The Champions Showdown: The Rapid Leaders Keep Their Leads to the End

The Champions Showdown was a fun event with lots of decisive results. The play was entertaining and the openings were lively. It was everything a fan could hope for - except for the almost complete lack of drama. Some of the blitz matches were close, taken just as blitz matches, but with the exception of a brief flurry near the end of the match between Veselin Topalov and Leinier Dominguez, there was hardly a stich of doubt about who would win what match shortly after the start of the blitz portion.

The match between Fabiano Caruana and Pentala Harikrishna was exceptionally lopsided, with Caruana keeping his foot on the gas throughout the first day. Caruana stumbled a bit on day 2, but still won the blitz portion 17.5-6.5 and won overall with an enormous 35.5-12.5 victory.

Hikaru Nakamura's lead over Jan-Krzysztof Duda was only 14-10 after the rapid games, but when he began the blitz with a 5.5-1.5 run it was pretty clear that the player who has generally been considered the best player in the world, barring only Magnus Carlsen, was going to stroll to victory. He won the blitz 15.5-8.5 and finished a 29.5-18.5 winner overall.

Wesley So led David Navara by a very comfortable 16-8 margin after the rapid games, and led the blitz portion past the halfway point of that part of the competition. Navara went on a nice run to almost win the blitz, but So won the last two games to tie the blitz 12-12 and take the match with an overall score of 28-20.

Veselin Topalov led Leinier Dominguez 15-9 after the rapid games, and went +1 in day 1 of the blitz (6.5-5.5). But then Dominguez caught fire. After a draw to open day 2 he won, drew, won twice more, drew again and scored another win. That brought the score to 23-20 in Topalov's favor, and when Topalov won game 44 he was just a draw away from sealing match victory. Dominguez won game 45, but Topalov drew game 46 and the last two games as well to sneak home with a 25.5-22.5 victory despite losing the blitz by a 13.5-10.5 score.

Finally, Richard Rapport entered the rapid with a crushing 18-6 lead over Sam Shankland. Shankland was much more competitive in the blitz, but Rapport won that as well, 13.5-10.5 to win the match 31.5-16.5.

A good time was had by all, especially since the winners made $36,000 each and the losers were consoled with $24,000 checks. Not bad for a week's work!

The Champions Showdown: Mostly Blowouts After the Rapid Stage

After three days and 12 rapid games, four of the five matches of the Champions Showdown in St. Louis are practically over, barring major comebacks from those who are trailing. The rapid games count double, and the 12 games are equal in value to the 24 blitz games coming over the next two days. Here are the standings so far:

Caruana 18 - Harikrishna 6

Nakamura 14 - Duda 10

So 16 - Navara 8

Topalov 15 - Dominguez 9

Rapport 18 - Shankland 6

Fabiano Caruana came out smoking against Pentala Harikrishna the first two days, going 3.5-.5 (7-1) each of the first two days. His first (and so far only) win in the rapid came in the first game today, but Caruana won in game two and drew the remaining games to maintain an enormous lead.

Richard Rapport won the first three games of the match against Sam Shankland to put heavy pressure on the American. Shankland stopped the bleeding for a while, (barely) drawing the last game on day 1 and the first three games of day 2. He suffered a very unnecessary loss in the last game of day 2, but started day three with a win. Unfortunately for him, the series of six games with even results was punctuated by three more losses, bookending the start of the match.

The match between Wesley So and David Navara was closely contested at first. Navara won game 1, and although So finished the first day at +1 Navara struck back at the start of day 2 to equalize the scores. But then So took over, winning four in a row (= an eight-point lead), setting the margin that is present going into the blitz.

Veselin Topalov and Leinier Dominguez were equal after two days, with one win by each player and six draws, but day three was a disaster for Dominguez and a triumph for Topalov. Dominguez drew the second game and lost the rest, and trails by six points heading into the blitz.

The closest match is the one between Hikaru Nakamura and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and if Duda had won the last game instead of losing it it would have been tied. With Duda having finished as the runner-up in the World Blitz Championship a couple of months ago, it would be premature to claim that the match is over - though I'd still expect Nakamura to pull out match victory.

The Next Big Event: The 2019 Champions Showdown

Hopefully everyone is enjoying Valentine's Day with someone they love. (Unless you're a little kid, in which case all that romantic stuff is icky. For you, be happy - the day is almost done!) Here's some good chess news to go along with your romantic bliss: a very high-level rapid & blitz event starts in less than a week.

It's the 2019 Champions Showdown in St. Louis, and it features the United States' Fab Five (note the extra pun, free of charge) taking on five challengers from the rest of the world (ROW). There will be three days of rapid play and two days of blitz, and these are the matchups:

• Fabiano Caruana vs. Pentala Harikrishna
• Hikaru Nakamura vs. Jan-Krzysztof Duda
• Wesley So vs. David Navara
• Leinier Dominguez vs. Veselin Topalov
• Sam Shankland vs. Richard Rapport

I'm pretty excited about the event, and it will be nice to see Caruana and especially the long inactive Dominguez back in action. I think the Americans will be favorites on every board, though I wouldn't be shocked to see the ROWers win one or two of the first, fourth, or fifth matches.

Here are the specifics:

The event runs from February 20-24, and play each day starts at 1 p.m. local time (= 2 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CET). The first three days will be devoted to rapid chess, the last two to blitz. There will be 12 rapid games - 4 per day - and 24 blitz games - 12 per day. The rapid time control is 15' + 10" (an increment, thankfully, not the abominable Bronstein delay) and the blitz control is 3' + 2". The rapid games are scored 2-1-0, the blitz games 1-.5-0, with the prize money in each match awarding $36,000 to the winner and $24,000 to the loser. If the match finishes in a tie, that's it: the money is split and there's no playoff.

More St. Louis Action Coming Up: Chess960 Matches Starring Kasparov

Here's the quick summary: five 20-game matches, with six rapid and 14 blitz games taking place from September 11-14 of this year. All the games are Chess960 (aka Fischerrandom), and the positions will be unknown to the players until the start of the round. Here are the pairings:

• Garry Kasparov - Veselin Topalov
• Hikaru Nakamura - Peter Svidler
• Wesley So - Anish Giri
• Sam Shankland - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
• Levon Aronian - Leinier Dominguez

Ding Liren Wins Again, Defeats Topalov 3-1

It was a very good little match for Ding Liren, who defeated an illustrious opponent - former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov - by a convincing 3-1 score. In the process, he has also joined the 2800 club. He is the 14th player to do so, and is currently ranked #4 in the world. Ding's win in the last game was very convincing - a complete positional crush of the sort one would expect from a rating mismatch, but not against a legend like Topalov who has been a top player for more than two decades. Here is the game, which even finishes with a petit combinaison.

Ding Liren-Topalov, Game 3

A second straight draw following his victory in game 1 means that Ding Liren only needs a draw with the white pieces in game 4 tomorrow to win his short match with Veselin Topalov. Game 3 is here; note Ding's instructive defense from move 48 on to hold the draw.

Ding Liren-Veselin Topalov, Game 2

This time it's a draw, as you can see for yourself here. Ding Liren leads the four game match 1.5-.5.

Ding Liren-Topalov, Game 1

Don't worry, I'll post about day 1 of the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz next, but in the meantime let's remember the other elite event. Ding Liren and Veselin Topalov are playing a four-game classical match in Wenzhou, China, and Ding has won game 1 with Black. He was worse much of the way, but in the battle of the tacticians he outplayed Topalov in the complications to take an early lead. A further feather in his cap: Ding has become the 14th player to surpass the elite 2800 barrier. Here is game 1, with some comments on the last part of the game.

Coming Soon: St. Louis Rapid & Blitz (and Sinquefield Cup); Ding Liren vs. Topalov

One last post for the day, announcing the next big thing(s) on the chess calendar. The absolute main event is the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz, a Grand Chess Tour event featuring the nine regular members of this year's tour plus a wildcard, which is Leinier Dominguez. This will be followed by the Sinquefield Cup a few days later, but with a different wildcard: Magnus Carlsen. The rapid portion of the first event starts Saturday (August 11) and runs through Monday, and then they'll play blitz on Tuesday and Wednesday. After a couple of days off, the Sinquefield Cup will start on the ensuing Saturday (August 18th).

Perhaps flying slightly under the radar, there will be a four day, four game match between world #4 Ding Liren and former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov, held in Wenzhou, China. It should provide useful experience for Ding Liren, and if he can gain three rating points for his troubles he'll become the latest member of the 2800 club. It should be interesting for Topalov as well, an opportunity to prove himself again at the highest level. And it should be a lot of fun for us as spectators, as both players have a propensity for tactical hijinks. We'll see, and if it fizzles from an entertainment standpoint St. Louis should more than pick up the slack.

Shamkir, Round 5: Topalov Wins Again; Carlsen Wins Too

After Veselin Topalov spoiled all the amity of the Gashimov Memorial by winning a game in round 4, Magnus Carlsen decided in round 5 that he too would be a spoilsport.He played a funny anti-Sicilian sideline (2.Nc3 d6 3.d4) against Radoslaw Wojtaszek, and it worked beautifully - at least once Wojtaszek played 11...h4? Carlsen missed various improvements, but still won pretty easily. (As you can see for yourselves; I've annotated the game here.)

Meanwhile, Veselin Topalov won again, this time defeating David Navara. Topalov sacrificed a pawn in return for the bishop pair, and it paid off in the end. Topalov is at plus-two, but he could have been plus-four. A good finish over the last four rounds could give him one of his best results of the 2010s.

Now that there have been three decisive games out of 25, the players need a rest, and that's what they'll get on Tuesday. Wednesday the action resumes, with the following pairings for round 6:

• Radjabov (2.5) - Wojtaszek (2)
• Karjakin (2.5) - Carlsen (3)
• Topalov (3.5) - Mamedov (2.5)
• Giri (2.5) - Navara (2)
• Ding Liren (2.5) - Mamedyarov (2)