St. Louis Rapid & Blitz

[AdminX]

Has anyone been following the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz? It is being hosted on the KasparovChess website and also shown on Youtube via the Saint Louis Club.

Nakamura has shown some pretty amazing blitz skills when under pressure. Two games that stand out in my mind are his play with the black pieces versus Mamedyarov and Le. According the GM Ashley Computer Engines also agreed with the moves Naka was blitzing out in his game with Mamedyarov.

[pgn]
[Event "GCT St Louis Rapid 2021"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2021.08.11"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E36"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2736"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2021.08.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Bg5 dxc4 {
E36: Nimzo-Indian: Classical: 4...d5 5 a3.} 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Rd1 Ba6 10. Qa4 h6 {
10...h6 is better than 10...Qd7.} 11. Bh4 Qe7 12. Nf3 Rd8 13. g4 (13. e3 Bxf1
14. Rxf1 c5 15. dxc5 Rxd1+ 16. Qxd1 g5 17. Bg3 Qxc5 18. Qd8+ Kg7 19. Be5 Qc1+
20. Ke2 Qc4+ 21. Ke1 Qc1+ 22. Ke2 Qc4+ 23. Ke1 Qc1+ 24. Ke2 {1/2-1/2 (24)
Mamedyarov,S (2808)-Nakamura,H (2769) Stavanger 2018 CBM 185 [Yermolinsky,A]})
13... Bb7 14. Bg2 Nbd7 {[#]} 15. Rg1 $146 ({Predecessor:} 15. O-O c5 16. h3
cxd4 17. Qxd4 Nc5 18. Qe5 Rxd1 19. Rxd1 Rd8 20. Rd4 Rxd4 21. Qxd4 {1/2-1/2 (83)
Reuker,J (2377)-Wachinger,N (2340) Lueneburg 2018}) 15... c5 16. g5 hxg5 17.
Nxg5 Bxg2 18. Rxg2 Nf8 {[#]} (18... Ne8 $11) 19. Ne4 $1 $14 {Pin} Ng6 $1 20.
Bg5 Qb7 21. Bxf6 Qxe4 22. f3 Qf4 $132 {Black is not keeping still} 23. Bxd8
Rxd8 24. Qxa7 Qh4+ 25. Kf1 Nf4 {[#] ( -> ... Qh3!)} 26. Qc7 {Strongly
threatening Rg4.} Nxg2 27. Kxg2 $11 {Endgame KQR-KQR} Rd5 28. Kh1 (28. Qxb6 $11
{remains equal.} cxd4 29. a4) 28... Rxd4 ({Better is} 28... Qf2 $17 29. Qb8+
Kh7) 29. Rxd4 {The position is equal.} Qxd4 30. Qxb6 $17 {KQ-KQ} Qd1+ 31. Kg2 {
Hoping for Qb8+.} Qxe2+ 32. Kg3 Qe5+ 33. Kg2 Qe2+ 34. Kg3 Qe5+ 35. Kg2 Qe2+ 36.
Kg3 Qe5+ {Weighted Error Value: White=0.11/Black=0.09} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

Sam Shankland also had a nice win over Mamedyarov the other day. I guess he should as he put out a course on the system.

[pgn]
[Event "GCT St Louis Rapid 2021"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2021.08.12"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Shankland, Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2021.08.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2
b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. Rad1 Rad8 {D45: Semi-Slav: 5 e3.} 12. e4 dxe4 13.
Nxe4 Nxe4 {The position is equal.} 14. Qxe4 f5 15. Qe3 c5 {[#]} 16. Rfe1 $146 (
{Predecessor:} 16. Qg5 Nf6 17. dxc5 bxc5 18. Ne5 Qc7 19. Qe3 f4 20. Qh3 Bc8 21.
Ng4 e5 22. Nxf6+ Rxf6 {1/2-1/2 (98) Piesik,P (2420)-Hovhannisyan,R (2634)
Skopje 2019}) 16... cxd4 17. Nxd4 e5 18. Nb5 (18. Bd3 $11 {remains equal.} e4
19. Be2) 18... Bc5 $17 19. Qg3 f4 20. Qh3 Nf6 {Hoping for ...Ne4.} 21. Nc3 {
[#] This move loses the game for White.} (21. Qh4 $17) 21... Bxf2+ $1 $19 22.
Kxf2 {[#]} Bc8 $1 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. g4 {[#] Black must now prevent Kf1.} Rd2 $1
{Black has strong compensation.} 25. Rd1 $2 (25. Kf1 Rxb2 26. Nd5) 25... Bxg4 {
Weighted Error Value: White=0.68/Black=0.00} 0-1

[/pgn]

[AdminX]

Fabi Kicked some butt in this game.

[pgn]
[Event "GCT St Louis Blitz 2021"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2021.08.15"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C93"]
[WhiteElo "2806"]
[BlackElo "2714"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2021.08.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "300+2"]

1. e4 {2} e5 {6} 2. Nf3 {2} Nc6 {2} 3. Bb5 {1} a6 {1} 4. Ba4 {2} Nf6 {2} 5. O-O
{2} Be7 {1} 6. d3 {10} d6 {4} 7. c3 {2} O-O {1} 8. Re1 {2} Re8 {14} 9. Nbd2 {7}
Bf8 {13} 10. h3 {2} h6 {40} 11. d4 {11} b5 {7} 12. Bc2 {14} Bb7 {13} 13. d5 {33
} Nb8 {1} 14. b3 {1} c6 {2} 15. c4 {1} Qc7 {0} 16. Nf1 {16} Nbd7 {9} 17. Ng3 {8
} bxc4 {10} 18. bxc4 {1} a5 {4} 19. Be3 {4} Nc5 {16} 20. Nd2 {14} cxd5 {12} 21.
exd5 {13} g6 {17} 22. Bxc5 {13} dxc5 {6} 23. Rb1 {13} Reb8 {11} 24. Qf3 {20}
Ne8 {10} 25. h4 {8} h5 {14} 26. Nxh5 $1 {17} gxh5 {0} 27. Qxh5 {2} Bg7 {11 [#]}
28. Rb3 $1 {24} Ra6 $2 {46 [#]} (28... Kf8 $16) 29. Rg3 $1 {9} Kf8 {1 [#]} (
29... f5 $142 30. Bxf5 Nf6) 30. Rxg7 $1 {38} Kxg7 {2} 31. Qh7+ {1} Kf8 {14} 32.
Qh8+ {2} Ke7 {0} 33. Rxe5+ {1} Re6 {8} 34. dxe6 {48} Nf6 {1} 35. Rxc5 {1} Qd6
$18 {9} 36. Qg7 {6} Rf8 {30} 37. Nb3 {3} a4 {4} 38. Rf5 {10} Qxe6 {24} 39. Nc5
{1} Qe1+ {10} 40. Kh2 {1} 1-0
[/pgn]

[AdminX]

Amazing Draw!

[d]3rr3/2q3bk/1p2b1pp/p1pNpp2/PnPn4/2BP2P1/1Q2PPBP/1R1RN1K1 b - - 0 23

[pgn]
[Event "GCT St Louis Blitz 2021"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2021.08.15"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Rapport, Richard"]
[Black "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2021.08.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "300+2"]

1. Nf3 {3} c5 {1} 2. g3 {11} Nc6 {2} 3. Bg2 {2} g6 {1} 4. c3 {5} e5 {2} 5. d3 {
4} Bg7 {2} 6. O-O {3} Nge7 {2} 7. a3 {3} d6 {14} 8. b4 {3} a6 {7} 9. Bb2 {3}
O-O {4} 10. Nbd2 {3} h6 {11} 11. Rb1 {10} Be6 {4} 12. bxc5 {5} dxc5 {1} 13. c4
{1} b6 {19} 14. Bc3 {14} Qc7 {5} 15. Re1 {13} Rfe8 {12} 16. a4 {4} a5 {18} 17.
Qb3 {3} Nb4 {3} 18. Qb2 {4} Nec6 {2} 19. Nf1 {16} Rad8 {2} 20. Red1 {12} f5 {10
} 21. Ne1 {5} Kh7 {10} 22. Ne3 {6} Nd4 {12} 23. Nd5 {13} Bxd5 {83} 24. cxd5 {5}
e4 {2} 25. e3 {19} Ne2+ {26} 26. Qxe2 {3} Bxc3 {1} 27. dxe4 {7} Bxe1 {2} 28.
exf5 {16} Bc3 {2} 29. fxg6+ {3} Kg7 {5} 30. Qc4 {9} Bf6 {3} 31. d6 {8} Qa7 {17}
32. Rd2 {12} Rf8 {17} 33. h4 {10} h5 {10} 34. Qe2 {14} Kxg6 {5} 35. Be4+ {1}
Kh6 {1} 36. Rxb4 {1} axb4 {6} 37. Rd5 {9} Qf7 {1} 38. Qf3 {26} Bxh4 {19} 39.
Rf5 {7} Bf6 {2} 40. Qf4+ {14} Kg7 {1} 41. Rg5+ {2} Bxg5 {22} 42. Qxg5+ {2} Kh8
{1} 43. Qh6+ {12} Kg8 {1} 44. Bd5 {6} Qxd5 {1} 45. Qg6+ {1} Kh8 {2} 46. Qh6+ {0
} Kg8 {1} 47. Qg6+ {1} Kh8 {1} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

[AdminX]

Hikaru has won it, with three rounds to spare! Wow! It is all about 2nd place now.

[Cornfed]

Sundays Mamedyarov - Rapport game was...particularly entertaining.

[AdminX]

Sundays Mamedyarov - Rapport game was...particularly entertaining.

Yes it was, I've heard of GM Rapport before but I think this was the 1st time I really paid close attention to his games. He has a very interesting approach to the game.

[pgn]
[Event "GCT St Louis Blitz 2021"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2021.08.15"]
[Round "16"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E61"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2021.08.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bd2 {E61: King's Indian:
Early deviations for White, including Smyslov System.} O-O 7. Qc1 {is more
profitable than 7.e4 at the moment.} Kh7 8. h4 {The position is equal.} Nh5 9.
e4 e5 10. d5 a5 {[#]} 11. Bd3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11. Be2 Na6 12. g3 Nc5 13.
Be3 Qe8 14. Bxc5 dxc5 15. Qe3 Qe7 16. O-O-O Ra6 17. Na4 {1/2-1/2 (28)
Mamedyarov,S (2808)-Grischuk,A (2766) Leuven 2018}) 11... Na6 12. Bc2 Nc5 13.
Be3 b6 14. Qd2 Bg4 (14... Nf4 $11) 15. Ng1 $14 Nf4 (15... f5 $14) 16. f3 $1 $16
Bd7 17. g3 Nh5 18. Nge2 a4 19. O-O-O Ra5 20. g4 $36 {Keeping Black busy.} Nf4
21. Nxf4 exf4 22. Bxf4 b5 $2 (22... Ra8 $16) 23. cxb5 $18 Bxb5 24. Be3 Qf6 25.
e5 Qxf3 26. h5 Kg8 27. hxg6 (27. Bxh6 Bxe5 28. hxg6 (28. Bxf8 $2 Bf4 $19) 28...
fxg6 $16) 27... fxg6 28. Kb1 (28. Bxg6 Bxe5 29. Rde1 (29. Bxh6 Rf6 $11) (29.
Rxh6 a3 $18) 29... Rf6 $16) 28... Rb8 {intending ...Bc4.} 29. Bxc5 dxc5 30. Be4
Qg3 (30... Qf8 $142 31. d6 (31. Bxg6 Bxe5 32. Bf5 Bg7 $18) 31... cxd6) 31. Rxh6
{And now d6 would win.} a3 32. Rxg6 Bd3+ 33. Qxd3 Rxb2+ {[#]} 34. Ka1 $2 ({
White must play} 34. Kc1 $1 $18 Qf4+ 35. Rd2) 34... Qxe5 (34... Qf2 $11 35. Rb1
c4 36. Rxg7+ Kxg7) 35. d6 cxd6 36. Qc4+ Kh8 37. Qf7 $4 {[#]} Rb1+ $3 38. Kxb1 {
[#]} Rb5+ $1 39. Kc1 (39. Qb3 Rxb3+) 39... Qxc3+ 40. Bc2 {[#] Black must now
prevent Rh1+.} Rb1+ $1 {Pin, Decoy. What a bad dream for White. Weighted Error
Value: White=0.55/Black=0.45} 0-1
[/pgn]

[MikeB]

Has anyone been following the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz? It is being hosted on the KasparovChess website and also shown on Youtube via the Saint Louis Club.

Nakamura has shown some pretty amazing blitz skills when under pressure. Two games that stand out in my mind are his play with the black pieces versus Mamedyarov and Le. According the GM Ashley Computer Engines also agreed with the moves Naka was blitzing out in his game with Mamedyarov.

[pgn]
[Event "GCT St Louis Rapid 2021"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2021.08.11"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E36"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2736"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2021.08.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Bg5 dxc4 {
E36: Nimzo-Indian: Classical: 4...d5 5 a3.} 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Rd1 Ba6 10. Qa4 h6 {
10...h6 is better than 10...Qd7.} 11. Bh4 Qe7 12. Nf3 Rd8 13. g4 (13. e3 Bxf1
14. Rxf1 c5 15. dxc5 Rxd1+ 16. Qxd1 g5 17. Bg3 Qxc5 18. Qd8+ Kg7 19. Be5 Qc1+
20. Ke2 Qc4+ 21. Ke1 Qc1+ 22. Ke2 Qc4+ 23. Ke1 Qc1+ 24. Ke2 {1/2-1/2 (24)
Mamedyarov,S (2808)-Nakamura,H (2769) Stavanger 2018 CBM 185 [Yermolinsky,A]})
13... Bb7 14. Bg2 Nbd7 {[#]} 15. Rg1 $146 ({Predecessor:} 15. O-O c5 16. h3
cxd4 17. Qxd4 Nc5 18. Qe5 Rxd1 19. Rxd1 Rd8 20. Rd4 Rxd4 21. Qxd4 {1/2-1/2 (83)
Reuker,J (2377)-Wachinger,N (2340) Lueneburg 2018}) 15... c5 16. g5 hxg5 17.
Nxg5 Bxg2 18. Rxg2 Nf8 {[#]} (18... Ne8 $11) 19. Ne4 $1 $14 {Pin} Ng6 $1 20.
Bg5 Qb7 21. Bxf6 Qxe4 22. f3 Qf4 $132 {Black is not keeping still} 23. Bxd8
Rxd8 24. Qxa7 Qh4+ 25. Kf1 Nf4 {[#] ( -> ... Qh3!)} 26. Qc7 {Strongly
threatening Rg4.} Nxg2 27. Kxg2 $11 {Endgame KQR-KQR} Rd5 28. Kh1 (28. Qxb6 $11
{remains equal.} cxd4 29. a4) 28... Rxd4 ({Better is} 28... Qf2 $17 29. Qb8+
Kh7) 29. Rxd4 {The position is equal.} Qxd4 30. Qxb6 $17 {KQ-KQ} Qd1+ 31. Kg2 {
Hoping for Qb8+.} Qxe2+ 32. Kg3 Qe5+ 33. Kg2 Qe2+ 34. Kg3 Qe5+ 35. Kg2 Qe2+ 36.
Kg3 Qe5+ {Weighted Error Value: White=0.11/Black=0.09} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

Sam Shankland also had a nice win over Mamedyarov the other day. I guess he should as he put out a course on the system.

[pgn]
[Event "GCT St Louis Rapid 2021"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2021.08.12"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Shankland, Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2021.08.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2
b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. Rad1 Rad8 {D45: Semi-Slav: 5 e3.} 12. e4 dxe4 13.
Nxe4 Nxe4 {The position is equal.} 14. Qxe4 f5 15. Qe3 c5 {[#]} 16. Rfe1 $146 (
{Predecessor:} 16. Qg5 Nf6 17. dxc5 bxc5 18. Ne5 Qc7 19. Qe3 f4 20. Qh3 Bc8 21.
Ng4 e5 22. Nxf6+ Rxf6 {1/2-1/2 (98) Piesik,P (2420)-Hovhannisyan,R (2634)
Skopje 2019}) 16... cxd4 17. Nxd4 e5 18. Nb5 (18. Bd3 $11 {remains equal.} e4
19. Be2) 18... Bc5 $17 19. Qg3 f4 20. Qh3 Nf6 {Hoping for ...Ne4.} 21. Nc3 {
[#] This move loses the game for White.} (21. Qh4 $17) 21... Bxf2+ $1 $19 22.
Kxf2 {[#]} Bc8 $1 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. g4 {[#] Black must now prevent Kf1.} Rd2 $1
{Black has strong compensation.} 25. Rd1 $2 (25. Kf1 Rxb2 26. Nd5) 25... Bxg4 {
Weighted Error Value: White=0.68/Black=0.00} 0-1

[/pgn]

Great thread Ted, this is why I still come back and check things out once in a while.