Saint Louis Blitz: Sergey Karjakin Excels on Day 1

Grandmaster has scored 8/9 

The first 9 rounds of the Saint Louis blitz tournament were marked by a brilliant breakthrough of Sergey Karjakin. The Russian grandmaster mustered a tornadic speed to score 8/9 and approach Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura. The perfomance of the legendary Champion Garry Kasparov once again aroused much interest. Kasparov had started heavily, but warmed up at the finish to upset Leinier Dominguez. 

Standings (1 point for a win, 0.5 point for a draw): 

1. Sergey Karjakin - 8/9, 2. Levon Aronian - 6.5, 3. Hikaru Nakamura - 5.5, 4. Ian Nepomniachtchi - 5, 5. Le Quang Liem - 4, 6-8. Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Garry Kasparov - 3.5, 9. Leinier Dominguez - 3, 10. David Navara - 2.5. 

Combined standings (rapid & blitz): 

1. Levon Aronian - 18.5/27, 2. Hikaru Nakamura - 16.5, 3. Sergey Karjakin - 16, 4. Ian Nepomniachtchi - 15, 5. Fabiano Caruana - 14.5, 6-7. Leinier Dominguez, Le Quang Liem - 12, 8-9. Viswanathan Anand, Garry Kasparov - 10.5, 10. David Navara - 9.5. 

On August 18, the final 9 rounds will be played. 



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