Grand Chess Tour: D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa Draw Again; Alireza Firouzja Takes Lead

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa squandered a successful place towards Wesley So of America whereas World Championship challenger D Gukesh settled for a hard-fought draw within the fifth spherical of the Sinquefield Cup, underway right here as the ultimate leg of the Grand Chess Tour. On a day when Alireza Firouzja of France put it throughout Anish Giri of Holland, the opposite matches within the 10-player round-robin event resulted in attracts. By beating Giri with white, Firouzja turned the only chief going into the remaining day.

Firouzja has collected 3.5 factors and stands a half level forward of Wesley So. The latter escaped with a draw after fiercely defending an endgame materials down towards Praggnanandhaa. Sunday’s sixth spherical will see So enjoying white towards Firouzja.

It was a tragic story for Praggnanandhaa, and the world is witnessing that the Indian must work on the technical side to be able to convert the successful positions. In the earlier spherical, the Indian had blundered to let Gukesh off the hook in a successful endgame.

Wesley So, on three factors, holds the second spot adopted by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Ding Liren of China, Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Fabiano Caruana of the United States sharing the third spot on 2.5 factors every. Nodirbek Abdusattorov stands ninth on two factors, a half-point away from Giri who’s on the backside of the desk.

Results – Round 5: R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 2.5) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3); Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 3.5) beat Anish Giri (Ned, 1.5); Ian Nepomniachtchi (Fide) drew with Ding Liren (Chn, 2.5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 2.5); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5).