The 2nd round of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup is complete and it is almost possible to feel the air being sucked out of the tournament room in Saint Louis from anywhere in the country. Veselin Topalov won a scorching victory against Hikaru Nakamura this evening to go 2-0 in the tournament. The two grandmasters battled it out over the board in a Ruy-Lopez Berlin Defence 3…Nf6 where Topalov held a slight advantage throughout the game before Nakamura succumbed to the pressure with 57…Rd4+.

Topalov’s win brings him to within 25 points of World Champion Magnus Carlsen for #1 on the FIDE leaderboard. Speaking of the champ, Carlsen edged out another victory against Fabiano Caruana to go 2-0 in the tournament. Caruana was unable to obtain compensation after Carlsen’s brilliant 39…Rb2! This time last year, Caruana was beginning his now-famous rampage through his opponents in the tournament, but the beauty of chess is showing us that nothing is a sure thing, even in the professional world.

White Result Black
1 GM Topalov V. (1) 2816 1-0 GM Nakamura H. (1) 2814
2 GM Vachier-Lagr. (1) 2731 ½-½ GM Aronian L. (1) 2765
3 GM Giri Anish (1) 2793 ½-½ GM So Wesley (0) 2779
4 GM Caruana F. (0) 2808 0-1 GM Carlsen M. (0) 2853
5 GM Grischuk A. (0) 2771 1-0 GM Anand V. (0) 2816

After two rounds, Veselin Topalov has sole lead in the tournament with Vachier-Lagrave, Aronian, and Giri coming in close second.

Rank Name Score Rating
1 Topalov 2/2 2816
2 Vachier-Lagrave 1.5/2 2731
3 Aronian 1.5/2 2765
4 Giri 1.5/2 2793
5 Carlsen 1/2 2853
6 Nakamura 1/2 2814
7 Grischuk 1/2 2771
8 So 1.5/1.5 2779
9 Anand 0/2 2816
10 Caruana 0/2 2808

The pairings for tomorrow’s round are as follows:

White Result Black
1 GM So Wesley (0) 2779 – – GM Grischuk A. (0) 2771
2 GM Aronian L. (0) 2765 – – GM Giri Anish (0) 2793
3 GM Carlsen M. (0) 2853 – – GM Vachier-Lagr (0) 2731
4 GM Nakamura H. (0) 2814 – – GM Caruana F. (0) 2808
5 GM Anand V. (0) 2816 – – GM Topalov V. (0) 2816

All Sinquefield Cup Round 2 Games