Sinquefield Cup R7: Caruana misses against Gukesh
Alireza Firouzja (FRA) defeated Ding Liren (CHN) to increase his sole lead 5/7 at Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2024. The world champion broke the center wide open at an inopportune moment. It cost him two pawns and made things worse. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) scored his first win of the event against Wesley So (USA). So also lost his game similarly when he dropped one pawn too many. It cost him the game. Fabiano Caruana (USA) missed an opportunity to push for a win against D Gukesh. Praggnanandhaa made a quick 19-move draw against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Round 8 starts today at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Crystal Fuller/Grand Chess Tour
Firouzja beats Ding Liren, increases his sole lead
Fabiano Caruana is the sole player trailing the leader, Alireza Firouzja, by a full point at 4/7. Five players - Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh are at 3.5/7 each.
Caruana - Gukesh: 0.5-0.5
The previous three Classical encounters between Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2793) and D Gukesh (2766) ended in a draw. Caruana had a good chance in this game.
When Black played 38...Reg7? White needed to find 39.Rxf6 Nxc3 40.Rxg6 Nxe4 41.Rh6 Re7 42.Rxh4 White not only gains an extra pawn but also ends up with a connected passed pawn on the kingside, giving him the decisive advantage. Instead, White played 39.Rf2 Nxc3 40.bxc3 Rg3 41.Nxe5 Bxe5 42.Rxe5 and the game eventually ended in a draw.
Firouzja - Ding: 1-0
Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2751) has a good score the reigning world champion, Ding Liren (CHN, 2745) this year. He increased that score to +2 after this win.
29...exd4? 30.cxd4 d5 opening the position wide open only helped White. 31.exd5 cxd5 32.Bxg6+ Qxg6 33.Qxa5 Bb8 34.Bxb8 Rxb8 35.Qxd5 and White won the game after few moves.
Abdusattorov - So: 1-0
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2762) defeated Wesley So (USA, 2751) for the first time in a Classical rated game. It is also his first win of the event.
22.Be2 double attacks both c5 and h4-pawns. 22...Qe4 23.Rc4 Qf5 24.Rac1 Rd2 25.Rxc5 e5 26.R5c2 Rfd8 27.Qa5 soon Black lost a couple of pawns and arrived at a lost pawn endgame when White forced the queen trade.
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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 7 games
Round 7 results
Standings after Round 7
Round 8 pairings
| Table | White | Score | Fed. | Rating | Black | Score | Fed. | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 3.5 | IND | 2749 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 4.0 | USA | 2793 | |
| 2 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 3.0 | FID | 2767 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 5.0 | FRA | 2751 | |
| 3 | GM Ding, Liren | 3.0 | CHN | 2745 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 3.5 | UZB | 2762 | |
| 4 | GM So, Wesley | 3.5 | USA | 2751 | GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 3.5 | FRA | 2721 | |
| 5 | GM Giri, Anish | 2.5 | NED | 2746 | GM Gukesh D | 3.5 | IND | 2766 |
