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.

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 Rameshbabu

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Wesley So

Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Expert analysis by GM Daniel King

Standings after round 5

All games

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Topics: Alireza Firouzja, Sinquefield Cup 2024, Wesley So
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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Sinquefield Cup: So beats Nepo, Firouzja escapes against Gukesh

8/23/2024 – Wesley So joined Alireza Firouzja in the lead of the Sinquefield Cup after beating former co-leader Ian Nepomniachtchi in Thursday's fourth round. So grabbed the full point by converting a minute advantage into a win in a pure rook endgame. Meanwhile, D Gukesh played a few astonishing moves to get an advantage out of a Berlin Defence against Firouzja - the French representative, however, managed to escape with a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Sinquefield Cup: Firouzja takes down Caruana

8/20/2024 – The two most anticipated matchups of the Sinquefield Cup were seen in the very first round of the event. The duel between World Championship contenders Ding Liren and D Gukesh ended drawn after Ding went for a trying line with the white pieces only to see Gukesh defending the position accurately. Meanwhile, the two frontrunners in the Grand Chess Tour standings, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja, played a tense, 85-move game. Firouzja ended up prevailing with the black pieces. | Photo: Crystal Fuller
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