Firouzja, Nepomniachtchi Jump Into 3-Way Lead With Vachier-Lagrave

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave led the 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz after day one, but GMs Alireza Firouzja and Ian Nepomniachtchi caught up to him to join a three-way tie after six rounds. Of the other seven players, GM Fabiano Caruana was the only player to win a game on Tuesday, in round six against GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who finds himself in last place.

The rapid games will conclude on Wednesday with rounds seven through nine, starting on August 13, at 2 p.m. ET / 20:00 CEST / 11:30 p.m. IST, and then we will see two days of blitz in the same tournament.

Standings After Day 2

Vachier-Lagrave led the tournament after a blazing start on day one, but after three winless rounds he was caught by two players. Firouzja was the only player to win two games, against GM Hikaru Nakamura and then GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Firouzja's victory against Nakamura was the only decisive game of round four. He had a pleasant position that GM Peter Svidler likened to "a warm bath" after 19.Bxc4, but threw away the entire advantage after 24.Bxf5?—Firouzja admitted he thought this endgame was unpleasant for Black, but it turned out not to be.

Nakamura climbed back into the game, but erred later with the immediately-losing 33...b6??, played with 22 seconds against a minute and a half, and Firouzja converted the eventual rook endgame with an extra pawn.

Nakamura once again recapped the day's action.

Firouzja made an uneventful draw against his countryman, Vachier-Lagrave, before again winning in the day's last round against Abdusattorov. It looked like it was destined to be a miniature as Svidler claimed by move 18: "This is completely lost, it's just dead for Black," but Abdusattorov made it back into the game.

Fourth World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine supposedly once said, "To win against me, you must beat me three times: in the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame." Firouzja won the opening, and then again demonstrated his form in the next two phases of the game. GM Rafael Leitao annotates the full Game of the Day below.

GM Cristian Chirila asked Firouzja how he senses a critical moment in a chess game—how does he know when to think? The French number-one explained, "If the move is not so obvious, then you have to take your time. It's not such a big secret, I think. When you don't see the best move, you have to take time to understand what is the best move."

Nepomniachtchi won the only decisive game of round five, using under three minutes for the entire game while his opponent got down to one minute. The two-time Candidates winner quipped about his quick pace: "Even if I start thinking, it leads me nowhere, yes. Yeah, I just push the button."

Even if I start thinking, it leads me nowhere, yes. Yeah, I just push the button.

—Ian Nepomniachtchi

After Nepomniachtchi's surprising 6...Be7 in the opening, Dominguez traded queens early and reached an opposite-colored bishop position with four rooks on the board. But the danger wasn't over, as Nepomniachtchi said, "I think more or less Black is playing and White is trying to be accurate... of course it was a draw, objectively... at some point, after, I think ...g5, it's maybe tactically not as simple as it looks."

Meanwhile, Caruana has made a recovery after two losses and a draw on the previous day. He summed it up: "Yesterday was a disaster. The thing is that like all the games that I've played so far could have gone either way, any result was possible in all of them... [yesterday] I was objectively winning in two games and managed to lose both."

The thing is that like all the games that I've played so far could have gone either way, any result was possible in all of them.

—Fabiano Caruana

Tuesday was a success from that perspective. First, he drew Vachier-Lagrave from a position that was getting out of control for him. Svidler showed a beautiful move at the end of a fantasy line that was made impossible by Caruana's 34.Rc3?, but one that still absolutely has to be reshared:

Caruana escapes with a draw against tournament leader MVL!

Svidler pointed out a beautiful fantasy line with the stunner 37.Be5!!, sacrificing the bishop and leaving the queen for oblivion on d1, but disconnecting the enemy forces.https://t.co/tmwtvSFxvK#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/X6z4hcOpWu

— chess24 (@chess24com) August 13, 2024

Caruana then escaped against Abdusattorov in round five, in an endgame where he had one queen against two. The notes below are based on his comments after the fascinating endgame save.

Perhaps reignited after a lucky break, Caruana went on to win against Praggnanandhaa in the next game. Instead of the Indian GM's 21.Rf2?, Caruana said he saw the correct 21.Qe3! and pointed out that, in the long line, Praggnanandhaa missed 25.d6!. After the game's move, Caruana castled his king and delivered a one-sided attack.

It's been a rough tournament for Praggnanandhaa, who on the previous day had winning positions in all three games but ultimately made one draw and suffered two losses. GM Yasser Seirawan made the point, "If he had finished day one with 3/3 it wouldn't have been that big a surprise." Instead, Wednesday will be "damage control," in Svidler's words, for the Indian GM who finds himself in last place, and then perhaps a resurgence in the blitz.

The 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is the fourth leg and final rapid and blitz event of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour. Ten players compete in a rapid (25+10) single round-robin followed by a blitz (5+2) double round-robin for their share of a $175,000 prize fund. 

Previous Coverage

• Day 1: Fueled by Escapes, Vachier-Lagrave Leads Rapid After Day 1
• Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov Join 2024 Grand Chess Tour