Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja and MVL top Saint Louis Rapid 2024
Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja (FRA) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) top the Rapid portion of Grand Chess Tour Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2024. They are at 11/18 each. Levon Aronian (USA) is following them at sole fourth place 10/18. Wesley So (USA) and Hikaru Nakamura (USA) are at 9/18 each. Fabiano Caruana (USA) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) are having 8/18 each. Praggnanandhaa continues to struggle at the bottom of the points table 4/18. Apart from Praggnanandhaa the difference of score between the leaders and eighth place is only of three points. With 18 rounds of Blitz games left to be played, anything can happen. Nine rounds of Blitz will be played today starting from 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Closely contested Rapid
This has to be one of the toughest Grand Chess Tour events. Players are evenly matched. Thus, there was no clear sole leader at the end of the Rapid event. Not only that, the difference between the leaders and almost at the end of the points table is very less. Besides, when was the last time, Fabiano Caruana (USA) has remained at the bottom half of the points table? It is difficult to recall, especially considering he has been in a fantastic form for over a year.
Round 7: Abdusattorov - Aronian: 2-0
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2732) won a double rook and opposite color bishop endgame against Levon Aronian (USA, 2754).
The above position looks quite complex. White has a space advantage and slightly better control of the center. 31.Bb4 d4 32.exd4 Be4+ 33.Ka1 Bd5 34.a3 White is ready to sacrifice the pawn as Bxb3 allows d5. Soon one pair of rooks got exchanged and White showcased fine technique to win the game.
Aronian - Caruana, Round 8
Where should black move the knight - b6 or f6? Only one of them is correct. The other one is losing. 40...Nb6?? was played which ended up in a losing cause for Black 41.d6 Rd4 42.Rc6 and White went on to win the game.
Abdusattorov - So, Round 9
21.fxe5?? turned out to be a big mistake. White never got the attack he desired for the sacrificed knight fxe4 22.Bc4 Nf5 23.Qb3 Qb6+ 24.Kh1 0-0-0 25.Be6+ Kb7 26.Bxf5 gxf5 27.Qf7+ Qc7 28.Qxf5 e3 29.Rac1 Rd2 30.Qf6 Bxg2+ 31.Kg1 Bc5 32.Rfe1 Bd5 33.Kf1 Qd7 and it's over as there are too many threats to thwart.
Vachier-Lagrave - Leinier
Despite having an equal number of pawns, Black must play precisely to defend the position. The idea behind 43.Kc4 is simple and obvious. Kb4-a5-Kxa6-Kb7 and then roll the a-pawn down the board. The c5-pawn is a non-factor, as White would like to get the bishop when it is forced to give up to stop the passed pawn at a7. So what should Black do here? 43...Ke7 44.Bd4 Be1 or 44.Kb4 Kd7 45.Ka5 Kc8 46.Kxa6 Bxc5 Black does not need to hurry taking the c5-pawn. The game continued 43...Be3 44.Kb4+- Bf2 45.Ka5 Bxc5 46.Kxa6 Be3 47.a5 and White won the game.
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Replay Round 7-9 games
Round 9 results
Standings after Round 9
Blitz Round 1 pairings
| Table | White | Score | Fed. | Rating | Black | Score | Fed. | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Nakamura, Hikaru | 0.0 | USA | 2874 | GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 0.0 | FRA | 2795 | |
| 2 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 0.0 | UZB | 2669 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 0.0 | IND | 2693 | |
| 3 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 0.0 | FID | 2777 | GM So, Wesley | 0.0 | USA | 2782 | |
| 4 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 0.0 | USA | 2795 | GM Aronian, Levon | 0.0 | USA | 2727 | |
| 5 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 0.0 | FRA | 2869 | GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 0.0 | USA | 2651 |
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.
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