2020 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz

Woman Grandmaster Tatev Abrahamyan recaps the finals of 2020 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz.

The Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz is now a two-horse race, as Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So have separated themselves from the rest of the field with a three point lead. After nine exhilarating blitz rounds, the World Champion leads the tournament, overtaking So by half a point. Ian Nepomniachti finished the day in third place, but expressed doubt in his chances of catching the leaders. He promised to play 1.b3 again tomorrow, an unusual opening with which he defeated Carlsen today. The tournament will conclude tomorrow after another full day of blitz, with the winner taking home the $50,000 prize.

The dramatic third day of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz certainly shook up the standings. After going 3 - 0 yesterday, it seemed as if Magnus Carlsen was going to be unstoppable. The World Champion scored a lukewarm 50% today, and with three players hot on his heels, it wasn’t enough to maintain the lead. With the exception of Carlsen’s loss due to disconnection in round two, Alexander Grischuk spoiled what was otherwise a perfect event thus far for the World Champion.

Day two of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz kicked off with an all-decisive bloody round. Magnus Carlsen came back powerfully, winning all three games today after finishing day one with a fifty percent score. While the World Champion called his games from rounds four and six “gifts”, he particularly enjoyed his round five win against Leinier Dominguez. Carlsen now sits on top of the leaderboard, a full point ahead of his closest rivals. Tomorrow is the last day of the rapid portion of the tournament, where each win is worth double the points.

The Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz has been one of the stops of the Grand Chess Tour since 2017. This year, it’s a stand-alone online tournament with 9 rapid and 18 blitz games over five days and a $250,000 prize fund, attracting some of the top players of the world, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen and the two previous winners, Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian. After three rapid games, Levon Aronian and Pentala Harikrishna emerged as the co-leaders. While Aronian has won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz in 2017 and 2019, this marks Harikrishna’s first appearance in the event.