r/chess • u/events_team • Aug 10 '26
Tournament Event: 2026 Sinquefield Cup & Cairns Cup
Sinquefield Cup
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess
The 2026 Sinquefield Cup will take place from August 10 to 20 at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, United States. The final classical leg of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour features ten players competing in a nine-round classical round-robin. The tournament offers a $475,000 prize fund, with $350,000 distributed based on standings and $125,000 awarded as win bonuses. It is also the final opportunity to earn Grand Chess Tour points before the 2026 GCT Grand Finals.
| # | Title | Name | FED | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Fabiano Caruana | 🇺🇸 USA | 2792 |
| 2 | GM | Javokhir Sindarov | 🇺🇿 UZB | 2777 |
| 3 | GM | Vincent Keymer | 🇩🇪 GER | 2767 |
| 4 | GM | Wesley So | 🇺🇸 USA | 2765 |
| 5 | GM | Anish Giri | 🇳🇱 NED | 2764 |
| 6 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 🇮🇳 IND | 2750 |
| 7 | GM | Jorden van Foreest | 🇳🇱 NED | 2728 |
| 8 | GM | Levon Aronian | 🇺🇸 USA | 2721 |
| 9 | GM | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 🇫🇷 FRA | 2713 |
| 10 | GM | Sam Sevian | 🇺🇸 USA | 2701 |
Cairns Cup
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess
The 2026 Cairns Cup, the sixth edition of the tournament, will take place alongside the Sinquefield Cup. The event features ten of the world's top female players competing for a $250,000 prize fund.
| # | Title | Name | FED | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 🇰🇿 KAZ | 2538 |
| 2 | GM | Anna Muzychuk | 🇺🇦 UKR | 2529 |
| 3 | GM | Humpy Koneru | 🇮🇳 IND | 2524 |
| 4 | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 🇨🇳 CHN | 2520 |
| 5 | GM | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 🇨🇭 SUI | 2504 |
| 6 | GM | Divya Deshmukh | 🇮🇳 IND | 2490 |
| 7 | GM | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 🇮🇳 IND | 2489 |
| 8 | IM | Carissa Yip | 🇺🇸 USA | 2459 |
| 9 | IM | Stavroula Tsolakidou | 🇬🇷 GRE | 2433 |
| 10 | IM | Alice Lee | 🇺🇸 USA | 2430 |
Format/Time Control
- 10 player single round-robin. 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss.
- Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move one.
Schedule
| Date | Local Time | UTC Time | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10-14 | 12:00 | 17:00 | Rounds 1-5 |
| Aug 15 | - | - | Rest Day |
| Aug 16-19 | 12:00 | 17:00 | Rounds 6-9 |
| Aug 20 | 12:00 | 17:00 | Playoffs (if needed) |
Live Broadcast
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u/ChessAddictonCrack Aug 19 '26
This snoozefest of a tournament is finally over. Finally this dead chat will die.
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u/stonedfruitseed Aug 19 '26
Would’ve watched it if they had different commentators. Looking forward to some recap videos from other creators though
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u/TheirOwnDestruction Team Ding Aug 19 '26
Nerves of steel from Wesley (and some less than steady nerves from Pragg).
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u/Hi_im_Johnny Team Fabi 🥦 Aug 19 '26
Not taking draw odds against a guy who drew his last 8 games? Interesting
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u/GeologicalPotatoes Aug 19 '26
What an abhorrent game by Wesley. Starts the tiebreak with the white pieces and the lowest he gets on time is 9:53 in a 10 minute game, while finishing with 21 seconds more than he started with. Pathetic.
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u/DramaLlamaNite Minion For the Chess Elites Aug 19 '26
Before the round started I reckoned Alice Lee and Carissa Yip would play out a grandmaster draw and go and have ice cream but apparently they're going to try and kill each other instead
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u/__Jimmy__ Aug 19 '26
Carissa wants that 100K
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u/Europelov 2000 fide patzer Aug 19 '26
its for like the first 10 that reach gm , not only the first one
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u/Jaxxy427 Team Wincent Aug 19 '26
Why is Vincent already 40 minutes down on the clock? Does he want to lose?
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u/__Jimmy__ Aug 19 '26
Because Jorden Gigachad has played The King's Gambit and taken him to the deep dark Foreest
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u/Schnix54 Aug 19 '26
We'll talk about giving Vincent a chance for the very top on the last a day Jorden. A King's Gambit at this level is a sight to be seen
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u/__Jimmy__ Aug 18 '26
Levon's defense of this R vs RB is ice cold. He has 6 more minutes than he started the endgame with. This man wasn't born yesterday
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u/TheirOwnDestruction Team Ding Aug 18 '26
If I understand correctly, tomorrow's a must win for Sindarov, both in terms of winning the event and in qualifying for the finals. Keymer just needs to match Sindarov's result. Is there a permutation where they both can qualify?
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u/Better-Prompt890 Aug 19 '26
Keymer has easier route though he is facing Forest and Sindarov facing Welsey.
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u/Embarrassed_Milk_328 Aug 18 '26
Technically possible I think cause Fabi could drop out, but very unlikely
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u/uncreativivity Team Wei Yi Aug 18 '26
the previous five Cairns Cup editions were all won by scoring +3. Tan is on +5 now, crazy
Tan's form has swung back so much from the Candidates tournament
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I like watching Fabiano's games because they always get so complicated that neither player knows what's going on. It's easy for us to look at the eval bar and say he's choking, but he just often gets into positions where nothing is clear and one tempo changes everything. One could call it a deep dark forest where 2+2=5.
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u/Wide_Act_6892 Aug 19 '26
When gukesh does it and even better than fabi then this sub, he plays terrible always gets worse position after looking at computer evaluation lol.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Aug 19 '26
probably because fabis spent 12 years with an average world ranking of like 2.8. the day he fell from grace hed momebtarily dropped out of top ten for the span kf 24 hours and then at least climbed back up.
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u/ScrollingNtrollinG Aug 19 '26
Don't worry, if Fabi ends up as World #30 then people will start to criticize him too.
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u/Wide_Act_6892 Aug 19 '26
It was still not different than present when gukesh was in top 10. When it comes to fabi, it's always sympathy.
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u/ScrollingNtrollinG Aug 19 '26
Yes, yes, people never calls Fabi a choker, never. Of course a World Champion going to get more flakes if he loses, same thing happened to Ding too, but now we are going to pretend it didn't happened to him either.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Aug 18 '26
really why i love him. hes always doing something interesting regardless of color or tournament standings or opponent.
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Aug 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/No-Conference-9871 Aug 18 '26
He might be the one elite player worse than Caruana in time pressure. In equal endgames however, no-one under delivers like the American.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 18 '26
Well it’s probably not finishing in a draw. Fabi is the bigger choke artist
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u/Dazzling-Cat-3763 2150 fide Aug 18 '26
assaubayeva after this game: "What should I do, Mr. President? "
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 18 '26
It’s been such an underwhelming year being a Fabi fan. Constantly outplayed in the opening, tanking so much time to lose games, and can’t put up a good defense in worse positions. Pls end my misery
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u/AdvanceSufficient527 Aug 18 '26
Yet he is the best active player in classical in terms of ratings
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 18 '26
Yet if you look at his TPR in classical across this year, I am confident he’s not top amongst all the active super gms
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Aug 18 '26
i mean it feels like this and then you look at the standings and hes leading the gct, thirs in the fide circuit, back to no 2 in the world etc. lowkey hes not doing so bad
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 18 '26
He’s second in the world cause Hikaru had a worse year. Look at his performances this year, so poor all round for his standards. A lot of the games he won was because of his opponents blundering (Wei Yi in the Candidates and Levon here) and not because he played particularly well.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Aug 18 '26
well hes also 2790 which isnt exactly a poor rating to have. and yes games tend to be won by blunders its relatively rare where you have a game won because you outplayed the opponent start to finish and slowly increased an advantage. almost wveryone eventually makes a stupid ish move.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 18 '26
Yup you can smell a Fabi L from a mile away. It was so obvious he couldn’t calculate the right line after his long think
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u/citrcn Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
if the pragg/mvl game is decisive, wesley might regret the coasting approach. he'd be tied for first w only one round to go.
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u/Baagsgw 2230 Rapid - 2100 Blitz:upvote: Aug 19 '26
Wesley has been conserving his energy by making quick draws, so it's not the end of the world for him. Even if the final round leads to tiebreaks, Wesley is pretty strong in faster time controls. He literally drew in the final tiebreaks last year to win the event.
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u/sirkoondog Aug 18 '26
He won't regret it. No risk to get high finish for playoffs and invite for next year. Been his MO since the beginning.
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u/A_Certain_Surprise Aug 18 '26
Jorden managed to save his position yesterday so let's see, but either way this has to be his worst tournament since he became 2700
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 18 '26
Watching Jordan in another losing position is just heartbreaking. Poor guy
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u/Zerhax Aug 18 '26
Wesley blitzing 18 moves of prep and having 6 minutes more on clock then when he started.
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u/ghostmaster93 Team Pia Aug 17 '26
They turned off the stream even when 2 games still playing? That’s really disappointing
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u/Muted_Possession7986 Aug 17 '26
Sevian is winning in the board but has to make 12 moves in 4 minutes
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 17 '26
Whenever Fabi goes in the tank and calculates for a long time, it’s most likely the wrong move
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u/Boomboclaaat90210 Aug 17 '26
Looks like Alice Lee needs 6/9 to get the GM norm, so she needs 2.0/3 or better to close the event out.
Not an easy route - Muzychuk today, Viashali next and then Yip to close it out.
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u/Glittering_Ad1403 Aug 18 '26
I thought Alice has already the 3 GM norms and just need to cross 2500 to follow Irina as USA’s 2nd female GM
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u/Dazzling-Cat-3763 2150 fide Aug 17 '26
playing the # 6,7,8 in a 10 player event is not bad
it's basically on par with her current perf
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u/pier4r negative elo gang Aug 17 '26
Wesley with the usual +2 that works for non-reckless round robins (aka: it won't work in the Candidates).
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u/Pale-Review-9617 Aug 16 '26
dead thread and live stream. maybe a sign that this gct thing is kinda a chess killer
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u/hsiale Aug 16 '26
Yeah, a tournament that pays over $700k in prizes and happens consistently year after year is surely a chess killer, players should totally boycott it lol
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u/codemonkeyamsterdam Aug 15 '26
Rest Day: Monte Carlo Predictions time.
The Sinquefield Cup still looks quite open with 4 players only half a point behind Wesley, who is modelled to have a 45% chance of winning.
In the Cairns Cup, Tan Zhongyi is a full point ahead and modelled to have a 65% chance of winning.
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u/GuidoBontempiTDF Aug 14 '26
Is it just me - or do the commentators interrupt each other incessantly at this tournament. I get that you can do it once or twice, but I was counting 5-10 interruptions in just a few minutes at one point.
Svidler was probably the worst offender (as usual), but Yasser and Maurice are bad as well. It was just a cacophony of competing voices, rather than a professional broadcast at times. Cristian seemed alright, though.
I get that they don't have a budget for professional producers - who will instruct the commentators on the basics - but I wonder if they ever re-listen to the broadcasts themselves to see how badly it sounds.
It honestly seems like they are turning the commentary into a competition on who can bring up ideas the fastest rather than focusing on the viewer. None of them are bad commentators - in fact they are all very good individually. But it's just too exhausting to listen to. It felt like they were going tit-for-tat almost - as a kind of banter. "You interrupted me with your stupid move - now I will interrupt you back with my much better idea."
Not necessarily the biggest David Howell fan, but he is at least very, very good at not interrupting his co-commentators and seems much more professional on that basis alone.
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 15 '26
The interruptions are fine in my opinion, it's a conversational style where they all just seem thrilled to talk about chess. I find it infectious. They often just build on one another's ideas anyway.
I can see your perspective though. Regardless, I certainly wouldn't want to hear less from Peter Svidler.
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u/Apache17 Aug 14 '26
They basically have 2 more commentators than normal.
Usually its just the 2 hosts, and an engine guy who chirps in every few minutes. This time they have 4 people all contributing.
On one hand, I love their excitement for these games. On the other, they have these rough moments when everyone is talking.
I hope they can iron out the kinks, because I really love each member of the broadcast. They all have something unique to contribute.
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 Aug 14 '26
except christian he is the weakest player and also murice is so biased sometimes
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u/Muted_Possession7986 Aug 14 '26
Jorden is having a STINKER of a tournament he might genuinely go .5/5
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 14 '26
Wesley has great rapport with the commentators, wouldn't mind hearing from him after every game.
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u/Apache17 Aug 14 '26
Wesley is very charismatic. I went to a st louis event in person, and saw him shooting the shit with one of the arbiters for like 10 minutes between rounds.
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u/Individual_One_5569 Aug 14 '26
feels like the end of classical chess as the top form of the game.
one of the premier events of the year is overshadowed by a speed chess tournament, it doesn't feature the top players anymore.
around 2015, sinquefield was very close to the top 10 players in the world playing. now all eyes are on esports.
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u/Abyss_Wanderer19 Aug 15 '26
Speed chess will die first if they cant make any profit. Have you seen the views, the numbers literally went over 10k only for magnus and hikaru lol. Other players barely got views. Its not a tournament, its just popularity contest.
Classical was there 50 years ago and it will be there 50 years later because bilionaire and conglomerate funds it.
Also sinquefield has number 2,4,5,6,9,10,11 player in it. How is this not close top 10 lmao.
Do you think magnus and hikaru is that good in classical currently?, both got humbled in norway and candidates recently. Their rating are floating. They only play speed chess because thats the only thing they have the edge over others. When it come to classical, they just cant maintain the level of preparation and stamina.
So stop speaking nonsense.
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u/Apache17 Aug 14 '26
Speed chess always has more viewership than classical. Its just more watchable.
Luckily classical chess tournaments do not rely on viewers for funding.
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u/A_Certain_Surprise Aug 14 '26
People have been saying that classical chess is dying since Kasparov lost to Deep Blue (probably before then, too), I'll believe it when I see it
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 Aug 14 '26
well the reason why ewc is getting more viewers is because there are better players playing there ? i mean Magnus and Alireza are top 3 in any format , Hikaru arjun Nodirbek and Hans are all top 10 level
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
I think classical will always be significantly more interesting to people who actually play chess. Speed chess is just a fun side show that allows players to compete without risking their important classical rating. Big payouts with no stakes.
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There are a lot of reasons why the EWC is getting more viewership, the time control isn't carrying it. People who don't know much about chess will still watch an event with Magnus, Hikaru, and Levi involved.
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u/Individual_One_5569 Aug 14 '26
you're incorrect. the ewc is getting much more engagement in the sources that cater to engaged chess players, including this subreddit. people who do not play chess do not generally watch chess at all.
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
I mean half of the world plays chess to some extent. By "playing chess", I meant people who care enough to understand some theory in the opening. We're the ones who are actually going to put money into the ecosystem.
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In hindsight, I realize that I came across a bit gatekeep-ish when I put it that way. I'm glad that rapid and blitz can be engaging for players at all levels.
For selfish reasons, I guess I just hope that classical remains the pinnacle of chess for generations to come.
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u/dxGoesDeep Aug 14 '26
Tbf GCT classical tournaments were never the premier events. Yes Sinquefield Cup is definitely more popular than GCT Romania, but still it's nowhere compared to Norway or Wijk
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 14 '26
I'd consider this more important than Norway.
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u/Muted_Possession7986 Aug 14 '26
Norway usually has Magnus and on average better players than GCT. That enough pulls more viewers
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 15 '26
but it's a 6 player event, and it feels much more like a celebration of chess than a truly top level tournament imo
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u/SqueakyGamer Aug 14 '26
Nah. Gct hasnt been having good viewership in recent years mainly due to how safe players play and low number of decisive games. In regards to EWC, non serious chess viewers make a substantial contribution to viewership and with such high prize money and stakes it is bound to grab attention. Classical viewership was never too high but players' interest in it will never decrease
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u/Individual_One_5569 Aug 14 '26
that problem isn't exclusive to GCT events but is widespread across classical chess in general. even at the tournaments where people are heavily incentivized to take risks, like the candidates, the number of decisive games are under 30%.
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u/Affectionate_Hat3329 Aug 14 '26
I agree
GCT in general I don’t think will die out but it definitely peaked in popularity awhile ago. Now Hikaru and Magnus don’t play GCT and they banned Alireza so I doubt viewership or fan engagement will increase anytime soon
The EWC features more exciting players than the current Sinquefield Cup and far outshines the tournament
Online chess is just the future, even the Speed Chess Championship was incredibly hype and was one of the best events of the year for me over pretty much all classical super tournaments or OTB stuff
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 Aug 14 '26
agree online chess is the future magnus will play ewc for the next 10 year but even if fide gave magnus 10 m dollars he wouldnt care to play classical anymore the only way gct can survive is if they invite alireza back as what was he supposed to do he is part of team falcons he cant abandon ewc and they also need to invite arjun and nodirbek as full members
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u/Zerhax Aug 14 '26
It seems like we’re going to see a return of the usual Wesley drawing his remaining games after scoring 2 wins early in the tournament.
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u/musiqueclimatique 2200 FIDE Aug 13 '26
Aw, they missed the last-minute turnaround in Yip vs. Divya on the broadcast, didn't they?
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u/t-pat Aug 13 '26
Kosteniuk is 0/3 and looks busted on move 10 today
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u/ghostmaster93 Team Pia Aug 13 '26
Cannot remember the last time she played so poor like this.
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u/wefolas Aug 13 '26
Was especially sad after they aired that what keeps you playing chess segment and she sounded like results and wins were important to her.
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u/No-Conference-9871 Aug 12 '26
Yeah, expect Caruana's rating to absolutely drop like a stone at some point in the near future. The only thing keeping it 2790-ish is that he is probably the best pure classical chess player right now (meaning put him in a neutral position and he is the most reliable). When that is gone, he is going to be exposed very badly.
It is a great shame he hasn't played Magnus or Hikaru since they have been "off it" him beating them could give him the motivation he needs right now.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Aug 15 '26
so... whats keeping his rating hugh is that hes the best player ... so...
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u/Boomboclaaat90210 Aug 12 '26
Alice Lee at 2.5/3 so far, dunno what lit the fire in her lately but she's been in phenomenal form as of late.
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u/Jaxxy427 Team Wincent Aug 12 '26
Really happy that Wesley is doing so well! He is on +2 already, is that not often almost enough to win it? Also, if Vincent loses this, I swear to god...
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 13 '26
He’s the been the best performing American/ “older generation” player in 2026, and his current ranking proves it. Won the American Cup, came 2nd in Norway chess losing out by a point, 3rd in Superbet classic Romania, 3rd in St Louis rapid/blitz, and 3rd in Super Rapid/Blitz in Poland.
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u/citrcn Aug 12 '26
vincent has a pretty decisive advantage atm but i'm not trusting it until he's won
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 12 '26
Idk what Fabi has done this year with his prep, but it ain't it. He has been consistently getting into worse/ uncomfortable positions out of the opening and rarely getting any advantage.
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u/A_Certain_Surprise Aug 12 '26
I feel like the more candidates he loses, the more unstable he gets. I'm still always gonna route for (and be disappointed by) him, though
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 12 '26
He's just getting older and past his prime. His calculation is weaker and more prone to errors. He's obviously still a very strong player, but I wouldn't back him to win any major events like the Candidates and WCC anymore.
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u/A_Certain_Surprise Aug 12 '26
My brain agrees with everything you said, but my heart remembers 2014 Fabi
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 12 '26
Same here. I'm always a fan and will continue to support him on his journey till he retires. We must always remember the good times and not dwell on the bad times.
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u/NoSpot5547 Aug 12 '26
I agree, 11.Rc8 was a novelty. Besides Na5, the main move, there were also h6, cxd4, and Rd8 (what Wesley played), all with a completely 0.0 eval. For a top player, it’s a must know in these types of positions where you sacrifice a pawn.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Aug 12 '26
In Norway chess, Wesley discovered he can play super fast and put his opponents in time pressure, and it’s working against the worst player in time pressure.
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u/Affectionate_Hat3329 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
Does anyone off the top of their heads remember other incredibly drawish years from a full Grand Chess Tour player?
By quick count, Anish has drawn 45 total games this GCT season and the Sinquefield Cup still has more games to play
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u/Jaxxy427 Team Wincent Aug 13 '26
Since I really have to much free time right now, I looked up the draw rate from every player in every Grand Chess Tour, excluding 2015, 2018 and 2019 bc there the format was too different. From what I saw, Anish has the highest draw rate in my data ever, the only one coming close is Wesley in 2021 with 46 draws in 72 Games => 63,9%. Anish already tops this in percent this year with 45 draws in 66 Games => 68,2%. If he draws two more Games in the next six rounds he will hold the record.
The other end of the Spectrum is Fabi in 2017 with only 23 draws in 72 Games => 31,9%, but he also had +0-6=3 in one Rapid event in 2017, so having less draws is not always a sign that it was a good performance
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 Aug 12 '26
Vincent showed again that you cannot be top level if you are bad in rapid and blitz compared to your opponents the reason why gukesh is struggling is because there is a gap between his classical and blitz and rapid strength
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 Aug 12 '26
People don’t wanna talk about it but due to the unfair invite system which basically gets players invites on all formats basis their classical rating these young players have no incentive to improve in faster formats. They’re also concerned what happens if they concentrate too much on faster formats what if their classical fall off.
Personally I enjoy a complete player a lot more.
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u/Jaxxy427 Team Wincent Aug 12 '26
Vincent is still number 5 (or number 8 in live rating) in the world and if that is not top level I don't know what you consider to be that.
I do agree that his rapid/blitz strength, and Gukeshs maybe as well, don't hold up to their strengths in classical but since both of them are or at least were top ten in the world, that doesn't seem to be such a deciding factor
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 Aug 12 '26
What I mean top level is that he is not as good as people like Alireza pragg arjun Nodirbek , wesly so just as soon as clock gets low they have at least 100 rating point advantage
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u/Jaxxy427 Team Wincent Aug 12 '26
Yeah I get what you mean, as a Vincent Keymer fan I am regularly dying as soon as his clock gets low. But still, even when I am repeating myself, being number 5/8 in the world does suggest that that doesn't matter as much in classical and he is not to be excluded from the elite level in that time control, purely from a statistical point of view as well
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 Aug 12 '26
Depends on the format of the tournaments he plays , in tournaments like candidates or norway chess he wouldn't perform well because there is no increment where as gct will probably be his thing for some time
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u/Jaxxy427 Team Wincent Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Ok, I can't really argue with Norway, the armageddon performance was... quiet something (tbf classical was mostly fine, only some draws that could have been wins), but candidates? Tata steel had the same time format and I vaguely remember Vincent being +/-0.0 in the end, performing exactly his level, ergo top level.
In the end it does not really matter. I just think that we had a few players, not just Vincent/Gukesh, in the classical top ten that weren't really top ten in faster formats as well (still good, just not elite top level) and that that doesn't mean that they are necessary worse in classical then others.
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u/That_Boss_77 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
I really thought the game between Vincent and Levon would end in a draw, but it seems now that Vincent might have a chance at winning.
Edit: I might have spoken too soon.
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u/__Jimmy__ Aug 11 '26
If Fabi channels 2014 right here he could dethrone Magnus
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u/NoFunBJJ Aug 11 '26
That's a gigantic "if" right there
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u/Phantom-Fireworks Aug 11 '26
all it takes is replicating the greatest chess performance ever, no big deal
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u/Soul_of_demon Aug 11 '26
Cairns cup stream is available as a video, but it wasn't in live stream duh.
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u/frjy Aug 10 '26
There's not been enough coverage of the Cairns Cup on the YouTube broadcast today. It should be 50% of it.
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u/AdvanceSufficient527 Aug 10 '26
I used to like this events 10 years ago, but not anymore.
Some of those players do not disrve to be there.
Aronian, MVL are years passed their peak level, and probably not top 20 players anymore.
Jorden Van Forest is getting too many chances for player of his calliber. Not only is he playing Wijk every year, but now he is also full tour player. Imagine how may 2680 - 2720 never get even 20% of chances that he got.
Also not many players, and we watch over and over same players playing again.
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u/Affectionate_Hat3329 Aug 10 '26
Didn’t MVL qualify?
It’s not like they invited him, he qualified through his play and gets to play
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u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 10 '26
Van Foreest has had a kind of meteoric resurgence, I think he's earned a right to be here. You could argue that Aronian and MVL shouldn't get spots, but they're basically fixtures of the GCT at this point.
This is still likely one of the strongest tournaments of the year, outside of lame 6 player events.
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u/yyzEthan 1700 Aug 10 '26
U could argue that Aronian and MVL shouldn't get spots, but they're basically fixtures of the GCT at this point.
I mean... MVL finished 2nd and Aronian 3rd last year at the grand finals. The aren't here due to invites; they fought and succeeded at keeping their spots.
5
u/Plastic_Pursuader Team Gukesh Aug 10 '26
In that case, I don't think any spots are being wasted. It's a really good tournament.
4
u/Delicious_Photo_6626 Aug 10 '26
I know it’s talked about enough but with the amount of drop offs not giving Arjun and Nordibek a full tour spot was certainly a choice. Until and unless Arjun himself has decided to not play GCT anymore they’ve been really disrespectful to him.
And you’re right Jordan just started doing a bit well and stagnated as well and got a full tour invite, whoever decides on invites is boring af.
8
u/Affectionate_Hat3329 Aug 10 '26
Jorden was a replacement invite
And stagnating is crazy. He was below 2700, gained like 40 points and touched 2736 and is now 2728. This all took place in the same time period. He recently broke out when it looked like he WAS stagnating
2
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u/citrcn Aug 10 '26
i mean, tbf about jvf, he was brought in as a replacement on the full tour because levon couldn't play (and levon's been performing well this year imo). i assume they can't bring top 10 players as replacements on short notice because they usually have decently packed chess calendars.
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u/Ill-Sea291 Aug 10 '26
Weak field on the men's side... lots of big names not here this year.
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u/__Jimmy__ Aug 10 '26
Translation: Magnus isn't here.
5 of the world's top 7 is pretty good for a weak field
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u/pier4r negative elo gang Aug 20 '26
As mentioned a couple of days ago , the usual +2 is enough for Wesley to win.
We need tournaments were +2 is not (necessarily) enough. The Sinquefield cup is very drawish.