India Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa started his Sinquefield Cup campaign with a win as he defeated World Champion D Gukesh in St. Louis. The victory briefly lifted R Praggnanandhaa to World no.3 in the LIVE Fide Rankings – which proved to be a big achievement.
Gukesh & Praggnanandhaa In Sinquefield Cup
In the Round 2, R Praggnanandhaa went against Fabiano Caruana and the match ended in a draw. This placed him in joint lead in the tournament standings, alongside Caruana and Levon Aronian, all with 2.0 points after three rounds.
D Gukesh on the other hand was left absolutely shocked due to his opening round loss. Gukesh then bounced back with a win against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a three-round match. He also reacted to loss against R Praggnanandhaa and called it one of the “worst” games that he has played.
D Gukesh Reacts After Defeat Against Praggnanandhaa
Speaking after beating the Uzbek GM, Gukesh said, “Especially after yesterday, probably one of the worst games that I’d played, it was nice to bounce back like this.”
“If I would prefer to make two draws or a loss and a win, I’d prefer a loss and a win.”
R Praggnanandhaa On Defeating D Gukesh
“I think it was a smooth game. It was surprising from him because it looked like he was off at the start, like he spent so much time at a theoretical position and this endgame is just unpleasant for him. It started to get worse and worse. I guess his last chance was to take the pawn on b4 but I think it still should be winning and I think it’s a good game to start with.”
