Sinquefield Cup: Praggnanandhaa holds world champion Ding Liren to draw

In an exciting Round 6 at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa held world champion Ding Liren to a draw on Sunday night. 

Employing the aggressive King's Indian Defense, Praggnanandhaa sacrificed material for dynamic play. However, Liren calmly navigated the complications, leading to an equal opposite-colour bishop ending and a draw.

The world championship challenger D Gukesh also played out a draw against the French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

GM Gukesh discovered an ingenious method to secure a pawn. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave reacted by intensifying pressure on the kingside.

When the French GM missed a chance to bolster his attack, Gukesh launched a series of trades. Despite Vachier-Lagrave's continued pressure, Gukesh had adequate counterplay with his passed pawns on the queenside and ended the match in a draw.

In the other games, Anish Giri drew with Nodirbek Abdusattarav, while Wesley So also played out a draw against Alireza Firouza, the leader of the tournament. 

In the game between Ian Nepomniactchi and Fabiano Caruana, the latter emerged as the winner. 

As Caruana opted for the rarely played Dragon and Ian kept on blitzing moves, following a blunder on the 18th move by Ian, Caruana took control of the game and won the game convincingly.

With three rounds to go, Alireza Firouza leads the tournament with four points, while the two American players ( Fabiano and Wesley) are tied for second with 3.5 points.

Not much further, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa are tied for the fourth spot with three points each.

In round seven, Gukesh with the black pieces will face the resurgent Caruana, while Praggnanandhaa with the white pieces will look to break the streak of draws against Ian Nepomniactchi.