Saint Louis Rapid day two: Battle of world war one veterans!

As I hurried early into the tournament hall to get the vantage point to stand and watch the eagerly awaited clash between Vishy Anand and Garry Kasparov in the 6th round of the Rapid event, I found another journalist simply squatting on the floor in front of the table which would host the game between the two world champions. Unlike the regular practice of all the spectators leaving the playing arena in the 20 odd minutes between the rounds and rushing in back again, the gentleman had never exited the hall for fear of losing a comfortable standing place to witness the game. And to my exaggerated raise of eyebrows teasing him, he smiles softly and says,”Yes, I am neither a Russian or Indian, but I was present at the now destroyed World Trade Center when Rudy Giuliani inaugurated the event. And after these 22 years, this is the first time they will be playing each other again on the American soil”.

"Hello again" #STLRapidBlitz pic.twitter.com/IyBiups0Sf

— Eric Rosen (@IM_Rosen) August 15, 2017

This particular game was not about the competitive element of the tournament or for scrutiny of scoreboard later on. Simply, it was about witnessing a historic clash between two former world champions who probably know each other the best due to their years together and proximity in age. After all, 54 year old Kasparov and 47 year old Anand are way farther than the other participants of the event, as the next in the order would be Levon Aronian, 13 behind Anand at 34 years of age. And fittingly, Anand paid warm compliments, telling he was “very impressed - He is playing very well’ about Kasparov.

With characteristic sense of humour, he good-heartedly needled Kasparov at the commentary box, “He still calculates, calculates, calculates calculates! He is giving me all these long lines on his game with Aronian, complaining that Aronian escaped!” chuckling all the way. And ‘in the end, we chatted like some World War-1 veterans’.

But Kasparov was as serious as ever, drawing huge breaths, “20 years ago it could be 3 out of 3. As promised I played more aggressively. I wanted big fight(s). I said I would entertain everybody”. Promising to continue in the same way, he said, “I am going to have fun, and hopefully if I get winning position(s) I will not blunder again!”

With Kasparov around, there was no dearth of moments. At some point, the cramped tournament hall felt even worse when the Air-conditioning broke down partially, forcing the organisers to evacuate spectators periodically so as to bring solace to players. But a perspiring Kasparov came out with a typical expression:

And what were those ‘many many good moves’ which Kasparov was referring to? Anand resorted to the Rossolimo, explaining “I tried to play something he might be unfamiliar with. (But) he hung in there quite well”. And more! With that intuition of being one of the best ever players of the Sicilian Najdorf ever, Kasparov reached the following position:

Anand - Kasparov, position after 19.Qd2:

Vintage Kasparov boldly uncorked, 19...d5! 20. Ncxd5 (Only move) Nxd5 21. exd5 Bg5 and it was Black who had the initiative here.

In the first game of the day against Aronian, Kasparov created winning possibilities in an equal looking ending, even when short of time:

Aronian - Kasparov, position after 31...Rd7:

After Aronian’s mistake here, suddenly Kasparov created winning chances: 32.Nc3? Rxd3 33.Kxd3 Rxc5 34.bxc5 Ke6 and Black had chances to win the endgame. Garry missed a tactic at a critical moment:

Aronian - Kasparov, position after 40.Ne4: 

Here, instead of the patient 40...h6 41.h3 g4 42.h4 Ke6 which would have given Black serious winning chances, Kasparov went wrong with 40...Kg4?? 41.h3! Kxh3 42.Nxg5 Kxg3 and the game was drawn.

Kasparov’s most disappointing moment had come in the 5th round, when he held a clear initiative:

Kasparov - Nepomniachtchi, position after 21...0-0:

Conducting an impressive assault on Black, White has created an advantage, but he inexplicably played 22.exd7? Losing the pride of his position, the e6-pawn after 22...Nc3 23.Bc4+ Kh8 24.Qxd2 Ne4 25.Qe3 Qxd7 when the position got equalised. As pointed out by Kasparov himself, he missed 22.Bxd7 Nb6 23.Bb5 Qd5 24.Qe2 and White keeps an edge. And his lack of matchplay got exposed in the following position which brought him his only loss so far in the tournament:

Kasparov - Nepomniachtchi, position after 34...Rxe8:

35.Bf7?? Re3!! Beautiful! Kasparov obviously overlooked this tactic 36.fxe3 Qxg3 37.Kf1 f3 and faced with mate, Kasparov resigned. But at the end of the day, Nepomniachtchi is the only unbeaten player of the tournament, going on a thinly marginal sole lead.

Most of the games provided the thrill only towards the end of the time controls, inevitably when the games descended into clock induced chaos. Only exception of the day was:

Navara - Karjakin, position after 31...Kh7

32.Nxh6 A delightful sacrifice - the Knight can't be accepted, and White rips open the kingside 32...Nc7 33.Qd2 Re6 34.Qg5 Qb2 36.Ng4+ (White chooses the wrong check with the knight, but ultimately finds the correct mating sequence) Kg8 37.Nh6+ Kh7 38.Nf7+ Kg8 39.Rh8!+ Kxf7 40.Rd7+ and mating.

Crosstable after six rounds

About the Author:

Saravanan Venkatachalam is an International Master and has been an active chess player in the Indian circuit, and has been consistently writing on chess since late 1980s. He turned complete chess professional in 2012, actively playing and being a second and a trainer to a handful of Indian players. He reports on chess tournaments, occasionally being a correspondent to national newspapers and news channels. Apart from chess, he is also interested in Tamil and English literature, music and photography.

Coverage on Firstpost

Firstpost and ChessBase India have collaborated to bring you extensive and detailed coverage of the chess scene in India and internationally.

Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz will be extensively covered by Venkatachalam Saravanan who is in USA.

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Viswanathan Anand has disastrous Day 1; Garry Kasparov impresses on return