Sinquefield Cup: R Praggnanandhaa outplays D Gukesh

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa outclassed World Champion D Gukesh in the opening round of the Sinquefield Cup Chess tournament, climbing to third in the live world rankings. He now shares the lead with Levon Aronian of the United States, who outplayed Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan on Monday.In other first-round matches, Fabiano Caruana of the USA drew with Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda, while American wild card Samuel Sevian split the point with compatriot Wesley So. France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also settled for a draw against fellow countryman Alireza Firouzja.

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With eight rounds still to go in the USD 350,000 event, six players sit in joint third place behind Praggnanandhaa and Aronian. Gukesh and Abdusattorov, meanwhile, remain at the bottom of the table, looking to register their first points in the next round.Facing Gukesh’s Queen’s Gambit Accepted with the black pieces, Praggnanandhaa pressed early as his opponent consumed significant time in a known position and opted for a questionable setup involving an early queen exchange. Playing with white gave Praggnanandhaa the bishop pair, and the advantage soon told.Compounding his problems, Gukesh fell into time trouble and was forced to find difficult defensive moves.

Praggnanandhaa remained clinical, winning a pawn by force and converting smoothly. The game lasted just 36 moves."I don’t really know what happened today. I think he was a bit off," said Praggnanandhaa after the victory.The win also leveled his classical head-to-head record against Gukesh, with both now having three wins apiece."Last year, I messed up some good positions against him, I think I did not beat him (in classical) for almost two years now, so finally it’s good to get a win," noted Praggnanandhaa.Meanwhile, Aronian seized his chance against Abdusattorov, who ran out of steam after pressing for a long time with the white pieces. Despite holding a slightly better position, the Uzbek faltered, and Aronian capitalized to secure a decisive victory in a game that should have ended in a draw.Results round 1: R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) beat D Gukesh (Ind); Fabiano Caruana (Usa) drew with Duda Jan Kryzstof (Pol); Samuel Savian (Usa) drew with Wesley So (Usa); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) lost to Levon Aronian (Usa); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) drew with Alireza Firouzja (Fra).