Now Reading: Praggnanandhaa draws with Wesley So, stays joint second
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Praggnanandhaa draws with Wesley So, stays joint second
R Praggnanandhaa drew with leader Wesley So in the fifth round of the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis on August 15, remaining joint second with three points from five games. Playing with…
The Story in Brief
R Praggnanandhaa drew with leader Wesley So in the fifth round of the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis on August 15, remaining joint second with three points from five games. Playing with the black pieces, the Indian grandmaster agreed to a draw after 26 moves in a king-pawn opening.
So leads the 10-player, nine-round event with 3.5 points. Praggnanandhaa, Vincent Keymer, Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are half a point behind. Praggnanandhaa had earlier recovered from a loss to Keymer by defeating Jorden Van Foreest in the fourth round. Caruana beat Levon Aronian, while Keymer defeated Anish Giri in round five.
The Indian Opinion
The easy story is that Praggnanandhaa is already assured of the Grand Chess Tour finale, while the contrasting lazy take is that a draw means he has lost momentum. Neither follows from five rounds. He is well placed, but four players are within half a point of So and four rounds remain. His next result, especially with the white pieces, will show whether this is control or merely a crowded leaderboard. Watch the gap at the top after round six.
Sources (2): thehindu.com, sportstar.thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
