The Sinquefield Cup is an annual invitation-only chess event held to honour Rex Sinquefield and his wife Jeannie, the founders of the St Louis Chess Club. It is one of the most lucrative chess tournaments worldwide, and has been held since 2013 at the St Louis Chess Club, Missouri, USA. World champion Magnus Carlsen from Norway won the tournament twice, as did Levon Aronian from Armenia.
This year, the 9th edition, Iranian-French teenager Alireza Firouzja took the honours. But Carlsen withdrew from the tournament following a loss to 19-year-old American grandmaster Hans Niemann. Niemann broke Carlsen’s winning streak of 53 games and one news outlet, Slate, described the loss as a “shocking upset” for Carlsen; to be beaten by a lower-rated player than himself in a game where he had the white pieces and the advantage of the first move.
