.jpeg)
The third round of the Sinquefield Cup featured 5 exciting encounters, but only 2 of them ended decisively. Theoretical battles in the opening, quick kingside attacks and complex technical battles were all seen on Wednesday at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
In the end, the winners of the day were Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana. Nepo played a risky line out of a Nimzo-Indian Defence and created all kinds of tactical problems for Anish Giri, who eventually erred amid a sharp struggle. Caruana, meanwhile, was first on the defensive and then outplayed Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a simplified - yet complicated - position with a queen, a rook and a knight per side.
Nepo thus joined Alireza Firouzja in the lead. Firouzja got the white pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and saw MVL agreeing to a draw (by threefold repetition) from a superior position - the cold-blooded engines, in fact, evaluate it as clearly winning.
MVL was not the only player to miss a golden chance in round 3. Ding Liren (against Wesley So) and R Praggnanandhaa (against D Gukesh) failed to find accurate continuations from superior positions - Ding in the middlegame and Pragg in the endgame.
The fourth round will see co-leaders Nepo and Firouzja both playing with the black pieces, against So and Gukesh, respectively.
Round 3 results
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Crystal Fuller
Anish Giri looking at his position from a distance | Photo: Crystal Fuller
Fabiano Caruana v. Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Ding Liren, the current world chess champion | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Indian prodigies Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh | Photo: Lennart Ootes
