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The Sinquefield Cup is taking place from September 9th to September 15th at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The tournament brings together the top two players in the world as well as the top two Americans in a double round robin. The time control is the standard FIDE 90 minutes for 40 moves plus thirty minutes at move 40 with 30 second increment throughout. Sofia rules apply, which means none of the games can be drawn before move 30 - with certain exceptions.
Nakamura's sunglasses made at least one more appearance in this tournament
An unfazed Carlsen was able to neutralize Nakamura without too many issues
Carlsen used the Spanish for the second time in a row, but this time he preferred the Berlin set-up to the more traditional 3... a6
[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2013.09.14"] [Round "5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2862"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 {Nakamura uses a line that has given Carlsen some problems in the past, both sides seemed to have been very well prepared.} O-O 9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re1 c6 12. Ne3 Bc7 13. Nf5 d5 14. Ne7+ Kh8 15. Nxc8 Rxc8 16. g3 {only this move is actually new. Moving the bishop to the h3-f5 diagonal can cause Black some problems, or at least that was the American's original plan. Carlsen ignores this and obtains an acceptable position.} Nd6 (16... Qd7 17. d3 Nf6 18. Qf3 {is slightly more pleasant for White due to the pair of bishops, without it being anything special.}) 17. Bh3 f5 18. d3 (18. d4 $6 {takes control of e5, but is not as important as the fact that it loses control of e4.}) 18... Qf6 19. c3 (19. Bf4 Qxb2 20. Be5 Qa3 21. Qh5 Kg8 22. Qg5 {gives White some compensation, but of course Black doesn't have to take on b2.}) 19... Rce8 20. Bd2 Nf7 21. Rxe8 Rxe8 22. Qf1 f4 23. Re1 Rf8 24. Qe2 h6 25. Kh1 Ng5 26. Bg4 Bd6 {Black has solved most of his problems because White has to consistently pay attention to his kingside. The only way of kicking the knight out of g5 is with h4, which will weaken g3 and increase the power of the d6 bishop.} 27. h4 Nh7 28. Kg2 Qg6 29. Bh5 Qf5 30. Bg4 Qg6 31. Bh5 Qf5 32. Bg4 Qg6 {neither side is really playing for anything, and with White's kingside weaknesses it's fully understandable that he immediately agreed to a draw. With this important results Carlsen goes into the last round with an extra half a point.} 1/2-1/2
Aronian was better prepared against the Dutch this time around
Kamsky was somewhat taken aback by the fact that Aronian repeated the same line that he played against Carlsen, however the Armenian had an interesting new idea
Andrew Martin again brings excellent commentary of this game:
[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2013.09.14"] [Round "5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A85"] [WhiteElo "2813"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 f5 {Kamsky has used the Dutch many times before, and Levon has a bad score against it and lost to Carlsen, so this comes as no surprise.} 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bf4 $5 {Aronian repeats the line that fared so poorly against Carlsen.} Bg7 6. e3 O-O 7. Be2 Nc6 8. Bg3 {This is the point. White is preparing d5, and Black doesn't have time to play e5 just yet.} h6 9. O-O Nh5 10. d5 (10. Bh4 $1 g5 11. d5 $1 {Seemed better, forcing some weakenings on the kingside and opening the d4 square for the knight, so for example after} Na5 12. Nd4 $14) 10... Nxg3 11. hxg3 Ne5 {Now the game is approximately balanced.} 12. Rc1 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 e5 14. dxe6 c6 15. b4 (15. Bd5 {is not a completely ridiculous move, but that doesn't mean it's a good one.}) 15... g5 {aggressive! } 16. b5 (16. Qd3 {with more patience, was better} g4 17. Bd1 $1 {and now the bishop quickly repositions to b3 while e2 is still avialable for the white knight.}) 16... g4 17. Be2 Bxe6 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Qa4 c5 20. Bd3 Be5 {White's structural advantage is significant, but Black has a strong bishop on e5 and he is about to push h5 followed by h4.} 21. Ne2 Bd7 22. Qd1 h5 23. Bc2 Qe8 24. Nf4 Bc6 25. Re1 Rd8 26. Rb1 Qf7 27. Qd2 Qf6 28. Nxh5 $6 {Very optimistic. The opening of the h-file is very strong for Black.} (28. Rb3 {keeping the status quo was preferable.}) 28... Qh6 29. Nf4 Rd7 30. Nd5 Rh7 {Aronian must have underestimated how quickly this rook swung to the h-file.} 31. Kf1 Qh1+ 32. Ke2 Qxg2 33. Rg1 Qf3+ 34. Kf1 Kg7 (34... Rh2 {immediately put more pressure on White.} 35. Ne7+ Kg7 36. Nxc6 Qxc6 {the opposite colored bishops should favor Black in this position.}) 35. Qd1 {The trade of queens simplifies White's task but Black must still have an edge.} Bxd5 36. Qxd5 Qxd5 37. cxd5 {The passed pawn is all that Black really has going for him, as the g1 rook won't be locked up forever.} Kf6 38. Kg2 Rfh8 (38... c4 39. Rh1 Rxh1 40. Rxh1 {is an endgame in which only Black can be better, but it will surely be a draw nonetheless.}) 39. Rh1 Rxh1 40. Rxh1 Rxh1 41. Kxh1 {without rooks there is no chance at all to win this.} c4 42. Kg2 Bb2 43. Kf1 Ke5 44. Ke2 Kxd5 1/2-1/2
The Sinquefield Cup has an enormous amount of resources dedicated to local spectators. Besides the playing hall and the live commentary that is being broadcasted from the chess club's basement, there is also live commentary in the bar next to the club, Lester's, as well as accross the street in the Chess World Hall of Fame. Here are some of the impressions of how the spectators are able to enjoy the tournament:
The main playing hall is sectioned off, and it is almost impossible to get a good view of the players as there are dozens of spectators trying to get to the front row. Flash photography is allowed for the media on the first few minutes of the game, but afterwards the only way to take a picture is from behind the roped-off area.
The bar next to the Club, Lester's, has provided catering service throughout the tournament. Here the spectators can come, play some chess, enjoy the live commentary on the TVs and eat as much food as they can handle.
Also at Lester's the team of Ben Finegold and Ronen Har-Zvi provides live commentary
Some spectators came from quite far: Daniela de la Parra from Mexico and Katerina Nemcova from Czech Republic, both students at the University of Texas at Brownsville
With the perfect weather the tournament has been having, many people decide to play a few blitz games outside the club while the players duke it out upstairs
Jeanne Sinquefield, without her support and Rex's none of this would be possible
Outside the World Chess Hall of Fame there is a giant chess board
With an even more giant chess king: the tallest chess piece in the world at around fifteen feet of height
Inside, more spectators...
...with live commentary by Varuzhan Akobian and Ian Rogers
After the games the players sometimes gracefully give autographs. Sometimes they are just forced to give them by the marauding crowd.
Photos by Alejandro Ramirez
| Round 01 – September 09 2013, 13:00h | ||||
| Carlsen, Magnus | 2862 |
1-0
|
Kamsky, Gata | 2741 |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | 2772 |
1-0
|
Aronian, Levon | 2813 |
| Round 02 – September 10 2013, 13:00h | ||||
| Aronian, Levon | 2813 |
½-½
|
Carlsen, Magnus | 2862 |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | 2772 |
1-0
|
Kamsky, Gata | 2741 |
| Round 03 – September 11 2013, 13:00h | ||||
| Carlsen, Magnus | 2862 |
½-½
|
Nakamura, Hikaru | 2772 |
| Kamsky, Gata | 2741 |
½-½
|
Aronian, Levon | 2813 |
| Round 04 – September 13 2013, 13:00h | ||||
| Kamsky, Gata | 2741 |
0-1
|
Carlsen, Magnus | 2862 |
| Aronian, Levon | 2813 |
1-0
|
Nakamura, Hikaru | 2772 |
| Round 05 – September 14 2013, 13:00h | ||||
| Nakamura, Hikaru | 2772 |
½-½
|
Magnus, Carlsen | 2862 |
| Aronian, Levon | 2813 |
½-½
|
Kamsky, Gata | 2741 |
| Round 06 – September 15 2013, 11:00h | ||||
| Carlsen, Magnus | 2862 |
-
|
Aronian, Levon | 2813 |
| Kamsky, Gata | 2741 |
-
|
Nakamura, Hikaru | 2780 |
The games start at 20:00h European time, 22:00h Moscow, 2 p.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here. The commentary on Playchess begins one hour after the start of the games and is free for premium members.
LinksThe games will be 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. |
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