The Ultimate Moves has become a staple of the Sinquefield Cup and one of the most fun events to follow. This year it proceeded the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz and included all the players from the event playing in two teams with four amateurs.
The fourth leg of the Grand Chess Tour wrapped up in Saint Louis with Levon Aronian dominating the field. He won the tournament with two rounds to spare and three points ahead of his closest rivals, Sergey Karjakin and Hikaru Nakamura. He collected $37,500 and 13 GCT points and is now in third place overall in the tour standings. The rapid and blitz portion of the tour are officially over and the last stop will be in London in December where the winner of the entire tour will be determined.
After day one of the blitz, LevonAronian extended his lead to two points over his closest rival, HikaruNakamura. FabianoCaruana and HikaruNakamura entered the day tied for second place only a point behind Aronian, but Nakamura had a more solid day; whereas Caruana had more decisive results, but also too many losses.
LevonAronian emerged as the winner of the rapid portion of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz. He is being closely chased by Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, who are only a point behind him. Ian Nepomniachtchi, who entered day three tied with Aronian, lost his last round game to Hikaru Nakamura and is two points behind the leader.
The eventful second day of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz finally produced a sole leader. Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, who is the only player so far to have defeated Garry Kasparov, is leading the tournament with 8/12.
The highly anticipated St. Louis Rapid and Blitz kicked off today and marked the return of chess legend Garry Kasparov. Chess fans gathered at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis early to once again watch the legendary World Champion at the chess board.
