Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja, Vachier-Lagrave Lead Ahead Of Blitz, Nakamura Inches Closer

The three leaders from the day before remained in the same position after the final day of rapid chess in the 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the last round to re-join the lead, while GM Alireza Firouzja drew and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi lost, leaving all three players right back where they started.

After finishing the day previous day with a loss and two points above last place, GM Hikaru Nakamura has jumped into the chasing pack of players two points behind the leaders, still in contention to win it in the blitz portion.

Two days of blitz begin on August 15, at 2 p.m. ET / 20:00 CEST / 11:30 p.m. IST.

Standings After Day 3

After nine rounds of rapid chess, we will see a double round-robin of blitz on Thursday and Friday. The blitz is part of the same tournament; while a win in rapid chess counts for two points, a victory in blitz earns one point. The time control on Thursday will be five minutes plus a two-second increment per move.

Leading the tournament after rapid is only a minimal advantage, according to GM Levon Aronian, who said in an interview, "I think the rapid part doesn't really matter so much. I mean, you can do like better than average, like 50 percent is a good score, and everything is normally decided in the blitz."

Nakamura, who finds himself two points below the leaders, said, "There are probably three people who are going to win if they play up to form, so I think I'd put [my chances] at 30, 35 percent." It's still an open race. 

Nepomniachtchi was close to finishing the day in the sole lead, though shared first is still a decent spot to land. He was stopped in the last round by GM Fabiano Caruana.

But let's start from the beginning. The first round of the day featured the clash of co-leaders Nepomniachtchi and Vachier-Lagrave. The French grandmaster avoided the Sicilian Najdorf, playing the slower moves 4.h3 and 5.a4 instead of the pawn break d4, but got absolutely nothing out of the opening. Nepomniachtchi later sacrificed the exchange and nicely converted three extra pawns in the endgame, as GM Rafael Leitao explains in our Game of the Day analysis below.

Nepomniachtchi wasn't too excited about the win, as usual, and called it "better than nothing," acknowledging there are still two days of blitz to go.

The two-time Candidates winner was in huge trouble against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round eight but managed to hold a pawn-down rook endgame, and he had a legitimate chance to save the game against Caruana too. "Fabi had to win this game twice," concluded IM Nazi Paikidze about the last game, which Caruana ultimately won with a passed a-pawn.

Vachier-Lagrave lost that first game against Nepomniachtchi in round seven, but after making a draw against GM Wesley So, he won in the last round against GM Leinier Dominguez. Known to be the world's leading expert in the Berlin endgame, Vachier-Lagrave outplayed the Cuban-American GM and the notes below reflect the lines he showed after the game.

Firouzja, meanwhile, made three draws to stay in the three-way tie. His last round against Aronian was a miraculous save. After a wild opening and middlegame, typical for the French GM's games, he saved a dead-lost position—at least if looking at the engine evaluation. In practice, it turned out to be much harder, and 30.Bc6? jettisoned the last chance to win the game, allowing it to eventually end in perpetual check.

Meanwhile, Aronian has floated a point behind the leaders on all three days so far. He started the day with a loss against Abdusattorov, who achieved a significant advantage in the London System and one that lasted all the way to the opposite-color bishop endgame. 

But Aronian then scored against the potentially resurgent Caruana in round eight, saying, "I could see that Fabiano, he's not playing for simplifications, so he wanted to fight, and of course it made me happy because, you know, I wanted to stay solid, but at the same time I welcomed the storm."

 I wanted to stay solid, but at the same time I welcomed the storm.

—Levon Aronian

Aronian achieved an opening advantage that he pressed for a long time, but he underestimated the move 29...Ra4, saying, "I thought that I will have a good move, but I didn't find it." In the end, Aronian still asked a few tactical questions, and Caruana failed to properly answer the last one on move 40.

Abdusattorov, on the other hand, drew Nepomniachtchi in round eight and lost to So in round nine. With his first win in the tournament, So reached a 50 percent score and reflected, "It's better late than never. To win with the black pieces is very good... I was hoping for more than 50 percent, but that's how it goes sometimes."

I was hoping for more than 50 percent, but that's how it goes sometimes.

—Wesley So

Nakamura drew So and Dominguez in rounds seven and eight before finally winning against GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in the last round. It was a long, maneuvering game that ended with a deflating one-move blunder by the Indian GM, allowing a fork.

An awful end to the rapid portion for Praggnanandhaa, who blunders an exchange in one move.https://t.co/c5Pzmgv3OD#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/DV3lJgdD5e

— chess24 (@chess24com) August 14, 2024

It's good fortune for Nakamura, but he clarified, "You can say it's a little bit of luck, but I think I kind of created my chance by keeping the game going." The American number-one believes he has a one-third chance of winning the tournament, especially because the leaderboard is still so close: "I'm only two points back, which is kind of a small miracle because usually in these Grand Chess Tour events somebody gets red-hot in the rapid and has some insane result."

You can listen to Nakamura's thoughts about the day in his recap video below.

It's nothing short of a nightmare for Praggnanandhaa, who's in last place after achieving winning positions in all three of his games on day one. He hasn't won a game and has lost five, even though he's had chances.

Dominguez landed his own blow against Praggnanandhaa in round seven, though it was a hand-wringing experience for spectators as both players reached one second on the clock before making their moves.

A fourth loss for Praggnanandhaa, who collapsed with one second on the clock!https://t.co/KFg5iYK93h#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/VuKLCu9Ckh

— chess24 (@chess24com) August 14, 2024

It's far from clear who will win the tournament at this point. Thursday will feature nine rounds of blitz and you can see the round-one pairings in the screenshot below.

The 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is the fourth leg and final rapid and blitz event of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour. Ten players compete in a rapid (25+10) single round-robin followed by a blitz (5+2) double round-robin for their share of a $175,000 prize fund. 

Previous Coverage

• Day 2: Firouzja, Nepomniachtchi Jump Into 3-Way Lead With Vachier-Lagrave
• Day 1: Fueled by Escapes, Vachier-Lagrave Leads Rapid After Day 1
• Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov Join 2024 Grand Chess Tour