Caruana Extends Perfection in Sinquefield Cup
It’s time to add ink to that history book. Article by Brian Jerauld.
The 2014 Sinquefield Cup, already claiming a page of history as the strongest-rated tournament ever, may now be remembered for a different mark in time altogether. On Tuesday afternoon at the host venue Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, GM Fabiano Caruana earned his second win over GM Veselin Topalov with a stunning piece sacrifice, bringing the Italian’s record to a perfect 6-0.
Caruana’s opening to the U.S. super-tournament has now equaled the longest starting win streak in an elite tournament in the modern era, established by former World Champion GM Anatoly Karpov in Linares 1994, oft-argued as the greatest tournament performance ever.
The “rest” of the strongest field in history has all-but been left in a battle for second place, a position currently held by World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen.
On Tuesday, Carlsen again slipped from the leader’s pace after fumbling a winning position to only score a half-point against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Also drawing were GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian, who remain tied at the bottom of the six-player leaderboard – yet only one point out of second place.
Caruana needs just a half-point from Wednesday’s match against Vachier-Lagrave to mathematically clinch the Sinquefield Cup’s $100,000 first-place prize — still with three rounds remaining.
Round 6 results:
GM Hikaru Nakamura 1/2-1/2 GM Levon Aronian
GM Fabiano Caruana 1-0 GM Veselin Topalov
GM Magnus Carlsen 1/2-1/2 GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Round 6 standings:
1. GM Fabiano Caruana 2801 – 6,0
2. GM Magnus Carlsen 2877 – 3,0
3-4. GM Veselin Topalov 2772 and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2768 – 2,5
5-6. GM Levon Aronian 2805 and GM Hikaru Nakamura 2787 – 2,0
Round 7 pairings:
GM Magnus Carlsen – GM Hikaru Nakamura
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – GM Fabiano Caruana
GM Veselin Topalov – GM Levon Aronian
Last year’s Sinquefield Cup, which featured Carlsen, Aronian, Nakamura and American No. 2 Gata Kamsky, became the strongest tournament ever held on U.S. soil. The 2014 player field features six of the top-ten players in the world and averages a historical 2802 rating, with a prize fund that totals $315,000.
Its just one tournament for Caruana. He may perform extremely good in this strong tournament but falters in the next one. It does not necessarily follow his unbeatable or who dominate the chesd world after this… perhaps but only time will tell. Unless Caruana ACTUALLY wins the title that mattered most, FIDE standard World Chess Champion (and perhaps add the FIDE Rapid & Blitz World Title) to his resume, I’m still reluctant to annoint him as the next big thing. Carlsen may have underperform in the recent Chess Olympiad & in this tourney Sinquefield Cup, but it does not make Caruana better than Carlsen overall. It is simply Caruana is better than Carlsen at the 2nd Sinquefield Cup so far. Remember Carlsen is the present FIDE Standard World Champion (to add to hid FIDE Rapid & Blitz World Title). Unless Caruana has those titles that matter most, winning the Sinquefield Cup even many times does not matter a lot though it may count as achievement. My money is still with Carlsen until the time Caruana beats Carlsen & become the FIDE World Champion. So dont overreact with Caruana’s 6-0 start…
Nakamura will dismantle Sauron with authority. He will embarrassed this kid badly for everybody to see. Time for Naka to show that he is really the #1 chess player in the world. Go Naka, go beat this wannabe.
Naka will destroy and torture this boy overwhelmingly he might quit playing chess forever. This boy is no match to Naka, the Sauron killer.
Better for Nakamura to quit playing chess no more. He is nowhere near to the top. He is good only to those below 2700 elo rating players.
Forget Nakamura. Your wasting your time commenting support for do nothing big mouth guy. Focus on the rest of players who are playing better than this guy.
Forget Nakamura. Your wasting your time commenting support for do nothing big mouth guy. Focus on the rest of players who are playing better than this guy.
Not to take away FC credit.. but MC is distracted with the WC politics.. if FC can keep this type of chess.. we will have FC vs MC like the K’s in the 80/90. one swallow does not make a summer .wishing him more swallows..