American Cup: Nakamura takes the lead in the Final

Fabiano Caruana beat Levon Aronian to get a rematch with Hikaru Nakamura in the Final of the American Cup, and Nakamura has taken the lead after the first classical game on Saturday.

Fabiano, as Black, had been suffering somewhat against White’s active pieces, but reached an equal endgame of rook and bishop against rook and knight. With four seconds on the clock, he blundered with …Re1?? (D).

The analysis is obscure, but Black needs to play …Rg1 or …Rh2+ and …Rg2 so that the rook is better placed to hold back White’s pieces with distant checks while being ready to capture on g3. Instead after Nc3 Re3 Nd5+, White simplified into an endgame where the b-pawn wins easily, …Bxd5 exd5 Rxg3 b6 (D).

In the Women’s, Alice Lee was slightly worse as White against Tatev Abrahamyan with rooks and queens on the board, and in the following position she had blundered with Qc3-a5??, allowing …Rxf3! based on Rxf3 Qc2+ and the rook falls on e4. Abrahamyan went on to win comfortably.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Arjun Erigaisi is playing in the Bundesliga and has slipped into 3rd on the live ratings list, as Caruana falls to 4th. Fabi – and Lee – needs to pull off a big win tomorrow. Full information can be viewed on the event website.