Duda Withdraws With Health Issue, No Decisive Results In St. Louis
No decisive results were produced for the third round in a row at the 2023 Sinquefield Cup on a day that was headlined by the withdrawal of GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda and an intriguing duel between the imaginative GMs Richard Rapport and Alireza Firouzja.
With each player now only playing eight rounds after Duda's withdrawal, the standings are expected to open up sooner than expected with a $100,000 first prize on the line.
The Sinquefield Cup continues with round four on Friday, November 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET/20:30 CET/1 a.m. IST.
Standings After Round 3
On Wednesday it was reported that Duda's game against Rapport would be postponed due to a mystery "health issue", with Duda posting to X (formerly known as Twitter) stating that there was "more info to come."
Moments before round three though, Duda once again took to X with the following statement: "I regret to have to withdraw from the competition due to serious health issues. I appreciate all the effort from organizers to help me, but unfortunately, I am not able to compete. I wish all players and spectators a great event.
I regret to have to withdraw from the competition due to serious health issues. I appreciate all the effort from organizers to help me, but unfortunately I am not able to compete.
— Jan-Krzysztof Duda (@GM_JKDuda) November 23, 2023
I wish all players and spectators a great event.#GrandChessTour #SinquefieldCup https://t.co/Hca0v8jSaj
While the nature of Duda's illness is still unknown, the Sinquefield Cup organizers indicated that the Pole's draw against GM Anish Giri in round one would be voided, and each player's game with Duda would be replaced with a bye.
In terms of the bearing this will have on FIDE Circuit points, now only the top four participants will gain points as opposed to five, as the fifth-placed player will not be in the top half of the standings.
Rapport vs. Firouzja
If there was one matchup in round three that promised chances to break the deadlock of draws then it was Rapport-Firouzja. Firouzja was the player to score the most wins in the 2022 edition of the event (three) which helped him finish in equal first alongside GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.
On Thursday though, it was Rapport who applied pressure to the world number-six after opting to castle queenside on the white side of the Petroff Defense: Classical, Nimzowitsch Attack. Rapport was then able to take advantage of Firouzja's flawed 13...f5?? with the clever 14.Qe3!!.
The Romanian representative procured the bishop pair but quickly lost it again in the chaos that Firouzja embraced. Understanding that his chance had come and gone, Rapport swapped down into an easily-drawn rook ending and split the point with a repetition on move 35.
Our Game of the Day has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.
Aronian vs. Nepomniachtchi
Nepomniachtchi and GM Fabiano Caruana were lauded as the "best-prepared players" by Giri during an interview with WGM Anastasiya Karlovich after round two, and on Thursday the world number-five showed what Giri was referring to.
Selecting a line on the black side of the Queen's Gambit Declined that included the rare 9...Ba6, Nepomniachtchi swapped off what is generally considered Black's most troublesome piece in the opening and easily navigated towards a symmetrical rook endgame.
Nepomniachtchi will play against Caruana in round four while Aronian is due for the bye.
Vachier-Lagrave vs. Caruana
The historic scores between Vachier-Lagrave and Caruana in classical chess are very much in favor of the U.S. champion, with Caruana leading 10 to five, with 26 draws. On Thursday they added a 27th.
It always bodes well when multiple famous players of old are named in the opening variation you are playing and in Vachier-Lagrave vs. Caruana, no less than six players contributed to the system selected.
The Ruy Lopez Opening: Morphy Defense, Keres-Smyslov-Zaitsev Hybrid system was the battleground for the clash, but the game never really lifted off after Caruana played a middlegame brilliancy, 24...Nxe5!!, which forced liquidation into an imbalanced, albeit equal endgame.
Giri vs. So
Both GMs Wesley So and Giri are known for their deep theoretical knowledge and in their round three game the pair had the opportunity to show their understanding in a Ruy Lopez Opening: Berlin Defense that steered away from known lines on move nine.
Neither So nor Giri had serious winning chances, which was largely due to only one open file materializing throughout the game.
Results - Round 3
| White | Black | |
| Firouzja | 1/2 - 1/2 | Rapport |
| Giri | 1/2 - 1/2 | So |
| Aronian | 1/2 - 1/2 | Nepomniachtchi |
| Vachier-Lagrave | 1/2 - 1/2 | Caruana |
Pairings - Round 4
| White | Black | |
| Nepomniachtchi | - | Caruana |
| Firouzja | - | Dominguez |
| Giri | - | Vachier-Lagrave |
| So | - | Rapport |
How to watch the 2023 Sinquefield Cup
You can keep up with all the games and results of the tournament on our live events platform by following this link.
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The 2023 Sinquefield Cup is the strongest international classical OTB tournament in the U.S. and the final leg of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour. Starting November 21 at 2:230 p.m. ET/20:30 CET/01:00 (+1) IST, 10 elite grandmasters will compete for their share of the $350,000 prize fund.
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