The 2016 Saint Louis Invitational ended with the same fighting chess seen throughout the whole tournament. The final round found FM Gauri Shankar needing a win to secure another IM norm as he faced off against FM Kostya Kavutskiy. As for the grandmaster norm tournament, IM Steven Zierk wanted to avenge his eighth round loss and pull even with IM Akshat Chandra for a share of first place.
IM Zierk played with the White pieces against GM Ben Finegold in a mainline Caro-Kann. Pressing for an advantage, Zierk sacrificed on h6 cracking open black’s kingside.
After the dust had settled, IM Zierk was able to trade queens in a winning endgame.
FM Gauri Shankar had the Black pieces against Kostya Kavutskiy. Although he battled, FM Kavutskiy was able to break through and get a winning attack against the Black king.
While none were able to earn a norm in either tournament, the participants enjoyed Saint Louis and the chance to play against strong opponents. We hope to see the participants again soon at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.