Sinquefield Cup, Round 5: Praggnanandhaa squanders victory against So
Firouzja takes sole leadership
For the second time in this event, R Praggnanandhaa failed to convert his lead into a win. He has a rest day to collect himself and prepare for the second half of the tournament, which consists of the final four rounds. Wesley So is half a point behind the sole leader at 3/5. Six players – Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – are all at 2.5/5.
R Praggnanandhaa missed all his chances to beat Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Fabiano Caruana (USA, pictured) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Firouzja – Giri: 1-0
Anish Giri (NED, 2746) has never defeated Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2751) in a classical game. And that hasn’t changed. In a seemingly balanced endgame with rook, knight and bishop, Giri blundered and lost three pawns in quick succession.
Position after 42…Kg6??
42…Kg6?? enabled a nice sequence of tactics 43.Ne7+ Kf6 44.Nxc6 Bd2 45.Rxf7+ Ke6 46.Re7+ Kd6 47.Rd7+ Kxd7 48.Nxe5+ Kd6 49.Nxd3 Bxe3 50.fxe3 White won the knight endgame with a beautiful finish. In the end, he didn’t even need the knight, the three split passed pawns were too strong to stop for a knight and a king.
Final position after 58.a5
Firouzja: People play fighting chess | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club
Alireza Firouzja (FRA) is the sole leader with 3.5/4 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) – D Gukesh: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Praggnanandhaa – Sun: 0.5-0.5
Praggnanandhaa (2749) has only beaten Wesley So (USA, 2751) once in a classically rated match, over six years ago in their very first meeting. This time, the world number 12 had plenty of winning chances, but he wasted them all. He gained a good position early in the middle game.
Position after 55…Kg6
56.Bc4 Rxf2+ 57.Kg4 Rad2 58.Rg5+ Kh6 59.Bd3 is one of the many ways White could have ended the game earlier. The game continued 56.Rd6+ Kg7 57.Rd7+ Kf6 58.Bc4 Ra5 59.Kg4 instead 59.Re6+ Kg5 60.Ke4 would have been much better for White. After a few more missed chances the game ended in a draw and So escaped with half a point.
Praggnanandhaa missed countless chances to win against So | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Nepomniachtchi – thing: 0.5-0.5
As fate would have it, Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) got exactly the same rook-pawn endgame that he lost in the previous round against Wesley So (USA). Only this time his opponent, World Champion Ding Liren (CHN, 2745), defended correctly and he had no chance to win it.
Position after 37…Rxb7
The mathematical probability of reaching the same endgame in consecutive rounds is lower, but not zero.
Nepo’s hilarious draw | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club
Ian Nepomniachtchi – Ding Liren (CHN): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Replay live stream
Replay of the fourth round with live commentary by Grandmasters Yasser Seirawan and Peter Svidler, IM Nazi Paikidze and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club
Schedule and format
The Sinquefield Cup will consist of one round per day from August 19 to 28, with a rest day on Saturday, August 24. Each round will start at 1:00 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST, except for the final round on August 28, which will start at 11:00 a.m. local time, 9:30 p.m. IST. It will be a round-robin tournament for 10 players.
Schedule | Photo: Grand Chess Tour
Price
The total prize money is $350,000.
Replay games from round 5
Results of the 5th round
Details
Table after round 5
Details
Pairings of the 6th round
Details
Left
Official website
Tournament details
