In a highly anticipated clash between India's rising chess stars, 18-year old Grandmaster D Gukesh held defending champion R Praggnanandhaa to a draw in the third round of the prestigious Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, USA. Pragg, who at just 17 is already ranked among the top 10 players in the world, gained the upper hand in a rook endgame resulting from an inaccuracy by Gukesh on move 34.
For the next 16 moves, the World Championship Challenger seemed to be navigating the win as his more experienced opponent scrambled to keep the game alive. However, on his 50th turn, Praggnanandhaa erred by advancing his king too freely, allowing Gukesh to organize his remaining forces in a fortress-like defensive setup. The game slowly fizzled out from this point into the inevitable split point result.
Pragg's trainer and eminent Grandmaster Peter Svidler observed this clash has added importance given the intense rivalry between the two Indian talents who have competed against each other from a very young age. He noted Pragg has narrowly missed out on victories against Gukesh in prior contests despite having scoring chances with the White pieces.
In another round 3 encounter, reigning World Champion Ding Liren also lost his winning position against Wesley So through a couple of inaccurate maneuvers, dividing the point. After three rounds of the 10-player tournament, early pacesetters are Alireza Firouzja and Ian Nepomniachtchi with 2/3, while Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Ding Liren trail half a point behind on 1.5/3.
