E4stat visits Round 7 of the Sinquefield Cup

I arrived early, so the visit began with a trip to the Kingside Diner and the World Chess Hall of Fame gift shop. Those of you who have little pawns can buy this shirt for them. I wonder if Sergey Karjakin got this shirt for his newborn son?

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After lingering in the gift shop, I went to the playing hall. None of the players had arrived yet, so I had time to take pictures of the banners. GARRY is coming to the Rapid & Blitz. Yes, that Garry.

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They had a display for the US Chess Championship

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Alas, the reigning US Champion and 2016 Sinquefield Cup winner had a horrible tournament. Here Wesley So prepares to face Fabiano Caruana. The game was a thoroughly unexciting draw.

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Fabiano Caruana was surrounded by fans after his interview. GM Alejandro Ramirez is second from the left.

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Nakamura lost a complicated game to Aronian. Team USA did not do well in this tournament.

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Levon Aronian, winner of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup, came close to winning the tournament again. After beating Nakamura, he was tied for first after Round 7. Here he waits for Nakamura to find a move.

Nakamura played 17.c4; now Aronian gets back to work.

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MVL won the tournament. In this round, he played the white side of the Berlin endgame. But don't accuse him of being boring - it was a tense game. He rattled off about 30 moves of preparation while Karjakin was taking long thinks. But the "Minister of Defense" was up to the task and held a draw. Karjakin later tweeted, "I have checked my notes. I knew everything till 38...Ne4. But had to spend about 2 hours to remember :D!"

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Calm while under fire: Sergey Karjakin. 

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Vishy Anand had a good tournament. In this round, he played the white side of a sharp Sicilian Najdorf. 

Ian Nepomniachtchi played Black against Vishy. The game was heading toward a draw, but then Nepo tried an unwise simplifying trick.

Nepo played 31...b4 32.cxb4 Rcc2, and at first glance, it appears that the two rooks on the 7th rank should be able to force a draw. But Anand replied with 33.b3! and his queenside pawns quickly overpowered Black's defenses.  With this victory, Vishy was tied for first, but in the end, he had to settle for a tie for second with Carlsen.

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The World Champion was back in form, scoring +2 and tying for second. Peter Svidler played the Scotch against him. Eventually Carlsen was up a pawn in a rook ending, but Svidler held a draw.

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I love the commentary by Yasser Seirawan, Jennifer Shahade, and Maurice Ashley, but in the Round 9 broadcast, they botched a tactic. Here they were considering what would have happened if Karjakin had played 33...Rde8. Can you find the refutation? White to play.