Sinquefield Cup 2024, Round 8: Firouzja wins Grand Chess Tour and sets his sights on the Sinquefield Cup
With a hard-fought draw against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM Alireza Firouzja secured his place in the Grand Chess Tour with a one-round lead on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the battle for the 2024 Sinquefield Cup continues. GM Fabiano Caruana is one point behind and must win in the final round.
The Sinquefield Cup ends with the ninth round on Wednesday, August 28, 2:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. CEST / 11:30 p.m. IST.
Results of the 8th round
Table after round 8
Nepomniachtchi 1/2-1/2 Firouzja
Firouzja made an exchange sacrifice on move 15, seemingly surprising Nepomniachtchi. Firouzja continued to play ambitiously, sacrificing a pawn with check in the hope of gaining enough activity to compensate.
As Nepomniachtchi began to gain the upper hand, Firouzja switched to active defense in the resulting minus pawn endgame. Although Nepomniachtchi pressed for 80 moves, the tournament leader eventually fought back to equalize. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes this hard-fought duel in our Game of the Day.
Firouzja took the lead in the GCT with his victory at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz and strong performances at the Superbet Classic Romania and the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia. Now assured of at least second place in the Sinquefield Cup, he has won the Tour because his closest rival Caruana can no longer catch him.
Congratulations to @AlirezaFirouzja to win the 2024 #GrandChessTour! He only needs a draw tomorrow to guarantee winning the Sinquefield Cup 🏆 pic.twitter.com/3viZO6bJWY
— chess24 (@chess24com) 27 August 2024
Praggnanandhaa 1/2-1/2 Caruana
GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu tried hard to make his duel with Caruana lively. In the middlegame, the Indian prodigy gave up part of his king’s pawn protection but underestimated his opponent’s resources. The 18-year-old grandmaster explained his decision:
I decided to try it. Yes, I could play something different and probably get a draw without fighting. I wanted to keep more play in the position.
I wanted to keep more playing time in this position.
―Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
Ding 1/2-1/2 Abdusattorov
GM Ding Liren gained a comfortable, risk-free advantage on the kingside, centre and queenside against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. However, the World Champion feared that his opponent might play against doubled, isolated pawns and decided to accept a triple repetition draw on move 23. He explained:
I thought I could be a little worse… It looks like I made some good moves, but my judgment was not good.
It looks like I made some good moves, but I didn’t evaluate well.
―Ding Liren
Giri 1/2-1/2 Gukesh
In a Ruy Lopez game, GM Gukesh Dommaraju offered GM Anish Giri a pawn sacrifice that soon led to an unstoppable repetition of the game.
So 1/2-1/2 Vachier-Lagrave
Grandmasters Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave exchanged queens early and fought in an equal endgame with rooks and bishops of different colors until move 49.
In the final round, Firouzja needs a draw with White against Praggnanandhaa to secure first place. Caruana’s only chance is to play for victory against Giri and hope that the GCT winner suffers his first and only loss of the tournament.
Meanwhile, the five grandmasters are tied: Abdusattorov, Vachier-Lagrave, Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh will fight for third place or even second place if Caruana falters.
Pairings of the 9th round
The 2024 Sinquefield Cup is the final leg and final classical event of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour. Ten players will compete in a classical single round robin tournament for their share of $350,000 in prize money.
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