GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the Sinquefield Cup for the second time in his career, finishing half a point ahead of the American trio of GMs Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Leinier Dominguez Perez. GM Richard Rapport finished in fifth place with an even score. So emerged as the winner of the overall Grand Chess Tour.How to watch?
The games of the 2021 Sinquefield cup can be found here as part of our live events platform.
Sinquefield Cup | Final Standings
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Vachier-Lagrave left the stage early after playing out a theoretical draw in the Grunfeld Defense. No less than 15 copies of these exact moves can be found in databases, and the vast majority of these were played between top players.Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2782) vs. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2751)1/2-1/2 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2021 Chess.com 26 Aug 2021 Round: 9 ECO: D8587654321abcdefgh1. d4f62. c4g63. c3d54. cxd5xd55. e4xc36. bxc3g77. f3c58. b1O-O9. e2cxd410. cxd4a5+11. d2xa212. O-Og413. xb7xf314. xf3xd415. e5a616. xe7ad817. e6fxe618. e1c519. c3d320. xd4xe121. g7+h822. d7+g823. g7+h824. d7+g825. g7+
Before we unleash our righteous fury, let us remember how much chess is played these days. You can literally fit the entire career numbers of the greats of the past into a few years of today’s demanding schedules. Tournaments follow one another, in person and now online, and there’s simply no time to catch one’s breath.
Sometimes you play well, sometimes you don’t, but there’s always another important tournament just around the corner. In this case, it’ll be the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss in Riga, Latvia later in the fall. Vachier-Lagrave and Mamedyarov will be among the favorites to win the two coveted spots for the next Candidates Tournament.
Back to our unfinished business in Saint Louis, that draw left a window of opportunity for three players, all of whom needed wins to catch the leader. Two of them happened to play each other. So had White against Dominguez, and the Queen’s Gambit Accepted it was. Wesley knows this opening well, and he went for a line recently played against him by World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
Dominguez had a rough time in the second half of the tournament. He could have lost to GMs Peter Svidler and Sam Shankland (both with White), but today he had enough in the tank to safely reach the finish line. His pawn sacrifice was good, and soon So traded down into a drawn ending.So, Wesley (2772) vs. Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2758)1/2-1/2 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2021 Chess.com 26 Aug 2021 Round: 9 ECO: D2787654321abcdefgh1. d4d52. c4dxc43. f3f64. e3e65. xc4a66. O-Oc57. dxc5xc58. xd8+xd89. e2e710. c3 !?A topical line. White reserves the b3-square for his other knight.10. bd2d7 !?11. b3b512. c4c613. b2hd814. ac1f815. a4xc416. xc4e717. e5a5was Bindrich-Dominguez, World Blitz 201610… b511. d2b712. b3bd7To illustrate how Black may drift into an unpleasant position I can show one game that went12… d613. d2c614. fc1hc815. f3ab816. e4c717. a4b6+18. f1b419. d1a520. e3d721. xb6xb622. e3Aronian-Harikrishna, Chessable Masters, 2021 Black has a weak pawn on a5, his bishop is restricted by the e4-pawn, and he’s having a hard time neutralizing White’s play on the c-file.13. a5 !Black was fine after13. xc5xc514. f3b4 !15. d1a516. e4a6Ivanchuk-Kramnik, Legends of Chess, 2020. Note how quickly Kramnik dealt with the opponent’s bishop pair. Still, such positions offer a surprising number of practical chances. Somewhere along the line Black went wrong, and Ivanchuk celebrated another victory over his lifelong rival.A quiet move13. d1was played in Carlsen-So, Crypto Cup 2021. Wesley pulled back his bishop,13… b6but that allowed14. a4 !b415. a5a716. a4d517. d4hb818. d2and Black’s queenside pawn came under attack, and Carlsen scored a convincing win.13… ab814. d214. xb7xb715. d2c716. fd1hc817. e1was an earlier Carlsen-So game (Skilling Open, 2020), where Black was able to hold a draw. As we can see, Wesley had some experience on the black side of this issue.14… e4 !An important exchange operation15. xe415. xb7xd216. xc5xc517. fc1bc818. c2c4was well calculated by Dominguez.15… xe416. fc1hc817. a4bxa4This was a much more difficult decision, as Leinier had to anticipate a loss of a pawn in many lines.17… d518. axb5axb519. b4would lead to a similar scenario,19… d620. xc8xc821. xb5e522. f1c223. e1f5with compensation, largely due to a bad position of the knight on a5.18. xa6c719. c3d620. xa4So had to take the pawn, otherwise the black knight was coming to c5 anyway.20… c521. b4 !Tactics alert, but Dominguez saw it coming and prepared an adequate response.21… d5 !Putting the bishop on a safe square and maintaining the tension.21… xb4doesn’t work on account of22. xb4xa623. xc7+xc724. xe4xa525. a422. f1Now22. c4 ?xb4wins for Black.22… cc8Now the white rook hangs, and So decided to trade down to an equal ending.23. xc5xc524. xc5xc525. c4Couldn’t he have tried25. e4a826. b3instead? It doesn’t lose anything, but the extra pawn is going to be next to impossible to convert in the face of Black’s bishop pair.26… b627. c4d428. d2c329. f3h630. d3g5etc.25… xc426. xc4d627. c2e528. g3xb229. xb2xb230. h4h631. d3c332. c2b233. d3c334. c2b235. d3
It wasn’t too difficult for me to choose my game of the day. Even before the first move was played, I selected Rapport-Caruana. I knew Fabiano was going all the way, trying to catch MVL, and Richard is always good for a surprising move or two. The game did not disappoint.
Rapport, Richard (2763) vs. Caruana, Fabiano (2806)1/2-1/2 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2021 Chess.com 26 Aug 2021 Round: 9 ECO: B4487654321abcdefgh1. e4c52. f3e63. d4cxd44. xd4c65. f4 !?This is a rare move, but it goes along with some newly developed ideas that White currently tries in the Sicilian.5… d66. xc6That’s one of those.6. g3e5 !leaves the bishop underemployed for many moves to come.6… bxc67. c4This is the structure White wants. Black has to decide how to place his central pawns.7… b88. c2e5 !I support Fabiano’s decision, but I think he had something even better.8… c5 !?9. c3e7 !10. d1c6is thematic. We recall seeing something similar in Caruana-Swiercz from round 3, but in that game White was way ahead of schedule with his kingside attack.9. e3f610. c3c711. e2e712. O-OO-O13. ac1e614. b3h615. h3a516. fd1fd817. f3Rapport made his last preparation for the c4-c5 push by bringing enough pieces to deter Black’s answer of d6-d5.17… h7 !Caruana is in time with countermeasures.18. e2A new series of maneuvers.18. c5g5 !19. xg519. g4d519… xg520. cxd6xd621. xd6xd622. d1c5is comfortable for the second player.18… g519. d3e720. cd1d721. d2xd222. xd2g523. e2bd824. e324. h4 !h725. e3was the right idea. Black wouldn’t think of taking on h4 and losing the d6-pawn in return.24… f525. c5Again,25. h4was worth a look. I’m not sure Caruana would be ready to burn his bridges with25… f4 !?26. b6f727. c5xh428. cxd6g5as his losses on the queenside would be catastrophic, unless he manages to deliver checkmate.25… d5Now Black is totally fine.26. exd5xd527. f4e428. xd5cxd529. c6 ?!In mutual time trouble Rapport seeks complications.He had a safe choice in29. fxe5d429… xc530. d4e631. 4d230. xd4 !xc531. xe4xd1+32. xd1xd1+33. h2with a draw being the likely outcome.29… d4Now some accuracy is required form White not to end up worse or even losing.30. c1c731. fxe5xe532. c4+h733. f3Richard rejected the obvious33. xd4xc634. xc6xd435. xd4xd4+36. h2Indeed Black’s Q+N combo is a strong attacking force. However, in this case it may only be good for a draw by perpetual.33… g533… d634. xe4fxe435. xd4cxc636. a4g6was Caruana’s other option. It was next to impossible to tell which way to go, because of the clock situation.34. h4xf3+35. xf3d536. h5e4Fabiano skillfully maintained the pressure, trying to force an error from Richard.37. df1d338. f4e639. xf5 !Rapport has no aversion to tactics when he can calculate them.39… e3+40. h2d441. e1 !It was all about this move White had to see from afar.41… xc4Caruana burned a lot of time here. It’s not that he had any options, most likely it was due to a certain degree of frustration. He was hoping to get more out of the middlegame than this.41… xe1 ?42. xd4d243. d542. xe3d443. f1A sensible move.There was no need for Rapport to look for a miracle escape the computers find after43. e8xc644. g4 !!xg445. d843… d2It was funny to see some engines crediting Black with a large advantage. All it did was to raise hopes among Caruana’s supporters. In reality, the best Black can get out of this is a harmless extra pawn on the queenside, with his king hopelessly cut off by the active white rook.44. d1xc645. e2c246. a3d547. g3c3+48. h4d4+48… xb349. exd2xd250. xd2xa351. d7case in point.49. g4dd3Fabi gave it his best effort, but it wasn’t meant to be.50. h2c251. b4a452. b5b253. h3 !The four rook ending reached after53. b6xb654. hxd2xa3offers Black good winning chances.55. d453… d654. h2a255. g2White simply sits and waits for Black to take on a3.55… g8Caruana didn’t even bother with it.56. h2f757. e2b258. f1+f659. d1d660. f1+f661. d1d662. f1+
Caruana could do no better than join So and Dominguez in a three-way tie for second place. Our congratulations go to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave for capturing his second Sinquefield Cup. Allez, Maxime!
Richard Rapport shouldn’t be too disappointed with his 50 percent result. His play has a great mix of entertainment and quality that should make him a permanent fixture in premier tournaments for years to come.
Of the two games that had no impact on the final standings at the top, I can say I was happy with the effort. Shankland versus GM Dariusz Swiercz had a very interesting opening. Dariusz was well prepared and managed to navigate into a safe, if only somewhat worse, position.Shankland, Sam (2709) vs. Swiercz, Dariusz (2655)1/2-1/2 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2021 Chess.com 26 Aug 2021 Round: 9 ECO: A1187654321abcdefgh1. f3d52. g3f63. g2c64. c4dxc4An interesting line that combines ideas from different openings.5. O-Obd7The most reliable.5… b5is a typical move from the Slav Defense, but after6. a4b7White has a trick:7. d3 !cxd38. e5 !with big pressure exerted by the bishop on g2. Black should certainly avoid8… dxe29. xd8+xd810. e1Aronian-Caruana, SAint Louis Blitz 2019, saw a Grunfeld-like5… g65… e66. c2b67. a4a58. a3e6This may look like a beginner’s move – Black protects the pawn while neglecting the other bishop’s development, but it has been tested in practice and proved playable.9. g5d79… g4opens up a fantastic line, where White treats his Reti as an open game suited for sacrificial attacks.10. xc4xe211. e5 !h5strictly the only move12. b4Radjabov-Smeets, Wijk aan Zee 200910. e4 !?Shankland plays the most challenging move.The immediate10. b1allows Black to relocate his bishop:10… f511. e4g610… g4 !Very clever.10… g611. xe6xe612. b1 !g713. b3is mighty good for White.11. xc4xc412. xc4e5The game has finally left theoretical paths, and the players were on their own.13. b3A solid, but not spectacular choice.The first move we want to look at is, naturally,13. d4trying to blast open the center and get to the king. Black has two good responses13… exd4and13… h614. dxe5hxg515. exf6gxf6where the counterattack with Bh3 is just around the corner. I guess this was the reason Sam went for a different, much quieter line.14. e5d515. xd4appears promising until Black finds15… b4Anyway, deeper research is needed.13… b414. b2h6Dariusz could have played14… O-Onot fearing15. xe5xd216. f3h615. f3xf316. xf3e717. ad1O-O18. d4exd419. xd4This transformation left me slightly disappointed. A standard position was reached, where White’s options are limited to the center and kingside, because his queenside pawns are frozen. The rest of the game brought no surprises, Swiercz held comfortably.19… d720. e2ad821. fd1c522. c2xd423. xd4d824. e5xd425. xd4e626. b2c527. c4xc428. xc4Even the much vaulted bishop pair wasn’t going to do much for Shankland, because Swiercz had a way of liquidating the queenside.28… c5 !29. f1b530. axb5cxb531. xb5xb332. e2c533. d4a4Nothing to do but win a pawn, which is going to give just a token advantage in the opposite-color bishop ending.34. xc5xc535. xa4f836. b3e737. f4f638. e6f539. f3h540. g2f641. f3e742. g2f643. f3e7
I think Swiercz can be proud of how he handled the second half of the tournament. He didn’t add to his win column, but three solid draws and only one loss allowed Dariusz to avoid a catastrophic result in his first super tournament. There will be more chances, I hope, and next time he will be ready.
Shankland can rue his missing a chance to beat Dominguez yesterday—I missed it too, even after the game ended—but the overall impression of Sam’s play was positive. He recovered well from a 0.5/2 start and never backed out of a fight. The uphill trajectory that Shankland’s results took in Prague and continued at the World Cup will take him to new heights.
Svidler had a great game going against GM Jeffery Xiong but was too eager to transform his advantage into something tangible. The extra pawn in the endgame proved to be too difficult to convert, but of course, his opponent gets credit for inventively finding counterplay.Svidler, Peter (2714) vs. Xiong, Jeffery (2710)1/2-1/2 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2021 Chess.com 26 Aug 2021 Round: 9 ECO: C5587654321abcdefgh1. e4e52. f3c63. c4f64. d3h65. a4Moving that pawn forward this early is trendy.5… d66. c3g5Call me dogmatic, but I don’t trust this move when White has his knight on c3, instead of a pawn.7. e3g78. h4 !Svidler gets down to business.8… g49. h2e7I was looking at9… d410. f1c611. g3d512. a2e613. d2despite the position of his a4-pawn White can still think of castling long. In the meantime, it’s not easy for Black to solve the issue with his h6-pawn13… h5 ?!allows14. g510. e2c611. d4 !Too bad the tournament was about to end when Svidler finally hit his stride.11… exd4Xiong already found himself in a difficult situation. Surrendering the center is not safebut the alternative,11… O-O12. O-O-Oa513. dxe5dxe514. b1followed by f2-f3 wasn’t too enticing either.12. xd4g613. O-O-Oe714. xf6Possibly, a bit to eager.The main problem with Black’s position is that it cannot be improved easily, so even14. b1was entirely appropriate.14… e515. b3h516. e3and White will play f2-f4 next.There’s also14. f3right away. I thought Svidler was on his way to win the game.14… xf615. xg4xh4 !?Jeffery was willing to take some awful chancesrather than defend down a pawn after15… xc316. bxc3xg417. xg4e518. e2O-O-O16. e3f617. d2 ?The threat to the d6-pawn shouldn’t bother Black, because he welcomes a queen trade that comes along with it.A different story develops after17. he1e618. f5 !xf519. exf5xe220. xe2+e721. e4Black is not going to survive this endgame.17… h518. b1h419. he1g520. xd6xd621. xd6e5There it is. Jeffery managed to alleviate his problems at the cost of mere pawn.22. b3h323. gxh3xh324. f5d825. a2xd6This was accurately calculated by Xiongbut he could also play25… g4I don’t see what White can do in the way of improvement here.26. xd6+e727. xb7c828. c5h2Two pawns down, but counterplay comes in time.29. g1f630. f430. d3xd331. cxd3xf232. d4White can try to grind it down, but I already felt Peter was not up to a long game. He knew he had his chances and he blew it.30… xf431. g8e332. d3xd333. cxd3a634. g7+d635. c4xc4+36. dxc4a5White’s compromised pawn structure and passive king deprive him of any winning chances.37. f7d438. b3h439. f8c540. a8b641. b8+c542. a8b643. b8+c544. a8
I’m mildly disappointed with Xiong’s performance in Saint Louis. It seemed he let many chances slip away, against Mamedyarov and So in particular. And there was that bad loss to Vachier-Lagrave, as well. Still, I think the valuable experience Jeffery gained here will go a long way to helping him progress.
Of Peter Svidler, I can say that his much-improved play in the second half may have made him regret that the tournament ended so soon. Peter certainly had that second wind in his sails.
In conclusion, I want to thank the players for giving us fun games to watch, the organizers at Saint Louis Chess Club for making this event possible in these trying times, and the Chess.com brass for giving me this platform to share my thoughts with you. Until next time.
All Games Round 9Shankland, Sam (2709) vs. Swiercz, Dariusz (2655)1/2-1/2 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2021 26 Aug 2021 Round: 0987654321abcdefgh1. f3d52. g3f63. g2c64. c4dxc45. O-Obd76. c2b67. a4a58. a3e69. g5d710. e4g411. xc4xc412. xc4e513. b3b414. b2h615. f3xf316. xf3e717. ad1O-O18. d4exd419. xd4d720. e2ad821. fd1c522. c2xd423. xd4d824. e5xd425. xd4e626. b2c527. c4xc428. xc4c529. f1b530. axb5cxb531. xb5xb332. e2c533. d4a434. xc5xc535. xa4f836. b3e737. f4f638. e6f539. f3h540. g2f641. f3e742. g2f643. f3e7WHITEBLACKRESULTROUNDYEARShankland, Sam(2709)Swiercz, Dariusz(2655)1/2-1/2092021Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar(2782)Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime(2751)1/2-1/2092021So, Wesley(2772)Dominguez Perez, Leinier(2758)1/2-1/2092021Svidler, Peter(2714)Xiong, Jeffery(2710)1/2-1/2092021Rapport, Richard(2763)Caruana, Fabiano(2806)1/2-1/2092021
The 2021 Sinquefield Cup tournament is the last stop of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour. Games started on August 17 with ten of the best chess players in the world competing for a piece of the $325,000 prize fund.
