The Preview of the Sinquefield Cup 2016
The Grand Chess Tour 2016 continues with the third leg, the Sinquefield Cup, in Saint Louis in Missouri. Watch the preview video below:
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Kramnik Out, Svidler In, in Sinquefield Cup 2016
The third leg of Grand Chess Tour 2016, the Singquefield Cup in Saint Louis, Missouri, in the United States, was scheduled to have Vladimir Kramnik among its list of strong participants. But apparently, he withdrew for health reasons. Chess.com:
Kramnik, who was going to make his debut in St. Louis, told Chess.com: “I have had back problems for quite some time already. Since it is getting worse, I just want to use this month to cure it.”
Signs of aging, eh? Nevertheless, Sinquefield Cup will make do without the World No. 3 (according to the live ratings) and carry on with Peter Svidler in his stead.
Thus, the lineup for the Sinquefield Cup 2016 follows:
Sinquefield Cup 2016 Participants
| Sd. | Name | Country | July Rtg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabiano Caruana | United States | 2810 |
| 2 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | France | 2798 |
| 3 | Levon Aronian | Armenia | 2792 |
| 4 | Hikaru Nakamura | United States | 2787 |
| 5 | Anish Giri | Netherlands | 2785 |
| 6 | Ding Liren | China | 2778 |
| 7 | Wesley So | United States | 2770 |
| 8 | Viswanathan Anand | India | 2770 |
| 9 | Veselin Topalov | Bulgaria | 2761 |
| 10 | Peter Svidler | Russia | 2759 |
Alexander Grischuk Beats Ding Liren in a Mini Match
From 19th to 22nd July the Chinese number one Ding Liren, with a rating of 2778 currently number eight in the world, and Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, with a rating of 2747 currently number 18 in the world, played a four-game match in Wenzhou, China. Grischuk won the first game from a worse position and Ding Liren did not manage to equalise the score in the following three games. Grischuk won the match 2.5-1.5.
It seems like mini-matches are a thing right now. In May, Ding Liren played Wesley So in a 4-game mini-match as well. Then, more recently, there was the Biel Chess Festival 2016 and Gelfand vs Inarkiev Match 2016.
See the Grischuk vs. Liren match games below: [replay]
FIDE Ratings List July 2016
The FIDE Ratings List updated for July 2016 is here. Check out the top 20 in the table below.
FIDE Ratings Top 20--July 2016
| Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2855 | 0 |
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2812 | 0 |
| 3 | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2810 | 9 |
| 4 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2798 | 10 |
| 5 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2792 | 0 |
| 6 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2787 | 0 |
| 7 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2785 | 9 |
| 8 | Ding, Liren | CHN | 2778 | 3 |
| 9 | Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2773 | 9 |
| 10 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2770 | 0 |
| 11 | So, Wesley | USA | 2770 | 0 |
| 12 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2764 | 12 |
| 13 | Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2761 | 0 |
| 14 | Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2759 | 0 |
| 15 | Li, Chao b | CHN | 2758 | 0 |
| 16 | Harikrishna, P. | IND | 2755 | 9 |
| 17 | Rapport, Richard | HUN | 2752 | 13 |
| 18 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2747 | 0 |
| 19 | Navara, David | CZE | 2745 | 19 |
| 20 | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2737 | 9 |
June 2016 FIDE Ratings List
No doubt, the reigning world champion is still on top with 2855, up 4 points from last month. But Vladimir Kramnik, from last month’s 2801, gained 11 more ELO points to take the second spot from Fabiano Caruana for this month’s official FIDE Ratings List June 2016.
Wesley So, although lost 5 points by virtue of his game 3 loss to Ding Liren, is still at No. 10, but now tied with Vishy Anand.
Here’s the current top 20 in the world:
| Rk | Name | Fed | Rtg | Gms | B-Year |
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2855 | 9 | 1990 |
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2812 | 14 | 1975 |
| 3 | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2804 | 0 | 1992 |
| 4 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2792 | 9 | 1982 |
| 5 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2789 | 10 | 1990 |
| 6 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2787 | 0 | 1987 |
| 7 | Ding, Liren | CHN | 2783 | 4 | 1992 |
| 8 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2782 | 9 | 1994 |
| 9 | Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2774 | 3 | 1990 |
| 10 | So, Wesley | USA | 2770 | 4 | 1993 |
| 11 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2770 | 0 | 1969 |
| 12 | Harikrishna, P. | IND | 2764 | 9 | 1986 |
| 13 | Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2761 | 9 | 1975 |
| 14 | Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2759 | 7 | 1976 |
| 15 | Li, Chao b | CHN | 2758 | 9 | 1989 |
| 16 | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2751 | 9 | 1983 |
| 17 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2747 | 8 | 1983 |
| 18 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2746 | 9 | 1985 |
| 19 | Navara, David | CZE | 2744 | 11 | 1985 |
| 20 | Andreikin, Dmitry | RUS | 2743 | 9 | 1990 |
Chessbase lists the complete top 100 and discusses about the top climbers and descenders in the list, among others.
May 2016 FIDE Ratings List
The updated ratings for May 2016 are out. Here’s the the top 20:
See how 80% of the Top 10 are 90’s babies, i.e., they were born in the 1990’s. It speaks volumes about the quality of computer support these kids got especially when they were starting out.
Anyway, Wesley So retains his hold onto the 10th place, ahead of two former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov.
The World Championship we are about to witness in November is between the No. 1 player Magnus Carlsen and No. 8 Sergey Karjakin. Looks like a heavily lopsided match to me, I dare say.
Check out the top 100 players here.