Campfire Chess

Tag: Magnus Carlsen

  • WCC2016 Tie Breaker on Wednesday

    WCC2016 Tie Breaker on Wednesday

    The World Chess Championship ended its standard round series yesterday with a whimper as Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin drew the final game after a mere 30 moves.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.28”]
    [Round “12”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [ECO “C67”]
    [Opening “Ruy Lopez”]
    [Variation “Berlin defence, open variation”]
    [WhiteFideId “1503014”]
    [BlackFideId “14109603”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8.
    Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Bf4 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. c3 d5 14. Bd3 g6
    15. Na3 c6 16. Nc2 Ng7 17. Qd2 Bf5 18. Bxf5 Nxf5 19. Ne3 Nxe3 20. Qxe3 Qe7 21.
    Qxe7 Bxe7 22. Re1 Bf8 23. Kf1 f6 24. g4 Kf7 25. h3 Re8 26. Rxe8 Kxe8 27. Ke2 Kd7
    28. Kd3 Ke6 29. a4 a6 30. f3 Be7 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    So, what happens now? As Magnus celebrates his birthday on Wednesday, he will face Karjakin in a series of rapid and blitz games to determine who will be the overall champion. For those games, the will be four rapid games at 25 | 10 with blitz games scheduled if the rapid games end in a tie. In the unlikely event that all of those games are tied then there will be a 5 minute for white, 4 minute for black game where the winner will take all.

  • WCC2016 Tied Entering Final Round

    WCC2016 Tied Entering Final Round

    The 2016 World Chess Championship in New York City has been nothing short of a nail biter and will at least come down to determination in the final round scheduled to be played Monday at 1400 EST. Games 7 and 8 offered some tense moments in which Magnus missed opportunities to turn the tide of the tournament against his opponent. However, his over aggressiveness prevented him from capitalizing on these positions as he would normally be able to.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.18”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [ECO “C88”]
    [Opening “Ruy Lopez”]
    [Variation “closed, 7…O-O”]
    [WhiteFideId “14109603”]
    [BlackFideId “1503014”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
    Bb7 9. d3 d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxe5 Nd4 12. Nc3 Nb4 13. Bf4 Nxb3 14. axb3 c5 15.
    Ne4 f6 16. Nf3 f5 17. Neg5 Bxg5 18. Nxg5 h6 19. Ne6 Qd5 20. f3 Rfe8 21. Re5 Qd6
    22. c3 Rxe6 23. Rxe6 Qxe6 24. cxb4 cxb4 25. Rc1 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Qxc8 27. Qe1 Qd7
    28. Kh2 a5 29. Qe3 Bd5 30. Qb6 Bxb3 31. Qxa5 Qxd3 32. Qxb4 Be6 1/2-1/2

    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.20”]
    [Round “7”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [ECO “D10”]
    [Opening “QGD Slav defence”]
    [WhiteFideId “14109603”]
    [BlackFideId “1503014”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Bd3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 e6 7. Nf3 c5 8. O-O b5
    9. Be2 Bb7 10. dxc5 Nc6 11. Nd2 Bxc5 12. Nde4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Be7 14. b3 Nb4 15.
    Bf3 O-O 16. Ba3 Rc8 17. Nf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxb7 Bxa1 19. Bxb4 Bf6 20. Bxf8 Qxd1 21.
    Rxd1 Rxf8 22. Bxa6 b4 23. Rc1 g6 24. Rc2 Ra8 25. Bd3 Rd8 26. Be2 Kf8 27. Kf1 Ra8
    28. Bc4 Rc8 29. Ke2 Ke7 30. f4 h6 31. Kf3 Rc7 32. g4 g5 33. Ke4 Rc8 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    But everything changed in Game 8 when that over aggressiveness finally backfired and awarded a powerful win to challenger Sergey Karjakin.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.21”]
    [Round “8”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [ECO “D05”]
    [Opening “Queen’s pawn game, Rubinstein (Colle-Zukertort) variation”]
    [WhiteFideId “1503014”]
    [BlackFideId “14109603”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Bb2 b6 8. dxc5
    Bxc5 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. Qe2 Nbd7 11. c4 dxc4 12. Nxc4 Qe7 13. a3 a5 14. Nd4 Rfd8
    15. Rfd1 Rac8 16. Rac1 Nf8 17. Qe1 Ng6 18. Bf1 Ng4 19. Nb5 Bc6 20. a4 Bd5 21.
    Bd4 Bxc4 22. Rxc4 Bxd4 23. Rdxd4 Rxc4 24. bxc4 Nf6 25. Qd2 Rb8 26. g3 Ne5 27.
    Bg2 h6 28. f4 Ned7 29. Na7 Qa3 30. Nc6 Rf8 31. h3 Nc5 32. Kh2 Nxa4 33. Rd8 g6
    34. Qd4 Kg7 35. c5 Rxd8 36. Nxd8 Nxc5 37. Qd6 Qd3 38. Nxe6+ fxe6 39. Qe7+ Kg8
    40. Qxf6 a4 41. e4 Qd7 42. Qxg6+ Qg7 43. Qe8+ Qf8 44. Qc6 Qd8 45. f5 a3 46. fxe6
    Kg7 47. e7 Qxe7 48. Qxb6 Nd3 49. Qa5 Qc5 50. Qa6 Ne5 51. Qe6 h5 52. h4 a2 0-1
    [/pgn]

    Some believed that Magnus would be unable to recover from the loss but managed to pull out a win shortly thereafter in Game 10 to even things up.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.24”]
    [Round “10”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [ECO “C65”]
    [Opening “Ruy Lopez”]
    [Variation “Berlin defence”]
    [WhiteFideId “1503014”]
    [BlackFideId “14109603”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. O-O
    d6 9. Nbd2 Nh5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nc4 Nf4 12. Ne3 Qf6 13. g3 Nh3+ 14. Kh1 Ne7 15.
    Bc4 c6 16. Bb3 Ng6 17. Qe2 a5 18. a4 Be6 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. Nd2 d5 21. Qh5 Ng5
    22. h4 Nf3 23. Nxf3 Qxf3+ 24. Qxf3 Rxf3 25. Kg2 Rf7 26. Rfe1 h5 27. Nf1 Kf8 28.
    Nd2 Ke7 29. Re2 Kd6 30. Nf3 Raf8 31. Ng5 Re7 32. Rae1 Rfe8 33. Nf3 Nh8 34. d4
    exd4 35. Nxd4 g6 36. Re3 Nf7 37. e5+ Kd7 38. Rf3 Nh6 39. Rf6 Rg7 40. b4 axb4 41.
    cxb4 Ng8 42. Rf3 Nh6 43. a5 Nf5 44. Nb3 Kc7 45. Nc5 Kb8 46. Rb1 Ka7 47. Rd3 Rc7
    48. Ra3 Nd4 49. Rd1 Nf5 50. Kh3 Nh6 51. f3 Rf7 52. Rd4 Nf5 53. Rd2 Rh7 54. Rb3
    Ree7 55. Rdd3 Rh8 56. Rb1 Rhh7 57. b5 cxb5 58. Rxb5 d4 59. Rb6 Rc7 60. Nxe6 Rc3
    61. Nf4 Rhc7 62. Nd5 Rxd3 63. Nxc7 Kb8 64. Nb5 Kc8 65. Rxg6 Rxf3 66. Kg2 Rb3 67.
    Nd6+ Nxd6 68. Rxd6 Re3 69. e6 Kc7 70. Rxd4 Rxe6 71. Rd5 Rh6 72. Kf3 Kb8 73. Kf4
    Ka7 74. Kg5 Rh8 75. Kf6 1-0
    [/pgn]

    The tournament remains tied and goes into Monday’s final round with the very real possibility of a rapid or blitz playoff being needed to decide the overall winner.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.26”]
    [Round “11”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [ECO “C84”]
    [Opening “Ruy Lopez”]
    [Variation “closed defence”]
    [WhiteFideId “14109603”]
    [BlackFideId “1503014”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O
    9. Nc3 Be6 10. Nd5 Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. f4 c5 15.
    Qg4 Qd7 16. f5 Rae8 17. Bd2 c4 18. h3 c3 19. bxc3 d5 20. Bg5 Bxg5 21. Qxg5 dxe4
    22. fxe6 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Qxe6 24. cxd4 e3 25. Re1 h6 26. Qh5 e2 27. Qf3 a5 28. c3
    Qa2 29. Qc6 Re6 30. Qc8+ Kh7 31. c4 Qd2 32. Qxe6 Qxe1+ 33. Kh2 Qf2 34. Qe4+ 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

  • WCC2016: Too Early to Draw Any Conclusions

    WCC2016: Too Early to Draw Any Conclusions

    All eyes are on New York City as Magnus Carlsen defends his World Chess Champion title against Russian challenger Sergey Karjakin. Carlsen is the heavy favorite to win the tournament but if the first few games are any indication of what to expect from the whole tournament, we might be in for a long ride. As the name of the post suggests, its too early to *draw* any conclusions from these games, but there are many conclusions in these games that end in *draws*…

    #### Game 3: Bending Space and Time
    Hopes were high after the first two games that there would be some dramatics appearing in the third game and they came…in a sense. Reminding players, commentators, and fans alike that chess requires *mental* and *physical* resilience, the players battled it out in a 7-hour, 78-move nightmare that ended…you guessed it..in a draw.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.14”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C67”]
    [WhiteElo “2857”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [Annotator “Mark”]
    [PlyCount “156”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 {Carlsen switches to 1.e4. Maybe this is his white true weapon for the
    rest of the match.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin can hardly have come
    as a surprise.} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 {
    White doesn’t have a lot here, what is Carlsen’s idea?} O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re2
    $5 {There is nothing new under the sun. This has been played three times.} b6 {
    Karjakin had a big think here, he has a number of options.} (10… Nf5 11. d5
    d6 12. c3 c6 13. Bf4 Bg5 14. Bxg5 Qxg5 15. Nd2 Bd7 16. Nf3 Qf6 17. Qa4 Rfd8 18.
    Rae1 h6 19. Qb3 b5 20. h3 c5 21. Re4 Rdb8 22. Qd1 Kf8 23. g4 Nh4 24. Nxh4 Qxh4
    25. Qf3 Re8 26. b4 Rxe4 27. Rxe4 Rc8 28. a3 {1/2-1/2 (28) Vallejo Pons,F (2677)
    -Tabatabaei,M (2461) Karlsruhe GER 2016}) (10… Re8) 11. Re1 (11. Bf4 Nf5 12.
    c3 Ba6 13. Re1 Bxf1 14. Kxf1 d5 15. Nd2 Qd7 16. Nf3 Rfe8 17. Qb3 Nh4 18. Nxh4
    Bxh4 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 g6 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Re1 Rxe1+ 23. Kxe1 c5 24. dxc5
    bxc5 25. Kd2 Qf5 26. Qb8+ Kg7 27. Qf4 Qb1 28. Qe5+ Kg8 29. Qb8+ Kg7 30. Qe5+
    Kg8 31. Qb8+ Kg7 32. Qe5+ {1/2-1/2 (32) Matinian,N (2439)-Lysyj,I (2628) St
    Petersburg RUS 2012}) 11… Re8 (11… Nb7 12. Na3 d5 13. c3 Nd6 14. Nc2 a5 15.
    Ne3 Nf5 16. Ng4 Bg5 17. Bd3 Bxc1 18. Rxc1 Nd6 19. h3 Re8 20. Qf3 Bxg4 21. Qxg4
    g6 22. Re5 c6 23. Rce1 Qc7 24. R1e3 Kg7 25. h4 f6 26. Rxe8 Rxe8 27. Rxe8 Nxe8
    28. h5 f5 29. Qg5 Nd6 30. hxg6 {1/2-1/2 (30) Kasimdzhanov,R (2704)-Melkumyan,H
    (2622) Berlin GER 2016}) 12. Bf4 Rxe1 13. Qxe1 Qe7 {Up to here Carlsen was
    playing quickly but here he thought for around 20 minutes.} 14. Nc3 (14. Na3 $5
    ) 14… Bb7 15. Qxe7 Bxe7 16. a4 $5 (16. Re1 Kf8) 16… a6 17. g3 (17. g4) (17.
    Bd3) 17… g5 {The computer’s favourite move. Is Carlsen still in preparation
    here? The computer thinks this position is level but maybe this will somehow
    be a long term weakness.} (17… Re8) 18. Bxd6 {This seems the only way
    forward for white but he has little if any advantage.} Bxd6 19. Bg2 (19. Bh3
    Be7 {is good enough.}) 19… Bxg2 20. Kxg2 f5 {straightening out black’s pawn
    structure.} 21. Nd5 Kf7 22. Ne3 Kf6 (22… Ke6 23. Re1 {is also playable.}) 23.
    Nc4 Bf8 {It’s understandable but not forced to avoid the trade of minor pieces.
    } (23… Re8 24. Nxd6 cxd6 25. Ra3 Rc8 26. c3 d5) 24. Re1 Rd8 {This move came
    under criticism after the game. It’s not clearly bad I think.} (24… b5) 25.
    f4 {A key moment and Karjakin spent some time here.} gxf4 26. gxf4 b5 27. axb5
    axb5 28. Ne3 c6 29. Kf3 Ra8 30. Rg1 Ra2 {This move is the start of a wrong
    plan from Karjakin. He’s not yet losing.} (30… Bh6) 31. b3 c5 $2 {Now black
    is under extreme pressure.} (31… d5) 32. Rg8 $1 {The most testing move.} Kf7
    33. Rg2 cxd4 34. Nxf5 d3 35. cxd3 Ra1 {Staying active.} (35… Ra3) 36. Nd4 (
    36. Rc2 {computers slightly prefer this move.}) 36… b4 37. Rg5 (37. Ke4 {
    was the alternative.}) 37… Rb1 38. Rf5+ {Played quite quickly by Carlsen.}
    Ke8 39. Rb5 Rf1+ (39… Bd6) 40. Ke4 Re1+ 41. Kf5 Rd1 42. Re5+ (42. Rb8+ {
    was perhaps stronger.} Kf7 43. Nf3 Bd6 44. Rh8 Rxd3 45. Ng5+ Ke7 46. Rxh7+)
    42… Kf7 43. Rd5 Rxd3 44. Rxd7+ (44. Ke4 Rh3 45. Rxd7+ Ke8 46. Rb7 Rxh2 47.
    Nf3 Re2+) 44… Ke8 45. Rd5 Rh3 46. Re5+ Kf7 47. Re2 Bg7 48. Nc6 Rh5+ {With
    this move Karjakin moves closer to the draw and avoids the obvious Rxb3 which
    loses.} (48… Rxb3 $2 49. Nd8+ Kg8 50. Re8+ Bf8 51. Kf6 Rh3 52. f5 Rh6+ 53.
    Ke5 Kg7 54. Ne6+) 49. Kg4 Rc5 50. Nd8+ Kg6 51. Ne6 h5+ 52. Kf3 Rc3+ 53. Ke4 Bf6
    54. Re3 h4 55. h3 Rc1 56. Nf8+ Kf7 57. Nd7 Ke6 58. Nb6 Rd1 59. f5+ Kf7 60. Nc4
    Rd4+ 61. Kf3 Bg5 62. Re4 Rd3+ 63. Kg4 Rg3+ 64. Kh5 Be7 $2 {After a long and
    tiring defence Karjakin finally goes wrong.} (64… Kf8) 65. Ne5+ Kf6 66. Ng4+
    Kf7 67. Re6 Rxh3 68. Ne5+ Kg7 69. Rxe7+ Kf6 70. Nc6 $2 (70. Re8 Kxf5 71. Nc6
    Rh1 72. Re2) 70… Kxf5 $2 {Should be losing.} (70… Rc3 $1 {saves the game.})
    71. Na5 {Maybe not the easiest way.} (71. Re1 Kf4 72. Rf1+ Ke4 73. Na5 {
    was winning for Carlsen.}) (71. Re2) 71… Rh1 72. Rb7 $2 {A mistake, now the
    game will be drawn.} (72. Rf7+ Ke6 73. Rf2 {returns to the winning idea.})
    72… Ra1 $1 {The only saviing move.} 73. Rb5+ {Now the draw is comparitively
    easy for Karjakin to find..} Kf4 74. Rxb4+ Kg3 75. Rg4+ Kf2 76. Nc4 h3 77. Rh4
    Kg3 78. Rg4+ Kf2 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    #### Game 4: Drawing Up A New Strategy?
    After the marathon of Game 3, I was very impressed that the players were able to squeeze out the next game, which went 94 moves before ending in another *draw*. It was apparent in this game, however, that Magnus was becoming frustrated with Karjakin and that a draw was certainly not on his list of game ideas for the day.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.15”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C88”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [PlyCount “187”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
    Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 Qd7 ({Relevant:} 10… Nb8 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 12. Nf1 Re8 13.
    Ng3 Bf8 14. Ng5 d5 15. exd5 Nc5 16. c4 Nxb3 17. Qxb3 c6 18. dxc6 Bxc6 19. cxb5
    Bd5 20. Qd1 axb5 21. N5e4 h6 22. Qf3 Ra6 23. Bd2 Ba8 24. Bb4 Nd5 25. Bxf8 Rxf8
    26. d4 exd4 27. Nf5 Ne7 28. Rad1 Nxf5 29. Qxf5 Re6 30. f3 d3 31. Qxb5 Bxe4 32.
    Rxe4 Rxe4 33. fxe4 Qd4+ 34. Kh1 Rd8 35. Qb4 Qe3 36. Qa5 Rd4 37. Qd2 Qxe4 38.
    Re1 Qd5 39. Re3 Kh7 40. b4 {Zhigalko,S (2656)-Carlsen,M (2850) Berlin 2015 0-1}
    ) 11. Nbd2 Rfe8 12. c3 Bf8 13. Nf1 h6 14. N3h2 $146 ({Predecessor:} 14. Ng3 Ne7
    15. Nh2 d5 16. Qf3 c5 17. Bc2 Rad8 18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Qxf6 Bg7 20. Qf3 Rf8 21.
    Nh5 Ng6 22. Nf6+ Bxf6 23. Qxf6 dxe4 24. dxe4 Qd6 25. Qf3 Kg7 26. Rad1 Qe7 27.
    Nf1 Rxd1 28. Rxd1 Rd8 29. Ne3 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 Bc8 31. a4 Qg5 32. Qf3 Nf4 33. Kf1
    c4 34. axb5 axb5 35. Nf5+ Bxf5 36. exf5 Nd3 37. Bxd3 cxd3 38. Qxd3 Qc1+ 39. Ke2
    Qxb2+ 40. Kf3 b4 41. cxb4 Qxb4 42. Qe4 Qb3+ 43. Qe3 Qd1+ {Zeytinoglu,N (1927)
    -Tokmak,H Konya 2010 1-0}) 14… d5 15. Qf3 Na5 16. Ba2 dxe4 17. dxe4 Nc4 18.
    Bxh6 Qc6 19. Bxc4 $2 bxc4 20. Be3 Nxe4 21. Ng3 Nd6 22. Rad1 Rab8 23. Bc1 f6 24.
    Qxc6 Bxc6 25. Ng4 Rb5 26. f3 f5 27. Nf2 Be7 28. f4 Bh4 29. fxe5 Bxg3 30. exd6
    Rxe1+ 31. Rxe1 cxd6 32. Rd1 Kf7 33. Rd4 Re5 34. Kf1 Rd5 35. Rxd5 Bxd5 36. Bg5
    Kg6 37. h4 Kh5 38. Nh3 Bf7 39. Be7 Bxh4 40. Bxd6 Bd8 41. Ke2 g5 42. Nf2 Kg6 43.
    g4 Bb6 44. Be5 a5 45. Nd1 f4 $2 {Carlsen thought this just won but Karjakin
    shows this is a fortress.} (45… Be6) (45… fxg4) 46. Bd4 Bc7 47. Nf2 Be6 48.
    Kf3 Bd5+ 49. Ke2 Bg2 50. Kd2 Kf7 51. Kc2 Bd5 52. Kd2 Bd8 53. Kc2 Ke6 54. Kd2
    Kd7 55. Kc2 Kc6 56. Kd2 Kb5 57. Kc1 Ka4 58. Kc2 Bf7 59. Kc1 Bg6 60. Kd2 Kb3 61.
    Kc1 Bd3 62. Nh3 Ka2 63. Bc5 Be2 64. Nf2 Bf3 65. Kc2 Bc6 66. Bd4 Bd7 67. Bc5 Bc7
    68. Bd4 Be6 69. Bc5 f3 70. Be3 Bd7 71. Kc1 Bc8 72. Kc2 Bd7 73. Kc1 Bf4 74. Bxf4
    gxf4 75. Kc2 Be6 76. Kc1 Bc8 77. Kc2 Be6 78. Kc1 Kb3 79. Kb1 Ka4 80. Kc2 Kb5
    81. Kd2 Kc6 82. Ke1 Kd5 83. Kf1 Ke5 84. Kg1 Kf6 85. Ne4+ Kg6 86. Kf2 Bxg4 87.
    Nd2 Be6 88. Kxf3 Kf5 89. a4 Bd5+ 90. Kf2 Kg4 91. Nf1 Kg5 92. Nd2 Kf5 93. Ke2
    Kg4 94. Kf2 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    #### Game 5: Drawn of the Dead
    Game 5 was played earlier today and felt like a blitz game at times. The moves were fast in some areas deep into the position with Magnus finding himself in trouble against his challenger for the first time in the match. There were certain moments in the game when Karjakin had clear advantage on the board, but Magnus was able to bring these situations back into balance and force a draw on move 51.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.17”]
    [Round “5”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C50”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [PlyCount “102”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 d6 7. c3 a6 8. b4 ({
    Relevant:} 8. h3 Ba7 9. Re1 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Bd3 c6 12. Be3 Nh5 13. Nbd2 Nhf4
    14. Bf1 exd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4 16. cxd4 d5 17. e5 f6 18. Ra3 fxe5 19. dxe5 a5 20.
    Qc1 Qe7 21. Rb3 Bf5 22. Nd4 Ne6 23. Nxf5 Rxf5 24. Bd3 Rf4 25. Bxg6 hxg6 26. Qd1
    Raf8 27. Rf3 Qb4 28. Rxf4 Rxf4 29. Nf3 Qxa4 30. Qd3 Rf5 31. Qb1 Qf4 32. Qc2 Kh7
    33. Re3 Qc4 34. Qd1 Rf4 35. Rc3 Qb4 36. Qc1 a4 37. h4 Kg8 {Nepomniachtchi,I
    (2740)-So,W (2782) Baku 2016 0-1}) 8… Ba7 9. Re1 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. d4 c6
    12. h3 exd4 $146 ({Predecessor:} 12… Re8 13. Bd3 Be6 14. b5 axb5 15. axb5 Nf4
    16. Bf1 cxb5 17. Nb1 Bc4 18. Bxf4 exf4 {1/2-1/2 (18) Serazeev,A (2490)
    -Szczepanski,Z (2541) ICCF email 2014}) 13. cxd4 Nxe4 14. Bxf7+ $5 (14. Nxe4 d5
    15. Bd3 dxe4 16. Bxe4) 14… Rxf7 15. Nxe4 d5 16. Nc5 h6 17. Ra3 Bf5 18. Ne5 (
    18. Rae3 $5) 18… Nxe5 19. dxe5 Qh4 {25 minute think for Karjakin. He has 30
    minutes plus 30 seconds a move to reach move 40. If the position remains
    complicated he could have problems later.} (19… a5 {was the alternative that
    Karjakin was probably looking at.} 20. Rf3 axb4 21. e6 Re7 22. Nxb7 Rxb7 23.
    Rxf5) 20. Rf3 (20. e6) 20… Bxc5 $6 {It seems Karjakin was unhappy with a
    calculation battle.} (20… Bg6 {was the more critical move.}) 21. bxc5 Re8 22.
    Rf4 Qe7 23. Qd4 Ref8 24. Rf3 Be4 25. Rxf7 Qxf7 26. f3 Bf5 27. Kh2 Be6 28. Re2
    Qg6 29. Be3 Rf7 30. Rf2 Qb1 31. Rb2 Qf5 32. a5 Kf8 {Karjakin takes his king to
    the queenside.} 33. Qc3 Ke8 34. Rb4 g5 35. Rb2 Kd8 36. Rf2 Kc8 37. Qd4 {
    The position is equal but Carlsen is starting to drift.} Qg6 38. g4 (38. Qd2)
    38… h5 39. Qd2 Rg7 40. Kg3 (40. Bxg5 hxg4 (40… Qxg5 41. Qxg5 Rxg5 42. f4
    Rg8 43. f5 hxg4 44. hxg4 Rxg4) 41. h4 gxf3 42. Rxf3) 40… Rg8 (40… Qh6) 41.
    Kg2 $2 {Now white is definitely worse.} hxg4 42. hxg4 d4 $5 {Played quickly.} (
    42… Qh6 {is the computer suggestion.}) 43. Qxd4 (43. Bxd4 Qh6 44. Kg1 Qh3 45.
    Qe2 Rf8) 43… Bd5 $2 (43… Rh8 44. Qe4 Qh6 45. Kf1 Rd8 {with dangerous
    attacking chances for black.}) 44. e6 $5 {Opening up the queen to cover h8.} (
    44. Kg3 {is completely equal as white can challenge the h-file.}) 44… Qxe6
    45. Kg3 Qe7 $6 {Now any advantage for black has really gone.} 46. Rh2 $1 Qf7 (
    46… Qc7+ 47. f4 Qxa5 48. fxg5 {is equal but white still has to show care.})
    47. f4 $1 gxf4+ 48. Qxf4 Qe7 49. Rh5 $1 {Now a draw is absolutely the
    favourite result.} Rf8 50. Rh7 Rxf4 51. Rxe7 Re4 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

  • Carlsen-Karjakin Tied After Second Round

    Carlsen-Karjakin Tied After Second Round

    The [showdown](http://nyc2016.fide.com) for the title of World Chess Champion between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin is tied at 1 point each after rounds one and two ended in a draw. Carlsen drew white for Game One and opened with a homage to recently elected President of the United States Donald Trump with a [combination](https://www.chess.com/explorer?moveList=d4+Nc6+Bg5+d5&ply=4) called the *Trompowsky Attack*, which some have re-branded as the *Trump*owsky Attack (**1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5**). An unusual opening at this level of play, the response from Karjakin neutralized the attack and led to a draw between the two.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.11”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [ECO “A45”]
    [Opening “Trompovsky attack (Ruth, Opovcensky opening)”]
    [WhiteFideId “1503014”]
    [BlackFideId “14109603”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Bxf6 gxf6 5. dxc5 Nc6 6. Bb5 e6 7. c4 dxc4 8.
    Nd2 Bxc5 9. Ngf3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Rc1 Be7 12. Qc2 Bd7 13. Bxd7 Qxd7 14. Qc3
    Qd5 15. Nxc4 Nxc4 16. Qxc4 Qxc4 17. Rxc4 Rfc8 18. Rfc1 Rxc4 19. Rxc4 Rd8 20. g3
    Rd7 21. Kf1 f5 22. Ke2 Bf6 23. b3 Kf8 24. h3 h6 25. Ne1 Ke7 26. Nd3 Kd8 27. f4
    h5 28. a4 Rd5 29. Nc5 b6 30. Na6 Be7 31. Nb8 a5 32. Nc6+ Ke8 33. Ne5 Bc5 34. Rc3
    Ke7 35. Rd3 Rxd3 36. Kxd3 f6 37. Nc6+ Kd6 38. Nd4 Kd5 39. Nb5 Kc6 40. Nd4+ Kd6
    41. Nb5+ Kd7 42. Nd4 Kd6 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    Game One also had its share of American celebrities on hand as Actor Woody Harrelson made the ceremonial first move to begin the match.


    Woody Harrelson makes the first move in Game One! (Credit: [FIDE](http://nyc2016.fide.com))

    Game Two had some interesting twists and turns throughout, with [Chess24](http://www.chess24.com) demonstrating throughout why it is a revolutionary medium for watching high-level games. Guest commentary by various Grandmasters and assertions that Game Two was boring led to some interesting and entertaining social media exchanges.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.12”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C77”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {No Berlin Defence from Carlsen today.} 4. Ba4
    Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 {A quiet approach in the modern style.} b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3
    O-O 9. Nc3 Na5 (9… Bg4) 10. Ba2 Be6 11. d4 {The fourth most common move in
    my database.} (11. b4) (11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. b4) (11. Bg5) 11… Bxa2 12. Rxa2 Re8
    {Carlsen finally diverges from his game against Topalov from the Grand Chess
    Tour Rapid event in Paris earlier in the year.} (12… Nc6 13. d5 Nb8 14. Qe2
    Nbd7 15. Rd1 Qc8 16. Nh4 g6 17. g3 Ne8 18. Ng2 Ng7 19. Bh6 Nf6 20. Ne3 Qh3 21.
    Bxg7 Kxg7 22. b4 h5 23. a4 a5 24. Rb1 axb4 25. Rxb4 bxa4 26. Raxa4 Ng4 27. Nf1
    h4 28. f3 hxg3 29. hxg3 Nf6 30. Qg2 Qh6 31. Qh2 Qg5 32. Qd2 Qh5 33. g4 Qh8 34.
    Nb5 Nh7 35. Qh2 Rfb8 36. c4 Qd8 37. Ne3 Bg5 38. Qe2 Bf4 39. Ng2 Bg3 40. Qe3 Ng5
    41. Kf1 Qh8 {0-1 (41) Topalov,V (2761)-Carlsen,M (2855) Paris FRA 2016}) 13.
    Ra1 {A novelty but perhaps Karjakin didn’t pay any attention to the only other
    game in this position.} (13. Qd3 exd4 14. Nxd4 Qd7 15. Bg5 g6 16. f4 c5 17. Nf3
    Rad8 18. a4 Nc6 19. Raa1 Nb4 20. Qd2 Qb7 21. axb5 axb5 22. Qe2 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 d5
    24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Bxe7 Rxe7 26. Qd3 Rde8 27. f5 Re2 28. Rae1 {1/2-1/2 (28)
    Paravyan,D (2506)-Harutyunian,T (2426) Moscow RUS 2016}) 13… Nc4 14. Re1 (14.
    h3 h6 15. Re1) 14… Rc8 $5 15. h3 (15. b3 Nb6 16. a4 b4 17. a5 Nbd7 {was a
    possible try.}) 15… h6 16. b3 Nb6 17. Bb2 Bf8 18. dxe5 dxe5 19. a4 $11 c6 (
    19… Qxd1 20. Rexd1 {might have been even easier for black.}) 20. Qxd8 Rcxd8
    21. axb5 axb5 22. Ne2 {A tacit draw offer.} Bb4 (22… Nxe4 23. Bxe5 Ng5 24.
    Nxg5 Rxe5 25. Nf3 Re4 {and a draw can be agreed.}) 23. Bc3 Bxc3 24. Nxc3 Nbd7
    25. Ra6 Rc8 26. b4 Re6 (26… c5 {requires a bit of calculation but is also
    just a draw.} 27. Nxb5 cxb4 28. Nd6 Re6 29. Nxc8 Rxa6 30. Rd1 g6 $11) 27. Rb1 (
    27. Rd1) 27… c5 28. Rxe6 fxe6 29. Nxb5 cxb4 30. Rxb4 Rxc2 31. Nd6 Rc1+ {
    Now they bring the game to an end.} 32. Kh2 Rc2 33. Kg1 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    Game Three will be held at 1400 EST on Monday.

  • Susan Polgar, the Times, and Hired Help

    Susan Polgar, the Times, and Hired Help

    As I wrote a few days ago, the United States claimed victory in a Chess Olympiad for the [first time since 1976](http://www.campfirechess.com/posts/2723). Shortly thereafter, World Champion Magnus Carlsen posted a sarcastic tweet in which he openly wondered if Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana were *still for sale*. Because I am a huge baseball fan and have often wondered about the merits of a free agency system in professional chess, I took the tweet at face value and dismissed it as nothing more than a sarcastic way of Magnus congratulating the US team. Unfortunately, in most cases, in chess not everything is as it seems.

    Grandmaster Susan Polgar took exception with claims of “hired help” on the United States Chess Team.

    I commend Susan for addressing the claims because although she took some subsequent heat on Twitter for her comment, the assertions about *hired help* were not limited to Magnus Carlsen. The New York Times, which seems to pride itself on being at the forefront of racial and social divides in America, [boldly proclaimed](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/sports/us-wins-chess-gold-with-help-of-imported-talent.html?_r=0) that the United States team won with the help of *imported talent*.


    The New York Times preferred to emphasize imported talent over national victory.

    What is lost on me is the almost relentless focus by the media on the ethic origins of the players on this team and participants in countless other activities including books, music, and movies for that matter. Does it make a difference that Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana are *recent* additions to the [United States Chess Federation](http://www.uschess.org) dossier? The article mentions that it is *unusual* for players to change federations, but is it any more unusual for a person to change their citizenship? Wesley So trained under Susan Polgar at [Webster University](http://www.webster.edu) and was integral to their team before dropping out of school to pursue chess full-time. Fabiano Caruana has played for the Italian Chess Federation for years, but is actually an American citizen who was born and raised in Florida.

    #### A Nation of Immigrants
    What gets lost in these arguments and what I think really got Susan Polgar’s blood boiling seems to be that the media forgets that 99.9% of the people who live in the United States of America are the product of immigration. My family is of German descent, but does that disqualify me from representing the United States in an official capacity? Of course not, just as switching from the Philippines to US Chess does not disqualify Wesley So from representing the United States at the Baku Olympiad.

    Ultimately, these are the things that make America such a unique place. America is a country where people from all backgrounds, of every ethnicity, and of all life experiences can stand on a podium and wear a gold medal as a representative of their country. These men were not *hired help* or *imported talent*. Instead, they represent the very core of what America stands for. Asserting anything else devalues that.

  • 2016 Sinquefield Cup: So Wins It All 

    2016 Sinquefield Cup: So Wins It All 

    The Sinquefield Cup is always an amazing event and has come to solidify its place as one of the most prestigious chess tournaments in the world. Every year, the best chess players from around the world converge on the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis to compete in the round robin tournament. The Sinquefield Cup is also memorable for Fabiano Caruana’s incredible run in 2014, which I built a commemorative wall piece to celebrate the tournament. After some scheduling changes due to the upcoming Baku Olympian, this year’s event included Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Vishy Anand, Peter Svidler, and wildcard Ding Liren.

    World Champion Magnus Carlsen opted out of this year’s event so that he could focus on the upcoming World Chess Championship in New York.

    [pgn]
    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.05”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Topalov, Veselin”]
    [Black “Svidler, Peter”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “C88”]
    [WhiteElo “2761”]
    [BlackElo “2751”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “55”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(4s)} e5 {(9s)} 2. Nf3 {(4s)} Nc6 {(6s)} 3. Bb5 {(8s)} a6 {(4s)} 4. Ba4
    {(4s)} Nf6 {(6s)} 5. O-O {(14s)} Be7 {(5s)} 6. Re1 {(6s)} b5 {(5s)} 7. Bb3 {
    (3s)} O-O {(7s)} 8. a4 {(7s)} b4 {(6s)} 9. d3 {(6s)} d6 {(45s)} 10. a5 {(18s)}
    Be6 {(442s)} 11. Bxe6 {(9s)} fxe6 {(4s)} 12. Nbd2 {(8s)} d5 {(946s)} 13. c3 {
    ( 106s)} Bd6 {(2085s)} 14. d4 {(275s)} bxc3 {(277s)} 15. bxc3 {(49s)} exd4 {
    (187s)} 16. cxd4 {(671s)} dxe4 {(95s)} 17. Nxe4 {(11s)} Bb4 {(5s)} 18. Bd2 {
    (715s)} Nxe4 {(24s)} 19. Rxe4 {(22s)} Qd5 {(7s)} 20. Bxb4 {(284s)} Qxe4 {(38s)}
    21. Bxf8 {(10s)} Rxf8 {(4s)} 22. Rc1 {(232s)} h6 {(917s)} 23. Qd2 {(752s)} Rb8
    {(612s)} 24. Qe3 {(202s)} Qd5 {(27s)} 25. h3 {[#] (502s)} Rb4 {(147s) A
    massive blindness that loses material and the game.} 26. Qc3 {(229s)} Nxd4 {
    (179s)} 27. Qxb4 {(12s)} Ne2+ {(188s)} 28. Kh1 {(28s)} ({Svidler resigned after
    } 28. Kh1 {understanding Topalov had seen the win too.} Nxc1 {and White wins
    the knight by force.} 29. Qb8+ Kh7 (29… Kf7 30. Qxc7+ {and the knight falls
    as well.}) 30. Qb1+ Nd3 31. Ne1 {and that is that.}) 1-0

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.05”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Giri, Anish”]
    [Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “B90”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2819”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “93”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(3s)} c5 {(4s)} 2. Nf3 {(4s)} d6 {(3s)} 3. d4 {(4s)} cxd4 {(4s)} 4. Nxd4 {(3s)} Nf6 {(7s)} 5.
    Nc3 {(2s)} a6 {(6s)} 6. Be3 {(4s)} Ng4 {(6s)} 7. Bc1 {(3s)} Nf6 {(4s)} 8. f3 {(3s)} e5 {(6s)} 9. Nb3 {(4
    s)} Be6 {(32s)} 10. Be3 {(17s)} Be7 {(39s)} 11. Qd2 {(48s)} O-O {(9s)} 12. O-O-O {(4s)} Nbd7 {(18s)}
    13. g4 {(6s)} b5 {(4s)} 14. g5 {(4s)} b4 {(4s)} 15. gxf6 {(4s)} bxc3 {(5s)} 16. Qxc3 {(4s)} Nxf6 {(10
    s)} 17. Na5 {(2s)} Rc8 {(70s)} 18. Nc6 {(17s)} Qe8 {(8s)} 19. Nxe7+ {(5s)} Qxe7 {(8s)} 20. Qa5 {(34s)}
    Rc6 {(7s)} 21. Kb1 {(78s)} Rfc8 {(127s)} 22. Rd2 {(26s)} Nh5 {(340s)} 23. Rg1 {(60s)} Qh4 {(1386s)}
    24. Be2 {(1444s)} Nf4 {(29s)} 25. Bd1 {(229s)} f5 {(693s)} 26. exf5 {(1142s)} Bxf5 {(12s)} 27.
    Ka1 {(144s)} d5 {(1269s)} 28. c3 {(177s)} Rg6 {(13s)} 29. Rxg6 {(682s)} hxg6 {(12s)} 30. Bxf4 {(57
    s)} Qxf4 {(609s)} 31. Qxd5+ {(23s)} Kh7 {(15s)} 32. Bb3 {(733s)} a5 {(82s)} 33. a4 {(431s)} Re8 {(42
    s)} 34. Ka2 {(656s)} Be6 {(93s)} 35. Qc6 {(155s)} Bxb3+ {(242s)} 36. Kxb3 {(4s)} Rb8+ {(11s)} 37.
    Kc2 {(4s)} Rxb2+ {(4s)} 38. Kxb2 {(3s)} Qxd2+ {(8s)} 39. Kb3 {(10s)} Qxh2 {(254s)} 40. Qd5 {(0s)}
    Qe2 {(0s)} 41. Qxa5 {(287s)} Qd1+ {(148s)} 42. Kb2 {(248s)} Qd2+ {(12s)} 43. Kb3 {(36s)} Qd1+ {(5s)}
    44. Kb2 {(79s)} Qd2+ {(13s)} 45. Ka3 {(24s)} Qc1+ {(9s)} 46. Kb4 {(116s)} Qb1+ {(4s)} 47. Ka3 {(46
    s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.05”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “E06”]
    [WhiteElo “2771”]
    [BlackElo “2791”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “75”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(4s)} Nf6 {(7s)} 2. c4 {(7s)} e6 {(5s)} 3. Nf3 {(6s)} d5 {(7s)} 4. g3 {(3s)} Be7 {(5s)} 5. Bg2 {(
    15s)} O-O {(13s)} 6. O-O {(6s)} dxc4 {(3s)} 7. Ne5 {(6s)} Nc6 {(8s)} 8. Nxc6 {(7s)} bxc6 {(3s)} 9. Na3
    {(5s)} Bxa3 {(3s)} 10. bxa3 {(6s)} Ba6 {(4s)} 11. Qd2 {(6s)} Rb8 {(35s)} 12. Qa5 {(30s)} Qc8 {(12s)}
    13. a4 {(13s)} Rd8 {(62s)} 14. Ba3 {(7s)} Rxd4 {(46s)} 15. Rfb1 {(18s)} Rb6 {(114s)} 16. Bc5 {(9s)}
    Rd7 {(83s)} 17. Rd1 {(10s)} h6 {(788s)} 18. Rxd7 {(737s)} Nxd7 {(18s)} 19. Bxb6 {(3s)} cxb6 {(26s)}
    20. Qd2 {(11s)} c5 {(555s)} 21. Rd1 {(1100s)} Nf6 {(25s)} 22. Kf1 {(23s)} Kh7 {(1014s)} 23. Qc2+
    {(644s)} Kg8 {(25s)} 24. Qd2 {(645s)} Kh7 {(15s)} 25. Qd8 {(142s)} Qxd8 {(44s)} 26. Rxd8 {(5s)} c3 {(
    5s)} 27. Ke1 {(5s)} Bc4 {(537s)} 28. Kd1 {(317s)} Bxa2 {(295s)} 29. Kc2 {(7s)} Bc4 {(506s)} 30. e3
    {(763s)} b5 {(974s)} 31. Kxc3 {(165s)} a6 {(104s)} 32. Ra8 {(261s)} Nd5+ {(1060s)} 33. Bxd5 {(10s)}
    exd5 {(74s)} 34. a5 {(570s)} b4+ {(66s)} 35. Kd2 {(7s)} Bf1 {(119s)} 36. Rc8 {(225s)} c4 {(18s)} 37.
    Rb8 {(5s)} b3 {(28s)} 38. Kc3 {(26s)} 1-0

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.05”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D37”]
    [WhiteElo “2755”]
    [BlackElo “2792”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “61”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(5s)} Nf6 {(9s)} 2. c4 {(4s)} e6 {(10s)} 3. Nf3 {(7s)} d5 {(13s)} 4. Nc3 {(4s)} Nbd7 {(12s)} 5.
    Bg5 {(121s)} h6 {(33s)} 6. Bh4 {(24s)} Be7 {(7s)} 7. e3 {(149s)} O-O {(20s)} 8. Rc1 {(160s)} c5 {(12s)}
    9. dxc5 {(773s)} dxc4 {(108s)} 10. Bxc4 {(323s)} Nxc5 {(18s)} 11. O-O {(24s)} a6 {(5s)} 12. Nd4 {(
    1235s)} Nce4 {(29s)} 13. Nxe4 {(390s)} Nxe4 {(5s)} 14. Bxe7 {(4s)} Qxe7 {(5s)} 15. Qc2 {(76s)} Nf6
    {(22s)} 16. Bb3 {(95s)} Rb8 {(625s)} 17. e4 {(323s)} Rd8 {(292s)} 18. Rfd1 {(313s)} e5 {(66s)} 19.
    Nf5 {(47s)} Bxf5 {(23s)} 20. exf5 {(31s)} Rxd1+ {(261s)} 21. Rxd1 {(5s)} e4 {(374s)} 22. Qc3 {(120
    s)} Rd8 {(490s)} 23. Rxd8+ {(50s)} Qxd8 {(11s)} 24. h3 {(96s)} h5 {(185s)} 25. Qe5 {(820s)} b5 {(340
    s)} 26. g3 {(146s)} Qd7 {(261s)} 27. g4 {(277s)} hxg4 {(77s)} 28. hxg4 {(7s)} Nxg4 {(92s)} 29. Qxe4
    {(17s)} Nf6 {(23s)} 30. Qa8+ {(42s)} Kh7 {(33s)} 31. Qh1+ {(6 Qd5s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.05”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Anand, Viswanathan”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C15”]
    [WhiteElo “2770”]
    [BlackElo “2807”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “89”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(3s)} e6 {(5s)} 2. d4 {(27s)} d5 {(5s)} 3. Nc3 {(5s)} Bb4 {(6s)} 4. exd5
    {(176s)} exd5 {(11s)} 5. Bd3 {(7s)} Nf6 {(114s)} 6. Nge2 {(42s)} O-O {(37s)} 7.
    O-O {(66s)} c6 {(52s)} 8. Bg5 {(200s)} h6 {(189s)} 9. Bh4 {(50s)} Re8 {(54s)}
    10. f3 {(232s)} Nbd7 {(198s)} 11. Qd2 {(362s)} Nf8 {(381s)} 12. Rae1 {(314s)}
    Bd7 {(398s)} 13. a3 {(149s)} Be7 {(1010s)} 14. Bf2 {(685s)} Ng6 {(183s)} 15.
    Bg3 {( 196s)} Nh5 {(538s)} 16. Bxg6 {(57s)} fxg6 {(5s)} 17. Be5 {(19s)} Bh4 {
    (207s)} 18. Rd1 {(229s)} Bg5 {(949s)} 19. f4 {(384s)} Be7 {(231s)} 20. h3 {
    (190s)} Be6 {(482s)} 21. Kh2 {(249s)} Nf6 {(210s)} 22. Nc1 {(231s)} h5 {(419s)}
    23. Nd3 {(178s)} Bf5 {(6s)} 24. Ne2 {(321s)} Ne4 {(144s)} 25. Qe3 {(86s)} h4 {
    (9s)} 26. Rc1 {(343s)} Rc8 {(358s)} 27. c3 {(423s)} Qb6 {(174s)} 28. b4 {(248s)
    } Bf6 {(107s)} 29. Nc5 {(97s)} Nxc5 {(74s)} 30. bxc5 {(22s)} Qb2 {(69s)} 31.
    Ng1 {(63s)} b6 {(114s)} 32. Nf3 {( 259s)} bxc5 {(68s)} 33. dxc5 {(59s)} Be4 {
    (40s)} 34. Rce1 {(394s)} Re7 {(186s)} 35. Bxf6 {(103s)} gxf6 {(2s)} 36. Nxh4 {
    (39s)} Rce8 {(87s)} 37. Qg3 {(390s)} Rg7 {(2s)} 38. Ra1 {(33s)} g5 {(47s)} 39.
    fxg5 {(18s)} Rxg5 {(2s)} 40. Qf2 {(0s)} Qxc3 {(0s)} 41. Qxf6 {(268s)} Qg3+ {
    (425s)} 42. Kg1 {[#] (10s) Black chooses to force the draw in a cute but
    unavoidable windmill. Many hoped he would continue on with a less forcing move
    as it was felt there was no danger in playing on.} Qxg2+ {(278s)} 43. Nxg2 {
    (5s)} Rxg2+ {(3s)} 44. Kh1 {(7s)} Rf2+ {(3s)} 45. Kg1 {(7s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.06”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C84”]
    [WhiteElo “2807”]
    [BlackElo “2761”]
    [Annotator “Albert Silver”]
    [PlyCount “82”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(3s)} e5 {(5s)} 2. Nf3 {(4s)} Nc6 {(4s)} 3. Bb5 {(4s)} a6 {(5s)} 4. Ba4
    {(8s)} Nf6 {(7s)} 5. O-O {(9s)} Be7 {(10s)} 6. d3 {(102s)} b5 {(26s)} 7. Bb3 {
    (4s)} d6 {(21s)} 8. a4 {(15s)} Bd7 {(44s)} 9. c3 {( 14s)} Na5 {(20s)} 10. Ba2 {
    (6s)} c5 {(63s)} 11. Bg5 {(90s)} O-O {(16s)} 12. axb5 {(332s)} axb5 {(5s)} 13.
    Na3 {(4s)} Qb8 {(708s)} 14. Nc2 {(145s)} h6 {(94s)} 15. Bh4 {(402s)} c4 {(203s)
    } 16. Nb4 {( 1387s)} Be6 {(198s)} 17. Re1 {(18s)} Qb7 {(464s)} 18. d4 {(522s)}
    Bg4 {(408s)} 19. Bb1 {(1794s)} Nb3 {(167s)} 20. Rxa8 {(6s)} Rxa8 {(13s)} 21.
    Ba2 $4 {(845s) A terrible blunder that should have cost the American the game.}
    Nxe4 {(1134s)} 22. Bxe7 {(675s)} {[%tqu “En”,”White just took the bishop with
    Bxe7. The knee-jerk reflex is to take it back, but Topalov’s instincts are
    impeccable here. What did Black play?”,””,””,”e4d2″,”(284s)”,10]} Ned2 $3 {
    (284s) This deadly move is winning. The king is now in dire straits.} 23. Bxb3
    {(61s)} Nxf3+ $3 {(17s) Black will not be distracted.} 24. gxf3 {(5s)} Bxf3 {
    (8s)} 25. Bxd6 {(68s)} ({Any attempt to save the queen leads to mate.} 25. Qd2
    $2 Qd7 {and mate cannot be stopped.}) 25… Bxd1 {(475s)} 26. Bxd1 {(4s)} exd4
    {(13s)} 27. cxd4 {(6s)} Qd7 {(144s)} 28. Bg3 {(79s)} Qxd4 $2 {(291s) The first
    in a series of mistakes now that will eventually allow Giri to build a
    fortress.} (28… Re8 $1 29. Rxe8+ Qxe8 30. Kf1 Qe4 31. Nc2 c3 32. bxc3 Qd3+
    33. Ke1 Qxc3+ {and the b-pawn is free to march forward.}) 29. Bf3 {( 18s)} Qd2
    {(318s)} 30. Rd1 {(294s)} Qxd1+ $2 {(159s)} (30… Qxb2 31. Bxa8 Qxb4 32. Be4
    Qe7 33. Re1 Qd7 {and the queen and two passed pawns should end it.}) 31. Bxd1 {
    (4s)} Ra1 {(6s)} 32. Kg2 {(3s)} Rxd1 {( 9s) Now things are really not easy and
    White manages to hold it with fortress themes in the end.} 33. Be5 {(4s)} f6 {
    (49s)} 34. Bc3 {(11s)} Kf7 {(26s)} 35. Nc2 {(51s)} g5 {(126s)} 36. h3 {(21s)}
    Kg6 {(134s)} 37. Na3 {(12s)} Rd5 {(11s)} 38. Kf3 {(51s)} f5 {(71s)} 39. Kg3 {
    (29s)} f4+ {(174s)} 40. Kg2 {(0s)} Kf5 {(0s)} 41. f3 {(383s)} h5 {(328s)}
    1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.06”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
    [Black “Anand, Viswanathan”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “B10”]
    [WhiteElo “2819”]
    [BlackElo “2770”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “92”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(4s)} c6 {(7s)} 2. Nf3 {(125s)} d5 {(10s)} 3. Nc3 {(3s)} Nf6 {(15s)} 4. e5 {(13s)} Ne4 {(8s)} 5.
    Ne2 {(383s)} Qb6 {(33s)} 6. d4 {(7s)} e6 {(10s)} 7. Nfg1 {(70s)} f6 {(13s)} 8. f3 {(8s)} Ng5 {(13s)} 9.
    exf6 {(8s)} gxf6 {(7s)} 10. f4 {(8s)} Ne4 {(15s)} 11. Ng3 {(24s)} Bd7 {(250s)} 12. Nxe4 {(625s)}
    dxe4 {(23s)} 13. c3 {(6s)} Na6 {(548s)} 14. Qh5+ {(360s)} Kd8 {(50s)} 15. Bc4 {(28s)} Kc7 {(1116s)}
    16. a4 {(462s)} c5 {(90s)} 17. Ne2 {(27s)} Rd8 {(306s)} 18. Be3 {(536s)} f5 {(393s)} 19. O-O {(209
    s)} Kb8 {(346s)} 20. Qf7 {(495s)} Nc7 {(452s)} 21. a5 {(312s)} Qc6 {(10s)} 22. Qf6 {(11s)} Bd6 {(7s)}
    23. dxc5 {(18s)} Bxc5 {(247s)} 24. Nd4 {(42s)} Qd6 {(81s)} 25. b4 {(213s)} Qe7 {(246s)} 26. Qh6 {(
    1161s)} Bd6 {(1414s)} 27. Rad1 {(68s)} Rhf8 {(49s)} 28. Bf2 {(73s)} Rf6 {(35s)} 29. Qh4 {(123s)}
    Nd5 {(282s)} 30. Nxe6 {(409s)} Bxe6 {(70s)} 31. Bxd5 {(11s)} e3 {(63s)} 32. Bxe3 {(16s)} Bxd5 {(9s)}
    33. Bxa7+ {(5s)} Kxa7 {(124s)} 34. Qf2+ {(726s)} Bc5 {(32s)} 35. Qxc5+ {(5s)} Qxc5+ {(12s)} 36.
    bxc5 {(1s)} Rd7 {(35s)} 37. Rfe1 {(69s)} h6 {(87s)} 38. Kf2 {(147s)} Kb8 {(144s)} 39. c4 {(166s)}
    Bc6 {(21s)} 40. Rxd7 {(0s)} Bxd7 {(0s)} 41. Rb1 {(31s)} Ra6 {(485s)} 42. Rb6 {(32s)} Rxa5 {(177s)}
    43. Rxh6 {(22s)} Rxc5 {(6s)} 44. h4 {(39s)} Rxc4 {(7s)} 45. g3 {(7s)} Kc7 {(83s)} 46. h5 {(19s)} b5
    {(85s)} 0-1

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.06”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D37”]
    [WhiteElo “2755”]
    [BlackElo “2771”]
    [Annotator “Albert Silver”]
    [PlyCount “70”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(3s)} Nf6 {(7s)} 2. c4 {(4s)} e6 {(5s)} 3. Nf3 {(4s)} d5 {(3s)} 4. Nc3 {
    (4s)} Nbd7 {(5s)} 5. Bg5 {(134s)} h6 {(6s)} 6. Bh4 {(3s)} Be7 {(7s)} 7. e3 {
    (4s)} O-O {(5s)} 8. Be2 {(2s)} dxc4 {(560s)} 9. Bxc4 {(57s)} c5 {(9s)} 10. O-O
    {(5s)} cxd4 {(34s)} 11. Nxd4 {(37s)} Nb6 {(398s)} 12. Bb3 {(1134s)} Nbd5 {
    ( 162s)} 13. Nxd5 {(263s)} Nxd5 {(4s)} 14. Bg3 {(3s)} Bf6 {(225s)} 15. Rc1 {
    (1459s)} Nb6 {(2446s)} 16. Qe2 {(1529s)} Bd7 {(366s)} 17. Nb5 {(5s)} a6 {(912s)
    } 18. Nd6 {(395s)} Bc6 {[#] (18s)} 19. Nxb7 $2 {(72s) Overdoing it and
    undercalculating.} Bxb7 {(18s)} 20. Bc7 {(4s)} Qe7 {(158s)} 21. Bxb6 {[#] (9s)}
    Bxg2 $1 {(4s) This fairly easy move to see was missed by the Chiense player
    and now leads him to some trouble.} 22. Kxg2 {(264s) Ding Liren spent nearly 5
    minutes staring at his position in disbelief} Qb7+ {( 5s)} 23. Qf3 {(14s)} Qxb6
    {(5s)} 24. Rc6 {(2s)} Qb7 {(163s)} 25. Rc2 {(116s)} Qxf3+ {(5s)} 26. Kxf3 {(3s)
    } Rfc8 {(8s)} 27. Rfc1 {(4s)} Rxc2 {(6s)} 28. Rxc2 {(3s)} Rb8 {(7s)} 29. Rc6 {
    (50s)} a5 {(62s)} 30. Rc5 {(23s)} Ra8 {(5s)} 31. Rb5 {(36s)} Ra7 {(470s)} 32.
    Bc2 {(193s)} Kf8 33. a4 {(5s)} Ke7 {( 27s)} 34. b4 {(6s)} Bc3 {(31s)} 35. bxa5
    {(27s)} Rxa5 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.06”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Svidler, Peter”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “D10”]
    [WhiteElo “2792”]
    [BlackElo “2751”]
    [Annotator “Albert Silver”]
    [PlyCount “107”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(14s)} d5 {(7s)} 2. c4 {(21s)} c6 {(2s)} 3. Nc3 {(11s)} Nf6 {(6s)} 4. e3
    {(11s)} a6 {(8s)} 5. Nf3 {(39s)} b5 {(6s)} 6. b3 {(41s)} Bg4 {(5s)} 7. Qd2 {
    (50s)} Nbd7 {(2165s)} 8. Ne5 {(14s)} Nxe5 {( 133s)} 9. dxe5 {(6s)} Nd7 {(3s)}
    10. cxd5 {(1510s)} cxd5 {(27s)} 11. Qxd5 {(689s)} e6 {(38s)} 12. Qd4 {(26s)} h5
    {(45s)} 13. Bd2 {(936s)} Qb8 {(1428s)} 14. Ne4 {(1023s)} Qxe5 {(186s)} 15. a4 {
    (307 s)} Bf5 {(180s)} 16. Ng3 {(96s)} Bc2 {(205s)} 17. axb5 {(765s)} h4 {(48s)}
    18. Ne2 {(665s)} Qxb5 {( 173s)} 19. Qc3 {(104s)} Bh7 {(259s)} 20. Nd4 {(83s)}
    Qb7 {(20s)} 21. h3 {(211s)} Be7 {(783s)} 22. Be2 {(28s)} O-O {(558s)} 23. Bf3 {
    (11s)} Be4 {(6s)} 24. Bxe4 {(83s)} Qxe4 {(4s)} 25. Qc6 {(51s)} Nc5 {(173s)} 26.
    Qxe4 {(7s)} Nxe4 {(4s)} 27. Nc6 {(8s)} Bc5 {(160s)} 28. Ra4 {(146s)} Nxd2 {
    (43s)} 29. Kxd2 {(5s)} Rfc8 {(2s)} 30. Na5 {(65s)} Be7 {(120s)} 31. Rc1 {(47s)}
    Rxc1 {(145s)} 32. Kxc1 {(3s)} Rc8+ {(12s)} 33. Rc4 {(55s)} Rxc4+ {(28s)} 34.
    Nxc4 {(4s)} g5 {(134s)} 35. Kd2 {[#] (9s)} f5 $2 {(38s) It is rather
    extraoridinary to see a player of Svidler’s calibre completely spurn
    developing his king and bringing it to play.} 36. Ne5 {(23s)} Bd6 {(20s)} 37.
    Nf3 {(7s)} Be7 {(0s)} 38. Ne5 {(4s)} Bd6 {(1s)} 39. Nf3 {(3s)} Be7 {(2s)} 40.
    Kd3 {(0s)} Kg7 {(0s)} 41. Ne5 {(135s)} Bb4 $2 {[#] (422s) And now White gets
    to play Kc4 with a free tempo.} 42. Kc4 {(189s)} a5 {(513s)} 43. Kb5 {(373 s)}
    Kf6 {(241s)} 44. Nc4 {(180s)} Be1 {(138s)} 45. f3 {(10s)} g4 {(32s)} 46. Nxa5 {
    (100s)} gxh3 {(23 s)} 47. gxh3 {(4s)} Ke5 {(4s)} 48. Nc4+ {(551s)} Kd5 {(4s)}
    49. Nb6+ {(10s)} Kd6 {(33s)} 50. Kc4 {( 23s)} Kc6 {(128s)} 51. Na4 {(64s)} Bf2
    {(5s)} 52. e4 {(119s)} fxe4 {(16s)} 53. fxe4 {(4s)} Kd6 {(3s)} 54. Nb2 {(5s)}
    1-0

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.06”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
    [Black “Giri, Anish”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “D44”]
    [WhiteElo “2791”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “119”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. Nf3 {(4s)} d5 {(3s)} 2. d4 {(12s)} Nf6 {(4s)} 3. c4 {(5s)} e6 {(3s)} 4. Nc3 {(6s)} c6 {(8s)} 5. Bg5 {(36s)} dxc4 {(15s)} 6. a4 {(30s)} Bb4 {(194s)} 7. e4 {(19s)} Qa5 {(131s)} 8. Bd2 {(345s)} c5 {(143s)} 9. Bxc4 {(111s)} cxd4 {(233s)} 10. Nxd4 {(13s)} O-O {(8s)} 11. Nc2 {(433s)} Nc6 {(297s)} 12. Nxb4 {(315s)} Qxb4 {(25s)} 13. b3 {(3s)} Qe7 {(91s)} 14. O-O {(391s)} Rd8 {(50s)} 15. Re1 {(414s)} Ne5 {(251s)} 16. Bf1 {(497s)} Bd7 {(842s)} 17. Qe2 {(1120s)} Bc6 {(603s)} 18. Bg5 {(643s)} h6 {(137s)} 19. Bh4 {(31s)} Ng6 {(1252s)} 20. Bg3 {(46s)} Rd7 {(61s)} 21. f3 {(113s)} Rad8 {(557s)} 22. Qe3 {(19s)} a6 {(208s)} 23. Rab1 {(143s)} Qb4 {(50s)} 24. Rec1 {(40s)} e5 {(81s)} 25. Be1 {(133s)} Qe7 {(456s)} 26. Na2 {(36s)} Rd4 {(431s)} 27. Ba5 {(292s)} R8d7 {(27s)} 28. Bc3 {(203s)} Bxe4 {(7s)} 29. fxe4 {(10s)} Rxe4 {(2s)} 30. Qa7 {(89s)} b5 {(64s)} 31. Qxa6 {(322s)} Ng4 {(5s)} 32. h3 {(264s)} Qc5+ {(168s)} 33. Kh1 {(12s)} Nf2+ {(381s)} 34. Kh2 {(6s)} Qe3 {(206s)} 35. Re1 {(150s)} Qf4+ {(62s)} 36. g3 {(5s)} Qf5 {(27s)} 37. Bg2 {(246s)} Rh4 {(11s)} 38. Qa8+ {(491s)} Kh7 {(6s)} 39. Qf3 {(3s)} Rxh3+ {(62s)} 40. Kg1 {(0s)} Qxf3 {(0s)} 41. Bxf3 {(0s)} Nd3 {(47s)} 42. Re3 {(26s)} Rxg3+ {(278s)} 43. Kh2 {(35s)} Rxf3 {(40s)} 44. Rxf3 {(0s)} bxa4 {(97s)} 45. bxa4 {(0s)} e4 {(7s)} 46. Rf5 {(76s)} Nh4 {(385s)} 47. Rfb5 {(54s)} Nf4 {(10s)} 48. R5b4 {(907s)} Rd3 {(932s)} 49. Rxe4 {(8s)} g5 {(15s)} 50. Rxf4 {(753s)} gxf4 {(4s)} 51. Rf1 {(4s)} Nf3+ {(82s)} 52. Kh1 {(43s)} Kg6 {(814s)} 53. a5 {(11s)} Kf5 {(357s)} 54. a6 {(61s)} Ng5 {(13s)} 55. a7 {(222s)} Rh3+ {(4s)} 56. Kg1 {(7s)} Rg3+ {(3s)} 57. Kf2 {(5s)} Ne4+ {(7s)} 58. Ke1 {(10s)} Rg8 {(189s)} 59. Bd4 {(5s)} Kg4 {(394s)} 60. Be5 {(67s)} 1-0[Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.07”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C54”]
    [WhiteElo “2771”]
    [BlackElo “2792”]
    [PlyCount “57”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 2. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Nc6 {
    [%emt 0:00:07]} 3. Bc4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} Bc5 {[%emt 0:00:12]} 4. c3 {[%emt 0:00:
    06]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:19]} 5. d3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} O-O {[%emt 0:00:27]} 6. O-O {
    [%emt 0:00:05]} h6 {[%emt 0:00:25]} 7. d4 {414} Bb6 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 8. dxe5 {
    531} Nxe4 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 9. Bd5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Nxf2 {168} 10. Rxf2 {
    [%emt 0:00:08]} d6 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 11. exd6 {2043} Qxd6 {[%emt 0:00:28]} 12.
    Bb3 {[%emt 0:00:06]} Bxf2+ {66} 13. Kxf2 {[%emt 0:00:30]} Qf6 {[%emt 0:00:05]}
    14. Qd2 {531} g5 {184} 15. Kg1 {314} Bg4 {201} 16. Qf2 {[%emt 0:00:16]} Rfe8 {
    666} 17. Be3 {682} Bxf3 {578} 18. Nd2 {[%emt 0:00:20]} Rxe3 {[%emt 0:00:22]}
    19. Qxe3 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Bh5 {90} 20. Qh3 {906} Be2 {[%emt 0:00:58]} 21. Re1 {
    63} Re8 {75} 22. Bc4 {253} Qd8 {1129} 23. Qxh6 {301} Bxc4 {[%emt 0:00:26]} 24.
    Rxe8+ {[%emt 0:00:09]} Qxe8 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 25. Qxg5+ {[%emt 0:00:04]} Kf8 {
    [%emt 0:00:05]} 26. Qc5+ {[%emt 0:00:07]} Kg8 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 27. Qg5+ {
    [%emt 0:00:04]} Kf8 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 28. Qh6+ {[%emt 0:00:02]} Kg8 {[%emt 0:00:
    06]} 29. Qg5+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.07”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “Giri, Anish”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C84”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2755”]
    [PlyCount “76”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {[%emt 0:00:02]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 2. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Nc6 {
    [%emt 0:00:04]} 3. Bb5 {[%emt 0:00:10]} a6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 4. Ba4 {[%emt 0:00:
    03]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 5. O-O {[%emt 0:00:23]} Be7 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 6. d3 {
    106} b5 {[%emt 0:00:30]} 7. Bb3 {[%emt 0:00:03]} d6 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 8. a3 {
    [%emt 0:00:03]} Na5 {[%emt 0:00:46]} 9. Ba2 {[%emt 0:00:08]} c5 {[%emt 0:00:06]
    } 10. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:12]} Be6 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 11. Nh4 {[%emt 0:00:31]} O-O {
    [%emt 0:00:44]} 12. Nf5 {115} Rc8 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 13. Bg5 {349} Bxf5 {1064}
    14. exf5 {[%emt 0:00:56]} Ne8 {[%emt 0:00:20]} 15. Be3 {1011} Bg5 {151} 16. Bd5
    {[%emt 0:00:22]} Bxe3 {469} 17. fxe3 {[%emt 0:00:03]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 18.
    Qf3 {[%emt 0:00:33]} Re8 {710} 19. b3 {160} h6 {689} 20. Be4 {124} c4 {254} 21.
    dxc4 {391} Nxc4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 22. bxc4 {117} Rxc4 {[%emt 0:00:27]} 23. Bc6 {
    [%emt 0:00:14]} Rxc3 {[%emt 0:00:27]} 24. Bxe8 {[%emt 0:00:03]} Qxe8 {[%emt 0:
    00:43]} 25. Qb7 {[%emt 0:00:17]} Ng4 {179} 26. f6 {545} Nxf6 {530} 27. Qxa6 {
    [%emt 0:00:48]} Qd7 {149} 28. Rab1 {544} Rc5 {430} 29. a4 {457} bxa4 {169} 30.
    Rb8+ {211} Kh7 {239} 31. Rxf6 {[%emt 0:00:28]} gxf6 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 32. Qa8 {
    [%emt 0:00:03]} Qc6 {243} 33. Rh8+ {[%emt 0:00:21]} Kg6 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 34.
    Qg8+ {423} Kf5 {[%emt 0:00:01]} 35. Qxf7 {[%emt 0:00:57]} Rxc2 {187} 36. Qh7+ {
    162} Ke6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 37. Qg8+ {[%emt 0:00:07]} Kf5 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 38.
    Qh7+ {[%emt 0:00:27]} Ke6 {[%emt 0:00:01]} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.07”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “Anand, Viswanathan”]
    [Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “B90”]
    [WhiteElo “2770”]
    [BlackElo “2791”]
    [PlyCount “59”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} c5 {[%emt 0:00:18]} 2. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:09]} d6 {[%emt 0:
    00:03]} 3. d4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} cxd4 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 4. Nxd4 {[%emt 0:00:06]}
    Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 5. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:07]} a6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 6. h3 {
    [%emt 0:00:09]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 7. Nde2 {[%emt 0:00:09]} h5 {[%emt 0:00:08]
    } 8. Nd5 {[%emt 0:00:07]} Nxd5 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 9. Qxd5 {[%emt 0:00:11]} Nc6 {
    [%emt 0:00:05]} 10. Qd1 {[%emt 0:00:38]} Be6 {[%emt 0:00:10]} 11. Nc3 {[%emt 0:
    00:36]} Ne7 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 12. Bd3 {191} d5 {615} 13. exd5 {[%emt 0:00:25]}
    Nxd5 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 14. O-O {[%emt 0:00:07]} Nb4 {882} 15. Qe2 {1254} Qc7 {
    975} 16. f4 {662} Bc5+ {528} 17. Kh1 {113} Nxd3 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 18. cxd3 {
    [%emt 0:00:12]} Bd4 {[%emt 0:00:01]} 19. f5 {496} Bd7 {419} 20. f6 {158} g6 {
    [%emt 0:00:28]} 21. Nd5 {155} Qd6 {[%emt 0:00:12]} 22. Ne7 {[%emt 0:00:29]} Rd8
    {60} 23. a4 {963} Bc6 {584} 24. Be3 {443} Bxe3 {451} 25. Nxc6 {67} bxc6 {
    [%emt 0:00:09]} 26. Qxe3 {[%emt 0:00:07]} Qd4 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 27. Rae1 {257}
    Qxe3 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 28. Rxe3 {[%emt 0:00:06]} O-O {[%emt 0:00:06]} 29. Rxe5 {
    [%emt 0:00:24]} Rxd3 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 30. Rc5 {[%emt 0:00:13]} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.07”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “Topalov, Veselin”]
    [Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “B90”]
    [WhiteElo “2761”]
    [BlackElo “2819”]
    [PlyCount “108”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} c5 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 2. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:09]} d6 {[%emt 0:
    00:02]} 3. d4 {[%emt 0:00:06]} cxd4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 4. Nxd4 {[%emt 0:00:07]}
    Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 5. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:10]} a6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 6. Be3 {
    [%emt 0:00:13]} Ng4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 7. Bc1 {[%emt 0:00:07]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:
    03]} 8. f3 {[%emt 0:00:08]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 9. Nb3 {[%emt 0:00:11]} Be6 {
    [%emt 0:00:32]} 10. Be3 {[%emt 0:00:10]} Be7 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 11. Qd2 {[%emt 0:
    00:15]} O-O {[%emt 0:00:04]} 12. O-O-O {[%emt 0:00:08]} Nbd7 {[%emt 0:00:03]}
    13. g4 {[%emt 0:00:15]} b5 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 14. g5 {[%emt 0:00:21]} b4 {
    [%emt 0:00:03]} 15. gxf6 {[%emt 0:00:25]} bxc3 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 16. Qxc3 {
    [%emt 0:00:06]} Nxf6 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 17. Na5 {[%emt 0:00:07]} Rc8 {[%emt 0:00:
    02]} 18. Nc6 {[%emt 0:00:15]} Qe8 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 19. Nxe7+ {[%emt 0:00:11]}
    Qxe7 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 20. Qa5 {[%emt 0:00:13]} Rc6 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 21. Rg1 {
    102} Rfc8 {[%emt 0:00:28]} 22. Rg2 {[%emt 0:00:15]} Bh3 {165} 23. Rgd2 {
    [%emt 0:00:13]} Bxf1 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 24. Rxf1 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Qe6 {305} 25.
    Rff2 {[%emt 0:00:07]} h6 {517} 26. Kb1 {[%emt 0:00:22]} Qh3 {294} 27. Rd3 {342}
    Rxc2 {556} 28. Rxc2 {179} Qf1+ {[%emt 0:00:25]} 29. Bc1 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Qxd3 {
    [%emt 0:00:06]} 30. Qd2 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Qxc2+ {[%emt 0:00:06]} 31. Qxc2 {
    [%emt 0:00:07]} Rxc2 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 32. Kxc2 {[%emt 0:00:02]} Kf8 {1473} 33.
    Kb3 {[%emt 0:00:52]} Ke7 {[%emt 0:00:11]} 34. Kc4 {[%emt 0:00:54]} Ke6 {458}
    35. b4 {264} d5+ {163} 36. exd5+ {[%emt 0:00:07]} Nxd5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 37. Bd2
    {486} f5 {711} 38. b5 {563} axb5+ {[%emt 0:00:18]} 39. Kxb5 {[%emt 0:00:11]}
    Kd6 {631} 40. a4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} g5 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 41. a5 {479} f4 {195} 42.
    Kc4 {842} Nc7 {[%emt 0:00:12]} 43. Bb4+ {111} Ke6 {261} 44. h3 {264} h5 {
    [%emt 0:00:50]} 45. Bc5 {316} e4 {400} 46. fxe4 {[%emt 0:00:09]} g4 {[%emt 0:
    00:04]} 47. hxg4 {121} hxg4 {[%emt 0:00:13]} 48. Kd3 {173} Na6 {[%emt 0:00:08]}
    49. Bd4 {142} Nb4+ {99} 50. Ke2 {[%emt 0:00:21]} Na6 {[%emt 0:00:12]} 51. Kf2 {
    67} Kd6 {[%emt 0:00:29]} 52. Kg2 {139} Ke6 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 53. Kf2 {[%emt 0:
    00:06]} Kd6 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 54. Kg2 {[%emt 0:00:06]} Ke6 {[%emt 0:00:03]}
    1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.07”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “Svidler, Peter”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A05”]
    [WhiteElo “2751”]
    [BlackElo “2807”]
    [PlyCount “82”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:14]} 2. c4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} e6 {
    [%emt 0:00:14]} 3. Nc3 {77} d5 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 4. d4 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Be7 {
    [%emt 0:00:08]} 5. Bg5 {284} h6 {[%emt 0:00:36]} 6. Bh4 {[%emt 0:00:28]} O-O {
    [%emt 0:00:15]} 7. e3 {[%emt 0:00:08]} Ne4 {[%emt 0:00:21]} 8. Bxe7 {[%emt 0:
    00:33]} Qxe7 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 9. Rc1 {271} c6 {163} 10. Bd3 {92} Nxc3 {[%emt 0:
    00:07]} 11. Rxc3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} dxc4 {60} 12. Bxc4 {124} Nd7 {127} 13. O-O {
    73} b6 {338} 14. Bd3 {729} c5 {79} 15. Be4 {[%emt 0:00:58]} Rb8 {[%emt 0:00:18]
    } 16. Qa4 {[%emt 0:00:42]} Nf6 {591} 17. Bc6 {397} cxd4 {886} 18. Nxd4 {112} e5
    {248} 19. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:14]} Rd8 {412} 20. h3 {798} a6 {452} 21. Rfc1 {370}
    b5 {1331} 22. Qa5 {479} Be6 {906} 23. Qxa6 {1192} Nd5 {491} 24. Bxd5 {73} Bxd5
    {[%emt 0:00:04]} 25. Rc7 {162} Qb4 {[%emt 0:00:41]} 26. Qa3 {403} Qxa3 {301}
    27. bxa3 {[%emt 0:00:09]} Bxf3 {[%emt 0:00:15]} 28. gxf3 {[%emt 0:00:02]} Ra8 {
    159} 29. R7c5 {277} Rxa3 {[%emt 0:00:47]} 30. Rxe5 {[%emt 0:00:58]} Rxa2 {87}
    31. Rxb5 {[%emt 0:00:02]} Rdd2 {[%emt 0:00:34]} 32. Rf1 {[%emt 0:00:02]} Rdb2 {
    149} 33. Re5 {203} Rb6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 34. f4 {[%emt 0:00:20]} Rab2 {80} 35.
    Kg2 {[%emt 0:00:21]} g6 {[%emt 0:00:13]} 36. h4 {300} h5 {[%emt 0:00:01]} 37.
    f5 {159} Kg7 {[%emt 0:00:01]} 38. fxg6 {77} Rxg6+ {[%emt 0:00:07]} 39. Kh3 {
    [%emt 0:00:08]} Rf6 {[%emt 0:00:18]} 40. Rg1+ {[%emt 0:00:00]} Rg6 {[%emt 0:00:
    00]} 41. Rf1 {694} Rf6 {278} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.08”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
    [Black “Svidler, Peter”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C92”]
    [WhiteElo “2819”]
    [BlackElo “2751”]
    [PlyCount “69”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(5s)} e5 {(8s)} 2. Nf3 {(3s)} Nc6 {(3s)} 3. Bb5 {(5s)} a6 {(7s)} 4. Ba4
    {(4s)} Nf6 {(5s)} 5. O-O {(23s)} Be7 {(3s)} 6. Re1 {(67s)} b5 {(5s)} 7. Bb3 {
    (2s)} d6 {(6s)} 8. c3 {(6s)} O-O {(5s)} 9. h3 {(3s)} Re8 {(9s)} 10. d4 {(9s)}
    Bb7 {(4s)} 11. Nbd2 {(14s)} Bf8 {(5s)} 12. d5 {(81s)} Nb8 {(26s)} 13. Nf1 {
    ( 24s)} Nbd7 {(4s)} 14. N3h2 {(7s)} c6 {(31s)} 15. dxc6 {(217s)} Bxc6 {(12s)}
    16. Bg5 {(110s)} Qc7 {( 16s)} 17. Qf3 {(1048s)} a5 {(18s)} 18. Rad1 {(241s)}
    Qb7 {(339s)} 19. Ng3 {(984s)} a4 {(60s)} 20. Bc2 {(6s)} b4 {(8s)} 21. Nf5 {
    (543s)} Re6 {(298s)} 22. Bxf6 {(186s)} Nxf6 {(155s)} 23. Ng4 {(7s)} Nxg4 {
    (395s)} 24. hxg4 {(7s)} g6 {(459s)} 25. Ne3 {(194s)} bxc3 {(11s)} 26. bxc3 {
    (21s)} Bh6 {(80s)} 27. Rb1 {(502s)} Qa7 {(208s)} 28. Rb4 {(73s)} Bg5 {(486s)}
    29. Qe2 {(35s)} Ree8 {(1313s)} 30. Qd3 {(210s)} Red8 {(478s)} 31. Nd5 {(233s)}
    Rab8 {(254s)} 32. Reb1 {(273s)} a3 {(1103s)} 33. Nb6 {(573 s)} Kg7 {(290s)} 34.
    g3 {(166s)} Rb7 {(349s)} 35. Kg2 {(610s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.08”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
    [Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D37”]
    [WhiteElo “2791”]
    [BlackElo “2761”]
    [PlyCount “83”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(6s)} Nf6 {(9s)} 2. c4 {(3s)} e6 {(7s)} 3. Nf3 {(4s)} d5 {(11s)} 4. Nc3
    {(10s)} Be7 {(17s)} 5. Bf4 {(9s)} O-O {(18s)} 6. Qc2 {(5s)} c5 {(164s)} 7. dxc5
    {(23s)} Na6 {(11s)} 8. Rd1 {(17s)} Nxc5 {( 147s)} 9. cxd5 {(12s)} Nxd5 {(180s)}
    10. e4 {(2244s)} Nxf4 {(14s)} 11. Rxd8 {(5s)} Rxd8 {(7s)} 12. Ne5 {(673s)} Bf6
    {(329s)} 13. Nb5 {(146s)} b6 {(444s)} 14. b4 {(62s)} Bxe5 {(858s)} 15. bxc5 {
    (3s)} a6 {(223s)} 16. Nd6 {(72s)} bxc5 {(167s)} 17. Nc4 {(94s)} Bd4 {(166s)}
    18. g3 {(1s)} Ng6 {(67s)} 19. Be2 {(4s)} Bd7 {(691s)} 20. O-O {(9s)} Bb5 {
    (242s)} 21. Na5 {(281s)} Ne5 {(150s)} 22. Rd1 {(159s)} Rab8 {(891s)} 23. Kg2 {
    (50s)} Bxe2 {(175s)} 24. Qxe2 {(14s)} Rb5 {(24s)} 25. Nb3 {(47s)} h6 {(27s)}
    26. Rd2 {(427s)} Nc6 {(194s)} 27. Qc4 {(301s)} e5 {(103s)} 28. a4 {(199s)} Rb4
    {(87s)} 29. Qxa6 {( 49s)} Rxb3 {(232s)} 30. Qxc6 {(7s)} Ra3 {(60s)} 31. Qa6 {
    (181s)} Rb8 {(49s)} 32. a5 {(200s)} c4 {( 111s)} 33. Qxc4 {(390s)} Rxa5 {(5s)}
    34. Kh3 {(50s)} Rc5 {(53s)} 35. Qe2 {(20s)} Rcb5 {(37s)} 36. f4 {(40s)} Rb4 {
    (77s)} 37. Qd1 {(92s)} Rb1 {(107s)} 38. Qh5 {(125s)} R1b5 {(196s)} 39. Qe2 {
    (196s)} Rb4 40. Qd1 {(0s)} Rb1 {(0s)} 41. Qh5 {(297s)} R1b5 {(61s)} 42. Qd1 {
    (14s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.08”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E10”]
    [WhiteElo “2792”]
    [BlackElo “2807”]
    [PlyCount “59”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(5s)} Nf6 {(9s)} 2. c4 {(16s)} e6 {(7s)} 3. Nf3 {(10s)} c5 {(6s)} 4. e3
    {(47s)} a6 {(81s)} 5. Nc3 {(93s)} d5 {(21s)} 6. cxd5 {(6s)} exd5 {(10s)} 7. g3
    {(6s)} Nc6 {(263s)} 8. Bg2 {(35s)} Bd6 {(111 s)} 9. dxc5 {(327s)} Bxc5 {(17s)}
    10. O-O {(30s)} O-O {(16s)} 11. Nd4 {(768s)} Nxd4 {(338s)} 12. exd4 {(6s)} Ba7
    {(32s)} 13. Bg5 {(220s)} Be6 {(208s)} 14. Rc1 {(19s)} Rc8 {(534s)} 15. Bxf6 {
    (14s)} Qxf6 {(6s)} 16. Nxd5 {(4s)} Bxd5 {(4s)} 17. Bxd5 {(4s)} Rxc1 {(26s)} 18.
    Qxc1 {(3s)} b5 {(19s)} 19. Qc6 {(32s)} Bxd4 {(9s)} 20. Qxf6 {(8s)} Bxf6 {(4s)}
    21. b3 {(22s)} Rd8 {(6s)} 22. Rd1 {(13s)} Kf8 {(6 s)} 23. Kf1 {(14s)} a5 {(12s)
    } 24. Bf3 {(13s)} Rxd1+ {(5s)} 25. Bxd1 {(4s)} Ke7 {(6s)} 26. a4 {(7s)} bxa4 {
    (3s)} 27. bxa4 {(3s)} Bc3 {(8s)} 28. Bb3 {(5s)} Bb4 {(3s)} 29. Ke2 {(5s)} Kf8 {
    (3s)} 30. Bc4 {( 5s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.08”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Anand, Viswanathan”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A14”]
    [WhiteElo “2755”]
    [BlackElo “2770”]
    [PlyCount “72”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. c4 {(5s)} c5 {(8s)} 2. Nf3 {(26s)} Nc6 {(12s)} 3. Nc3 {(5s)} Nf6 {(7s)} 4.
    g3 {(8s)} d5 {(7s)} 5. cxd5 {(15s)} Nxd5 {(16s)} 6. Bg2 {(3s)} e6 {(35s)} 7.
    O-O {(126s)} Be7 {(125s)} 8. d4 {(6s)} O-O {(84 s)} 9. Nxd5 {(608s)} exd5 {
    (21s)} 10. dxc5 {(27s)} Bxc5 {(12s)} 11. Bg5 {(99s)} Qd7 {(19s)} 12. Rc1 {
    (144s)} Bb6 {(155s)} 13. Bd2 {(249s)} Qe7 {(137s)} 14. Bc3 {(550s)} Rd8 {(193s)
    } 15. e3 {(740s)} Bf5 {(90s)} 16. Re1 {(327s)} Be4 {(1088s)} 17. Re2 {(717s)}
    Rd7 {(788s)} 18. Rd2 {(54s)} Rad8 {( 531s)} 19. Qe2 {(152s)} Rd6 {(607s)} 20.
    Rcd1 {(228s)} h6 {(439s)} 21. h4 {(410s)} Qe6 {(613s)} 22. Nd4 {(600s)} Nxd4 {
    (351s)} 23. Bxd4 {(114s)} Ba5 {(21s)} 24. Bc3 {(238s)} Bxc3 {(24s)} 25. bxc3 {
    ( 2s)} Bxg2 {(11s)} 26. Kxg2 {(3s)} Rc8 {(128s)} 27. Qf3 {(30s)} Rxc3 {(20s)}
    28. Rxd5 {(3s)} Rxd5 {( 11s)} 29. Rxd5 {(8s)} Rc8 {(90s)} 30. Ra5 {(148s)} Qb6
    {(39s)} 31. Re5 {(21s)} Kf8 {(171s)} 32. Qf5 {(120s)} Re8 {(98s)} 33. Rxe8+ {
    (144s)} Kxe8 {(6s)} 34. Qe5+ {(10s)} Kf8 {(6s)} 35. Qb8+ {(4s)} Ke7 {(5s)} 36.
    Qe5+ {(4s)} Kf8 {(6s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.08”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Giri, Anish”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D02”]
    [WhiteElo “2771”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [PlyCount “88”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. Nf3 {(5s)} d5 {(4s)} 2. d4 {(5s)} Nf6 {(3s)} 3. c4 {(6s)} e6 {(3s)} 4. g3 {
    (5s)} Bb4+ {(6s)} 5. Bd2 {(5s)} Be7 {(3s)} 6. Bg2 {(8s)} O-O 7. O-O {(5s)} c6 {
    (12s)} 8. Qc2 {(5s)} Nbd7 {(10s)} 9. Rd1 {(16s)} b6 {(7s)} 10. b3 {(5s)} a5 {
    (19s)} 11. Bc3 {(455s)} Ne4 {(52s)} 12. Bb2 {(64s)} f5 {(16s)} 13. e3 {( 935s)}
    Ba6 {(221s)} 14. Ba3 {(517s)} Bxa3 {(808s)} 15. Nxa3 {(4s)} b5 {(8s)} 16. Rac1
    {(348s)} Qe7 {(307s)} 17. cxb5 {(311s)} cxb5 {(27s)} 18. Nb1 {(3s)} b4 {(205s)}
    19. Qb2 {(529s)} Rfc8 {(131s)} 20. Ne1 {(134s)} h5 {(316s)} 21. Rxc8+ {(475s)}
    Rxc8 {(16s)} 22. Rc1 {(2s)} Qd8 {(114s)} 23. Bf1 {(152s)} Bxf1 {(86s)} 24. Kxf1
    {(7s)} h4 {(17s)} 25. Rxc8 {(285s)} Qxc8 {(2s)} 26. Qc2 {(7s)} Qxc2 {( 409s)}
    27. Nxc2 {(4s)} hxg3 {(20s)} 28. hxg3 {(4s)} g5 {(192s)} 29. Ke2 {(162s)} Kf7 {
    (286s)} 30. a3 {(27s)} bxa3 {(32s)} 31. Nbxa3 {(7s)} Nc3+ {(151s)} 32. Kd2 {
    (6s)} Ne4+ {(5s)} 33. Ke2 {(4s)} Ndf6 {(225s)} 34. b4 {(326s)} a4 {(622s)} 35.
    Ne1 {(5s)} Ke7 {(63s)} 36. Nd3 {(193s)} Nd7 {(29s)} 37. Kd1 {(400s)} Nb6 {
    (385s)} 38. Kc2 {(28s)} Nc4 {(528s)} 39. Nxc4 {(603s)} dxc4 {(7s)} 40. Nb2 {
    (0s)} Nxf2 {(0s)} 41. Nxa4 {(0s)} Ne4 {(456s)} 42. Nb6 {(125s)} c3 {(701s)} 43.
    Na4 {(178s)} Nxg3 {( 10s)} 44. Kxc3 {(139s)} f4 {(149s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.09”]
    [Round “5”]
    [White “Topalov, Veselin”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “C92”]
    [WhiteElo “2761”]
    [BlackElo “2755”]
    [PlyCount “131”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(2s)} e5 {(5s)} 2. Nf3 {(5s)} Nc6 {(4s)} 3. Bb5 {(7s)} a6 {(4s)} 4. Ba4
    {(4s)} Nf6 {(5s)} 5. O-O {(5s)} Be7 {(5s)} 6. Re1 {(23s)} b5 {(7s)} 7. Bb3 {
    (5s)} d6 {(4s)} 8. c3 {(7s)} O-O {(6s)} 9. h3 {(10s)} Re8 {(4s)} 10. d4 {(16s)}
    Bb7 {(4s)} 11. Nbd2 {(15s)} Bf8 {(5s)} 12. a3 {(85s)} h6 {(7s)} 13. Bc2 {
    ( 174s)} Nb8 {(9s)} 14. b3 {(105s)} Nbd7 {(20s)} 15. Bb2 {(6s)} Rc8 {(739s)}
    16. a4 {(128s)} b4 {(140s)} 17. cxb4 {(169s)} exd4 {(20s)} 18. Bxd4 {(234s)} c5
    {(186s)} 19. bxc5 {(496s)} Nxc5 {(7s)} 20. Qb1 {(55s)} a5 {(672s)} 21. b4 {
    (507s)} axb4 {(648s)} 22. Qxb4 {(135s)} Ba8 {(623s)} 23. a5 {(338s)} d5 {(185s)
    } 24. Bxf6 {(66s)} Qxf6 {(6s)} 25. e5 {(41s)} Qa6 {(728s)} 26. Qg4 {(18s)} Ne6
    {(68s)} 27. Bf5 {(231s)} Rc5 {(357s)} 28. Bxe6 {(252s)} Rxe6 {(35s)} 29. Nb3 {
    (183s)} Rc4 {(58s)} 30. Nfd4 {( 153s)} Bb7 {(172s)} 31. Qf5 {(588s)} Re7 {
    (100s)} 32. e6 {(191s)} Bc8 {(166s)} 33. exf7+ {(76s)} Rxf7 {(3s)} 34. Qxd5 {
    (13s)} Bb7 {(128s)} 35. Qe6 {(86s)} Rb4 {(21s)} 36. Re3 {(346s)} Qa8 {(115s)}
    37. Rc1 {(281s)} Bd5 {(137s)} 38. Rc8 {(27s)} Bxe6 {(61s)} 39. Rxa8 {(6s)} Bc4
    {(12s)} 40. Rc8 {(0 s)} Kh7 {(0s)} 41. Rc3 {(940s)} Ba6 {(1175s)} 42. Rd8 {(9s)
    } Ra4 {(268s)} 43. Ne6 {(686s)} Bb4 {(191 s)} 44. Rc6 {(281s)} Bb5 {(88s)} 45.
    Rc1 {(213s)} Ra2 {(370s)} 46. f3 {(339s)} Ba4 {(123s)} 47. Nbd4 {(592s)} Bxa5 {
    (61s)} 48. Ra8 {(226s)} Bb6 {(308s)} 49. Kh1 {(76s)} Bb3 {(271s)} 50. Rb8 {
    (50 s)} Bxe6 {(26s)} 51. Rxb6 {(357s)} Bf5 {(841s)} 52. Rd6 {(65s)} Bg6 {(165s)
    } 53. Rd8 {(82s)} Bf5 {( 102s)} 54. Rd6 {(132s)} Bg6 {(4s)} 55. Rc8 {(14s)} Rb7
    {(91s)} 56. Rdd8 {(260s)} Bd3 {(157s)} 57. Ne6 {(326s)} Bf1 {(271s)} 58. Nf8+ {
    (559s)} Kg8 {(4s)} 59. Ng6+ {(16s)} Kh7 {(232s)} 60. Nf8+ {( 581s)} Kg8 {(1s)}
    61. Ne6+ {(172s)} Kh7 {(111s)} 62. Rh8+ {(22s)} Kg6 {(7s)} 63. Nf4+ {(5s)} Kg5
    {( 81s)} 64. Rhf8 {(32s)} Rbb2 {(435s)} 65. Rc7 {(49s)} g6 {(45s)} 66. g3 {
    (33s)} 1-0

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.09”]
    [Round “5”]
    [White “Anand, Viswanathan”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C50”]
    [WhiteElo “2770”]
    [BlackElo “2771”]
    [PlyCount “60”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(4s)} e5 {(5s)} 2. Nf3 {(9s)} Nc6 {(6s)} 3. Bc4 {(10s)} Bc5 {(8s)} 4.
    O-O {(29s)} Nf6 {(5s)} 5. d3 {(6s)} O-O {(5s)} 6. c3 {(8s)} d5 {(4s)} 7. exd5 {
    (11s)} Nxd5 {(6s)} 8. a4 {(14s)} Nb6 {(12s)} 9. Bb5 {[#] (78s)} Ne7 $1 {
    (6s) This was first played by Norwegian GM Jon Hammer in May this year in the
    French Top 12 League.} 10. a5 {(86s)} c6 {(5s)} 11. axb6 {(78s)} cxb5 {(4s)}
    12. Rxa7 {(10s)} Rxa7 {( 6s)} 13. bxa7 {(7s)} Bxa7 {(3s)} 14. Nxe5 Bf5 {(10s)}
    15. Re1 {(965s)} (15. Be3 Bb8 16. d4 Ng6 17. Nxg6 hxg6 18. Nd2 Qd6 19. g3 Qd5
    20. Re1 Re8 21. Bf4 Rxe1+ 22. Qxe1 Bxf4 23. gxf4 b4 {1/2-1/2 (77) Milliet,S
    (2346)-Hammer,J (2689) Drancy 2016}) 15… Bb8 $1 {(17s) Anand said that this
    was more precise than what he himself had prepared in this line, and praised
    the idea of 15…Bb8! followed by …b4 and …Qd5.} 16. Na3 {(169s)} b4 {
    (417s)} 17. cxb4 {(31s)} Qd5 {(7s)} 18. Nec4 {(804s)} Bxd3 {(1016s)} 19. Rxe7 {
    (383s)} Bxc4 {( 6s)} 20. Qxd5 {(54s)} Bxd5 {(5s)} 21. Rd7 {(178s)} Bc6 {(63s)}
    22. Rd1 {(10s)} Ba4 {(300s)} 23. Rd3 {(38s)} Bc7 {(104s)} 24. b3 {(97s)} Bc6 {
    (5s)} 25. f3 {(84s)} Rd8 {(27s)} 26. Rxd8+ {(16s)} Bxd8 {(4s)} 27. b5 {(14s)}
    Bd7 {(40s)} 28. Kf2 {(57s)} Be7 {(14s)} 29. Ke2 {(17s)} Bxa3 {(4s)} 30. Bxa3 {
    (6s)} Bxb5+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.09”]
    [Round “5”]
    [White “Giri, Anish”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A29”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2792”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “59”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. c4 {(2s)} Nf6 {(17s)} 2. Nc3 {(4s)} e5 {(11s)} 3. Nf3 {(5s)} Nc6 {(11s)} 4. g3 {(3s)} d5 {(75s)} 5.
    cxd5 {(10s)} Nxd5 {(3s)} 6. Bg2 {(6s)} Nb6 {(4s)} 7. O-O {(8s)} Be7 {(5s)} 8. Rb1 {(18s)} a5 {(16s)} 9.
    d3 {(8s)} O-O {(8s)} 10. Be3 {(14s)} Be6 {(5s)} 11. d4 {(23s)} exd4 {(53s)} 12. Nxd4 {(5s)} Nxd4 {(29
    s)} 13. Bxd4 {(6s)} c6 {(103s)} 14. f4 {(5s)} f5 {(427s)} 15. e4 {(44s)} Rf7 {(35s)} 16. Bh3 {(373s)}
    Bb4 {(1082s)} 17. Bxf5 {(1045s)} Bxf5 {(38s)} 18. exf5 {(3s)} Nc4 {(40s)} 19. Qd3 {(1380s)} c5 {(
    324s)} 20. Qxc4 {(210s)} Qxd4+ {(10s)} 21. Qxd4 {(3s)} cxd4 {(6s)} 22. Ne4 {(247s)} Re8 {(65s)} 23.
    a3 {(501s)} Rxe4 {(64s)} 24. axb4 {(2s)} axb4 {(23s)} 25. Rbe1 {(117s)} Rxe1 {(10s)} 26. Rxe1 {(2s)}
    Rxf5 {(6s)} 27. Rd1 {(84s)} Rc5 {(15s)} 28. Rxd4 {(39s)} Rc1+ {(3s)} 29. Kg2 {(28s)} Rc2+ {(4s)} 30.
    Kh3 {(18s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.09”]
    [Round “5”]
    [White “Svidler, Peter”]
    [Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E63”]
    [WhiteElo “2751”]
    [BlackElo “2791”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “82”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. c4 {(5s)} Nf6 {(12s)} 2. Nc3 {(8s)} g6 {(5s)} 3. Nf3 {(202s)} Bg7 {(18s)} 4. g3 {(11s)} O-O {(27s)}
    5. Bg2 {(3s)} d6 {(5s)} 6. O-O {(179s)} Nc6 {(9s)} 7. d4 {(125s)} a6 {(10s)} 8. Re1 {(241s)} Rb8 {(20
    s)} 9. Rb1 {(296s)} b5 {(406s)} 10. cxb5 {(26s)} axb5 {(48s)} 11. b4 {(12s)} e6 {(79s)} 12. e4 {(826
    s)} Ne7 {(69s)} 13. Bf4 {(662s)} h6 {(323s)} 14. h3 {(304s)} Bb7 {(552s)} 15. g4 {(290s)} g5 {(95s)}
    16. Bg3 {(124s)} Ng6 {(5s)} 17. Nd2 {(329s)} Nd7 {(1295s)} 18. Nb3 {(95s)} Ba6 {(1318s)} 19. Na5
    {(227s)} Rb6 {(11s)} 20. a4 {(64s)} Nb8 {(308s)} 21. axb5 {(230s)} Bxb5 {(5s)} 22. Nxb5 {(9s)} Rxb5
    {(4s)} 23. Bf1 {(35s)} Rb6 {(8s)} 24. b5 {(34s)} c6 {(566s)} 25. Nc4 {(154s)} Rxb5 {(9s)} 26. Rxb5 {(
    17s)} cxb5 {(6s)} 27. Nxd6 {(4s)} b4 {(318s)} 28. e5 {(554s)} Nc6 {(11s)} 29. Bc4 {(503s)} Qb6 {(319
    s)} 30. d5 {(466s)} Bxe5 {(122s)} 31. Bxe5 {(227s)} Ncxe5 {(9s)} 32. dxe6 {(3s)} fxe6 {(5s)} 33.
    Bxe6+ {(9s)} Kh8 {(8s)} 34. Bf5 {(46s)} b3 {(782s)} 35. Qd5 {(215s)} b2 {(58s)} 36. Rb1 {(73s)} Qc7
    {(90s)} 37. Bxg6 {(105s)} Qc1+ {(22s)} 38. Kg2 {(86s)} Nxg6 {(3s)} 39. Qd4+ {(5s)} Kg8 {(22s)} 40.
    Qd5+ {(0s)} Kh8 {(0s)} 41. Qd4+ {(0s)} Kg8 {(0s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.09”]
    [Round “5”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “B54”]
    [WhiteElo “2807”]
    [BlackElo “2819”]
    [PlyCount “93”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(3s)} c5 {(4s)} 2. Nf3 {(4s)} d6 {(3s)} 3. d4 {(5s)} cxd4 {(4s)} 4. Nxd4
    {(5s)} Nf6 {(5s)} 5. f3 {(6s)} Nc6 {(142s)} 6. Nc3 {(45s)} e5 {(16s)} 7. Nb3 {
    (5s)} Be7 {(28s)} 8. Be3 {(11s)} Be6 {(138s)} 9. Nd5 {(161s)} Bxd5 {(144s)} 10.
    exd5 {(5s)} Nb4 {(6s)} 11. c4 {(134s)} a5 {(134s)} 12. Be2 {(686s)} Na6 {(720s)
    } 13. Nd2 {(1066s)} O-O {(293s)} 14. Nb1 {(183s)} Nd7 {(240s)} 15. Qd2 {(159s)}
    f5 {( 204s)} 16. Nc3 {(62s)} Bh4+ {(1021s)} 17. g3 {(16s)} f4 {(5s)} 18. Bf2 {
    (52s)} Bg5 {(6s)} 19. Qc2 {( 354s)} Nac5 {(1002s)} 20. Kf1 {(1407s)} Qe8 {
    (320s)} 21. Re1 {(782s)} e4 {(206s)} 22. Bxc5 {(173s)} Nxc5 {(205s)} 23. Nxe4 {
    (46s)} Nxe4 {(11s)} 24. Bd3 {(28s)} fxg3 {(324s)} 25. Bxe4 {[#] (17s)} Qh5 $2 {
    ( 630s)} ({Black need to play} 25… g2+ {first} 26. Kxg2 {before playing} Qh5
    {after which he would be relatively fine.}) 26. Kg2 $1 {(260s)} gxh2 {(4s)} 27.
    Rxh2 {(15s)} Bh4 {(4s)} 28. Bxh7+ {(95s)} Kh8 {(5s)} 29. Be4 {(294s)} Rf4 {
    (59s)} 30. Kh1 {(320s) and now Black is in seriousn trouble.} Qe5 {(158s)} 31.
    Rg1 {(56s)} (31. c5 {was strongest here. The Bh4 is pinned and this would free
    the way for White’s central pawns.} dxc5 32. Qxc5 Rd8 33. Qb6 Rxd5 34. Qf2 $1 {
    The point is that after Rxd5 has been played, Black suddenly finds himself
    with the bishop on h4 attacked, and if the queen comes to its rescue, the rook
    is hanging on d5.} Rd6 35. Bg6 {and} Qxe1+ 36. Qxe1 {is forced due to the back
    rank threats.}) 31… g5 {(45s)} 32. Qc3 $2 {(366s)} ({Again} 32. c5 {would do
    the job.}) 32… Qxc3 {(12s)} 33. bxc3 {(3s)} Kg7 {(5s)} 34. Rb1 {(101s)} Rf7 {
    (176s)} 35. Rb6 {(77s)} Ra6 {(221s)} 36. Rhb2 $2 {(81s)} ({White really needed
    to keep the rooks on the board to avoid the increase in drawishness due to the
    opposite-colored bishops.} 36. Rb5) 36… Rxb6 {(7s)} 37. Rxb6 {(3s)} Bf2 {
    (102s)} 38. Rxd6 {(77s)} Rf6 $1 {(4s) White cannot avoid the exchange of the
    rooks and thus the dreaded opposite-colored bishop ending is inevitable.} 39.
    Rd8 {(17 s)} Rf8 {(4s)} 40. Rd6 {(0s)} Rf6 {(0s)} 41. Rd8 {(84s)} Rf8 {(0s)}
    42. Rxf8 {(3s)} Kxf8 {(0s)} 43. d6 {(16s)} Bc5 {(136s)} 44. d7 {(14s)} Ke7 {
    (4s)} 45. Bf5 {(16s)} Be3 {(50s)} 46. Kg2 {(7s)} Bd2 {(114s)} 47. Kf2 {(37s)}
    1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.11”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “A04”]
    [WhiteElo “2792”]
    [BlackElo “2819”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “98”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. Nf3 {(13s)} c5 {(5s)} 2. c4 {(8s)} Nc6 {(3s)} 3. Nc3 {(8s)} e5 {(3s)} 4. g3 {(8s)} g6 {(11s)} 5. Bg2
    {(9s)} Bg7 {(4s)} 6. O-O {(9s)} Nge7 {(45s)} 7. a3 {(11s)} O-O {(114s)} 8. b4 {(128s)} d5 {(193s)} 9.
    cxd5 {(272s)} Nxd5 {(38s)} 10. Ng5 {(180s)} Nc7 {(298s)} 11. Nge4 {(112s)} c4 {(621s)} 12. d3 {(
    1375s)} cxd3 {(361s)} 13. Bg5 {(14s)} f6 {(146s)} 14. Be3 {(11s)} f5 {(527s)} 15. Bg5 {(824s)} Qd4
    {(837s)} 16. Be3 {(12s)} Qd8 {(5s)} 17. Bg5 {(4s)} Qd7 {(560s)} 18. Nc5 {(14s)} dxe2 {(15s)} 19.
    Nxe2 {(573s)} Qxd1 {(80s)} 20. Rfxd1 {(702s)} f4 {(218s)} 21. gxf4 {(185s)} h6 {(160s)} 22. b5 {(
    1335s)} Nxb5 {(88s)} 23. Rab1 {(57s)} Nxa3 {(201s)} 24. Rb3 {(56s)} hxg5 {(531s)} 25. Rxa3 {(124s)}
    exf4 {(296s)} 26. Bd5+ {(299s)} Kh7 {(147s)} 27. Ne4 {(26s)} Kh6 {(484s)} 28. Nd6 {(304s)} Bf6 {(
    28s)} 29. Bxc6 {(74s)} bxc6 {(75s)} 30. Nxc8 {(4s)} Raxc8 {(11s)} 31. Rd7 {(18s)} g4 {(112s)} 32.
    Nxf4 {(17s)} Rcd8 {(291s)} 33. Raxa7 {(97s)} Rxd7 {(7s)} 34. Rxd7 {(4s)} c5 {(6s)} 35. Ne6 {(276s)}
    Rc8 {(7s)} 36. Rc7 {(20s)} Rxc7 {(10s)} 37. Nxc7 {(1s)} c4 {(66s)} 38. Kf1 {(7s)} Kg5 {(115s)} 39.
    Nd5 {(3s)} Be5 {(33s)} 40. Ke2 {(0s)} Bxh2 {(0s)} 41. Ke3 {(426s)} Be5 {(159s)} 42. Nb4 {(333s)} Bd6
    {(137s)} 43. Nd5 {(116s)} Bc5+ {(6s)} 44. Ke2 {(3s)} Kf5 {(8s)} 45. Nc3 {(19s)} Ke5 {(38s)} 46. Nb5
    {(53s)} Bb4 {(41s)} 47. Ke3 {(24s)} g5 {(11s)} 48. Nc7 {(23s)} Bc5+ {(16s)} 49. Ke2 {(7s)} c3 {(42s)}
    0-1

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.11”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Giri, Anish”]
    [Black “Anand, Viswanathan”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A14”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2770”]
    [Annotator “AS”]
    [PlyCount “81”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. c4 {(2s)} c5 {(11s)} 2. Nf3 {(71s)} Nf6 {(13s)} 3. Nc3 {(137s)} Nc6 {(15s)}
    4. g3 {(3s)} d5 {(15s)} 5. cxd5 {(16s)} Nxd5 {(8s)} 6. Bg2 {(2s)} e6 {(16s)} 7.
    O-O {(7s)} Be7 {(5s)} 8. d4 {(3s)} O-O {(10s)} 9. e4 {(2s)} Ndb4 {(71s)} 10.
    dxc5 {(8s)} Bxc5 {(30s)} 11. e5 {(3s)} Bb6 {(99s)} 12. a3 {(13s)} Nd5 {(133s)}
    13. Qe2 {(164s)} Bd7 {(834s)} 14. Rd1 {(661s)} Nxc3 {(593s)} 15. bxc3 {(12s)}
    Qc7 {(56s)} 16. a4 {(1450s)} Ne7 {(707s)} 17. Ng5 {(898s)} Bc6 {(909s)} 18. Ba3
    {(257s)} Bxg2 {(185s)} 19. Kxg2 {(76s)} Bc5 {(104s)} 20. Qe4 {(727s)} Ng6 {
    (189s)} 21. Bxc5 {(49s)} Qxc5 {(19s)} 22. Nf3 {(12 s)} b6 {(189s)} 23. Rd7 {
    (179s)} Qxc3 {(382s)} 24. Rad1 {(36s)} Rac8 {(190s)} 25. Rxa7 {[#] (156s)} Rc4
    $2 {(524s)} 26. Qb7 {(98s)} Rcc8 {(493s)} ({Upon playing …Rc4, Anand had
    planned on} 26… Nxe5 27. Nxe5 (27. Ra8 $1 {was the move Anand missed in his
    earlier analysis, but thankfully for his sanity, he caught his mistake in time,
    and avoided an immediate defeat.} g5 28. Rxf8+ Kxf8 29. Qb8+ {with a double
    attack on the king and the knight.} Kg7 30. Nxe5 {and it would be game over.})
    27… Qxe5 28. Rd7 {and he would actually be fine.}) 27. Re1 {(836s)} Rb8 {
    (309s)} 28. Qe4 {(54s)} Qc5 {(163s)} 29. Rb1 {(58s)} b5 {(499s)} 30. Ra5 {(31s)
    } Qc4 {(5s)} 31. Qxc4 {(209s)} bxc4 {(5s)} 32. Rxb8 {(27 s)} Rxb8 {(6s)} 33.
    Rc5 {(5s)} Rb4 {(5s)} 34. a5 {(20s)} Ra4 {(28s)} 35. Nd2 {(405s)} c3 {(23s)}
    36. Rc8+ {(14s)} Nf8 {(10s)} 37. Nb3 {(26s)} g5 {(123s)} 38. Rxc3 {(423s)} Ra3
    {(50s)} 39. Kf3 {(46s)} Ng6 {[#] (10s) That White stands better here, is
    unquestionable. This doesn’t mean it the win is just a matter of technique,
    but that the burden of holding is very much on Black’s shoulders.} 40. Rc8+ $2
    {(0s) After this though, there is nothing for White anymore.} Kg7 {(0s)} 41.
    Rc3 {(163s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.11”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Svidler, Peter”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “D71”]
    [WhiteElo “2755”]
    [BlackElo “2751”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “117”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(4s)} Nf6 {(7s)} 2. c4 {(8s)} g6 {(3s)} 3. g3 {(17s)} c5 {(389s)} 4. d5 {(113s)} Bg7 {(117s)} 5.
    Bg2 {(18s)} O-O {(15s)} 6. Nc3 {(4s)} d6 {(48s)} 7. Nh3 {(14s)} a6 {(224s)} 8. a4 {(292s)} e6 {(197s)}
    9. Nf4 {(23s)} exd5 {(55s)} 10. Nfxd5 {(6s)} Nxd5 {(6s)} 11. Nxd5 {(6s)} Nc6 {(84s)} 12. O-O {(8s)}
    Re8 {(190s)} 13. Ra2 {(895s)} Rb8 {(732s)} 14. b3 {(1150s)} b5 {(1046s)} 15. axb5 {(157s)} axb5 {(
    6s)} 16. cxb5 {(33s)} Nd4 {(433s)} 17. b6 {(51s)} Be6 {(40s)} 18. e3 {(457s)} Nb5 {(295s)} 19. Bd2
    {(6s)} Bxd5 {(122s)} 20. Bxd5 {(115s)} Qxb6 {(36s)} 21. Qf3 {(6s)} Re7 {(316s)} 22. Ba5 {(422s)} Qa7
    {(8s)} 23. Bd8 {(6s)} Rxd8 {(5s)} 24. Rxa7 {(5s)} Rxa7 {(5s)} 25. Bc4 {(211s)} Nc3 {(149s)} 26. Qc6
    {(183s)} d5 {(156s)} 27. Bd3 {(20s)} Ra3 {(274s)} 28. Qb6 {(431s)} Rc8 {(115s)} 29. Kg2 {(114s)} Bf8
    {(341s)} 30. Rc1 {(468s)} Na2 {(62s)} 31. Ra1 {(164s)} Bg7 {(457s)} 32. Rb1 {(132s)} Nb4 {(83s)} 33.
    Bb5 {(8s)} Bf8 {(308s)} 34. e4 {(485s)} Raa8 {(113s)} 35. Bf1 {(164s)} Rab8 {(199s)} 36. Qa7 {(140
    s)} Ra8 {(102s)} 37. Qb7 {(179s)} Rab8 {(18s)} 38. Qa7 {(71s)} Ra8 {(8s)} 39. Qd7 {(235s)} c4 {(136s)}
    40. bxc4 {(0s)} dxe4 {(0s)} 41. Qb7 {(1450s)} Nc6 {(588s)} 42. Re1 {(86s)} Rab8 {(95s)} 43. Qd7 {(
    37s)} Ne5 {(54s)} 44. Qd5 {(6s)} Rc5 {(42s)} 45. Qxe4 {(7s)} Rbc8 {(12s)} 46. Rc1 {(32s)} R8c7 {(113
    s)} 47. Be2 {(248s)} Rc8 {(92s)} 48. f4 {(220s)} Nd7 {(49s)} 49. Ra1 {(252s)} Nf6 {(910s)} 50. Qf3
    {(135s)} Re8 {(156s)} 51. Ra8 {(187s)} Re6 {(15s)} 52. Qd3 {(105s)} Kg7 {(44s)} 53. Bf3 {(30s)} Rd6
    {(177s)} 54. Qc3 {(40s)} h5 {(62s)} 55. h3 {(179s)} Kg8 {(386s)} 56. Qb4 {(393s)} Nd7 {(44s)} 57.
    Bd5 {(35s)} Rb6 {(60s)} 58. Qd2 {(108s)} Rc7 {(65s)} 59. f5 {(63s)} 1-0

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.11”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “A20”]
    [WhiteElo “2771”]
    [BlackElo “2761”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “81”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. c4 {(4s)} e5 {(28s)} 2. g3 {(6s)} Nf6 {(56s)} 3. Bg2 {(7s)} d5 {(8s)} 4. cxd5 {(4s)} Nxd5 {(4s)} 5.
    Nc3 {(6s)} Nb6 {(7s)} 6. Nf3 {(5s)} Nc6 {(8s)} 7. O-O {(6s)} Be7 {(10s)} 8. d3 {(6s)} O-O {(52s)} 9. a3
    {(4s)} Be6 {(82s)} 10. Be3 {(29s)} Nd5 {(58s)} 11. Nxd5 {(7s)} Bxd5 {(7s)} 12. Qa4 {(5s)} Re8 {(147s)}
    13. Rac1 {(39s)} a6 {(55s)} 14. Nd2 {(24s)} Bxg2 {(122s)} 15. Kxg2 {(5s)} Nd4 {(32s)} 16. Bxd4 {(6
    s)} exd4 {(11s)} 17. Qb3 {(4s)} Rb8 {(204s)} 18. e4 {(6s)} dxe3 {(288s)} 19. fxe3 {(5s)} Rf8 {(422s)}
    20. Ne4 {(232s)} Qd7 {(385s)} 21. Rf3 {(87s)} Rbd8 {(393s)} 22. d4 {(350s)} c6 {(54s)} 23. Rcf1 {(
    196s)} Qd5 {(124s)} 24. Qc2 {(584s)} g6 {(249s)} 25. g4 {(176s)} Rde8 {(363s)} 26. h3 {(275s)} Bd8
    {(110s)} 27. Nc3 {(74s)} Qe6 {(265s)} 28. Na4 {(193s)} b6 {(416s)} 29. Rc1 {(32s)} c5 {(434s)} 30.
    dxc5 {(5s)} b5 {(15s)} 31. Nc3 {(3s)} Qc6 {(28s)} 32. Qd2 {(635s)} Re5 {(365s)} 33. b4 {(147s)} Bg5
    {(299s)} 34. Rd1 {(233s)} Bxe3 {(239s)} 35. Qd7 {(786s)} Qa8 {(106s)} 36. Nd5 {(225s)} Bg5 {(222s)}
    37. c6 {(12s)} Bh4 {(498s)} 38. Rd2 {(523s)} Re1 {(313s)} 39. Rc2 {(559s)} Kg7 {(175s)} 40. Nb6 {(
    0s)} Qb8 {(0s)} 41. Qd4+ {(184s)} 1-0

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.11”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A61”]
    [WhiteElo “2791”]
    [BlackElo “2807”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “117”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. d4 {(6s)} Nf6 {(5s)} 2. c4 {(5s)} e6 {(3s)} 3. Nf3 {(16s)} c5 {(5s)} 4. d5 {(21s)} d6 {(6s)} 5. Nc3
    {(7s)} exd5 {(4s)} 6. cxd5 {(7s)} g6 {(3s)} 7. Bf4 {(12s)} Bg7 {(14s)} 8. Qa4+ {(28s)} Bd7 {(5s)} 9.
    Qb3 {(11s)} b5 {(6s)} 10. Bxd6 {(11s)} Qb6 {(6s)} 11. Be5 {(14s)} O-O {(100s)} 12. e3 {(14s)} c4 {(6s)}
    13. Qd1 {(40s)} b4 {(6s)} 14. Nb1 {(28s)} Rc8 {(60s)} 15. Nbd2 {(34s)} Bb5 {(88s)} 16. a4 {(111s)}
    bxa3 {(45s)} 17. Rxa3 {(16s)} Bf8 {(42s)} 18. Bd4 {(562s)} Qb7 {(32s)} 19. Ra1 {(851s)} Nxd5 {(171
    s)} 20. Be2 {(7s)} Nc6 {(1098s)} 21. O-O {(17s)} Nxd4 {(64s)} 22. Nxd4 {(18s)} a6 {(62s)} 23. Bf3 {(
    945s)} Rd8 {(487s)} 24. Ne4 {(854s)} Qb6 {(91s)} 25. Nc3 {(130s)} Nxc3 {(6s)} 26. bxc3 {(3s)} Rac8
    {(72s)} 27. Qc2 {(86s)} Qf6 {(202s)} 28. Rfb1 {(144s)} Rc5 {(429s)} 29. Bd1 {(262s)} Bg7 {(324s)}
    30. Qe2 {(599s)} Qe7 {(284s)} 31. Rb2 {(17s)} Qe8 {(286s)} 32. Rba2 {(43s)} h5 {(195s)} 33. Ba4 {(
    376s)} Bxa4 {(194s)} 34. Rxa4 {(9s)} Bxd4 {(22s)} 35. cxd4 {(11s)} Rxd4 {(4s)} 36. exd4 {(185s)}
    Qxe2 {(9s)} 37. dxc5 {(2s)} c3 {(191s)} 38. Rc1 {(13s)} c2 {(586s)} 39. Rd4 {(212s)} Qb5 {(41s)} 40.
    Rd2 {(0s)} Qxc5 {(0s)} 41. Rdxc2 {(454s)} Qa3 {(38s)} 42. h4 {(336s)} a5 {(228s)} 43. g3 {(805s)} a4
    {(132s)} 44. Re1 {(43s)} Qb3 {(592s)} 45. Rce2 {(19s)} Qc3 {(381s)} 46. Re3 {(84s)} Qb2 {(31s)} 47.
    R1e2 {(85s)} Qb4 {(378s)} 48. Kh2 {(485s)} Kg7 {(115s)} 49. Rf3 {(460s)} g5 {(395s)} 50. hxg5 {(
    204s)} h4 {(35s)} 51. Ree3 {(140s)} hxg3+ {(37s)} 52. Kxg3 {(62s)} Kg6 {(60s)} 53. Kh2 {(328s)} Qc4
    {(101s)} 54. Rg3 {(21s)} Qf1 {(72s)} 55. Ref3 {(75s)} Qc4 {(82s)} 56. Rf6+ {(443s)} Kg7 {(5s)} 57.
    Rff3 {(2s)} Kg6 {(6s)} 58. Rf6+ {(4s)} Kg7 {(2s)} 59. Rff3 {(222s)} 1/2-1/2[Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.12”]
    [Round “7”]
    [White “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
    [Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C67”]
    [WhiteElo “2819”]
    [BlackElo “2791”]
    [PlyCount “70”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(4s)} e5 {(6s)} 2. Nf3 {(3s)} Nc6 {(6s)} 3. Bb5 {(2s)} Nf6 {(23s)} 4.
    O-O {(4s)} Nxe4 {(7s)} 5. d4 {(1s)} Nd6 {(7s)} 6. Bxc6 {(3s)} dxc6 {(6s)} 7.
    dxe5 {(3s)} Nf5 {(9s)} 8. Qxd8+ {(4s)} Kxd8 {(6s)} 9. h3 {(3s)} Ke8 {(17s)} 10.
    Nc3 {(4s)} h5 {(4s)} 11. Bf4 {(22s)} Be7 {(9s)} 12. Rad1 {(20s)} Be6 {(7 s)}
    13. Ng5 {(4s)} Rh6 {(10s)} 14. Rfe1 {(4s)} Bb4 {(16s)} 15. g4 {(18s)} hxg4 {
    (19s)} 16. hxg4 {(3s)} Ne7 {(7s)} 17. f3 {(6s)} Bxc3 {(23s)} 18. bxc3 {(3s)}
    Nd5 {(6s)} 19. Bd2 {(5s)} Nb6 {(6s)} 20. Nxe6 {(148s)} Rxe6 {(12s)} 21. Kf2 {
    (103s)} Rd8 {(459s)} 22. Bg5 {(10s)} Rxd1 {(1242s)} 23. Rxd1 {(8s)} Nd7 {(10s)}
    24. f4 {(5s)} f6 {(23s)} 25. exf6 {(25s)} gxf6 {(10s)} 26. Bh4 {(449s)} c5 {
    (900s)} 27. Kf3 {(427s)} Ra6 {(298s)} 28. Ke4 {(127s)} Nf8 {(54s)} 29. Kf5 {
    (1545s)} Kf7 {(30s)} 30. c4 {(132s)} Re6 {(304s)} 31. g5 {(1165s)} Ng6 {(23s)}
    32. Rd7+ {(32s)} Re7 {(10s)} 33. Rxe7+ {(4s)} Nxe7+ {(8s)} 34. Ke4 {(5s)} f5+ {
    (22s)} 35. Ke3 {(36s)} Ng6 {(326 Ke4s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.12”]
    [Round “7”]
    [White “Anand, Viswanathan”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C54”]
    [WhiteElo “2770”]
    [BlackElo “2792”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “68”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(5s)} e5 {(4s)} 2. Nf3 {(6s)} Nc6 {(7s)} 3. Bc4 {(9s)} Bc5 {(7s)} 4. c3 {(10s)} Nf6 {(5s)} 5. d3
    {(6s)} O-O {(6s)} 6. Nbd2 {(25s)} a6 {(93s)} 7. a4 {(187s)} d6 {(28s)} 8. O-O {(32s)} Ba7 {(195s)} 9.
    h3 {(83s)} Ne7 {(155s)} 10. Re1 {(138s)} Ng6 {(35s)} 11. Bb3 {(123s)} Re8 {(476s)} 12. d4 {(666s)}
    h6 {(400s)} 13. Bc2 {(177s)} c6 {(156s)} 14. Nf1 {(83s)} d5 {(508s)} 15. Nxe5 {(620s)} Nxe5 {(4s)}
    16. dxe5 {(10s)} Nxe4 {(3s)} 17. Bxe4 {(345s)} dxe4 {(16s)} 18. Qxd8 {(7s)} Rxd8 {(5s)} 19. Ng3 {(
    18s)} Bb8 {(945s)} 20. Be3 {(1149s)} Bxe5 {(5s)} 21. Nxe4 {(123s)} Bc7 {(30s)} 22. a5 {(43s)} Bf5 {(
    553s)} 23. Nc5 {(126s)} Rab8 {(20s)} 24. g4 {(354s)} Bc2 {(89s)} 25. Rac1 {(39s)} Bg6 {(337s)} 26.
    b4 {(270s)} Bd6 {(385s)} 27. Na4 {(111s)} f6 {(265s)} 28. Ba7 {(368s)} Ra8 {(48s)} 29. Bc5 {(34s)}
    Be5 {(141s)} 30. Nb6 {(218s)} Rab8 {(8s)} 31. Nc4 {(119s)} Bf4 {(208s)} 32. Be3 {(25s)} Bxe3 {(184
    s)} 33. Rxe3 {(14s)} b5 {(377s)} 34. axb6 {(481s)} Bf7 {(10s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.12”]
    [Round “7”]
    [White “Svidler, Peter”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A20”]
    [WhiteElo “2751”]
    [BlackElo “2771”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “61”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. c4 {(3s)} e5 {(13s)} 2. g3 {(35s)} Nf6 {(6s)} 3. Bg2 {(7s)} d5 {(3s)} 4. cxd5 {(5s)} Nxd5 {(4s)} 5.
    Nf3 {(346s)} Nc6 {(6s)} 6. O-O {(6s)} Nb6 {(4s)} 7. Nc3 {(488s)} Be7 {(13s)} 8. a3 {(114s)} O-O {(17s)}
    9. b4 {(3s)} Be6 {(7s)} 10. d3 {(9s)} a5 {(70s)} 11. b5 {(10s)} Nd4 {(5s)} 12. Bb2 {(9s)} Nb3 {(57s)}
    13. Rb1 {(9s)} f6 {(4s)} 14. Nd2 {(22s)} Nxd2 {(6s)} 15. Qxd2 {(5s)} Nc4 {(6s)} 16. Qc1 {(437s)}
    Nxb2 {(5s)} 17. Qxb2 {(4s)} Rb8 {(5s)} 18. e3 {(806s)} f5 {(662s)} 19. Na4 {(737s)} Bd6 {(130s)} 20.
    b6 {(109s)} c6 {(44s)} 21. d4 {(10s)} Qe7 {(1038s)} 22. Nc5 {(333s)} exd4 {(163s)} 23. Nxe6 {(600s)}
    Qxe6 {(34s)} 24. exd4 {(2s)} f4 {(19s)} 25. d5 {(255s)} cxd5 {(8s)} 26. Qb3 {(68s)} Kh8 {(9s)} 27.
    Bxd5 {(64s)} Qf6 {(152s)} 28. Qb5 {(914s)} Bxa3 {(217s)} 29. Qxa5 {(34s)} Bb2 {(5s)} 30. Bf3 {(98s)}
    Ra8 {(479s)} 31. Qd5 {(174s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.12”]
    [Round “7”]
    [White “Topalov, Veselin”]
    [Black “Giri, Anish”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A20”]
    [WhiteElo “2761”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “90”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. c4 {(5s)} e5 {(2s)} 2. d3 {(13s)} Bb4+ {(271s)} 3. Nd2 {(23s)} Nf6 {(206s)} 4. Ngf3 {(27s)} Nc6 {(
    12s)} 5. a3 {(35s)} Bxd2+ {(8s)} 6. Qxd2 {(13s)} d5 {(342s)} 7. cxd5 {(64s)} Qxd5 {(20s)} 8. e4 {(75
    s)} Qd6 {(55s)} 9. h3 {(126s)} a5 {(271s)} 10. Be2 {(357s)} Nd7 {(111s)} 11. Qc2 {(427s)} Nc5 {(129s)}
    12. Be3 {(16s)} Ne6 {(26s)} 13. O-O {(354s)} O-O {(75s)} 14. b3 {(267s)} Rd8 {(92s)} 15. Rfc1 {(
    718s)} Bd7 {(170s)} 16. Qb2 {(67s)} Be8 {(770s)} 17. b4 {(389s)} axb4 {(183s)} 18. axb4 {(9s)} Rxa1
    {(11s)} 19. Qxa1 {(511s)} b5 {(818s)} 20. Qa3 {(1339s)} Qxb4 {(579s)} 21. Qxb4 {(33s)} Nxb4 {(1s)}
    22. Nxe5 {(32s)} f6 {(13s)} 23. Bg4 {(590s)} Nd4 {(60s)} 24. Bxd4 {(69s)} Rxd4 {(10s)} 25. Nf3 {(
    16s)} Nxd3 {(88s)} 26. Rxc7 {(90s)} Rd6 {(607s)} 27. Rb7 {(114s)} h5 {(102s)} 28. Bf5 {(658s)} g6 {(
    28s)} 29. e5 {(20s)} Nxe5 {(62s)} 30. Nxe5 {(5s)} gxf5 {(833s)} 31. Rb8 {(5s)} Kf8 {(5s)} 32. Ng6+
    {(9s)} Kf7 {(7s)} 33. Nf4 {(5s)} h4 {(52s)} 34. g3 {(33s)} Bc6 {(94s)} 35. gxh4 {(55s)} Rd4 {(14s)} 36.
    Rb6 {(144s)} Rc4 {(342s)} 37. h5 {(111s)} Kg7 {(1s)} 38. Kh2 {(101s)} b4 {(252s)} 39. Nd3 {(107s)}
    Rc3 {(278s)} 40. Nxb4 {(0s)} Be4 {(0s)} 41. Rd6 {(179s)} Rf3 {(490s)} 42. Nd5 {(63s)} Rxf2+ {(126s)}
    43. Kg3 {(16s)} Rf3+ {(29s)} 44. Kh4 {(10s)} Bxd5 {(17s)} 45. Rxd5 {(6s)} Kh6 {(13s)} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “4th Sinquefield Cup 2016”]
    [Site “Saint Louis”]
    [Date “2016.08.12”]
    [Round “7”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C92”]
    [WhiteElo “2807”]
    [BlackElo “2755”]
    [Annotator “”]
    [PlyCount “189”]
    [EventDate “2016.??.??”]
    [EventCountry “USA”]
    [SourceTitle “playchess.com”]
    [Source “ChessBase”]
    [TimeControl “40/7200:3600+30”]

    1. e4 {(3s)} e5 {(5s)} 2. Nf3 {(3s)} Nc6 {(4s)} 3. Bb5 {(5s)} a6 {(4s)} 4. Ba4 {(4s)} Nf6 {(4s)} 5. O-O
    {(6s)} Be7 {(3s)} 6. Re1 {(5s)} b5 {(4s)} 7. Bb3 {(3s)} d6 {(5s)} 8. c3 {(5s)} O-O {(5s)} 9. h3 {(3s)} Re8
    {(5s)} 10. d4 {(14s)} Bb7 {(5s)} 11. Nbd2 {(8s)} Bf8 {(4s)} 12. Bc2 {(22s)} h6 {(100s)} 13. d5 {(9s)}
    Nb8 {(173s)} 14. b3 {(18s)} c6 {(125s)} 15. c4 {(7s)} Nbd7 {(2s)} 16. Nf1 {(413s)} Qc7 {(508s)} 17.
    Be3 {(174s)} a5 {(654s)} 18. Rc1 {(732s)} Ba6 {(495s)} 19. cxb5 {(539s)} Bxb5 {(3s)} 20. Bd3 {(10s)}
    Qb7 {(5s)} 21. Bxb5 {(21s)} cxb5 22. Ng3 {(275s)} Rec8 {(57s)} 23. Qd3 {(135s)} h5 {(125s)} 24.
    Rc3 {(790s)} b4 {(156s)} 25. Rxc8 {(172s)} Rxc8 {(17s)} 26. Rc1 {(61s)} Rxc1+ {(204s)} 27. Bxc1 {(
    11s)} Nc5 {(11s)} 28. Qc4 {(400s)} g6 {(18s)} 29. Bg5 {(50s)} Nfd7 {(968s)} 30. Nd2 {(207s)} a4 {(
    762s)} 31. Kh2 {(1495s)} Qb6 {(336s)} 32. Ne2 {(559s)} axb3 {(356s)} 33. axb3 {(6s)} Qa5 {(2s)} 34.
    Ng1 {(98s)} Nb6 {(167s)} 35. Qe2 {(49s)} Nc8 {(356s)} 36. Ngf3 {(134s)} Be7 {(156s)} 37. Be3 {(265
    s)} Nb6 {(42s)} 38. Ne1 {(120s)} Nbd7 {(482s)} 39. Nc2 {(99s)} Qa6 {(4s)} 40. Qxa6 {(0s)} Nxa6 {(0s)}
    41. Kg1 {(395s)} Kf8 {(1228s)} 42. Kf1 {(104s)} Bd8 {(5s)} 43. Ke2 {(785s)} Bb6 {(8s)} 44. Bh6+ {(
    35s)} Ke7 {(174s)} 45. f3 {(6s)} Ndc5 {(524s)} 46. Be3 {(109s)} f5 {(316s)} 47. g4 {(243s)} hxg4 {(
    193s)} 48. hxg4 {(7s)} fxg4 {(99s)} 49. fxg4 {(5s)} Nd7 {(76s)} 50. Bg5+ {(215s)} Ke8 {(185s)} 51.
    Nc4 {(235s)} Bc7 {(226s)} 52. Be3 {(348s)} Ndc5 {(38s)} 53. Nd2 {(296s)} Ba5 {(5s)} 54. Ne1 {(290s)}
    Bb6 {(34s)} 55. Bxc5 {(266s)} Bxc5 {(673s)} 56. Nef3 {(192s)} Nc7 {(95s)} 57. Ng5 {(40s)} Ke7 {(
    269s)} 58. Kd3 {(6s)} Kf6 {(3s)} 59. Ndf3 {(38s)} Bf2 {(251s)} 60. Nh3 {(349s)} Bg3 {(33s)} 61.
    Nhg1 {(179s)} Na6 {(63s)} 62. g5+ {(52s)} Ke7 {(25s)} 63. Nd2 {(5s)} Kd7 {(297s)} 64. Kc4 {(5s)} Kc7
    {(3s)} 65. Kb5 {(7s)} Nc5 {(5s)} 66. Ngf3 {(14s)} Nd3 {(80s)} 67. Kc4 {(30s)} Nf2 {(6s)} 68. Kxb4 {(
    21s)} Bf4 {(4s)} 69. Kb5 {(366s)} Nh3 {(23s)} 70. b4 {(14s)} Nxg5 {(94s)} 71. Ka6 {(76s)} Nxf3 {(117
    s)} 72. Nxf3 {(3s)} g5 {(2s)} 73. b5 {(5s)} g4 {(4s)} 74. b6+ {(9s)} Kb8 {(21s)} 75. Nh4 {(14s)} g3 {(
    40s)} 76. Nf5 {(131s)} g2 {(20s)} 77. Ne7 {(3s)} g1=Q {(3s)} 78. Nc6+ {(4s)} Kc8 {(2s)} 79. b7+ {(4s)}
    Kd7 {(1s)} 80. b8=Q {(9s)} Qf1+ {(137s)} 81. Kb7 {(37s)} Qb5+ {(39s)} 82. Ka8 {(5s)} Qa4+ {(10s)}
    83. Qa7+ {(163s)} Qxa7+ {(3s)} 84. Nxa7 {(3s)} Kc7 {(175s)} 85. Nb5+ {(6s)} Kb6 {(4s)} 86. Nxd6 {(
    4s)} Kc5 {(2s)} 87. Nf5 {(109s)} Bg5 {(6s)} 88. Kb7 {(28s)} Kc4 {(6s)} 89. d6 {(36s)} Kd3 {(5s)} 90.
    Ng3 {(15s)} Ke3 {(19s)} 91. d7 {(46s)} Kf3 {(25s)} 92. Nh5 {(24s)} Kxe4 {(10s)} 93. Kc6 {(14s)} Kf3
    {(34s)} 94. Ng7 {(18s)} e4 {(6s)} 95. Nf5 {(16s)} 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    After some thrilling games between the world’s elite players it was Wesley So, the former Webster University prodigy, who took a commanding lead early in the tournament and cruised to a solid victory with 5.5/9 pts.
    The Sinquefield Cup is part of the second Grand Chess Tour, which aims to promote professional chess around the world. The Grandmasters featured in the Sinquefield Cup are regular participants in the tour. For details and photos from the Sinquefield Cup, check out the detailed analysis on Chessbase.

  • Hou Yifan’s Withdrawal Shows Need for Reform

    Hou Yifan’s Withdrawal Shows Need for Reform

    Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan shocked the chess community when she announced last month that she had withdrawn from the Women’s World Championship Cycle, citing disagreements with FIDE over how it conducts the tournament process. Chessbase published transcripts from a recent telephone interview with Yifan and Frederic Friedel where she expressed disappointment in FIDE leadership’s continued support of the current tournament format. As it stands, the Women’s World Chess Champion (hereafter annotated as WCC) is often chosen through knockout tournaments where the winner earns the title despite the possibility that they might possess an ELO rating 100-200 points below Yifan, who is currently the highest rated female chess player in the world.

    Trouble with the Knockouts

    You can read the article yourself via the link above, but the main point of her argument is that the WCC is often selected via a 64-player knockout tournament format. This format places Hou and her counterparts on equal footing and gives an unfair advantage to players who might not qualify to challenge her in any other setting. If the highest rated player in the tournament has a bad game and is eliminated by a lower player, it creates an opportunity for a player to assume the title of WCC without possessing the qualifications. For her, a knockout tournament is not necessarily a bad thing. However, she views it as an unreasonable format for choosing the WCC. I agree wholeheartedly. Can you imagine if Magnus Carlsen’s title was on the line in some 64-player invitational where a single bad day could send the title into the hands of another player?

    I cannot see the men allowing such a method to be used by FIDE to determine the champion, and the women of the professional chess world should refuse to stand for it as well.

    Hou’s Plan and FIDE’s Silent Stand

    Glass ceilings and gender barriers are coming down all over the world, but FIDE remains trapped in its antiquated ways. Hou’s plan for changing the tournament format is, as Frederic mentions in his article, amazingly simple. She proposes that the same format used to select the World Chess Championship title currently held by Magnus Carlsen be used for the WCC. A series of qualification tournaments would send certain players to a Candidates tournament where the winner would advance to challenge the reigning World Champion. As a compromise, Hou has suggested that the winner of the knockout tournament be declared the challenger to the reigning champion, not the champion themselves. The plan sounds simple enough, but according to Chessbase, FIDE has retained the 64-player knockout format because it is popular among the female chess players.

    It is not difficult to imagine why the format is so popular…it reduces much of the legacy of the WCC to a lottery.

    yifan

    Hou Yifan has big dreams for reforming women’s chess.

    It is easy to place the blame on FIDE, which is an organization that has a sorted history of cronyism, manipulation, and disregard for what is best for promoting international professional chess. Countless recommendations for improving tournament cycles and gameplay have been provided by some of the world’s greatest chess minds. Yet, those recommendations and ideas have been met with the standard fare that Hou has received for her comments: to be discussed at the next board meeting. As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time in government service, I can tell you that it will probably be discussed at the meeting, but the world stands a better chance of Kirsan’s aliens invading than the board agreeing to change the WCC cycle format. Yet, it is this comment in Frederic’s interview that reveals another troubling element to the situation:

    FF: Sounds perfectly logical. However FIDE has said that the current Women’s system is very popular amongst the girls since they get to play a lot of interesting events …

    What is going on here? FIDE is, potentially, holding on to a format because it is popular, among the women on the circuit. It might be popular, but is it right for the future of women’s professional chess? Unfortunately, one does not have to look far in cyberspace to see the back and forth with people who believe that women cannot play beautiful chess or do not deserve the respect of their male counterparts. The chess audience on Twitter is notorious for this kind of banter, but does the general consensus of the women’s professional chess world about the 64-player knockout championship actually hurt perception of their ability? I would argue that it does! If the women players are arguing for more recognition and appreciation for their art in one breath, but supporting a tournament format that undermines the legitimacy of the highest female chess achievement, then the fight for equal respect of female chess players is what ultimately suffers. That, along with the countless other young girls who are hunched over their chessboards this morning with dreams and aspirations of being a GM or a WCC.

    What to do?

    Bureaucracies have a notorious history of taking simple ideas and transforming them into disastrous monstrosities. The fundamental elements that make bureaucracies like FIDE so inefficient are probably what will enable the WCC cycle to retain its imbalanced format (for now). Hou Yifan’s withdrawal from the cycle and her recommendations for changing how the WCC is selected should be a wakeup call for the leaders of the professional chess world, but it will most likely fall on deaf ears. In the meantime, the world will continue to watch as its great chess players are increasingly isolated and ostracized by the organization whose mission is to grow and promote our game.

    Gens Una Sumus, without clear direction or a promising future.

  • Karjakin Withdraws from Norway Chess 2016

    Karjakin Withdraws from Norway Chess 2016

    Interesting…

    [GM Sergey Karjakin](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=54535), who is the current challenger for the title of World Chess Champion against Magnus Carlsen in New York City later this year, has [withdrawn](http://www.chessdom.com/sergey-karjakin-withdraws-from-altibox-norway-chess/) from the Altibox [Norway Chess](http://norwaychess.no/) tournament and [provoked the rage](https://chessdailynews.com/norway-chess-about-karjakins-last-minute-withdrawal-disrespectful/) of the tournament’s organizers.

    [Chessdom](http://www.chessdom.com/strong-reaction-from-norway-disrespectful-of-karjakin/) and [Susan Polgar](https://chessdailynews.com/norway-chess-about-karjakins-last-minute-withdrawal-disrespectful/) have posted a series of responses from the tournament organizers that explain in clear terms that Karjakin’s withdrawal from the tournament is *disrespectful*:

    * Karjakin has a signed contract with us and it does not state that he can withdraw from the tournament if he qualifies for the World Championship in November, states Jøran Aulin-Jansson.
    * This action feels disrespectful to us as the organizers of the event as well as the other players in the tournament, not to mention the entire chess world that were looking forward to the dress rehearsal for the World Championship match between Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen, says Aulin-Jansson.
    * Sergey Karjakin is a great chess player and he is still welcome as a participant in Altibox Norway Chess 2016. He has, after all, won both times he has participated, says Aulin-Jansson.
    * Karjakin obviously has a lot of nerves before his first World Championship match, however, we truly wish Karjakin and his advisors understand that one can not just run away from agreements because it suddenly does not fit in preparation for a match that does not start until about half a year later.

    **For more information, contact:**
    Jøran Aulin-Jansson
    Board Member
    Phone: +47 913 32 242
    joran@norwaychess.com

  • World Chess Championship: Now We Know

    World Chess Championship: Now We Know

    ## Makeup of a Championship ##
    The 2016 Candidates Tournament, which has been mined in controversy, is finally over. In a triumphant return to the world chess stage, Sergey Karjakin of Russia has earned the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess Championship in New York City. Karjakin finished the tournament with a solid win over American GM Fabiano Caruana. After holding a relatively balanced position for most of the game, Caruana blundered a critical rook move:

    Carlsen remains a clear favorite to retain his title, but Karjakin has an opportunity to snatch it away from Norway and bring it back to Mother Russia, whose state-funded system dominated world chess for almost a century. Congratulations and praise poured out from the community following the win.

    Vishy Anand, who challenged Carlsen in 2014 and looked poised to return to the championship at certain points in the tournament, showed an amazing depth of class by symbolically *passing the torch* on to Karjakin via Twitter.

    ## Giri’s Drawing Streak ##
    As if this tournament did not already have enough oddities and challenges associated with it, Anish Giri managed to draw every one of his games in the tournament, a staggering 14/14 drawn games! Family, friends, and fans watched as Giri went from a theoretical challenger to the world champion to the subject of memes and jokes spread across the blogosphere.

    ## Nakamura’s Implosion ##
    Perhaps nothing besides Agon’s coverage policy was as disappointing as Hikaru Nakamura’s performance in the tournament. The American GM, who was among the candidates high on the list to challenge Magnus Carlsen, literally imploded. He regained some ground in the later rounds, but it was not enough to catch Karjakin, Caruana, and Anand who had pulled well ahead of their competitors.

    ![nakamura](http://www.campfirechess.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/hikaru.jpg)

    GM Hikaru Nakamura will have to wait another cycle. (Image Credit: FIDE)

    ![crosstable](http://www.campfirechess.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/candidates2016-table.png)

    Final Standings Crosstable (Image Credit: Chessbase)

    Now the chess world turns its attention to [Norway Chess](www.norwaychess.com) as the next major tournament gets set to begin in just a few short months. Check out the entire collection of games from the 2016 Candidates Tournament below:

  • Should Tournament Chess Be Faster?

    Should Tournament Chess Be Faster?

    Chess24 ran a great article yesterday on the organizer of the Zurich Chess Challenge and his desire to speed up the time control for classical chess. I skipped it when it first appeared in my Feedly list, but I came back to it after some thought about how long professional chess tournaments actually last. Regularly I have tuned in to matches and left Chessbase up on the computer while doing a myriad of other tasks. Imagine my surprise when I take my family out to eat, visit the mall, and then come home to find the same game still in progress! People are naturally resistant to change so it is not surprising that not much traction has been made in efforts to change classical time controls.

    121815_1536_ShouldTourn1.jpg

    For the 2016 edition of the Zurich Chess Challenge, the players will utilize a 40-minute control per player with 10 second increments per move. According to the article, FIDE has not responded to the organizer’s proposal to change the time control definition for classical chess, but I would imagine that with sanctions against their president are most likely a priority right now.

    Read the full article on Chess24.