Alireza Firouzja strengthened his position among the world top last weekend: the Iranian-born, now French, player made a clean sweep at St Louis where he won the rapid, the blitz, the classical Sinquefield Cup and the overall Grand Tour.
The 19-year-old collected $272,000 in prize money, and defeated the Candidates winner, Ian Nepomniachtchi, in the final tie-break.
Yet it was the actions and missed opportunities of Firouzja’s rivals as much as his own good chess which created the golden moment. Magnus Carlsen’s shock withdrawal and the later unproven allegations against Hans Niemann made for a nervous atmosphere in the tournament and affected the overall quality. Tacitly agreed draws and outright blunders were more frequent than normal.
Wesley So was the favourite after Carlsen pulled out, but the former Filipino spoilt his chances when he miscalculated and lost a winning position against Firouzja in the penultimate round. So’s comment was brief and self-deprecating: “It was probably one of my biggest chokes in my history of choking, which happens quite a lot.” In the final round, Nepomniachtchi could have taken a loose pawn for nothing, but instead chose a weaker plan then allowed a draw by repetition. Why didn’t he take the pawn? “Because I’m a moron! I thought it’s winning by any sequence of moves.”
Following Carlsen’s withdrawal after his third-round loss to Niemann, the organisers issued an official statement which denied wrongdoing by any player throughout the event: “Measures included scanning of players with metal detectors … and fair play analysis by Professor Kenneth Regan using the Fide Game Screening Tool.”
Meanwhile, fresh allegations and rebuttals have emerged about Niemann’s play in 2019-21. Garry Kasparov has called for clarity. The affair is set to rumble on.
It is surely time for Fide to step in. An investigatory commission of three, headed by professor Kenneth Regan whose work is widely respected, could be set up to examine Niemann’s games over the board in the last three years. There are several hundred of them, almost all easily available on public databases, so that it should be possible to reach an informed conclusion within a few weeks.
On Sunday, the online Julius Baer Generation Cup begins, with 16 players representing both the established world top and rising teenagers. One pairing stands out. In round six, starting at 6pm on Monday, Niemann plays White against Carlsen. A huge audience will be watching.
This week at St Louis, from Wednesday to Friday, the action is Chess 9LX, also known as Fischer Random, where the pieces on the home rank are randomised and 960 is the number of possible starting positions.
The Champions Showdown 9LX features a rare appearance byKasparov, who rivals Carlsen as the all-time No 1. Play starts at 8pm on Friday, and can be followed live online. Kasparov had a disastrous 0/3 start on Wednesday and also had to allow the strictest anti-cheating measures of his life.
Online, chess.com has announced the pairings for its 64-player Global knockout championship. No Carlsen, no Firouzja. but the galaxy of talent includes Vlad Kramnik and Vishy Anand. Michael Adams and Nigel Short, both world finalists, represent England. Adams was eliminated 3-2 in Thursday’s opening round by David Navara of the Czech Republic.
The legal action brought by Nona Gaprindashvili against Netflix for her portrayal in The Queen’s Gambit as someone who never competed against men has been settled out of court, a victory for the Georgian and former world champion whose greatest over-the-board success was at Lone Pine 1977 where she shared first among leading grandmasters of the time.
At age 81, Gaprindashvili is still an active competitor and played in Georgia’s over-50 team in the recent World Seniors, where Keith Arkell had to win a tough endgame against her to secure gold medals for England.
Finally, a significant advance for a rising English talent. Shreyas Royal, 13, scored his first international master result (of three needed for the title) this week at the Mindsports Masters, where he shared third behind the new British champion, Harry Grieve.
Royal thus matches the achievements of Short, Luke McShane and David Howell, who all scored their first IM norms around 13-14. Adams nearly did it at 12, but missed out by just half a point at Lloyds Bank 1984.
In this game Royal defeats a GM by a rook sacrifice for checkmate, after Black missed the saving move 25...Qf5!
• This article was amended on 19 September 2022 to describe Alireza Firouzja as Iranian-born rather than formerly Iranian.
1 d4 d6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c4 Bg7 4 Nc3 e5 5 e3 Nd7 6 Be2 Ngf6 7 0-0 0-0 8 b4 Re8 9 Qc2 a5 10 b5 b6 11 dxe5 Nxe5 12 Nxe5 Rxe5 13 Bf3 Rb8 14 Bb2 Re8 15 Rad1 Bg4 16 Bxg4 Nxg4 17 h3 Ne5 18 Nd5 Nd7 19 Bxg7 Kxg7 20 Qc3+ f6 21 Rd4 Rf8 22 h4 Rf7 23 h5 Nc5 24 Rg4 Qd7 25 f3 Ne6? 26 h6+ Kxh6 27 Nxf6 Qd8 28 Rh4+ Kg5 29 f4+ Kxh4 30 Qe1 mate
3833: 1 Qb7! If Nxb7 2 Nb3, or Bxg7+ 2 Qxg7. Other variations are obvious.
