St. Louis (USA), Aug 21 (PTI) — In an intense third round of the Sinquefield Cup, reigning world champion D Gukesh was held to a draw by the tournament's lone wild card, American Samuel Sevian. On the same day, Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa also had to settle for a draw against Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
With two draws under his belt so far, Praggnanandhaa maintains his status in the leading group, now featuring three players. He shares this top spot with Fabiano Caruana of the United States and former Armenian, now American, Levon Aronian.
Fabiano Caruana delivered the day's solitary decisive victory, overcoming France's Alireza Firouzja and handing him his first defeat of the tournament. Meanwhile, in other matches, Aronian was also held to a draw by France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while American Wesley So and Polish player Duda Jan-Kryzsztof ended their game in a stalemate.
As things stand, with six rounds still ahead in the 3,75,000 USD prize pot tournament, Praggnanadhaa, Aronian, and Caruana each lead with two points. They are closely followed by Wesley So, Firouzja, Vachier-Lagrave, Sevian, and Gukesh, who are all just half a point behind.
Currently, Duda is positioned with one point, while Abdusattorov has finally opened his account, earning half a point across his three matches.
Gukesh’s first draw in the event came with relative ease, playing with the black pieces. Samuel Sevian employed the Rosslimo Variation against the Sicilian Defense, yet Gukesh remained in control throughout. The match smoothly transitioned into the middle game, and after regular piece exchanges, concluded in a drawn endgame.
Praggnanandhaa faced his first black pieces game after two with white, opting for the Nimzo-Indian Defense against Abdusattorov. Despite the Uzbek's struggle for form, the match culminated in a fair draw with an opposite-colored bishops endgame.
Caruana's game against Firouzja was the highlight of the day as he outplayed his opponent with a fine positional strategy. Utilizing the Fianchetto Variation against the Nimzo-Indian Defense, Caruana established spatial dominance during the middle game, ultimately advancing his central passed pawn to the seventh rank to seal his win.
With the top four spots in the Grand Chess Tour grand finale at stake, Caruana appeared satisfied with his performance. The American noted that Vachier-Lagrave seems almost assured of qualification, while the rest vie for the remaining spots.
Results of Round 3: Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 0.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 2); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2) defeated Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 1.5); Duda Jan-Kryzsztof (Pol, 1) drew with Wesley So (USA, 1.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 1.5) drew with Levon Aronian (USA, 1.5); Samuel Sevian (USA, 1.5) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 1.5).
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