Clutch Chess Day 2: Praggnanandhaa Jumps From Last to First

Photo: Frans Peeters / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu began Wednesday in last place and ended it in first. He won four of his six games on Day 2 of Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown in Saint Louis, drew one and lost one. He now has 11 points. Javokhir Sindarov and Fabiano Caruana are tied for second on 8.5, and Hikaru Nakamura, who led after Day 1, is fourth on 8.

Remember the rule from our preview: the same win is worth more each day. On Wednesday a win was worth 2 points and a draw was worth 1. On Thursday a win is worth 3 points and a draw is still worth 1, so 18 points are up for grabs and Praggnanandhaa's lead of 2.5 can vanish quickly.

The table after Day 2

| Player | Day 2 | Total | Wins | Draws | Losses | |---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:| | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 9 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 4 | | Javokhir Sindarov | 5 | 8.5 | 2 | 8 | 2 | | Fabiano Caruana | 6 | 8.5 | 2 | 7 | 3 | | Hikaru Nakamura | 4 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 |

The wins, draws and losses are for all 12 games so far. Nakamura did not win a game on Wednesday. He drew four times and lost twice, and both losses came against Praggnanandhaa.

All 12 games

| Round | White | Black | Result | Moves | |---|---|---|:---:|---:| | 4 | Nakamura | Caruana | ½-½ | 55 | | 4 | Sindarov | Praggnanandhaa | 0-1 | 39 | | 4 | Caruana | Nakamura | ½-½ | 71 | | 4 | Praggnanandhaa | Sindarov | 0-1 | 40 | | 5 | Caruana | Sindarov | 1-0 | 59 | | 5 | Praggnanandhaa | Nakamura | 1-0 | 38 | | 5 | Sindarov | Caruana | ½-½ | 52 | | 5 | Nakamura | Praggnanandhaa | 0-1 | 52 | | 6 | Sindarov | Nakamura | ½-½ | 44 | | 6 | Caruana | Praggnanandhaa | 0-1 | 77 | | 6 | Nakamura | Sindarov | ½-½ | 46 | | 6 | Praggnanandhaa | Caruana | ½-½ | 34 |

Praggnanandhaa started the day by beating Sindarov with Black, then lost the return game, and after that he did not lose again. He beat Nakamura twice, once with each colour, and beat Caruana with Black in the 77-move game before drawing the last game of the day. Sindarov's win in the return game was his only one of the day. Caruana's only win came against Sindarov, in 59 moves.

The game of the day: Praggnanandhaa against Nakamura

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 1-0 Hikaru Nakamura Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown, Saint Louis · Day 2, fifth round, first game White: Praggnanandhaa (2730) · Black: Nakamura (2738) · FIDE rapid ratings

Each player had 10 minutes for the whole game, plus 5 seconds after every move. This game was decided by a few seconds on the clock.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 cxd4 6.O-O Bc5 7.Nxd4 O-O 8.Nb3 Be7 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bd2 Bd7 11.e4 Nb4 12.Nc3 a5

It began as a quiet Queen's Pawn opening. White's bishop on g2 looked down the long diagonal, and both kings were safe.

13.Be3 a4 14.Nd2 a3 15.Rb1 axb2 16.Rxb2 Qc8 17.Ndb1 Bc6 18.a3 Rd8 19.Qe2 N4a6 20.Rc1 Nc5 21.Rd2 Rxd2 22.Nxd2 Rxa3

Nakamura sent his a-pawn on a run up the board and traded it for White's b-pawn. Then Praggnanandhaa pushed his own a-pawn to a3, and four moves later Nakamura's rook took it. Black was a pawn up.

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

After 22...Rxa3, White to move. Count the pawns. Black has five and White has four, and the black rook on a3 is the one that collected the extra pawn.

Analyze this position in the full game

An extra pawn is not always a big advantage, and our Stockfish run only had Black about a third of a pawn better here. But for the next 14 moves the engine had Nakamura ahead on every move, at its best by two and a half pawns. The danger was not the board. It was the clock.

23.Nb5 Ra2 24.Bxc5 Bxc5 25.Rxc5 Qd7 26.e5 Rxd2 27.Bxc6 bxc6 28.Qc4 h6 29.Nd6 Qa7 30.Qc3 Ra2 31.Ne4 Qa4 32.Qd3 Nd7 33.Rc4 Qa7 34.Qd6 Re2 35.Kf1 Qa2 36.Rb4

Pieces came off, and the clocks ran down. At move 32 White had 9 seconds left and Black had 25. From there on, both players were living on the 5 seconds they got back after each move. Nakamura gave some of his edge back with 33...Qa7, and Praggnanandhaa moved his queen to d6, where it attacked the black knight.

Can you find the move?

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

After 36.Rb4, Black to move. The white queen on d6 attacks the black knight on d7. Is anything protecting that knight? Each player has about 8 seconds left. What would you play?

Analyze this position in the full game

This is the key moment. Look at the knight on d7. The white queen attacks it. Which black pieces guard it? The queen went to a2 on the last move, the king is on g8, and the rook is on e2. Nothing guards it. Chess players call a piece like that a loose piece, and loose pieces are what win games in fast chess.

Black had good choices here. Of the 35 legal moves, our engine says only two keep Black clearly ahead. The best is 36...Rb2, which trades a pair of rooks and leaves Black about a pawn up. The other is 36...Qa6. And simply moving the knight away with 36...Nf8 keeps the game level.

36...Kh7 37.Qxd7

Nakamura played the king move, and White's queen captured the knight for nothing. The engine went from Black about a pawn better to White more than three pawns better in one move.

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

After 37...c5, White to move. White has won a knight for a pawn, and the black king on h7 is short of defenders.

Analyze this position in the full game

37...c5 38.Qxf7

Praggnanandhaa took a pawn, and the game ended there with a win for him. There was even a faster finish than the one he chose. In this last position White had a forced checkmate in four moves, starting with 38.Nf6+. After 38...Kg6 39.Qd3+ Re4 40.Qxe4+ Kg5 41.h4, it is mate. With 11 seconds on the clock, you can forgive a player for taking a pawn and a winning position instead.

What to learn

1. Count your loose pieces. Before every move, look at each of your pieces and ask: is it protected? A piece with no protector is the first thing a good player will attack.
2. Ask what changed. Black's queen left a7 for a2, and that was the move that took the guard away from the knight. Every move you make changes who protects what.
3. Being ahead is not being winning. Nakamura was better for 14 moves. A lead only counts if you can keep it while the clock is running.
4. Simple moves are strong when time is short. 36...Rb2 is a plain rook trade and 36...Nf8 is a plain retreat. In a rush, pick the move that makes your position safe.

The rest of the day

Sindarov, who plays Gukesh Dommaraju for the World Championship in Geneva next month, won the last game of the first round of the day against Praggnanandhaa in a King's Indian Defence, after losing to him in the game before. Caruana's one win came against Sindarov in a 59-move game that began with the Trompowsky Attack. Every other game of the day was drawn or won by Praggnanandhaa.

Play starts at noon Central Time on Thursday, October 29, and you can watch on the Saint Louis Chess Club's YouTube channel. On Day 3 every win is worth 3 points. For the story of how we got here, read our Day 1 report.

How we checked: results and standings match the Saint Louis Chess Club's official game list, and every game was replayed move by move from the official broadcast record. Engine numbers come from our own Stockfish 17.1 Lite, depth 16 over the whole game and depth 20 for the position after 36.Rb4.

Read next

Praggnanandhaa's path to this table began early: the story of his childhood.