Sinquefield Cup: Firouzja grabs sole lead, So escapes against Pragg

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/24/2024 – By beating Anish Giri with white, Alireza Firouzja became the sole leader going into the rest day of the Sinquefield Cup. Firouzja has collected 3½ points and stands a half point ahead of Wesley So. The latter escaped with a draw after fiercely defending an endgame material down against R. Praggnanandhaa. Sunday's sixth round will see So playing white against Firouzja. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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A second missed chance for Pragg

Alireza Firouzja became the sole leader at the Sinquefield Cup after beating Anish Giri with the white pieces in round 5. This was Firouzja's second win of the event, as he had defeated Fabiano Caruana on opening day. With 4 rounds to go at the classical tournament in Saint Louis, Firouzja is the favourite to take first place in the yearly Grand Chess Tour standings - the Sinquefield Cup is the last event of the series.

In a crucial game for the standings, Wesley So - currently in sole second place - escaped with a draw in his game with black against R. Praggnanandhaa. Unfortunately for the Indian prodigy, he missed a chance to score a full point for a second day in a row, as he had failed to find the correct king move in a critical ending position against D. Gukesh in round 4. Pragg is 1 of 6 players with a 2½/5 score in the standings.

All three remaining games ended drawn on Friday. Perhaps the most curious position was seen in Ian Nepomniachtchi v. Ding Liren, not because the setup was particularly enticing but because Nepo reached the exact same rook endgame (with opposite colours) that he had lost against So the previous day.

So v. Nepomniachtchi - Round 5
Nepo lost this from the black side...
Nepomniachtchi v. Ding - Round 5
...and then saw Ding defending the same setup successfully in the following round

Rook endgames are (almost) always drawn.

Round 5 results

Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding Liren

The contenders of the 2023 World Championship match | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Praggnanandhaa ½ - ½ So

Endgame analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Praggnanandhaa R2749½–½So, Wesley2751
GCT 11th Sinquefield Cup 2024
Saint Louis23.08.2024[Mueller,Karsten]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 a5 8.Nbd2 Ba7 9.0-0 g5 10.Bg3 0-0 11.a3 Nh7 12.Kh1 h5 13.h4 Bg4 14.hxg5 Ne7 15.Qe1 Ng6 16.d4 Re8 17.Qe3 Kg7 18.Rae1 Qe7 19.Nh2 h4 20.Nxg4 hxg3 21.Nf3 Rh8 22.Kg1 exd4 23.cxd4 Ne5 24.Ngxe5 dxe5 25.Nxe5 Nxg5 26.Qxg3 Raf8 27.Rd1 f6 28.Nf3 Rh5 29.Nxg5 fxg5 30.Qe5+ Qxe5 31.dxe5 g4 32.Rd7+ Kh6 33.g3 Rxe5 34.Rxc7 Rxe4 35.Rxb7 Bc5 36.Bf7 Re2 37.Kg2 Bd4 38.Rd7 Rd2 39.b4 axb4 40.axb4 Rb8 41.b5 Kg5 42.Rd5+ Kf6 43.Bh5 Ke6 44.Rg5 Kf6 45.Rg6+ Kf5 46.Rxg4 Rxb5 47.Rf4+ Kg5 48.Bg4 Rb3 49.Kh3 Rbb2 50.Rf5+ Kg6 51.Kg2 Rb6 52.Rd5 Rbb2 53.Be2 Kf6 54.Re1 Ra2 55.Kf3 Kg6 56.Rd6+ Kg7 57.Rd7+ Kf6 58.Bc4 Ra5 59.Kg4 Rg5+ 60.Kh4 Re5 61.Rxe5 Kxe5 62.f4+ Kf5 63.Kh3 Bc3 64.Rf7+ Ke4 65.Kg4 Rg2 66.Rd7 Rg1 67.Rd3 Be1 68.Rb3 Kd4 69.Ba6 Bf2 70.Rf3 Be1 71.Bb7 Rh1 72.Kf5 Rh5+ 73.Kg4 Rh7 74.Ba6 Rg7+ 75.Kh3 Ke4 76.Kg2 Rd7 77.Rf1 Bd2 78.Rb1 Re7 79.Rb3 Rc7 80.Rb5 Re7 81.Bc8 Be1 82.Rb1 Bd2 83.Ra1 Rc7 84.Ra4+ Ke3 85.Bf5 Ke2 86.Re4+ Be3 87.Re8 Rc3 88.Bg6 Kd2 89.Rd8+ Ke1 90.Bd3 Kd2 91.Bb5+ Ke1 92.Bd3 Kd2 93.Bf5+ Ke1 94.Bg6 Ra3 95.Rd6 Bc5 96.Rd5 Be3 97.Kf3 Bd4+
Opposite-coloured bishops have two faces. Pure opposite-coloured bishop endings have a large drawish tendency, but with more men on the board they favor the attacker like in the middlegame: 98.Ke4? The wrong king road. 98.Kg2 is the right direction due to Ra2+ 98...Bb6 99.g4 Bc7 100.Rd4+- 98...Be3 99.f5 Bg5 100.Rd6+- 99.Kh3 Rd2 99...Bg7 100.g4 Ke2 100...Ra3+ 101.Kh4+- 101.Rd3 Ra4 102.Kg3 Rd4 103.Rxd4 Bxd4 104.g5+- 100.Rxd4 Rxd4 101.f5 Rd6 102.g4 Kf2 103.Kh4 Kf3 104.Kg5 Rd4 105.Bh5+- Ke4 106.f6 Ke5 107.f7 Rd8 108.Kg6 Ke6 109.Kg7 Ke7 110.g5+- 98...Bb6 99.g4 99.f5
does not win due to 99...Rxg3 100.Bh5 Rg5 101.Bf3 Kf2 102.Rd7 Bc5= as even the pawnless endgame rook and bishop against rook is usually drawn.
99...Kf2 100.f5 100.Kf5 Kg3 101.g5 Rf3 102.Ke5 Bc7+= 100...Ra4+ 101.Ke5 Rxg4 102.Be8 Ke3 103.Bc6 Rd4 104.f6
104...Rxd5+ 105.Kxd5 Bd8 106.f7 Be7 107.f8B Bxf8
½–½

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Wesley So

Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes


Expert analysis by GM Daniel King


Standings after round 5

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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