Saint Louis Rapid 2024 R1-3: A tough start for Praggnanandhaa
R Praggnanandhaa had a rough start at Grand Chess Tour Saint Louis Rapid 2024. He drew against Levon Aronian (USA) then lost his next two games against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Ian Nepomniachtchi. In the first two games, he got himself a better position. Yet he was unable to capitalize on his chances. His tough form continues from Biel GMT. MVL has gained an early sole lead scoring 5/6. He is closely followed by Nepomniachtchi, Aronian and Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA) at 4/6 each. The defending champion, Fabiano Caruana (USA) also had a forgettable start. He could only muster 1/6. Round 5 starts today from 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Crystal Fuller/Grand Chess Tour
MVL takes an early sole lead
Praggnanandhaa's form went down after 12th Norway Chess 2024. Sure he finished third at 57th Biel GMT and won medals at World Rapid and Blitz Team 2024 but he is not playing at his level which is quite high. Fabiano Caruana equally had a tough day. Both of them have plenty of rounds to recover as it is quite a long event - six rounds of rapid and 18 rounds of Blitz games are left to recover.
Round 1: Aronian - Praggnanandhaa: 1-1
It has been nearly 1.5 years since Levon Aronian (USA, 2754) and R Praggnanandhaa (2688) faced each other. Praggnanandhaa had a few good chances to score his first win in a rated game, over the only two-time World Cup winner in history.
Keeping the queens on the board would have given Black more practical chances 33...Rc4 34.Qd6 a4 is a better choice than what was played in the game 33...Qc5 34.Qxc5 Rxc5. Although Black stilll got a couple of more chances. A few imprecise moves shut the window of opportunity quickly and the game ended in a draw.
Round 2: Praggnanandhaa - Vachier-Lagrave: 0-2
The first and only time Praggnanandhaa defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2747) in a rated game was last year at Tata Steel India Blitz 2023.
30.c4 right now is suggested by the computer. Black obviously cannot take as Rc3 drops the knight due to the absolute pin. 30.Rb6+ Kc7 now White can no longer play c4 directly as the tactical support is gone. 31.b3 Ne4 32.Re6 Nxc3+ 33.Kf1 Nd5 the position became balanced and eventually White blundered and lost the game.
Nakamura - Caruana, Round 3
The battle between the World no.2, Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2747) and World no.3, Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2777) was an exciting one. They followed a game played between Anand - Mamedyarov and Cheparinov - Shevchenko, last year for a few moves before deviating. Caruana needed to play 14...Ne3! to turn things in his favor. 14...Nf4 15.Qg4+ put White in control Kd6 16.Bxf4 Bxf4 17.Qxg7 and White went on to win the game.
Draw of Lots
Video Gallery
Replay live stream
Replay Round 1-3 games
Round 3 results
Standings after Round 3
Round 4 pairings
| Table | White | Score | Fed. | Rating | Black | Score | Fed. | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 0.5 | IND | 2688 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 1.5 | UZB | 2732 | |
| 2 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 0.5 | USA | 2777 | GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2.5 | FRA | 2747 | |
| 3 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 1.5 | FRA | 2731 | GM Nakamura, Hikaru | 1.5 | USA | 2746 | |
| 4 | GM Aronian, Levon | 2.0 | USA | 2754 | GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 2.0 | USA | 2693 | |
| 5 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2.0 | FID | 2753 | GM So, Wesley | 1.0 | USA | 2735 |
Schedule and Format
Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz will have three rounds per day in the Rapid portion from 12th to 14th August. The Blitz event will take place on 15th and 16th August. It will be a double round-robin event for the Blitz which means nine rounds will be played on each day. Round 1 starts at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control for Rapid will be 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment. For Blitz, it will be 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment.
Prize
The total prize fund for each of the Rapid and Blitz event is US$ 175000.
Links
Related News
Phenomenal Firouzja is the Sinquefield Cup champion for the second time in his career
Sinquefield Cup R8: Alireza Firouzja wins Grand Chess Tour 2024 with a round to spare
Sinquefield Cup R7: Caruana misses against Gukesh
Sinquefield Cup R6: Gukesh keeps playing exciting chess
Sinquefield Cup R5: Praggnanandhaa squanders a win against So
Sinquefield Cup R4: Gukesh draws a thriller against Firouzja
Sinquefield Cup R3: Gukesh makes a narrow escape against Praggnanandhaa
Sinquefield Cup R2: Ding Liren forces a draw again
Sinquefield Cup R1: Ding Liren forces a draw against Gukesh
Gukesh will face Ding Liren in the first round of Sinquefield Cup 2024
Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja and MVL top Saint Louis Rapid 2024
Saint Louis Rapid 2024 R4-6: Abdusattorov and Caruana play a Queen endgame for the ages
Praggnanandhaa set to battle World's best at Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2024
Fabulous Fabiano Caruana dominates SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz 2024
SuperUnited Blitz 2024: Fabiano Caruana increases his sole lead by a staggering 4.5 points
Fabiano Caruana tops SuperUnited Rapid 2024, extends his sole lead by three points
SuperUnited Rapid 2024 R4-6: Gukesh bounces back strong by winning against MVL and Nepomniachtchi
SuperUnited Rapid 2024 R1-3: MVL is walking tall
Gukesh and Vidit set to face World's best at SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz 2024
Fabiano Caruana wins Superbet Classic for the second year in-a-row after a hat-trick in Playoffs
Will Fabiano Caruana win Superbet Classic for the second consecutive year?
Superbet Classic 2024 R7: Gritty Gukesh survives against Caruana
Superbet Classic 2024 R6: Firouzja outplays So, catches up with Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh
Superbet Classic 2024 R5: Praggnanandhaa misses against So
Superbet Classic 2024 R4: Praggnanandhaa scores his first Classical win over Giri
Superbet Classic 2024 R3: Praggnanandhaa misses a win against Gukesh
Superbet Classic 2024 R2: Firouzja bounces back, Gukesh shows his grit against Nepomniachtchi
Superbet Classic 2024 R1: D Gukesh defeats Bogdan-Daniel Deac
Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa set to square off World's best at Superbet Chess Classic 2024
Maximus Magnus Carlsen wins ten in-a-row to become a clear champion at Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2024
Superbet Blitz 2024 R1-9: Praggnanandhaa outplays Carlsen as the latter struggles to catch Wei Yi
Superbet Rapid 2024 R7-9: Praggnanandhaa draws with Carlsen, halts Wei Yi's winning streak
Superbet Rapid 2024 R4-6: Gukesh escapes against Magnus Carlsen
Superbet Rapid 2024 R1-3: Arjun Erigaisi defies Magnus Carlsen
Gukesh, Arjun and Praggnanandhaa set to face Magnus Carlsen and co. at Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2024
Grand Chess Tour 2024: Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi named among 13 Wildcards
Grand Chess Tour 2024: Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh named full tour participants