This is a flash report to summarize the results. The full report will be published on this page soon.
After nine eventful rounds of play and lots of surrounding tumult, the 2022 Sinquefield Cup came to a conclusion on Sunday in Saint Louis.
After four draws in the regulation games of round nine, a play-off, consisting of two rapid games, between GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alireza Firouzja decided the winner of this year’s Sinquefield Cup. After a draw in the first game where Nepomniacthchi was pressing throughout, he blundered right after the opening in the second game, losing a piece. The Candidates winner carried on a while longer, but the result was never in doubt, securing the double win for Firouzja in both the Sinquefield Cup and the Grand Chess Tour.
Nepomniachtchi long looked like he would be the winner of the tournament. Playing the early leader GM Hans Niemann, he ended up in a fascinating ending where Niemann many pawn weaknesses in his camp, but enough compensation for it through his active pieces. Despite Nepomniachtchi having multiple chances, the game eventually ended in a draw.
The other games all ended in more or less uneventful draws. The first game to finish was between the two French GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Firouzja.
Quite a bit later, and after GM Wesley So gave it an unsuccessful try for more, he and GM Leinier Dominguez Perez found a way to exchange a bunch of pieces before finding a repetition.
In the game between GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Levon Aronian where neither side had anything to play for, they still found the motivation to push each other a bit. Eventually, however, the position was drained of opportunities, and in a double rook ending, the players found a repetition.
Finally, GM Fabiano Caruana had a bye and thus could not add to his final point tally.
With these outcomes, Nepomniachtchi and Firouzja ended their respective campaigns on 5 points, ahead of Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So on 4.5 points.
This is a flash report, and we will return with a full report soon.
We have picked Nepomniachtchi-Niemann from round nine as our Game of the Day.
All Games Day 9
Final Standings After Round 9
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Nepomniachtchi,Ian | 2792 | 2840 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5.0/8 | 19.75 | ||
| 2 | Firouzja,Alireza | 2778 | 2842 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.0/8 | 18.5 | ||
| 3 | So,Wesley | 2771 | 2797 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5/8 | 17.25 | ||
| 4 | Caruana,Fabiano | 2758 | 2799 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4.5/8 | 16.75 | ||
| 5 | Dominguez Perez,Leinier | 2745 | 2757 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.0/8 | |||
| 6 | Niemann,Hans Moke | 2688 | 2720 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.5/8 | 13.25 | ||
| 7 | Aronian,Levon | 2759 | 2713 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 3.5/8 | 12.75 | ||
| 8 | Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime | 2757 | 2668 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3.0/8 | 12.5 | ||
| 9 | Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar | 2757 | 2668 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 3.0/8 | 12.25 |
Play-off
| Game | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | Final |
| 1 | Firouzja,Alireza | 2778 | 2982 | ½ | 1 | 1.5/2 | |
| 2 | Nepomniachtchi,Ian | 2792 | 2588 | ½ | 0 | 0.5/2 | |
The 2022 Sinquefield Cup is the fifth and final leg of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour. The 10 players compete in an all-play-all round-robin for their share of the $319,000 prize fund.
Coverage of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup