The $350,000 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, one of the world’s three most important tournaments, begins today with the conspicuous absence of a name. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen is once again staying away, having not competed in the American chess capital since that day in 2022 when he lost in the third round to 19-year-old Hans Niemann.

Carlsen withdrew from the tournament before the fourth round, setting off a chain reaction that included allegations of cheating, a $100 million lawsuit, and mutual animosity between Carlsen and Niemann that continues to this day. It is now believed that the incident involved neither cheating nor anal beads.

Another reason Carlsen avoids St. Louis may be that his record at the Sinquefield Cup is comparatively modest, in contrast to Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee and Norway Chess in Stavanger, where he was the dominant player for many years. He won there in 2013, took first place three times in 2018, but had to settle for second place on four other occasions.

The most outstanding result in any Sinquefield Cup was achieved by Fabiano Caruana, the reigning US champion and world number three, in 2014. Caruana won his first seven games and drew his last three, putting him three points ahead of Carlsen. His performance rating was 3098, the highest in elite chess history.

At Sinquefield 2024, a significant moment will come in the first round when Ding Liren, China’s reigning world champion, and Gukesh Dommaraju, India’s 18-year-old title challenger, face off in a preliminary match of their $2.5 million 14-game series that begins in Singapore on November 20. Ding will have the favourable white pieces, but the forecast is a non-binding draw as neither player wants to reveal their opening preparation.

The full list for the 2024 Sinquefield Cup is: Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So (USA), Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Gukesh Dommaraju (India), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia/Fide), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) and Ding Liren (China). Play starts at 19:30 BST on Monday 19 August and will be broadcast live on grandchesstour.org.

Hans Niemann won a clear victory over England’s number one and former Russian Nikita Vitiugov in his five-day match in London last week. The US grandmaster, now 21, won one game and drew five in the classical part, and had a bigger lead in the rapid and blitz chess.

Niemann has already beaten Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri in Utrecht and will face French No. 3 Étienne Bacrot in Paris this week. He is likely to move into the world top 20, a career high, which would be a significant step towards his goal of receiving more invitations to high-profile tournaments.

Another big goal for Niemann is the semifinals of the chess.com Speed ​​Championship on September 6 in Paris, where he and Carlsen will meet at the board for the first time since the 2022 Sinquefield Cup. The other semifinal will be Hikaru Nakamura vs. Firouzja.

It will certainly be a duel of revenge. Niemann has denounced “the chess establishment that ruined my career,” while Carlsen said he would prefer a different opponent, but “if I have a good day, I’ll probably win without too much trouble.”

Puzzle 2586

Gary Lane vs Vasily Smyslov, Lloyds Bank 1989. Play continued with 1. Qxf7 Qe7 2. Qxe7 Rxe7 and an eventual draw. Can White do better?

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