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Indian Grandmasters Hold Strong at Sinquefield Cup 2024: Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh Shine

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Image credit: NDTV Sports
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The Sinquefield Cup 2024, the most awaited sixth round of the prestigious Grand Chess Tour, witnessed great action where Indian Grandmasters R. Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh showcased their worth on the global stage.

The tournament takes place in St. Louis, USA, where very eagerly awaited not only by players but by the chess fraternity around the world.

Praggnanandhaa Holds World Champion Ding Liren

Praggnanandhaa, one of the stars of the show recently, took on reigning world champion Ding Liren in a nervously expected clash.

Praggnanandhaa superbly held the Chinese Grandmaster in check under great pressure to dry out.

The chess game was played with Praggu adapting to the King’s Indian Defense, known to have lots of deep and dynamic possibilities.

The play was watchful from both ends, and no grave blunders were made. The game was going fine for both the players, with no clear advantage to either side.

In the end, the match finished with a draw with high-level play and mutual respect of both chess titans.

This draw puts Praggnanandhaa well in contention with just three rounds to go in the competition.

He has been holding his own quite nicely all through with strong competition.

Gukesh in Thriller Draw Against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

The other Indian star was D. Gukesh against the aggressive playing style and deep understanding of the game demonstrated by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France.

Playing with the white pieces, Gukesh went for the King pawn’s opening, and following the Najdorf Sicilian, the next move went to a very sharp opening.

The middle game, one of full-scale tactical play, found Gukesh with a pawn up. But Vachier-Lagrave went for a heavy king-side attack, keeping the pressure on the young Indian.

Gukesh showed his resilience in finding the best possible defense, which he neutralized with the attack of the Frenchman.

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Image credit: ChessIndia

The game gradually approached the battle of nerves. An extra pawn for Gukesh gave him a small advantage, but mutual chances, offered by Vachier, kept the game in a kind of dynamic balance.

Finally, at move 72, the game ended in a draw, a logical result in view of the complications on the board.

Caruana Leads But Nepomniachtchi Reels

Other key results from round six included wins for American GM Fabiano Caruana, destroying Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in just 25 moves.

Energetic play in being aggressive by Caruana totally caught Nepomniachtchi off guard, and Caruana notched a win.

This victory has pushed Caruana to the top with 4 points, leading in a compelling three rounds to play as he seeks to win himself the Sinquefield Cup.

Meanwhile, with the two encounters between Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So, Anish Giri and Nodirbek Abdusattorov finishing peacefully, that provides the standings plenty of congestion: plenty of players remain in the running for first.

Standings and Preview

After five rounds, Fabiano Caruana leads the tournament with 4 points, narrowly followed by Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So, who both have 3.5 points.

Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh are following at 3, sharing both fourth places with Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

These master rounds will be the critical rounds as the contestants gun for the top placings.

The organizers made sure that this leg, the Sinquefield Cup, would not only have a big prize fund amounting to $350,000 but would be an important event for those players who want to go through the Candidates Tournament, the stepping stone to the World Chess Championship.

Indian Chess On The Rise

The spectacular show by Praggnanandha and Gukesh in the Sinquefield Cup is evidence that Indian chess has come of age.

While both have earlier proved that they can play with the best in the world, the results garnered in the tournament proved their intense hard work and talent.

As a result, the eyes of everyone will be focused on these exceptionally young Grandmasters as the tournament progresses to see if they are able to pull off some upsets and finish in high standing – one of the most competitive this year’s chess tournaments.

The Sinquefield Cup 2024 is already an event full of blistering games, having a turn of so many unexpected results.

Just three rounds to go, and the competition is still wide open. Indian chess-oriented figures will have their eyes glued on this event, where Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh are both continuing to show their mettle at the mega level.

The final rounds promise to be super exciting as the best players in the world promise to lay it all out in trying to clinch the glorious title.

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References:

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/chess/sinquefield-cup-2024-praggnanandhaa-ding-liren-gukesh-news-india-caruana/article68568146.ece

https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/other-sports/sinquefield-cup-praggnanandhaa-holds-liren-gukesh-draws-with-vachier-lagrave-3164377

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