Tag: SinquefieldCup2015

Just requiring a draw to clinch the title, World No. 11 Levon Aronian effortlessly held Veselin Topalov with the black pieces to register a convincing victory in the 3rd edition of the Sinquefield Cup. Not only did the Armenian Grandmaster win with a full-point margin, but he also remained undefeated in this 9-round Super-GM event.

Aronian was followed by as many as 4 players – Giri, Carlsen, Nakamura & Vachier-Lagrave – on the 2nd spot. However, Carlsen and Nakamura were adjudged 2nd and 3rd respectively, thanks to their superior tie-breaks.

Meanwhile, Viswanathan Anand finished joint 8th along with Fabiano Caruana. The Indian Grandmaster failed to score even a single victory in the second leg of the ‘Grand Chess Tour’ after having secured the runners-up spot at Norway earlier this year.

Round 9 Results:

White	Result	Black
Nakamura	1-0	Grischuk
Anand	½-½	Carlsen
Topalov	½-½	Aronian
Caruana	½-½	Wesley So
Vachier-Lagrave	½-½	Giri

Final Standings:

Rank	Players	Score
1	Levon Aronian	6
2	Magnus Carlsen	5
3	Hikaru Nakamura	5
4	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	5
5	Anish Giri	5
6	Alexander Grischuk	4½
7	Veselin Topalov	4½
8	Fabiano Caruana	3½
9	Viswanathan Anand	3½
10	Wesley So	3

Grand Chess Tour Standings : Here

The 7th round of the Sinquefield Cup 2015 turned out to be an eventful one with the two leaders – Carlsen and Aronian – encountering completely different fates in their respective games. World Champion Magnus Carlsen was outplayed by Alexander Grischuk in a Sicilian Najdorf while Levon Aronian scored a crucial victory over the hero of Round 6 – Hikaru Nakamura.

After 7 Rounds, Aronian is leading the pack with a tally of 5 points, one full point clear of Carlsen, Giri, Grischuk and Vachier-Lagrave.

Round 7 Results:

White	Result	Black
Carlsen	0-1	Grischuk
Nakamura	0-1	Aronian
Anand	½-½	So Wesley
Topalov	½-½	Giri
Caruana	½-½	Vachier-Lagrave

The Sixth Round of the Sinquefield Cup 2015 turned out to be an exciting one with 3 games finishing decisively, one of which was a spectacular victory by Nakamura over compatriot Wesley So. In the So-Nakamura encounter, Nakamura wheeled out his favourite King’s Indian Defence in reply to So’s 1.d4. After both sides having blitzed around 20 moves of preparation, So started going astray with a series of inaccuracies. Nakamura sensed his chance and took perfect advantage of these errors by launching a fearsome attack on So’s King. Soon, So found his King out in the open and Nakamura delivered the mating blow on move 39.

In the other decisive games, Vachier-Lagrave scored a clean victory over Topalov while Grischuk overcame Caruana, who lost on time albeit in an already hopeless position.

Meanwhile, Anand is still searching for his first victory in this 9-Round event after having drawn his Round 6 encounter against Giri.

Round 6 Results:

White	Result	Black
Grischuk	1-0	Caruana
Vachier-Lagrave	1-0	Topalov
Giri	½-½	Anand
Wesley So	0-1	Nakamura
Aronian	½-½	Carlsen

With a victory over Wesley So in the 5th Round of the Sinquefield Cup 2015, World Champion Magnus Carlsen joined World No. 11 Levon Aronian at the top of the table. The latter, on the other hand, was held to a draw by Alexander Grischuk.

Meanwhile, Veselin Topalov, the joint-leader after Round 4, suffered his first loss of the tournament as Fabiano Caruana overcame him with utmost precision in a game that lasted 53 moves. Coincidentally, it also turned out to be Caruana’s first victory in this 9-round event.

However, India’s sole hope Viswanathan Anand was once again unsuccessful in bringing home the full point as Frenchman Vachier-Lagrave held the ‘Madras Tiger’ to a draw.

Round 5 Results:

White	Res.	Black
Aronian	½-½	Grischuk
Carlsen	1-0	So
Nakamura	½-½	Giri
Anand	½-½	Vachier-Lagrave
Topalov	0-1	Caruana

A convincing victory over Hikaru Nakamura in the 2nd round of the Sinquefield Cup 2015 helped Veselin Topalov take an early lead in this 9-round Super Tournament.

The Topalov-Nakamura encounter commenced with a popular variation in the Ruy Lopez. Soon, a complicated position was reached thanks to Topalov’s interesting pawn sacrifice on move 16. Topalov followed up this sacrifice excellently – winning the pawn back after a few moves and keeping the pressure on Nakamura. The latter finally crumbled under pressure and Topalov rounded off the game on move 73.

Meanwhile, defending champion Fabiano Caruana and World No. 2 Viswanathan Anand lost their second consecutive game on the trot as they went down to Magnus Carlsen and Alexander Grischuk respectively.

Round 2 Results:

White	Result	Black
Grischuk	1-0	Anand
Topalov	1-0	Nakamura
Vachier-Lagrave	½-½	Aronian
Giri	½-½	So
Caruana	0-1	Carlsen

The 3rd edition of the Sinquefield Cup took off in a breathtaking fashion with all the 5 games in Round 1 finishing decisively.

The biggest result of the day was World Champion Magnus Carlsen’s defeat against World No. 3 Veselin Topalov. The Carlsen-Topalov game, which took off with the Moscow Variation in the Sicilian Defence, turned murky right in the opening. Although both sides made inaccuracies, it was Topalov who emerged as the beneficiary of the complicated opening battle. After a few precise moves, Topalov took total control over the matters and duly converted his advantage into a full-point.

Meanwhile, World No. 2 Viswananthan Anand went down with the black pieces against his arch-rival Hikaru Nakamura. Although the Nakamura-Anand encounter turned out to be a tougher fight than the rest of the games, the ‘Madras Tiger’ was unable to hold his position for too long and soon lost an important pawn on move 42. Anand promptly resigned on move 43, albeit a bit prematurely.

The rest of the games, pretty much like Carlsen-Topalov, turned out to be one-sided affairs with the winners dominating their opponents for the major part of their respective games.

Round 1 Results:

White	Result	Black
Giri, Anish	1-0	Grischuk, Alexander
So, Wesley	0-1	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Aronian, Levon	1-0	Caruana, Fabiano
Carlsen, Magnus	0-1	Topalov, Veselin
Nakamura, Hikaru	1-0	Anand, Viswanathan