The last day started with a spherical stuffed with decisive outcomes that separated the leaders by half a degree, whereas a number of chasers compressed the highest of the desk with necessary wins. Mamedyarov benefitted from an endgame blunder by GM Leinier Dominguez that left the Azeri sitting fairly, having scored his fifth win in seven rounds.

Firouzja suffered a minor setback in opposition to GM Peter Svidler who managed to seek out some kind and maintain the rampaging Firouzja to a draw. A doubtful however pressure-inducing double sacrifice was the poison of alternative from Svidler, culminating in a threefold repetition. Firouzja missed a simple alternative to play for a win and was left kicking himself when he realized that his day-two co-leader had skipped forward.

Round eight shook the event up attributable to a stunning win by Svidler over Mamedyarov. The event chief appeared comfy within the sport till transfer 21 when he touched his rook and was compelled to maneuver it to an unintended sq., attributable to not realizing he was in test. The place remained equal, however a flustered Mamedyarov blundered quickly after.

Firouzja took full benefit of the scenario and by no means appeared unsure in opposition to GM Levon Aronian. The Iranian-born GM drew the reward of commentators and followers all over the world for his medical endgame precision, main Saint Louis Chess Club commentator GM Cristian Chirila (The Count on Chess.com) to state that it’s clear he has been working laborious on his endgames for the reason that Candidates.

GM Garry Kasparov‘s additionally talked about that Firouzja “is likely to be an actual contender for the title (of world champion).”

Kasparov (on Firouzja): He positively seems very sturdy for his age, I’d not be stunned if he makes it. By each depend he is likely to be an actual contender for the title. Naturally his excellent efficiency in these tournaments is simply extra proof that he is actually good. #Chess9LX pic.twitter.com/vtli3WRfJJ

— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) September 16, 2022

While viewers’ eyes turned to the chief’s video games, what many didn’t understand is that Caruana had caught the leaders, profitable each his spherical seven and eight video games in opposition to Aronian and Nakamura respectively, putting him simply behind Firouzja heading into the ultimate spherical. 

Heading into spherical 9 Firouzja was half a degree forward of three chasers—Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, and Mamedyarov—who have been all poised to tie issues up or surpass the chief if issues went awry. Several minutes into the ultimate spherical, it was already clear that two of these chasers have been out of the race, having accepted fast attracts.

Perhaps nonetheless drained from their morning victories within the Chess.com Global Championship the place they each progressed to the spherical of 32, Nepomniachtchi and Mamedyarov have been completely satisfied to settle and completed on 6/9.

Nepo produces magic 🪄 as he defends what initially began as a very misplaced place.#ChesscomGlobal pic.twitter.com/4rJ5RFF0gx

— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) September 16, 2022

Caruana was not as prepared to let Firouzja run away with one other event victory, knocked over the world Chess960 champion GM Wesley So, and put the strain proper again on Firouzja. Firouzja, unfazed by GM Hikaru Nakamura‘s promising place in opposition to him, managed to stabilize and settle for a draw after seeing Caruana’s outcome. The two then took a small break earlier than they ready for a playoff for the title.

The opening sport of the tiebreak may have swung both means however Caruana, bursting with momentum, clutched up when it mattered and took the primary sport with the black items. Firouzja clapped again with creative chess within the second, stranding Caruana’s king and tying up the rating.

The event ended up coming all the way down to a single sport of armageddon chess with Caruana needing to win with the white items and Firouzja reaching at the least a draw with the black.

When all was mentioned and accomplished, Caruana was the deserving winner and needed to defeat Firouzja within the type of his life. 

Prizes

Prizes for this occasion have been cut up evenly the place gamers completed with the identical rating, that means that each Firouzja and Caruana obtained wholesome winnings of $31,250 every whereas Nepomniachtchi and Mamedyarov every obtained $17,500. The the rest of the gamers cut up the remainder of the $150,000 prize fund.

All Games Day 3

Final Standings

The Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX event occurred September 14-16, 2022, on the chess membership in St. Louis.  Players competed in a 10-player speedy (20+10) spherical robin for his or her share of the $150,000 prize fund. 

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