Sinquefield Cup R5: Praggnanandhaa squanders a win against So
Few things are not going well for R Praggnanandhaa at Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2024. He is having trouble converting his winning advantages into a win. He missed a plethora of winning chances against Wesley So (USA) in Round 5. The world no.12 got a better position early in the middlegame. However, he missed all his chances and So survived by the skin of his teeth. Anish Giri (NED) made a tactical error in a seemingly equal rook, knight and bishop endgame. It cost him three pawns in quick succession and Alireza Firouzja (FRA) walked away with a win. He has now gained sole lead 3.5/5. D Gukesh had a well fought draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB). Today is the sole rest day. Round 6 starts tomorrow Sunday 25th August at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Firouzja gains sole lead
For the second time at this event, R Praggnanandhaa could not convert his advantage into a win. He has a rest day to regroup himself and get ready for the second half of the tournament, consisting of last four rounds. Wesley So is trailing the sole leader by a half point 3/5. Six players - Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are at 2.5/5 each.
Firouzja - Giri: 1-0
Anish Giri (NED, 2746) has never defeated Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2751) in a Classical rated game. That remains unchanged. In a seemingly equal rook, knight and bishop endgame, Giri blundered and lost three pawns in quick succession.
42...Kg6?? allowed a nice sequence of tactics 43.Ne7+ Kf6 44.Nxc6 Bd2 45.Rxf7+ Ke6 46.Re7+ Kd6 47.Rd7+ Kxd7 48.Nxe5+ Kd6 49.Nxd3 Bxe3 50.fxe3 White won the knight endgame with a beautiful finish. In the end, he did not even need the knight, the three split passed pawns were too strong to stop for a knight and king.
Praggnanandhaa - So: 0.5-0.5
Praggnanandhaa (2749) has beaten Wesley So (USA, 2751) only once in a Classical rated game, over six years ago in their very first encounter. This time, the World no.12 got a plethora of chances to win, yet he missed them all. He got a good position early in the middlegame.
56.Bc4 Rxf2+ 57.Kg4 Rad2 58.Rg5+ Kh6 59.Bd3 is one of the many ways White could have finished things earlier. The game continued 56.Rd6+ Kg7 57.Rd7+ Kf6 58.Bc4 Ra5 59.Kg4 instead 59.Re6+ Kg5 60.Ke4 would have been much better for White. After few more missed chances, the game ended in a draw and So escaped with a half point.
Nepomniachtchi - Ding: 0.5-0.5
As fate would have it, Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) got the exact same rook and pawn ending which he lost in the previous round against Wesley So (USA). Only this time, his opponent, the world champion, Ding Liren (CHN, 2745) defended correctly and he had no chance of winning it.
The mathematical odds of getting the same endgame in consecutive rounds is less, but not none.
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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.
Prize
The total prize fund is US$ 350000.
Replay Round 5 games
Round 5 results
| Table | White | Score | Fed. | Rating | Black | Score | Fed. | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 2.0 | USA | 2793 | GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2.0 | FRA | 2721 | ½-½ |
| 2 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 2.0 | IND | 2749 | GM So, Wesley | 2.5 | USA | 2751 | ½-½ |
| 3 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2.0 | FID | 2767 | GM Ding, Liren | 2.0 | CHN | 2745 | ½-½ |
| 4 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 2.5 | FRA | 2751 | GM Giri, Anish | 1.5 | NED | 2746 | 1-0 |
| 5 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 1.5 | UZB | 2762 | GM Gukesh D | 2.0 | IND | 2766 | ½-½ |
Standings after Round 5
| Rank | Name | Score | Fed. | M/F | Rating | TPR | W-We | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 3.5 | FRA | M | 2751 | 2907 | +1.05 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 |
| 2 | GM So, Wesley | 3.0 | USA | M | 2751 | 2832 | +0.56 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ |
| 3 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 2.5 | USA | M | 2793 | 2746 | -0.33 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ |
| 4 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2.5 | FID | M | 2767 | 2746 | -0.14 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ |
| 5 | GM Gukesh D | 2.5 | IND | M | 2766 | 2755 | -0.08 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 6 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 2.5 | IND | M | 2749 | 2749 | +0.00 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 7 | GM Ding, Liren | 2.5 | CHN | M | 2745 | 2765 | +0.14 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 8 | GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2.5 | FRA | M | 2721 | 2764 | +0.30 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 9 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2.0 | UZB | M | 2762 | 2684 | -0.55 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ |
| 10 | GM Giri, Anish | 1.5 | NED | M | 2746 | 2604 | -0.95 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 |
Round 6 pairings
| Table | White | Score | Fed. | Rating | Black | Score | Fed. | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2.5 | FID | 2767 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 2.5 | USA | 2793 | |
| 2 | GM Ding, Liren | 2.5 | CHN | 2745 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 2.5 | IND | 2749 | |
| 3 | GM So, Wesley | 3.0 | USA | 2751 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 3.5 | FRA | 2751 | |
| 4 | GM Giri, Anish | 1.5 | NED | 2746 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2.0 | UZB | 2762 | |
| 5 | GM Gukesh D | 2.5 | IND | 2766 | GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2.5 | FRA | 2721 |
