Firouzja wins GCT and Sinquefield leg, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh tie for fifth

Saint Louis: French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja drew his final game with Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa to emerge champion at the Sinquefield Cup and also win the Grand Chess tour 2024.

Winning three and drawing the remaining six games, Firouzja remained undefeated throughout the event.

Defending champion of the Grand Chess tour and someone who looked like a runaway winner till he reached his home turf, Fabiano Caruana had to be content with the second place finish in the tournament despite his victory over Anish Giri of Holland in the final round game.

The third place was shared by Maxime Vachier-Lagaver of France and Nodirbek Abdusattorov who both came with an inspired performance in the final round game to beat Ding Liren of China and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia respectively.

While the third place finishers had an identical score of five points each behind Caruana's 5.5 points, the Indian duo of Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh tied for the fifth spot on a fifty percent score with both of them ending with nine draws.

This augurs well for the upcoming chess Olympiad for the Indian team that is just a fortnight away.

Results final round: Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 5) Ian Nepomniachtchi (Fid, 3.5); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4.5) drew with Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 6); Maxime Vachier-Lagarve (Fra, 5) beat Anish Giri (Ned, 3) Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 5.5) beat Ding Liren (Chn, 3.5); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 5.5) beat Anish Giri (Ned, 3); D Gukesh (Ind, 4.5) drew with Wesley So (Usa, 4.5).