As Hans Niemann might say, “chess speaks for itself”, and in round 6 of the Sinquefield Cup it was Wesley So’s chess that spoke the loudest. Playing Black against the ever-combative Niemann, So’s Petroff paid off when Niemann overextended in hopes of whipping up an attack. White’s seemingly well-placed bishop became a liability, and while he didn’t lose the piece its extrication left him with a poor ending with a couple of weak pawns. Niemann was given one opportunity to save the game, right after the time control, when So played 41…Qe4?, but in reply Niemann put the wrong piece on e2 and lost quickly.
This dropped Niemann to an equal score, while So is in clear first with +2. Two players are on +1: Ian Nepomniachtchi, who pressed against Fabiano Caruana’s unusual Four Knights Sicilian without managing to convert an extra pawn into a win, and Alireza Firouzja, who won what he himself described as a rather shaky game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Firouzja misplayed the white side of the English and then blundered/made an unsound pawn sac that left Mamedyarov with an objectively winning position. Fortunately for Firouzja, Mamedyarov first chose a poor plan (the slow …Nf8-e6 maneuver) and then blundered (25…Nd4??), resigning on move 28.
Finally, Levon Aronian got back to 50% with a win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. MVL repeated the Najdorf line he played in round 1, and was likely surprised by Aronian’s novelty on move 16. In case he had any prep for that move, he was even more likely to have been taken out of his preparation by Aronian’s 19.Bg7, and his natural but imperfect reaction gave White a pleasant advantage. Nevertheless, Vachier-Lagrave defended well in a challenging ending, but near the point where a draw would have been the likeliest result, he erred with 36…f5. From here, Aronian converted convincingly.
Leinier Dominguez was slated to play Magnus Carlsen, so he got the bye.
Here are the games, with my notes, and here are the pairings for round 7:
Mamedyarov (1.5/5) - Nepomniachtchi (3/5)
Dominguez (2.5/5) - Firouzja (3/5)
Vachier-Lagrave (2/6) - Niemann (2.5/5)
Caruana (3/6) - Aronian (2.5/5)
So (4/6) - bye