Amid all the Sturm und Drang — a world champion losing a game and quitting the tournament after just three rounds; a voluble rising American star now shadowed by accusations of cheating at the highest level; rule changes that strongly implied something fishy was going on; even a social media flame war over weird accents — they did manage to play the 9th Sinquefield Cup and produce an over-the-board winner.
Iranian-born French GM Alireza Firouzja emerged from the chaos with the title at the St. Louis Chess Club, edging Russian star GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in rapid tiebreak after the two finished in a tie for first at 5-3, a half-point ahead of American GMs Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So. The total score added to eight because — as most of the chess world knows by now — Norwegian world champ Magnus Carlsen abruptly pulled out, making some dark insinuations after his Round 3 loss to 19-year-old U.S. GM Hans Moke Niemann, a last-minute entrant when another grandmaster got COVID-19.
Sorting the off-the-board fallout will likely fill several columns to come, but for now we have some games to offer as events unfold.
Firouzja, whom many see as a potential world champion himself, had a roller-coaster tournament, saving some very bad positions and turning a lost position against So into a critical Round 8 victory that put him in the lead for the first time.
Firouzja acknowledged he got lost in some of the move-order subtleties of the suddenly fashionable Giuoco Piano and “completely underestimated” Black’s cunning 14. dxe4 Nh5! 15. Nc4 (grubbing the pawn with 15. Bxc6?! bxc6 16. Nxe5 Qg5 gives Black a big attack) Qf6.
In fact, the engines say White may be close to lost just moves later had So found 17…Rxd8!. The point is that on White’s intended 18. Nd3 (Qc2 Bxh3 19. gxh3 Rxe5! 20. Nxe5 Qxe5, leaves the kingside too empty; e.g., 21. Rad1 Qg3+ 22. Kf1 Qxh3+ 23. Kg1 [Ke2 Nf4 mate] Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Nf4 25. Rd8+ Kh7 26. e5+ g6 27. Qe4 Qg3+ 28. Kh1 Qh4+ 29. Kg1 Qxf2+ 30. Kh1 Qg1 mate) Bxb3! 19. Qxb3 Rxd3 20. Qc4, Black wins with 20…Rxf3! 21. gxf3 (Qxc5 Nf4 22. Qf5 Ne2+ 23. Rxe2 Rxf5) Nf4 22. Qf1 Qh4 23. Kh2 Bxf2.
Having missed the putaway, White allows both his attack and advantage to dissipate, and Firouzja comes off the mat when his opponent lets down his guard: 23. c4 Rab8 24. e5 g6? (see diagram); Black now had to find the saving 24…Rxb3! 25. Bd4 Qxc4 26. Be3 Qxg4+ 27. hxg4 Rxe5 28. gxh5 Rxh5 29. Reb1!, with chances for both sides in a tricky ending.
Instead, it’s over with startling suddenness on 25. Ba3! (forcing the Black queen to the sidelines, and now it’s White with the overwhelming kingside attack) 25…Qb6 26. e6! (lethal — the thrust undermines the pawns around Black’s king and the end comes quickly) c5 (Nf6 27. Qf4 Kg7 28. Bb2 is crushing) 27. exf7+ Kxf7 28. Qd7+ Kf8 29. Qd5! (dominating the board and threatening the brutal 30. Bxc5+) Kg7 (Qxb3 30. Rxe8+ Rxe8 31. Bxc5+ Kg7 32. Qd7 and wins) Kg7 30. Bxc5 Nf6 31. Bxb6 (White has many wins here, but this is the simplest) Nxd5 32. Rxe8, and Black resigns ahead of 32…Rxe8 33. Bxa5 Nf4 (Nb6 34. Rd1) 34. Bxc7 Nxh3+ 35. Kg2 Ng5 36. a5 and the pawns decide.
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A controversy magnet away from the board, Niemann did more than respectably when he sat down to play in his first classical tournament with the big guns. Aside from the shock win over Carlsen, he had Firouzja on the ropes in their game, saved a tough position against Nepomniachtchi, and scored a respectable 4½-4½ despite being the lowest-rated player in the field by some 60 points.
His losses — to fellow Americans So and Caruana — reflected more inexperience than a lack of talent or imagination, and should he learn to tame the maelstrom he seems to create wherever he goes, he could very well be the country’s next great player.
The Caruana loss was instructive, a sharp English in which White spoils a decent position with the impetuous and hastily played 20. bxc5 Qxc5 21. g4?!. At first taken aback by the idea, Caruana responds professionally with 21…Ba5! 22. Qd3?! Qb4!, and suddenly it’s White’s queenside, not Black’s kingside, that is under siege.
Black wins material after 25. Rb1 (it’s tricky to find, but the computer says the bank-shot 25. Ra1! — missed by both players — is the only way to maintain equality: 25…Qxb2 26. Rxa8 Rxa8 27. Qxe4) Nd2 26. Bc3 Nxf1+ 27. Bxf1 Ra2+! 28. Kg1 Qa4 29. Rxb7 Nh4!, and Caruana wins the exchange for a pawn and has some nice threats against the White king.
Even with the simplifying tactic 34. Qd2 Qxd4! 35. Qxd4 Nf3+ 36. Kf2 Nxd4 37. Bxd4 Rc8, Caruana confessed afterward that he thought the game was heading for a draw. But White once again can’t restrain his provocative ways, and moves like 44. Kd4?! (sitting tight with 44. Bd4 forces Black to find a win) and 52. Bd4? (52. Bf3! looks like a dead draw) eventually allow Black to win the f-pawn and — far more important — keep the White king marooned on the queenside.
It’s still a battle until the final mistake: 62. h6 g6 63. Bc7? (e4 appears to just barely hold) Rd5+ 64. Kc3 Rc5+ 65. Kxb3 Rxc7, and finally Black can claim a decisive edge. With his king hors de combat, Niemann finally runs out of defensive resources after 67. h5 gxh5! 68. Bxf5 h4 69. e4 Rc5, and White resigns as losing is the inexorable 70. Bh3 (Kb4 Rxf5! 71. exf5 h3 72. f6 h2; or 70. Bg6 h3 and wins) Kh7 71. Kb4 Rc7 72. e5 Kxh6 73. e6 Kg5 74. Kb5 Kf4 75. Kb6 Re7 76. Kc6 Ke5 77. Kc5 Rxe6 78. Bxe6 Kxe6 79. Kd4 h3, and the pawn queens.
Firouzja-So, 9th Sinquefield Cup, St. Louis, September 2022
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O 7. h3 h6 8. Re1 a6 9. a4 a5 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. b3 Re8 12. Bb2 d5 13. Bb5 dxe4 14. dxe4 Nh5 15. Nc4 Qf6 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Ncxe5 Bxh3 18. Nd3 Qg6 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Nxc5 Qxh4 21. gxh3 Qg5+ 22. Qg4 Qxc5 23. c4 Rab8 24. e5 g6 25. Ba3 Qb6 26. e6 c5 27. exf7+ Kxf7 28. Qd7+ Kf8 29. Qd5 Kg7 30. Bxc5 Nf6 31. Bxb6 Nxd5 32. Rxe8 Black resigns.
Niemann-Caruana, 9th Sinquefield Cup, St. Louis, September 2022
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nd5 a5 4. a3 Bc5 5. Nf3 d6 6. e3 c6 7. d4 Ba7 8. Nc3 Nd7 9. b4 Ngf6 10. Bb2 O-O 11. Be2 exd4 12. Nxd4 Ne5 13. h3 Re8 14. O-O Bd7 15. Qd2 Bb6 16. Rad1 axb4 17. axb4 Qc8 18. f4 Ng6 19. Kh2 c5 20. bxc5 Qxc5 21. g4 Ba5 22. Qd3 Bxc3 23. Qxc3 Ne4 24. Qd3 Qb4 25. Rb1 Nd2 26. Bc3 Nxf1+ 27. Bxf1 Ra2+ 28. Kg1 Qa4 29. Rxb7 Nh4 30. Bb2 Qa8 31. Qb3 Ra7 32. Rxa7 Qxa7 33. Qc3 f6 34. Qd2 Qxd4 35. Qxd4 Nf3+ 36. Kf2 Nxd4 37. Bxd4 Rc8 38. Bg2 Kf8 39. Bd5 Ke7 40. f5 Ba4 41. Ke2 Bb3 42. Kd3 Ba2 43. Ba7 Bb3 44. Kd4 h5 45. gxh5 Rh8 46. Bf3 Bc2 47. Bg4 Ra8 48. Bb6 Ra3 49. c5 Rd3+ 50. Kc4 dxc5 51. Bxc5+ Kf7 52. Bd4 Ra3 53. Bc3 Be4 54. Kd4 Ra4+ 55. Kc5 Bc2 56. Bb4 Ra1 57. Kd4 Rf1 58. Be2 Rxf5 59. Bd6 Bb3 60. Bf4 Ra5 61. h4 Kg8 62. h6 g6 63. Bc7 Rd5+ 64. Kc3 Rc5+ 65. Kxb3 Rxc7 66. Bd3 f5 67. h5 gxh5 68. Bxf5 h4 69. e4 Rc5 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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