BOTW: 2017.08.14
St.Louis Rapid & Blitz
August 14-18, 2017
Garry Kasparov returns to high-level chess in a 5 day, rapid and blitz event in St.Louis. Kasparov retired as a chess player in 2005, but has played occasional blitz and rapid events, including matches against Nigel Short and last year's Blitz and Rapid in St.Louis against the top three finishers in the US Championship: Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana. His play then was uneven -- brilliant wins and occasional hung pieces -- but good enough to have a plus score against everyone but Wesley.
Format:
Rapid: 10-player RR; 25 + 10s delay; 3 games per day
Blitz: 10-player double RR; 5m + 3s delay; 9 games per day
Players:
| Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2822 |
| Kasparov Garry | RUS(?) | 2812 |
| Nepomniachtchi Ian | RUS | 2810 |
| Dominguez Leinier | CUB | 2803 |
| Aronian Levon | ARM | 2794 |
| Anand Viswanathan | IND | 2778 |
| Karjakin Sergey | RUS | 2765 |
| Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2761 |
| Navara David | CZE | 2737 |
| Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2700 |
Notes: ratings are FIDE rapid. Kasparov is listed by FIDE as a member of the Russian Chess Federation, but he no longer feels it is safe for him to enter Russia, and he became a dual citizen by getting Croatian citizenship in 2014. Kasparov (a Putin critic) is scheduled to play Karjakin (a Putin supporter) in the first round of the event; it will be their first time playing.
Watch Live
Games start at 1pm Central, 2pm EST.
http://grandchesstour.org/2017-grand-chess-tour/watch-live-2
Lev Aronian in the New Yorker
"A Chess Master with an Unpredictable Style and the Hopes of a Nation"
By Sean Williams
July 29, 2017
A short write up on Lev Aronian. There's not much new for anyone who has followed Aronian, but there are some good oberservations well put, including quotes from top players:
On why Aronian regularly underperforms at the biggest events:
“He is probably too emotional, and the sight of his dream being close makes his vision blurry” - Anish Giri
On being the hope of a downtrodden nation:
“I feel that I’m owing my nation, my country, a lot for their love. We’re always dreaming our days will come, and some justice will be delivered. I feel that this is my duty.” - Lev Aronian