Sinquefield Cup R4: Gukesh draws a thriller against Firouzja
Wesley So (USA) defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi to join the lead with Alireza Firouzja (FRA) at the conclusion of Round 4 at Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2024. Nepomniachtchi made a few inaccuracies in a rook and few pawns, relatively balanced endgame. It reduced his chances for a draw and eventually lost the game. The most exciting game of the round was played between D Gukesh and Firouzja. The world championship challenger made an interesting exchange sacrifice to make things interesting. However, it did not yield him a desired effect. Praggnanandhaa had a solid draw with Anish Giri (NED). Round 5 starts today at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
So beats Nepomniachtchi, joins the lead with Firouzja
Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So are at 2.5/4 each. Six players are trailing them by a half point at 2/4 each. They are - Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh and Ding Liren.
Gukesh - Firouzja: 0.5-0.5
Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2751) was the sole player to beat D Gukesh (2766) at Candidates 2024. The world no.9 opted the Berlin Defence in Ruy Lopez. Gukesh found a way to make things interesting by sacrificing an exchange
23.Rd6+!? cxd6 24.exd6+ Kd5 25.Re5+ Kc6 26.Rxe7 f6 27.Rxg7 Rhg8 White's lack of material did not yield anything decisive immediately.
Gukesh could have spiced things up further 39.Rxc5+! Kxc5 40.Ba3+ Kd5 41.Bxf8 However, the outcome quite possibly would not have changed. He opted for the safer 39.g3 Rh2 40.Bg7 Rf7 41.gxf4 and the game eventually ended in a draw.
So - Nepomniachtchi
Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) needed to start moving his kingside passed pawns because that was only saving grace. The d-pawn will eventually get promoted. Black has no way of stopping it. 36...f5 37.gxf5 gxf5 38.Rh4 Ra1 is one of the ways things could have gone better for Black. 36...Kf6 37.h4 Ra1 38.Kd3 Ra2 39.f3 Ra3+ 40.Kc4 Rxf3 41.d5 and White won the game in the next few moves.
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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 4 games
Round 4 results
Standings after Round 4
Round 5 pairings
| 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 | |
| 2 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 2.0 | IND | 2749 | GM So, Wesley | 2.5 | USA | 2751 | |
| 3 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2.0 | FID | 2767 | GM Ding, Liren | 2.0 | CHN | 2745 | |
| 4 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 2.5 | FRA | 2751 | GM Giri, Anish | 1.5 | NED | 2746 | |
| 5 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 1.5 | UZB | 2762 | GM Gukesh D | 2.0 | IND | 2766 |
