Super-Grandmaster Tactics at the Sinquefield Cup
By Vanessa West   
August 27, 2015
CarlsenSo.jpg
Carlsen vs. So, Photo Grand Chess Tour

In the most recent rounds of the Sinquefield Cup, two new leaders have emerged: Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen.


Aronian found his way to the top of the scoreboard by winning two beautiful attacking games against Caruana and So. Carlsen, on the other hand, had a shaky start with a first round loss to Topalov, but has since recovered and managed three and half points out of the last four games.

Here's a look at some of the tactical combinations from the exciting first round of the tournament, which had the rare result of all decisive games between these top-level grandmasters.

Tactic #1
GM Wesley So vs. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Tactic 1 - Vachier-Lagrave vs. So.jpg

Black to move.


How did Vachier-Lagrave take advantage of his lead in development?

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Tactic #2
GM Levon Aronian vs. GM Fabiano CaruanaTactic 2 - Aronian vs. Caruana.jpg

 
White to move.

Caruana just played 36...Nd6, attacking Aronian's rook. How did one of the current tournament leaders respond?

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Tactic #3
GM Anish Giri vs. GM Alexander Grischuk
Tactic 3 - Giri vs. Grischuk.jpg

White to move.


How did Giri turn his better placed pieces into a material advantage?

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Tactic #4
GM Hikaru Nakamura vs. GM Viswanathan Anand
Tactic 4 - Nakamura vs. Anand.jpg

White to move.


Anand just made a mistake with 36...Nb8. How did Nakamura gain the upper hand against the former world champion?

 

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