Firouzja and Nepomniachtchi take the lead with Vachier-Lagrave

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

The rapid matches end on Wednesday with rounds seven to nine, starting on August 13, 2:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. CEST / 11:30 p.m. ISTand then we will see two days of blitz in the same tournament.

Table after day 2

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

Firouzja’s win against Nakamura was the only decisive game of the fourth round. He had a comfortable position that GM Peter Svidler compared to “a warm bath”. 19.Bxc4but lost the entire advantage after 24.Bxf5?— Firouzja admitted that he thought this endgame would be uncomfortable for Black, but that was not the case.

Nakamura fought his way back into the game, but later made a mistake with the immediate loss 33…b6??played with 22 seconds against one and a half minutes and Firouzja converted the final rook endgame with an extra pawn.

Firouzja reached an uneventful draw against fellow countryman Vachier-Lagrave before winning again against Abdusattorov in the final round of the day. It looked like it was going to be a miniature game, as Svidler stated on move 18: “This is completely lost, it’s just dead for Black,” but Abdusattorov managed to get back into the game.

Alexander Alekhine is said to have once said, “To beat me, you must beat me three times: in the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame.” Firouzja won the opening and then demonstrated his form again in the next two phases of the game. GM Rafael Leitao comments on the day’s full play below. (It will be added soon.)

GM Cristian Chirila asked Firouzja how he recognizes a critical moment in a chess game and when he needs to think. The French number one explained: “When the move is not so obvious, you have to take your time. I think it’s not such a big secret. When you don’t see the best move, you have to take your time to understand what the best move is.”

Nepomniachtchi won the only decisive game of the fifth round, taking less than three minutes to complete the entire match, while his opponent needed just one more minute. The two-time Candidates winner joked about his fast pace: “Even if I start thinking, it doesn’t get me anywhere, yeah. Yeah, I just press the button.”

Even if I start thinking, it doesn’t lead me anywhere, yeah. Yes, I just press the button.

—Ian Nepomniachtchi

After Nepomniachtchi’s surprising 6…Le7 in the opening, Dominguez exchanged queens early and reached a position with bishops of different colors and four rooks on the board. But the danger was not over yet, as Nepomniachtchi said: “I think more or less Black is playing and White is trying to be exact… of course, objectively speaking, it was a draw… at some point, after, I think after …g5tactically it may not be as easy as it looks.”

Caruana has now recovered from two losses and a draw the day before. He summed it up: “Yesterday was a disaster. The thing is that, like all the games I’ve played so far, any result was possible… (Yesterday) I was objectively winning in two games and managed to lose both.”

The thing is, like all the games I’ve played so far, any outcome was possible.

—Fabiano Caruana

From this perspective, Tuesday was a success. First, he drew against Vachier-Lagrave from a position that was getting out of control for him. Svidler showed a beautiful move at the end of a fantasy variation, which was replaced by Caruana’s 34.Rc3?which absolutely needs to be shared further:

Caruana escapes with a draw against tournament leader MVL!

Svidler pointed out a beautiful fantasy variation with the insane move 37.Be5!!, which sacrifices the bishop and leaves the queen on d1 in oblivion, but separates the opposing forces.https://t.co/tmwtvSFxvK#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/X6z4hcOpWu

— chess24 (@chess24com) 13 August 2024

Caruana then escaped in round five against Abdusattorov in an endgame where he had a queen against two. The following notes are based on his comments after the fascinating endgame rescue.

Perhaps blossoming again after a lucky coincidence, Caruana won the next game against Praggnanandhaa. Instead of the Indian GM 21.Rf2?Caruana said he had seen the correct 21.Qe3! and pointed out that Praggnanandhaa had overlooked 25.d6! in the long variation. After this move, Caruana castled his king and launched a one-sided attack.

It was a tough tournament for Praggnanandhaa, who had winning positions in all three games the day before but ended up drawing one and losing two. GM Yasser Sierawan stressed: “If he had finished the first day with 3/3, it wouldn’t have been such a surprise.” Instead, Wednesday will be about “damage limitation,” as Svidler puts it, and then perhaps a blitz resurrection for the Indian GM, who is in last place.