Black has an awful position, thanks to his very bad bishop. But even positions like this may be defended successfully.

1...Bc7!
The queen must be set free for active play.

2.Bc3
Now what should Black do?

Passive defense promises him nothing: 2...f6 3. Qd7+ Kg8 4. Bd2 Qd6 5.Qe8+ Kg76. Bh6+!; or 2...Qd6 3. f4, with great advantage
to White. So Artur decides to sacrifice some material.

White gives back one of his two extra pawns since he cannot see how he will quash his opponent’s counterplay after 6. Kh3 Qe2!

It’s important to keep the enemy queen off d2.

White’s forces are restricted; his extra pawn is meaningless. The game eventually ended in a draw.

The 2022 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX

Day Two: Firouzja and Mamedyarov tie for the top of the Saint Louis 9LX Chess

Standings after Round 6

Firouzja & Kasparov discuss their game after the fact.

Fabiano Caruana defeats Firouzja in Armageddon to win Chess 9LX

For Firouzja it was a mildly disappointing conclusion, but nevertheless a stellar result to end his campaign in Saint Louis, where he won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Sinquefield Cup, and overall Grand Chess Tour. Sharing third place were Ian Nepomniachtchi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who both ended on 6.0/8, while 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov could not turn his luck around–despite several promising positions throughout the event he eventually finished with 0.5/9.

2022 Champions Showdown – Final Standings

Garry Kasparov: Firouzja might be a real contender for the World Champion title