World Championship challenger D. Gukesh narrowly survived against fellow countryman R. Praggnanandhaa, reaching a lost endgame with a draw in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup – the last leg of the Grand Chess Tour.

On a day when things finally got livelier, French tour leader Alireza Firouzja was lucky against his French teammate Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, reaching a draw by repetition of moves in a much worse position.

Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov also fought for victory for a long time. But a mistake cost him dearly, as Fabiano Caruana was able to turn the tables and claim his first victory of the tournament.

The other winner was Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won relatively easily against Dutchman Anish Giri, who was unable to keep up after an unconventional opening by the former.

The reigning world champion Ding Liren from China also had enough chances against Wesley So, but squandered them in no time.

With six rounds left in the ten-player double round-robin tournament, Firouzja and Nepomniachtchi are now joint leaders with two out of three possible points.

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The event’s total prize money is $350,000, in addition to the Grand Chess Tour bonus prize money of $175,000. Six players – Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana, Wesley and Liren – share third place with 1.5 points each – half a point ahead of Abdusattorov and Giri.

Gukesh got off to a fantastic start with Black from a Catalan opening by Praggnanandhaa, and the former was able to blitz 18 moves in about four minutes on his clock while Praggnanandhaa was an hour behind.

After the dust settled, the players reached a somewhat complicated rook and pawn endgame that, if played correctly, should have ended in a draw.

However, it was not to be as Gukesh made a visual error and ended up in a losing position. Much to his surprise, he was relieved when Praggnanandhaa could not find the right path to victory.

Praggnanandhaa has not beaten Gukesh in a classical game since 2022, and his hunt for an elusive win continued here too.

Gukesh will face Firouzja in the fourth round while Praggnanandhaa will face Giri.