

19.b5 d7 20.b3 e7 21.f3 a4 22.b2 ad8 23.a1 b5 24.c6 a6 25.b7 d6 26.e3 a5 Black somehow is retaining his material parity, but it is clear that his pawns are weak, the bishop on a4 is awkward and the king on d2 is far more useful than the one no g8. 27.c6 b8 28.d5 fd8 29.d3

29.a7 was possible but not fully necessary yet. Carlsen slowly improves his position.

29...f8 30.d4 f6 31.e4 why not? d6 32.c4 b4 33.a7?! This seems to forcing, and not in a good way

33.g4! was worth considering, simply paralyzing black.

33...f5+ 34.f3 bc8! The best practical chance, forcing the two bishops vs. rook endgame. 35.cxb5 xb5 36.xb5 c3 37.ab1

37.ba2 xa1 38.xa1 xd5 39.xa5 f8 40.b6 at least takes the pawn on a5 immediately, but it isn't 100% clear whether the endgame is winning or holdable.

37...xb2 38.xb2 xd5 39.e3? A move that is almost impossible to understand. Basic chess understanding tells us that White should retain his rook, not allow it to be exchanged.

39.a4 should lead to a technically won game. The rook and bishops will tear apart Black's pawns.

39...b8 40.c4 xb2 41.xd5+ h8 Now this is not even close to easy. 42.d4 b1 43.e2 a4 44.g3 a3 45.d2 h5 46.h4 h7 47.c4 g6 48.c2 e1

48...b8 is probably the easier way to draw in this position, simply keeping the king cut off on the b-file and there is no way to make progress with the bishops.

49.e3 simplifying a couple of pawns. The a-pawn is doomed, but not the game. f4! 50.xf4 a2 51.xa2 e2+ 52.b3 xf2 53.b1 e2 54.c4 g7 55.d5 The king comes in, but this is as far as he goes. He will not cross into f6, where he needs to be. e1 56.c2 e2 57.d3 e1 58.e4 d1+ 59.e5 Black's defense is tedious, but not particularly demanding. e1 60.d2 e2 61.c3 h6 62.b4 f2 63.c5 f1 64.b4 f2 65.e7 f1 66.f6 g1 67.g5+ g7 68.f4 e1 69.d5 d1+ 70.e6 e1 71.e5 e2 72.d5 e1 73.d3 h7 74.d4 g7 75.e3 a1 76.e4 a4+ 77.f3 a3 78.b5 b3 79.e8 b1 80.c6 b4 81.d2 b6 82.c3+ h6 83.d5 b1 84.f4 f1+ 85.e5 g1 86.d2+ g7 87.f4 e1+ 88.d6 f6 89.f3 f5 90.d5 f1 91.e4+ g4 92.xg6 xf4 93.gxf4 xf4 94.xh5 g3 95.d1 xh4

½–½

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Garry Kasparov was a guest of honor today, and even joined Jenn, Maurice and Yasser in the analysis table!

Kasparov analyzing with yours truly. He was usually right..... ok, ok, maybe always.

Kasparov with his partner for ultimate moves (an exhibition match after the tournament), Rex Sinquefield

Garry with Maurice. In the foreground, Jen Huemmer, the producer of the broadcast.

Standings

Round Eight Games

Games - CBM 150

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Games - CBM 150

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Aronian, Levon2765–Anand, Viswanathan2816½–½

A293rd Sinquefield Cup 2015831.08.2015Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro

1.c4 e5 2.c3 f6 3.f3 c6 4.g3 b4 5.g2 0-0 6.0-0 e4 7.g5 xc3 8.bxc3 e8 9.f3 exf3 10.xf3 d5 11.d4! dxc4

12.g5 h6 13.xf6 xf6 14.e4!

14.e5 e6 15.xc6

15.xf7 f8=

15...bxc6 16.xf7

16.xf7 c5 is messy, but not better for White.

16...e3+-+

14...g4 15.a4 d6 16.ae1?!

16.xc4 Anand said he analyzed this, but not 16.Rae1. xe4? 17.g5±

16...ab8! 17.xc4 b5 18.e5 changing the character of the position, going into an endgame. If White refused to go into this he would have to allow some interesting pawn breaks.

18.b3 a5

18...b4!?

19.c2 c5

18.d3 b4 19.e5 d7=

26.b7 b8 27.c7 b1+ gives Black enough counterplay.

26...d7 27.a4 f8 28.c5 c7 29.a6 d7 30.c5 c7 31.a6 There is simply no way of making progress.

½–½

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Photos by Lennart Ootes

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

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

Nakamura, Hikaru 2814

Aronian, Levon 2765

½-½

Carlsen, Magnus 2853

Round Seven

Name

Rtg

Res.

Name

Rtg

Carlsen, Magnus 2853

½-½

Grischuk, Alexander 2771

Nakamura, Hikaru 2814

0-1

Aronian, Levon 2765

Anand, Viswanathan 2816

½-½

So, Wesley 2779

Topalov, Veselin 2816

½-½

Giri, Anish 2793

Caruana, Fabiano 2808

0-1

Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731

Round Eight

Name

Rtg

Res.

Name

Rtg

Grischuk, Alexander 2771

½-½

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 Grischuk, Alexander 2771

Anand, Viswanathan 2816 Carlsen, Magnus 2853

Topalov, Veselin 2816 Aronian, Levon 2765

Caruana, Fabiano 2808 So, Wesley 2779

Vachier-Lagr, Maxime 2731 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

Sunday Aug. 23 1 PM Round 1 Thomas Luther

Mihail Marin

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

Thursday Aug. 27 1 PM Round 5 S. Siebrecht

Simon Williams

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

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

Links

Official tournament site

Download all games on PGN

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Alejandro Ramirez

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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