Chess
Sinquefield Cup 2025: Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh settle for draws in third round
Praggnandhaa played out a draw with Nodirbek Abdusattarov, and Gukesh drew with Sam Sevian of the USA.
R Praggnanandhaa (left) and D Gukesh (right) played out draws in their third round game at the 2025 Sinquefield Cup. (File Photo)
Top Indian Grandmasters, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh Dommaraju, secured draws in their third-round games at the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour, the Sinquefield Cup 2025, in Saint Louis, USA, on Wednesday.
World Champion Gukesh played out a solid 44-move draw with Sam Sevian of the USA, whereas Praggnanandhaa forced Nodirbek Abdusattarov of Uzbekistan to a draw on three-fold repetition.
With this, Praggnanandhaa maintained his joint lead at the top of the standings with two points from three rounds alongside two American players, Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian.
On the other hand, Gukesh is just half a point behind the leaders with 1.5 points in three games alongside four more players.
Praggnandhaa nullified the bishop pair advantage of Nodirbek's English Opening to score a crucial half a point with the black pieces against one of the strongest players of the tournament.
He will now head into the fourth round with the white pieces against Sam Sevian, hoping for a win and to solidify his position at the top of the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, Gukesh has a tough game in the fourth round against the current leader of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour circuit, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France.
