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IMAGE: Dommaraju Gukesh makes a move against Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup – the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Saint Louis, United States. Photographs: Lennart Ootes/FIDE
World Championship challenger Dommaraju Gukesh survived by the skin of his teeth against compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, drawing a lost endgame in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup – the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Saint Louis, United States.
On a day when things finally livened up, tour leader Alireza Firouzja of France got lucky against his French teammate Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, drawing in a clear worse position via repetition of moves.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan also pushed for quite some time. But, a blunder cost him dearly as Fabiano Caruana was able to turn the tables and score his first victory of the tournament.
The other winner was Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, who had a relatively easy win against Dutchman Anish Giri, who could not keep track after an unconventional opening by the former.
Reigning World champion Ding Liren of China also created enough chances for himself against Wesley So, only to blow them away in no time.
With six more rounds to come in the 10-player double round-robin tournament, Firouzja and Nepomniachtchi now share the lead on two points out of a possible three.
The event has a total prize pool of USD 3,50,000 apart from the Grand Chess tour bonus prize fund of US$ 1,75,000.
As many as six players — Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana, Wesley and Liren share the third spot on 1.5 points each — half point ahead of Abdusattorov and Giri.
Gukesh had a fantastic start as black pieces out of a Catalan opening by Praggnanandhaa, and the former was able to blitz 18 moves in about four minutes on his clock, with Praggnanandhaa an hour behind the clock.
After the dust settled, the players arrived at a slightly complicated rook and pawns endgame that should have been a draw with correct play.
However, it was not to be as Gukesh made an optical error and walked into a lost position, and much to his surprise, he was relieved when Praggnanandhaa could not find the right path to victory.
Praggnanandhaa has not beaten Gukesh since 2022 in a Classical game, and his hunt for an elusive victory continued here, too.
Gukesh will take on Firouzja in the fourth round, while Praggnanandhaa faces Giri.
Round 3 Results: Fabiano Caruana (USA, 1.5) beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 1); Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 1.5); Ding Liren (CHN, 1.5) drew with Wesley So (USA, 1.5) Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS, 2) beat Anish Giri (NED, 1); R Praggnanandhaa (IND, 1.5) drew with D Gukesh (IND, 1.5).
