Sinquefield Cup: D Gukesh, Ding Liren play out a draw

The Grand Chess Tour began its final leg on Monday at the St. Louis Chess Club, Missouri, USA with a sneak peek into the World Championship match scheduled between the Indian grandmaster (GM) D Gukesh and the reigning world champion GM Ding Liren.

Gukesh faced Liren in the first round of the Sinquefield Cup, but neither player could secure a win as the game ended in a draw following perpetual checks by Liren.

However, Gukesh wasn’t the sole Indian participating in the event. GM R Praggnanandhaa was up against the Uzbek prodigy Nodirbek Abdusattarav.

Praggnanandhaa gave his best to infiltrate and break Nodirbek’s structure by mounting continuous attacks. But Nodirbek stood still and defended precisely to equalise his opponent's attack and soon the players settled for a draw.

In the other games, GM Anish Giri played out a draw against GM Wesley So after an unusual opening by the American grandmaster.

On the other hand, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi drew against the French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

The first round saw only one game to be a decisive one as GM Alireza Firouza continued his good form to go past the 2023 Grand Chess Tour winner GM Fabiano Caruana.

Even though, Fabiano began with a pawn sacrifice opening. Firouzja confidently accepted it, leading to a tense and complex battle. In the time scramble, Firouzja outmaneuvered Caruana securing a crucial victory, and came out as the sole leader of the tournament.

Gukesh is scheduled to face the reigning world championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, as Praggnanandhaa will take up the black pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second round of the tournament.

The matches are scheduled to start at 11:30 PM IST and the viewers can catch the live action on the YouTube channel of Chess.com, Chessbase India, and Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube channel.