Vachier-Lagrave's 2971 Rating Performance Sends Him To The Top

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave rose to the top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz after scoring 7/9 on the first day of blitz chess, with a 2971 rating performance. A loss against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi was the only blight on his scorecard and the result left him on 17/27, two points ahead of GM Fabiano Caruana and Nepomniachtchi.

Following a lackluster performance in the rapid segment, GM Wesley So recovered well on day four and scored 6/9, moving him into 7th place.

The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz will continue with rounds 10 to 18 of the blitz segment on Saturday, November 18, at 2:15 p.m. ET/20:15 CET/0:45 a.m. IST.

Standings After Blitz Day 1 

One of the unique aspects of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is that the time control changes mid-tournament, which can have huge ramifications on each participant based on their skill set. For Vachier-Lagrave, the swap to blitz chess was a positive one and, besides a loss to Nepomniachtchi in the second round, the Frenchman was unbeatable.

The reason for many of Vachier-Lagrave's early wins came down to his ability to outplay his opponents from equal endgame positions. After GMs Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, and Ray Robson all fell in this fashion, it became clear that the 2021 world blitz chess champion was going to be tough to defeat.

A draw in round six with GM Jeffery Xiong slowed Vachier-Lagrave slightly and even in this game, on the black side of the Grunfeld Defense, a middlegame queen sacrifice would have landed him in a winning position.

Vachier-Lagrave's most spectacular chess was played during his round-seven matchup with So. Entering the late middlegame with a worse position, Vachier-Lagrave decided to counterattack rather than grovel and used his knight pair to shred So's kingside.

Our Game of the Day has been annotated by GM Rafael Leitao.

Nepomniachtchi joined Vachier-Lagrave as one of the players to benefit from playing fighting chess on Friday and all nine of his games were decisive.

Starting with 6/7, the two-time world championship challenger looked as though he would amass the highest score on day two, but consecutive losses to Firouzja and Giri in rounds eight and nine forced him to settle for =2nd on both the day and overall tournament standings.

So didn't let his disappointing 3.5/9 in the rapid segment hold him back in the blitz and the American's 6/9 score has seen him climb to seventh place, just four points off the lead. Should his form tick over to Saturday, So may be able to make a play for the podium.

So's games were perhaps not as clean as he generally prefers, but the determination to climb the leaderboard seemed to trump his need to stay true to his usually-solid style.

GM Fabiano Caruana, who finished day three in =2nd, was visibly disappointed by his 5/9 score on Friday, stating, "I did some very silly things," and also noting that Vachier-Lagrave's two-point lead gives him excellent chances of winning the tournament.

With nine rounds remaining in the tournament, it appears to be a three-horse race for the title between Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana, and Nepomniachtchi, with a fourth player in Firouzja possessing an outside chance of a comeback. If Vachier-Lagrave is able to keep the momentum rolling, he will surely take the title... though anything can happen in blitz!

All Games Day 4

The 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is the fourth leg of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour and the last of its speed chess events. Players compete in a 10-player rapid (25+10) round-robin and a 10-player blitz (5+2) double round-robin for their share of a $175,000 prize fund. 

Previous Coverage

• Caruana Comeback As Robson Wins Rapid
• Flagging, Incorrect Draw Claim, And Missed Chances As Robson Hits The Front
• Le Takes Lead As Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Begins With A Bang
• 2023 Grand Chess Tour: St. Louis Events Moved To November-December