Caruana scores, MVL misses big chance
Round three of the Sinquefield Cup saw Fabiano Caruana score the only win of the day. His victory over Alireza Firouzja brought him into a tie for first place with Levon Aronian and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, both of whom had won in the opening round. After three rounds, this trio leads the standings with 2 points each, while Firouzja’s setback keeps the race for Grand Chess Tour qualification finely balanced.
Caruana faced Firouzja with the white pieces and managed to build up a positional edge straight from the opening. Black was left with a weak central pawn, which proved extremely difficult to defend.
Caruanas play was accurate, steadily increasing the pressure without allowing counterplay. As time trouble set in, Firouzja’s difficulties became more acute, and Caruana won the weak pawn, emerging with a clean extra pawn in a simplified position.
With his renowned technique, the US grandmaster converted his advantage without mishap, forcing resignation after 46 moves.
Beyond its impact on the tournament standings, this was an important result for the Grand Chess Tour as a whole: Firouzja and Caruana began the Sinquefield Cup in third and fourth places respectively in the overall standings, and with only four players qualifying for the Finals in São Paulo, every direct confrontation is of great consequence.
New co-leader Fabiano Caruana stands in the middle of the playing hall as round three is in progress | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The most dramatic game of the round, however, was not the decisive one presented above. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian contested a sharp French Defence in which MVL quickly seized the initiative. Aronian was all but compelled to leave his king stranded in the centre, facing strong attacking chances. Yet the Armenian-born grandmaster defended resourcefully, creating counterplay on the kingside while fending off White’s threats.
Just as it seemed that Aronian had survived the worst, his 35…Qd8 turned out to be a critical error – the more resilient 35…Kf7 would still have left White with pressure, but not a clear win.
After this slip, there followed the correct 36.Qe5 Qg5 37.Rb1 f4, giving the impression that both players were attacking, but in reality Black’s king was in far greater danger.
The sequence 38.Qb8+ Ke7 39.Qc7+ Ke8 40.Qb8+ Ke7 41.Qc7+ Ke8 allowed the players to reach the time control, with repetition only briefly relieving the tension. Then MVL pushed 42.c4, the critical line, attacking the black bishop (42.a4 is also playable).
The continuation 42…fxg3 43.Qc8+ forced 43…Qd8, as 43…Kf7 would have lost immediately to 44.Rf1+and 43…Ke7 would fall to 44.Bc5+.
With 44.Qxd8+ Kxd8 45.cxb5 gxh2+ 46.Kxh2 axb5 47.Rxb5, White entered an endgame with an extra piece for a pawn.
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Despite the advantage, the technical task was not trivial. Aronian’s resourceful defence proved sufficient, as he headed for the well-known theoretical draw of rook and bishop versus rook. After a long struggle, the position was indeed reduced to this ending, which Vachier-Lagrave could not convert.
As commentators Yasser Seirawan and Peter Svidler later remarked, it was a major disappointment for the Frenchman, who had done so much to create winning chances but could not deliver the finishing touch. Victory would have allowed him to join the leaders on 2 points, just as Caruana had managed by defeating Firouzja.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Two of the strongest players in the world, both aged 20, signed a draw on Wednesday – Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Pragg in a reflective mood | Photo: Lennart Ootes
