“I COULDN’T HOPE FOR BETTER,” CARUANA EXULTED AFTER HIS ROUND-THREE VICTORY OVER THE WORLD CHAMPION.
34. ... Rh5 35. Nf3 Kh7?! “A ridiculous move,” said Aronian. “Of
course I should play 35. ... Qe8 when the position is very unclear.” Caruana did not agree, and indeed 36. Qg4 and 37. Nh4, as in the game, is still very strong.
36. Qg4 Rhf5 37. Nh4 Kh8 38. Nxf5 Rxf5 39. Qg6
Once the white pawns start rolling, Black
is helpless. 39. ... Qe7 40. g4 Rf8
45. Rf6 Nb6 46. Bxh6 Nd7 47. Ref1! cxb4
The other line 47. ... Nxf6 48. Bxf8 Rxf7 49. Rxf6 is also trivial for White.
48. axb4 Bxh6 49. Rxh6+ Kg7 50. Rh5!, Black resigned. For Aronian (4/10), he had another
disappointing event at the Sinquefield Cup, but in a different way than in 2013. Last year, he failed to convert a better position and even lost in the final round, missing a chance to enter a playoff. This time around, he never got going,
but refused to blame any lingering health issues. He flew to the U.S. basically tied for world number two; he left more than 40 points back and just barely in third. “I didn't play any good games at all,”
41. f5 After the game Caruana wondered wheth -
er he should keep the queens on the board by preceding this move with 41. Qe4 “but White should be winning easily in either case,” he added.
41. ... Qe8 42. Qxe8 Rxe8 43. f6 Bf8 44. f7 Re7
Aronian said after the event ended. “It was a disastrous tournament. I know the reasons I’ve been playing badly but I don’t want to share them.” As he often does, he kept his humor. “Everyone's doing such great things for the players. I’m not doing much to give back!” “[Caruana’s] playing proper chess,”
Carlsen said after drawing his own game to Topalov. “He's winning every game. It’s not by some kind of fluke. It’s really impressive. I can’t even begin to think of catching him. Right now I am not a chal - lenger to anyone.”
(See next round top of next column)
ROUND 5: “IF MAGNUS WAS DOING THIS, IT WOULDN'T BE SO SURPRISING.” The sweep of the field concluded the
next day when Caruana took out the struggling Nakamura, again as Black. This was the Italian’s first career win over Nakamura. This time knight retreats were even
more common as all three knights hopped back to the first rank before redeploying. When they did, White’s pawns proved weaker than Black’s. “After (28. ... ) Nf5 I have a very
comfortable position,” Caruana explained. “I think (30. ) f4 was a very strange mistake ... I think I adjusted to his style of play.” Nakamura’s bishop became completely
silenced so he threw several pawns at Caruana in order to complicate the position. Caruana then made his only measurable mistake of the first week, missing a pretty win on move 44 and allowing the game to linger for another 20+ moves. “It’s a very unusual tactic and the move
didn’t even cross my mind,” Caruana said. The American number one then missed
a complex drawing idea before ultimately running out of hope.
The hometown hero goes down GM Hikaru Nakamura (FIDE 2787, USA) GM Fabiano Caruana (FIDE 2801, ITA) 2014 Sinquefield Cup (5), St. Louis, Missouri, 08.31.2014
www.uschess.org 31
PHOTO: AUSTIN FULLER, CCSCSL
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