I’ve been somewhat skeptical of Hans Niemann’s multiple super-GM invitations this year, but now the danger is to avoid drinking the Kool-Aid. He had some terrific results in non-super-GM events earlier in the year, but had a so-so tournament in his last classical event before the super-events, and then finished near or at the bottom of the tournament table in the FTX Road to Miami and the FTX Crypto Cup. Niemann is one confident guy, though, and losing all nine matches in the Crypto Cup - most of which were very competitive - did little or nothing to undermine his fighting spirit.
And now, here he is: in sole first at the Sinquefield Cup, having defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen and simultaneously reaching 2700 for the first time in his career. (His classical rating has been rocketing skyward: in January 2021 he was just 2484, and he’s up to 2702.3 on the Live List.) Not bad for a day’s work - and he can further boast of having put an end to Carlsen’s 53-game undefeated streak in classical chess. The tournament is only a third of the way through; can the 19-year-old Niemann keep up the high standards and his great results? We’ll see.
So, to the game. Carlsen played a very unusual line with White against Niemann’s Nimzo-Indian, and - incredibly - Niemann had looked at that very line that morning. (He was himself dumbstruck by this, as you can see in this must-see interview.*) He was prepared for what happened in the game past his excellent 13…Be6!, while Carlsen was already working to neutralize his opponent’s advantage in a position where White already has no winning chances. Niemann outplayed his opponent from start to finish, and while there were a couple of opportunities for Carlsen to save the game or at least reduce his opponent’s advantage, there were unobvious and computer-like, and Carlsen didn’t manage to find them. It was a great win for Niemann, all the more so because it was the sort of victory that is Carlsen’s bread-and-butter.
Rumor has it that there were some other games as well, so a few comments on the rest of the exciting round are in order. Wesley So is in second place after defeating Fabiano Caruana, whose rating has been plummeting like a meteor. After spending years as the seemingly permanent #2 (with brief interruptions), Caruana has fallen out of the world’s top 10 for the first time in…well, a long time. The game was not primarily a failure on his part, but a terrific game by So, who outplayed Caruana using Morozevich’s once-trendy 5.Bd3 line against the Petroff.
Another noteworthy game was Alireza Firouzja’s victory against Levon Aronian. Aronian’s 11…g5 begged for Firouzja’s piece sac, and - excepting an error on move 24 (Firouzja must have talked himself out of the correct 24.Nxd5; there’s no way he failed to consider it) - it was an impressive attacking game for the tournament’s “other” 19-year-old.
Three decisive results in a five-game round is nice for the bloodthirsty spectators, and there should have been a fourth winner. Leinier Dominguez was a two-mover away from finishing off Ian Nepomniachtchi. Nepo was already in trouble when he played 22…Bxd2, but it paid off when Dominguez played 23.Rxd2, losing almost all of his advantage. Instead, 23.Bxd6! Qxc4 24.Qxb7+! would have won.
Finally, not too much happened in the game between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the way to a draw. MVL’s decision to sac a pawn with 16…Rhd8 was a good one, leading to a drawn rook ending after some forcing play.
What’s next? Can Niemann keep up the pace? Here are the pairings for round 4:
Carlsen (1.5) - Mamedyarov (1)
Aronian (1) - Dominguez (1.5)
Niemann (2.5) - Firouzja (1.5)
Nepomniachtchi (1.5) - So (2)
Caruana (1) - Vachier-Lagrave (1.5)
The games (without notes - the family visits are still ongoing) are here, but if you check the Niemann interview linked above you’ll find some incisive commentary by the winner.
Something similar happened to me once, and under even shorter notice. There was a crazy piece-sac line against one of my openings, one that was quite rare and that I had never faced in blitz, never mind tournament chess. Fortunately, in between rounds, while wolfing down lunch after a long game, I decided to check that variation and only that variation. Needless to say, my GM opponent played that, and I was able to blast out 17 move of prep and reach a good position. The game was eventually drawn, and if I hadn’t reviewed the theory beforehand the best I would have done was to get to the same position on move 17 with an hour less on the clock.