Commanding lead for Fabiano in St Louis

Brian Jerauld
Communications Specialist
Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

SAINT LOUIS (August 29, 2014) — Three rounds, three wins and a commanding lead: Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana has been unstopped in the 2014 Sinquefield Cup.

The “lowest” rated players in the field, GMs Veselin Topalov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave — officially, the eighth and ninth-best players on earth — earned full points in Friday’s third round, while the top-two players on the globe suffered defeat. GMs Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian entered the weekend with a loss each, sending them backward in a strongest-ever field that features two world champions, current and former — and both in the cellar.

Showing no effects to the magnitude is Caruana, who knocked off the current champion Carlsen on Friday to take a 1.5-point lead over the field after three perfect rounds.

ROUND 3 RESULTS WHITE RESULT BLACK

GM Veselin Topalov 1 – 0 GM Hikaru Nakamura
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1 – 0 GM Levon Aronian
GM Magnus Carlsen 0 – 1 GM Fabiano Caruana

CURRENT STANDINGS

RANK NAME RATING SCORE

1 GM Fabiano Caruana 2801 3
2 GM Levon Aronian 2805 1.5
3 GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2768 1.5
4 GM Magnus Carlsen 2877 1
5 GM Hikaru Nakamura 2787 1
6 GM Veselin Topalov 2772 1

ROUND 4 PAIRINGS WHITE BLACK

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – GM Hikaru Nakamura
GM Magnus Carlsen – GM Veselin Topalov
GM Fabiano Caruana – GM Levon Aronian

The 2014 Sinquefield Cup is a 10-round, double round robin tournament that runs through September 7, with each round beginning daily at 2:00 p.m. local time. Monday, September 1 will be a rest day.

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. The winner will take home $100,000.