Firouzja Leads By 1.5 Points, Wesley So Scores Most Points In Blitz
GM Alireza Firouzja leads the 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz by a point and a half after the first nine rounds of blitz. Behind him is the top-scorer of the blitz portion, GM Wesley So, who scored 7/8, and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, both on 16 points.
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is on 15.5 points after starting the day as a co-leader, and GM Levon Aronian was off to a hot start, scoring a hat-trick to rebound after losing in round one, but he slowed down in the second half of the day to finish on 15 points.
The tournament concludes with the last round of blitz on August 16, starting at 2 p.m. ET / 20:00 CEST / 11:30 p.m. IST.
Standings After Day 4
Firouzja was on fire on the first day of blitz, and his stellar form may remind chess fans of his 2022 performance, when he won the tournament with four rounds to spare. He broke 2900 in blitz that year, and this year, win after win, he climbs toward the number-one spot in blitz rating.
He lost just once, in round two against Aronian, but won five other games to make up for it, scoring a hat-trick starting with a victory against GM Hikaru Nakamura.
Firouzja admitted that loss against Aronian was a rare opening disaster, and it ended in just 28 moves with a thematic, yet still pleasing, knight sacrifice. "I just lost because of a stupid opening," said Firouzja. "I don't lose normally like this, but it happens."
Aronian defeats Firouzja in 28 moves! 24.Nc6! was the beginning of the deadly attack.https://t.co/q4UQDEAUJg#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/dYFxH158ws
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 15, 2024
He gave So his only loss in the next round; with hindsight, we know this was an especially critical victory against one of his closest rivals. So missed "a very typical tactic" (Firouzja) 16.Nxd6! but later made it back into the game after White overlooked a defense on move 45. Although the engine calls the position equal, Firouzja said, "Still White has great chances, especially with not much on the clock," and sure enough, So collapsed after an explosive exchange sacrifice:
Firouzja scored a hat-trick later, winning against Nakamura, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Nepomniachtchi. The most memorable game, unfortunately for the U.S. number-one, was the latter's blunder of mate-in-two—in a position where he had successfully defended and was already better.
Nakamura, who was better, blunders a mate in two moves!https://t.co/CkT2R7zmNU#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/n1AKgqfbf2
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 15, 2024
It could have been an even bigger lead for Firouzja, who had winning positions against GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Fabiano Caruana and was momentarily better against Vachier-Lagrave in the last game—having chances in every single game he didn't win. Still, one cannot complain with the lead he has in the tournament.
In the blitz segment alone, So had the best score. His win in the last round on Wednesday left him in great spirits, he said. "The game yesterday against Nodirbek for sure cheered me up, it was a good bonus." After his loss against Firouzja, he went on to win five out of the subsequent six games left in the day.
After winning a nice queen endgame against GM Leinier Dominguez, So won a game he really shouldn't have against Aronian, moments after Nakamura blundered that mate in two.
The carnival of tragedies continues as Aronian, playing for the win, blunders his queen to a skewer!https://t.co/FX221ypmRk#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/vRzMtksWuc
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 15, 2024
And after a draw against Vachier-Lagrave, he scored a hat-trick to end the day—overcoming Praggnanandhaa, Nakamura, and again Abdusattorov. Our Game of the Day is the win against Nakamura, and the decisive moment came in the endgame when Black punched 38.d4! through, a powerful and temporary pawn sacrifice to breach the enemy lines. GM Rafael Leitao goes over the full game below.
Repeating the same sentiment as every other player in the tournament, So said that the top spot is still far from decided. He added that luck is an important factor as well.
These tournaments are very unpredictable because the games happen so fast. It's all about your form and your momentum. Obviously, I needed a bit of luck today, like against Levon I should never have won that, and I was also probably losing against Ian in the very first game. When you have a little bit of luck and then you start winning a game or two it could easily snowball into more games.
When you have a little bit of luck and then you start winning a game or two it could easily snowball into more games.
—Wesley So
Nepomniachtchi scored +4 -3 =2 and ultimately landed in the same spot as So in the standings. After Abdusattorov's blunder 27.Qf6??, he was given the opportunity to play one of the nicest cheapos of the day, instantly.
Every player at the top of the standings needs a little bit of luck. In his penultimate game, Nepomniachtchi got his as Dominguez was unable to sink a free throw in the following position:
Vachier-Lagrave, a half-point behind Nepomniachtchi now, also served Abdusattorov a cold shower in the round before, swinging around a position he should have lost. In fact, he had been losing the entire time until this moment.
Abdusattorov had the worst performance in the blitz, scoring just two points in nine rounds—and losing seven games.
Finally, Aronian rounds out the top half of the standings, and at the beginning of the day it looked like he might finish closer to the top. After losing to Caruana, he scored a hat-trick against Firouzja, Dominguez, and then Vachier-Lagrave. In that last game, he turned around a mutually blunderful scramble against Vachier-Lagrave that either player could have won.
But the fun ended there for Aronian, who lost three of his last five games and won two. He's 2.5 points behind the on-form Firouzja, but there are still nine rounds of blitz to go.
It's a double round-robin tournament, so in the second half we will see the same pairings of players but with reversed colors. Will Firouzja rip through the opposition like he did in 2022, or will another player rise to the occasion?
How to watch?
You can review the round's broadcast on the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube or Twitch channels. The games can also be reviewed from our dedicated 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz events page. You can also watch Nakamura's stream on Kick.
The broadcast was hosted by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, Cristian Chirila, and IM Nazi Paikidze.
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
NM Anthony Levin caught the chess bug at the "late" age of 18 and never turned back. He earned his national master title in 2021, actually the night before his first day of work at Chess.com.
Anthony, who also earned his Master's in teaching English in 2018, taught English and chess in New York schools for five years and strives to make chess content accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. At Chess.com, he writes news articles and manages social media for chess24.
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