Caruana, So draw

No. 1 seed Fabiano Caruana drew with Wesley So and wound up tied for the lead, along with Leinier Dominguez Perez, after four rounds of the $325,000 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Missouri.

Caruana and So halved the point in 53 moves of an English Opening, while Dominguez Perez trounced Frenchman Maxime Vacher-Lagrave in 33 moves of a Sicilan Defense.

The American triumvirate had three points entering the fifth round of the all-play-all 10-player Category 20 classical event, the final leg of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour.

Other scores in the table read MVL 2.5, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE), 2.0, Richard Rapport (HUN), 2.0, Jeffery Xiong (USA), 1.5, Sam Shankland (USA), 1.5, Dariusz Swiercz (USA), 1.0 and Peter Svidler (RUS), 0.5.

Games can be followed live at various websites starting at 4 p.m. EST.

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Meanwhile, the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz (Grand Chess Tour), which was the strongest in recent years, lived up to expectation if only for the fighting spirit and doggedness of the participants.

Five-time US champion Hikaru Nakamura dominated the competition, leaving behind the elite field by three points, and clinching the title with still three rounds remaining. He went undefeated in 27 games, scoring a very impressive 24 points record.

Nakamura, 33, winner of the 2018 edition, pocketed the $37,500 top prize.

Biting the dust in second place at 21 points was Caruana while Hungarian top gun Richard Rapport came in third with 19.5.

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The following game is both interesting and instructive. The focal point of the game, however, is white’s mastery of the eighth rank. A fine performance by the French GM.

Grand Chess Tour

Sinquefield Cup 2021 Rd. 01

W) M. Vachier-Lagrave (France)

B)  P. Svidler (Russia) King’s Indian Defense

1. d4          Nf6; 2. c4          g6; 3. h4!?        ....

This is one of those flexible openings, which sails under the Anti Grunfeld flag.

3....            Bg7; 4. Nc3        O-O

In the game Shankland vs Svidler, 2021 FIDE World Cup, play went 4....d6 5. e4 Nc6 6. Nge2 (5. d5 Ne5 6. Be2 h5 leads to equality. Fedoseev vs Carlsen, 2021 FIDE World Cup) 0-0 7. f3 e5 8. d5 Nd4 9. Be3 c5 10. dxc6 bxc6 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Bxd4 Rb8 13. Qc2 c5 14. Bf2 Be6 15. 0-0-0 and white obtains a good game (1-0=30).

5. e4            d6; 6. Be2          c5; 7. d5            b5

Black’s last transposes into a Benko Gambit delayed formation with an improved version for white.

8. cxb5        a6; 9. a4            axb5; 10. Bxb5      Ba6; 11. Bd2        Bxb5; 12. axb5        Nbd7; 13. Nf3          Rxa1; 14. Qxa1      Qb6; 15. O-O        Rb8; 16. Qa6        Ne8

After the preliminaries, white has a slight edge in space and mobility.

17. Ra1          Kf8; 18. h5            Nc7; 19. Qa4        Ra8; 20. Qd1        Rxa1; 21. Qxa1      Ne5; 22. h6          Nxf3ch; 23. gxf3        Bxc3

Seems a premature trade, as it leaves black with a passive knight against white’s active bishop. 23....Be5, instead, is probably a better alternative.

24. Bxc3      Qxb5; 25. b4!          ....

This sharp pawn stab opens up the long diagonal a1-h8 to white’s advantage.

25....            Ne8??

The decisive mistake. Correct is 25....Ke8, e.g., 26. bxc5 Qxc5 27. Bd2 f6 28.. Be3 Qc4, and though black’s game is unappetizing, play continues.

26. bxc5        dxc5; 27. Bg7ch!      ....

And here’s the clincher, which leads to a quick black collapse.

27....            Kg8; 28. Qa8!        ....

This painful invasion puts black in zugzwang. Resignation is honorable at this point.

28....            c4; 29. Qd8        Qa4; 30. Kg2        Qb5; 31. Bb2!        1-0

After 31....Kf8 32. Ba3 Qb7 33. d6 exd6 34. Bxd6ch, mate is unavoidable.

Solution to last week’s puzzle:

White to play and win.

White=Kb1, Qe2, Rg3, Rh1, Ne4, Pa3, Pb2, Pc2, Pe5, Pf4, Pg2, Ph2

Black=Kg8, Qc7, Rd4, Rf8, Bb6, Pa6, Pb5, Pe6, Pf7, Pg7, Ph6

1. Nf6ch          Kh8; 2. Qg4            g6; 3. Qh4            Kg7; 4. Qxh6ch!!    Kxh6; 5. Rh3ch        Kg7; 6. Rh7 mate.

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