3rd Sinquefield Cup - Round 9 recap

Opening: D39: QGD: Ragozin, Vienna variation

Player(s): Aronian, Topalov

GM Alex Yermolinsky recaps Round 9. Armenia-USA 3-0. Armenia-Rest of the World 3-3. Levon Aronian won convincingly - with 6 points out of 9 rounds - the 3rd Sinquefield Cup, incidentally beating the three US musketeers Nakamura, Caruana and So. It is a pleasure to see the kind and gentlemanly Levon back wearing the crown of such an important and uber-strong event, after his last great victory at the Tata Steel 2014. Aronian went into last round with a full point advantage, which made the final outcome quite predictable. In his game with Topalov, he forced the Bulgarian into a perpetual check, and clinched the title in style. Carlsen, Anand, MVL, Giri, Caruana and So all drew. Nakamura played an amazing game again today. A very thrilling endgame against the Russian Alexander Grischuk, which seemed infinite. After 6 and a half hours, Hikaru was finally able to go for the jugular, and secure himself second place, jointly with Carlsen, Giri and Vachier-Lagrave. MVL had a great tournament, considering he started with the lowest - by far - rating. He played well, and second place is a great result for the Frenchman. Veselin Topalov, who started with a bang - 2 out of 2 - slowed down considerably during the tournament, and shared 6th-7th with Alexander Grischuk. For Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana and Vishy Anand the Sinquefield Cup was an event to be forgotten as soon as possible, to move on to new adventures. The Grand Chess Tour 2015 standings see Topalov still leading with 17 points over Nakamura with 16, Aronian with 15, Carlsen with 14. So long folks, until the third leg of the Grand Chess Tour, the 7th London Chess Classic, in December.

Teacher's library (718) D39 Aronian Topalov recap