2024 Saint Louis Speedy & Blitz Day 1: Fueled by Escapes, Vachier-Lagrave Leads Speedy After Day 1

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is the only chief of the 2024 Saint Louis Speedy & Blitz after the primary day of fast video games. After escaping vs. GM Hikaru Nakamura and turning the tide vs. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, the French grandmaster defeated GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in our Recreation of the Day.

All through the day, there was combating chess aplenty, together with an all-decisive spherical two. GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi, Levon Aronian, and Leinier Dominguez path by some extent in a tie for second. 

The Saint Louis Speedy & Blitz will proceed with rounds 4 by way of six of the fast phase on Tuesday, August 13, at 2 p.m. ET / 20:00 CEST / 11:30 p.m. IST.

Standings

With its European occasions accomplished, the 2024 Grand Chess Tour has reached America’s chess capital for its final pace chess occasion, the Saint Louis Speedy & Blitz. 

GM Fabiano Caruana at present leads the tour comfortably after victories in each of the tournaments he is partaken in to this point, the Superbet Chess Traditional Romania and the SuperUnited Speedy & Blitz Croatia. GM Alireza Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa are on his tail in second and third place respectively. 

American GMs Nakamura, Dominguez, and Aronian be part of the GCT mainstays to make this an attractive mix of taking part in kinds and expertise ranges. 

Levon Aronian has already arrived in St. Louis and is worked up for the beginning of the #StLRapidandBlitz!#grandchesstour pic.twitter.com/x5kBvni7fH

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) August 10, 2024

Although a number of video games had potential for a decisive consequence, Nepomniachtchi was the one winner of spherical one. He stirred up hassle vs. Firouzja with the startling 63.g4!?, and his bold play paid off. 

Shocked within the opening by Praggnanandhaa, Aronian fell into an 18-minute time deficit by transfer 17. Urgent his time edge into the ending, the prodigy was on the verge of a decisive benefit.

In an endgame arising from the Sicilian Dragon, Dominguez noticed a intelligent perpetual to untangle his items in opposition to Abdusattorov.

In spherical two, each recreation was decisive. Firouzja mixed techniques and positional nuance to achieve a superior knight in opposition to GM Wesley So‘s restricted bishop.

Vachier-Lagrave fought again from a worse place vs. Praggnanandhaa, in the end turning it right into a victory within the rook ending, although he later revealed: “In the direction of the tip, I virtually fell sufferer to an exquisite lure.”

The remainder of the spherical was outlined by a slew of surprising blunders. First, Caruana blundered a bishop within the time scramble vs. Dominguez. 

Nakamura made a mistake that left his forces scattered, giving Abdusattorov the chance to crash by way of tactically. 

Nodirbek Abdusattorov outplayed Hikaru Nakamura! Examine the final minutes of this intense and emotional recreation!#stlrapidblitz #grandchesstour pic.twitter.com/npcG9vQFJZ

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) August 12, 2024

Nepomniachtchi dropped a pawn vs. Aronian, who ultimately floor his opponent down for the complete level. 

The final spherical of the day featured a matchup between the highest two Individuals, Nakamura and Caruana, with a wild combat straight from the opening. Each kings danced by way of the middle as attacking possibilities swung back-and-forth between the gamers. But, Nakamura gained an enormous time edge by transfer 10, making the double-edged place troublesome for Caruana.

Nepomniachtchi sacrificed a pawn to create kingside attacking possibilities in opposition to Praggnanandhaa. GM Peter Svidler shared his insights on the psychological aspect of Nepomniachtchi’s strategy:

It is a typical Ian recreation after a loss. He simply finds a technique to semi-bluff just a little bit. He is a full pawn down, however the knight on h4 has a really good f5-square. There’s some issues to stay up for.

Ultimately, Nepomniachtchi’s fast, aggressive play succeeded. Unable to discover a clear path to transform his benefit, Praggnanandhaa made inaccuracies in time hassle whereas the two-time challenger completed with most of his time nonetheless on the clock. 

What a win for Ian!🤩 On the finish of the sport, Ian had 20 minutes left!🙌 Observe the reside broadcast to catch all of the motion♟️🔥
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♚#STLChessClub #STLRapidBlitz #GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/mXLZuYAJN7

— Saint Louis Chess Membership (@STLChessClub) August 12, 2024

Vachier-Lagrave closed out the day with a clear endgame win vs. Abdusattorov. The French grandmaster’s victory to take over the event lead is our Recreation of the Day. Take pleasure in evaluation beneath by GM Rafael Leitao. 

Vachier-Lagrave shared his reflections on every spherical:

I am feeling properly, in fact, however I used to be in some hassle in each my black video games. In opposition to Hikaru first, this place felt a bit doubtful all the way in which till the tip… after which in fact in opposition to Pragg, this English that did not go so properly, and this endgame that was on the defensive aspect for some time. I simply received my probability once I received it.

Will he be capable of preserve his lead as a pack of gamers chase after him? Will Caruana and Praggnanandhaa resurge after their rocky begins?