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Sinquefield Cup R4: Gukesh draws a thriller against Firouzja

by Shahid Ahmed - 23/08/2024

Wesley So (USA) defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi to join the lead with Alireza Firouzja (FRA) at the conclusion of Round 4 at Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2024. Nepomniachtchi made a few inaccuracies in a rook and few pawns, relatively balanced endgame. It reduced his chances for a draw and eventually lost the game. The most exciting game of the round was played between D Gukesh and Firouzja. The world championship challenger made an interesting exchange sacrifice to make things interesting. However, it did not yield him a desired effect. Praggnanandhaa had a solid draw with Anish Giri (NED). Round 5 starts today at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

So beats Nepomniachtchi, joins the lead with Firouzja

Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So are at 2.5/4 each. Six players are trailing them by a half point at 2/4 each. They are - Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh and Ding Liren.

D Gukesh had the most exciting game of the round against Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Gukesh - Firouzja: 0.5-0.5

Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2751) was the sole player to beat D Gukesh (2766) at Candidates 2024. The world no.9 opted the Berlin Defence in Ruy Lopez. Gukesh found a way to make things interesting by sacrificing an exchange

Position after 23.Rd6+

23.Rd6+!? cxd6 24.exd6+ Kd5 25.Re5+ Kc6 26.Rxe7 f6 27.Rxg7 Rhg8 White's lack of material did not yield anything decisive immediately.

Position after 38...Rh4

Gukesh could have spiced things up further 39.Rxc5+! Kxc5 40.Ba3+ Kd5 41.Bxf8 However, the outcome quite possibly would not have changed. He opted for the safer 39.g3 Rh2 40.Bg7 Rf7 41.gxf4 and the game eventually ended in a draw.

Gukesh sets the board on fire in Berlin against Firouzja | Video: ChessBase India

A handshake between D Gukesh and Alireza Firouzja after a grueling game | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

So - Nepomniachtchi

Position after 36.Re4

Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) needed to start moving his kingside passed pawns because that was only saving grace. The d-pawn will eventually get promoted. Black has no way of stopping it. 36...f5 37.gxf5 gxf5 38.Rh4 Ra1 is one of the ways things could have gone better for Black. 36...Kf6 37.h4 Ra1 38.Kd3 Ra2 39.f3 Ra3+ 40.Kc4 Rxf3 41.d5 and White won the game in the next few moves.

Wesley So (USA) is yet to lose a rated game against Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2024 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Ding Liren (CHN) - Fabiano Caruana (USA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Praggnanandhaa had a solid draw against Anish Giri (NED) | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Pragg: Trying to recover from Gukesh draw | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club
Caruana: No Big Risks Against Ding | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay live stream

Replay Round 3 Live Commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Peter Svidler, IM Nazi Paikidze, and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Schedule and Format

Sinquefield Cup will have one round per day from 19th to 28th August. Rest day is on Saturday 24th August. Each round starts at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST, except the last round on 28th August. It will start at 11 am. local time, 9:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event.

Schedule | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Prize

The total prize fund is US$ 350000.

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Round 4 results | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Details

Standings after Round 4

Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So are the coleaders | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Details

Round 5 pairings

TableWhiteScoreFed.RatingBlackScoreFed.RatingResult
1GM Caruana, Fabiano2.0USA2793GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime2.0FRA2721
2GM Praggnanandhaa R2.0IND2749GM So, Wesley2.5USA2751
3GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian2.0FID2767GM Ding, Liren2.0CHN2745
4GM Firouzja, Alireza2.5FRA2751GM Giri, Anish1.5NED2746
5GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek1.5UZB2762GM Gukesh D2.0IND2766

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament details


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