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The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is a circuit of chess tournaments where players compete for multiple prize pools. Major tournaments that have been featured in the Grand Chess Tour include Norway Chess, the Sinquefield Cup, and the London Chess Classic.

Veselin Topalov Takes the Lead after Round 5 in Sinquefield Cup 2016

Former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov beat China’s No. 1 Ding Liren in Round 5 of Sinquefield Cup 2016 to take the lead from the rest of the pack.

Veselin Topalov leads the pack after Round 5. Photo credit: Grand Chess Tour

Veselin Topalov leads the pack after Round 5. Photo credit: Grand Chess Tour

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 5 Results

NameRtgRes.NameRtg
Anish Giri27691/2-1/2Levon Aronian2784
Viswanathan Anand27701/2-1/2Wesley So2771
Veselin Topalov27611-0Ding Liren2755
Peter Svidler27511/2-1/2Hikaru Nakamura2791
Fabiano Caruana28071/2-1/2M. Vachier-Lagrave2819

Replay all the Round 5 games [replay]

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 4 Highlights

GM Maurice Ashley covers the highlights from yesterday’s Round 4 of the 2016 Sinquefield Cup, third leg of the Grand Chess Tour.

Round 5 coming up later in just a few hours.

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 5 Matchups

NameRtgRes.NameRtg
Anish Giri2769--Levon Aronian2792
Viswanathan Anand2770--Wesley So2771
Veselin Topalov2761--Ding Liren2755
Peter Svidler2751--Hikaru Nakamura2791
Fabiano Caruana2807--M. Vachier-Lagrave2819

More Draws Abound Round 4 of Sinquefield Cup 2016

Another uneventful day in Saint Louis as 5 more draws happened among the ten of the top grandmasters in the world. The match ups of the Round 4 follow:

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 4 Results

NameRtgRes.NameRtg
Levon Aronian27921/2-1/2Fabiano Caruana2807
M. Vachier-Lagrave28191/2-1/2Peter Svidler2751
Hikaru Nakamura27911/2-1/2Veselin Topalov2761
Ding Liren27551/2-1/2Viswanathan Anand2770
Wesley So27711/2-1/2Anish Giri2769

That brings to a total of 10 draws in the last 2 rounds. How did this happen? Peter Svidler teased that it was because he stopped losing:

All Games Drawn in Round 3 of Sinquefield Cup 2016

At the end of Round 2 of Sinquefield Cup 2016, 5 out of 10 games (50%) were decided. But in Round 3, all games were drawn.

They were not necessarily uncontested draws at all. The game between Wesley So and Levon Aronian is one example where Aronian traded his two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn early on, but just as the game started, the game ended even.[replay]

Wesley So still leads the tournament so far, after applying the tiebreak. See standings below:

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Ranking after Round 3

#NamePtsSB
1So, Wesley2.03.25
Anand, Viswanathan2.02.50
Aronian, Levon2.02.25
Topalov, Veselin2.01.75
5Ding, Liren1.52.50
Caruana, Fabiano1.52.25
Nakamura, Hikaru1.52.00
8Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime1.01.50
Giri, Anish1.01.25
10Svidler, Peter0.50.75

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 2 Results

The Sinquefield Cup is the third leg of Grand Chess Tour 2016. Two former world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov, are participants in this event, although we’re missing the skill sets of another former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, and the current world champion and number 1 player, Magnus Carlsen, whose currently busy preparing for defending his title come November.

In round 2 of the tournament, we saw some action — so much so, that 3 out of the 5 games were actually decisive:

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 2 Results

NameRtgRes.NameRtg
Levon Aronian27841-0Peter Svidler2751
Fabiano Caruana28071/2-1/2Veselin Topalov2761
Hikaru Nakamura27911-0Anish Giri2769
Ding Liren27551/2-1/2Wesley So2771
M. Vachier-Lagrave28190-1Viswanathan Anand2770

Wesley So and Veselin Topalov Win in Round 1 of Sinquefield Cup 2016

Wesley So in Sinquefield Cup 2016

Wesley So in Sinquefield Cup 2016. Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour.

Sinquefield Cup 2016 starts with a bang! Two out of five games were decisive.

Wesley So beats Hikaru Nakamura in their clash ([replay]) in Round 1 of Sinquefield Cup. Apparently, this was So’s first win over Nakamura in a classical time period game.  Meanwhile, Peter Svidler fell victim to Veselin Topalov on the other board. The rest of the games were drawn.