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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Sinquefield Cup Tournament
Levon Aronian6/9(+3 -0 =6)[games]
Magnus Carlsen5/9(+3 -2 =4)[games]
Hikaru Nakamura5/9(+3 -2 =4)[games]
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave5/9(+2 -1 =6)[games]
Anish Giri5/9(+1 -0 =8)[games]
Alexander Grischuk4.5/9(+3 -3 =3)[games]
Veselin Topalov4.5/9(+2 -2 =5)[games]
Fabiano Caruana3.5/9(+1 -3 =5)[games]
Viswanathan Anand3.5/9(+0 -2 =7)[games]
Wesley So3/9(+1 -4 =4)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Sinquefield Cup (2015)

The 3rd Sinquefield Cup was played in the Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, Missouri USA, 23 August - 1 September 2015. It was this year the second of three events of the new Grand Chess Tour. The nine regular tour players were joined by wildcard Wesley So for a single round robin. Tournament director: Tony D Rich. Overall prize fund: $300,000, with $75,000 to the winner, and down to $15,000 for 10th place. Players received 120 minutes for 40 moves, 60 more minutes for the rest of the game, and a 30-second delay from move 41. Rounds started at 1 pm. Levon Aronian won with 6/9 and collected 13 Grand Chess Tour points (GP):

                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0     GP
 1 Aronian         2765  * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1  6  13
 2 Carlsen         2853  ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1  5  10
 3 Nakamura        2814  0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1  5   8
 4 Vachier-Lagrave 2731  ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1  5   7
 5 Giri            2793  ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½  5   6
 6 Grischuk        2771  ½ 1 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 0  4½  5
 7 Topalov         2816  ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½  4½  4
 8 Caruana         2808  0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ ½  3½  3
 9 Anand           2816  ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½  3½  2
10 So              2779  0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ *  3   1
Category: XXII (2795). Chief arbiter: Christopher Bird

Wikipedia article: Sinquefield Cup#2015
GCT page: https://grandchesstour.org/2015-tou...
Regulations: https://grandchesstour.org/content/...
Chess-Results: http://chess-results.info/tnr184011...
Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/aro...
ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/sinqu...
TWIC: http://theweekinchess.com/chessnews...

Previous: Sinquefield Cup (2014). Next: Sinquefield Cup (2016). Previous Grand Chess Tour event: Norway Chess (2015). Next (and last): London Chess Classic (2015)

 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Aronian vs Caruana 1-0392015Sinquefield CupD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
2. Carlsen vs Topalov 0-1402015Sinquefield CupB51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack
3. Nakamura vs Anand 1-0432015Sinquefield CupE06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3
4. Giri vs Grischuk 1-0342015Sinquefield CupD02 Queen's Pawn Game
5. So vs Vachier-Lagrave 0-1352015Sinquefield CupA15 English
6. Topalov vs Nakamura 1-0732015Sinquefield CupC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
7. Vachier-Lagrave vs Aronian ½-½322015Sinquefield CupD38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation
8. Giri vs So ½-½302015Sinquefield CupA30 English, Symmetrical
9. Caruana vs Carlsen 0-1402015Sinquefield CupC78 Ruy Lopez
10. Grischuk vs Anand 1-0352015Sinquefield CupA45 Queen's Pawn Game
11. Anand vs Topalov ½-½312015Sinquefield CupB51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack
12. Nakamura vs Caruana ½-½762015Sinquefield CupD81 Grunfeld, Russian Variation
13. So vs Grischuk 1-0412015Sinquefield CupA35 English, Symmetrical
14. Carlsen vs Vachier-Lagrave 1-0432015Sinquefield CupA15 English
15. Aronian vs Giri ½-½422015Sinquefield CupA29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto
16. Grischuk vs Topalov ½-½312015Sinquefield CupB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
17. So vs Aronian 0-1282015Sinquefield CupE20 Nimzo-Indian
18. Giri vs Carlsen ½-½312015Sinquefield CupB33 Sicilian
19. Vachier-Lagrave vs Nakamura ½-½512015Sinquefield CupE81 King's Indian, Samisch
20. Caruana vs Anand ½-½422015Sinquefield CupD43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
21. Topalov vs Caruana 0-1532015Sinquefield CupC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
22. Carlsen vs So 1-0562015Sinquefield CupB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
23. Anand vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½422015Sinquefield CupB92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
24. Nakamura vs Giri ½-½392015Sinquefield CupB48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation
25. Aronian vs Grischuk ½-½302015Sinquefield CupB13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 45 OF 56 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Aug-31-15  paavoh: <Carlsen has struggled with the white pieces recently. Two losses with white in this event alone. I guess it is no advantage to him to have white anymore since he keeps losing with that color.>

Perhaps this is in part due to going for the playable lines, not for the most topical ones. Getting the opponents out of their books may bear the price of losing some of that opening advantage White tends to have. And the opponents are smart, and some adaptation, return to normalcy if you will, is to be expected. My 2 cents on this.

Aug-31-15  lost in space: My 2 cents:
He has no real motivation any longer. What achievement can he try to go for? He has the highest rating achieved ever, he is tripple champ (2014). 2900 or 3000 Elo points?

And it seems that the others understands better how he is playing and what to do against it.

He is still No1, but times they are changing. I hope he will have a comeback like Aronian. All depends if he find a true, new motivation

Aug-31-15  The Rocket: There was nothing objectional to Carlsens opening. To the contrary, it was fairly standard.
Aug-31-15
Premium Chessgames Member		  Sally Simpson: If MC needs motivation and likes to see his name in the record books he could lose the World title, win it back, lose it again, win it back, lose it again, win it back.

Thus beating Botvinnik's record of two successful comebacks.

---

Apparently two more losses this year and he beats Kramnik's record of 9 losses in a year as World Champion. That's something to aim for.

It would be funny if it was Kramnik that actually inflicted the 10th loss on Carlsen. Are these two crossing swords again this year?

Aug-31-15  Catfriend: The magic of final results... Carlsen had a good attack going in Round 1. Had he played 17. Nxf8, he might well have won.

Last round, he also had a decent small advantage as late as move 22 (not without some imperfections along the way, apparently). Even after spoiling this, he wasn't worse for a while. Until 33. Rbd1, it wasn't a position you would expect him to lose. And even then, as late as move 62, it was probably possible to save the game.

Whatever is wrong with Carlsen at the moment is <not> his openings.

Aug-31-15  anandrulez: Catfriend, Topalov's 16..Qd7 was a blunder and Carlsen just returned the favour with another inaccuracy. White's problem started with Na3 Nxc4 d4 idea I think.
Aug-31-15  Catfriend: It's a complicated position. Carlsen took a risk and it did lead to possible opportunities. After the correct 15..Nd7, White still has lots of compensation for the material.

18. Bg5, instead of the chosen 18. f3, had some chances to save the game.

No, what is wrong is this surprising sloppiness, not at all typical of Carlsen as we are used to see him: tactical oversights, poor time managament (in both lost games), lack of tenacity in defense (by which I don't mean the number of moves).

<lost in space> This could be the explanation for the previous tournament, together with the once-in-a-lifetime time control tragedy. In this event, it shouldn't apply.

By the way, I'm not at all burying Carlsen. He is the best player in the world, and all this conversation is about the "disaster" of him sharing second place.

Aug-31-15  fisayo123: I don't think there's anything "wrong" with Carlsen per se. Let's not forget that he is playing in an event with nothing but top TEN players in the world in it. That's why I was slightly surprised to see Carlsen as such an overwhelming favorite in the chess bookies section of this site.

Remember, Carlsen has not won Norway chess in 3 separate attempts as well. And the Sinquefield cup he won in its first installment was not the Sinquefield cup we have today Sinquefield Cup (2013), with a only 3 top players, 6 rounds and a past it Gata Kamsky. Simply put, its nowhere near as strong as what it is today.

So in 3 Norway chess and 1 Sinquefield cup, that's 1 in 4 wins for Carlsen. Maybe soon to be 1 in 5.

I remember the six GMA World cup events in 1988/1989 Kasparov and Karpov took turns winning (which I think is what they're trying to do with this grand chess tour). Brussels World Cup (1988)

Carlsen is a pretty dominant champion, but his dominance is not absolute like the Kasparov's, Fischer's and Karpov's of yesteryear. Of course, there's no shame in that and Carlsen still (maybe) has his best years ahead of him.

Aug-31-15  Marmot PFL: Distressing to see Anand play with so little ambition. One bad event or the end of the line? Maybe he can win a game before it's over.
Aug-31-15  schweigzwang: "Dreadlock Holiday" (10 cc) referenced by Giri on Maurice's Sofa.
Aug-31-15  anandrulez: Marmot PFL, yes I share those feelings. Aronian-Anand is usually very interesting, however since Levon is leading the tourney, I doubt he will take any undue risks. You need a lot inspiration and energy to be creative.
Aug-31-15  Rama: Carlsen was exhausted and depressed after yesterday's game, it was cruel to put him in the spot light like that. I'd think they'd have a clause in their appearance contracts, that allows them to skip the post-game if they lose. I've seen Krammy do that.
Aug-31-15  tzar: Carlsen is doing fine. He cannot dominate as kasparov and Karpov did because today there are 7 to 10 great players around. The situation is similar to the 60' where many strong players were around and noone could dominate the field clearly. If we compare Carlsen's up and downs to his rivals he is still the most stable player (only need to look at Aronian, Caruana or Grischuk's up and downs in the ranking lately). As far as motivation is concerned imo he has no problems if we look at how angry he gets when he loses a game.
Aug-31-15  Ulhumbrus: Averbakh said of the Zurich 1953 tournament (in his introduction to the English language translation of Najdorf's book on the tournament) that there were no weak opponents and that every single one of the contestants was dangerous. This seems to apply to the Sinquefield cup.
Aug-31-15  Bangalorechesslover: I am quite sure Anand is hiding his preparation for the candidates tournament. Why should be struggle now, when he has no chance of being at the top?
Aug-31-15  diceman: <Marmot PFL: Distressing to see Anand play with so little ambition. One bad event or the end of the line? Maybe he can win a game before it's over.>

Nothing new.

...that's the way he was going into,
and during his first WC with Magnus.

Aug-31-15  Absentee: <diceman: ...that's the way he was going into, and during his first WC with Magnus.>

I thought that was strictly a Topalov-Kramnik thing.

Aug-31-15  devere: <Ulhumbrus: Averbakh said of the Zurich 1953 tournament (in his introduction to the English language translation of Najdorf's book on the tournament) that there were no weak opponents and that every single one of the contestants was dangerous. This seems to apply to the Sinquefield cup.>

It's understandable that Averbakh would write that, because he lost both of his games with the last place finisher Gideon Stahlberg.

Aug-31-15  schweigzwang: Seven players each still with a chance to win this. Two losses by Aronian, two wins by X, and a slew of draws, and X takes first.
Aug-31-15  Marmot PFL: <Aronian-Anand is usually very interesting, however since Levon is leading the tourney, I doubt he will take any undue risks.>

Like Giri plays every round.

Aug-31-15  bobthebob: <Had he played 17. Nxf8, he might well have won.>

I think we can safely say that if anyone played better moves in their games, they would have done better.

Aug-31-15  Strongest Force: I hope Nak don't piss this fanboy off like yesterday. Hard to understand how somebody with his skills could play like a scared rabbit.
Aug-31-15  bobthebob: <strongest force>

Yeah, that was kind of unusual.

Aug-31-15  Kinghunt: Carlsen-Nakamura is still following Kramnik vs Carlsen, 2009
Aug-31-15  Strongest Force: While not nearly as bad as yesterday, Nak's prep still leaves a soft edge. Maybe I'm a little cranky...I am out of here.
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