Five draws

Of the 5 games in the penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup, 3 were drawn in less than 30 moves. The remaining 2 matches also ended in draws, with Wesley So vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave taking 48 moves and Ian Nepomniachtchi vs. Alireza Firouzja taking 80 moves. In both cases, the score remained almost the same throughout.

The draw round has preserved the status quo in the rankings – that is, Firouzja still has a 1-point lead over Fabiano Caruana in the rankings. The Iranian-born grandmaster therefore needs only a draw in his Wednesday game with White against R. Praggnanandhaa to win the single round tournament. If Praggnanandhaa wins, Caruana would have to beat Anish Giri (also with White) to catch Firouzja in the final standings and reach a rapid playoff.

These results also gave Firouzja the overall Grand Chess Tour series win, as it puts him at least in first place, enough to surpass second-place Caruana in the year-end standings. Firouzja and Caruana are the two most recent winners on the tour, and both players took the title after winning consecutive Saint Louis events – so if Firouzja wins the Sinquefield Cup, the winner of the GCT will complete the streak of consecutive tournament victories for the third year in a row.

Of the 10 Sinquefield Cup participants, 8 will play in the upcoming Chess Olympiad. Only Nepomniachtchi, who has not transferred from the Russian Chess Federation (which is barred from participating in official team tournaments), and Firouzja will be missing.

Results of the 8th round

The ever combative R. Praggnanandhaa will be Alireza Firouzja’s opponent in round 9 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

After a four-knight opening in which the players played a line similar to the Scotch Opening, Firouzja did not shy away from seizing the initiative with a piece sacrifice on move 15.

The 15…Rxe3 In these structures, sacrifices are common as Black tries to seize the initiative on the dark squares while making the most of his bishop pair.

However, Nepo was superbly prepared and continued to execute his moves while fending off his opponent’s threats. Eventually he returned the exchange to introduce a line that led to simplifications that gave him a favorable endgame.

This was followed 23.Nxg6 hxg6 24.Bxf7+ Kh7 25.Qc3 Qg3 26.Rf1 Nd5 27.Bxd5 Rxd5 Reaching a heavy piece endgame in which White has one more pawn.

Black’s active pieces give him enough compensation in this endgame. However, Nepo continued to look for opportunities until move 80, when a draw by three repetitions was finally agreed.

Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Table after round 8

All games

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