Sinquefield Cup R2: Ding Liren forces a draw again
All five games of the second round of Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2024 ended in draws. The world champion Ding Liren (CHN) forced a draw via perpetual check for the second consecutive round. This time against Anish Giri (NED). D Gukesh had a well contested draw against Ian Nepomniachtchi. He could have gained a pawn heading into the queen and rook endgame. However, it would not have made a significant difference. Praggnanandhaa had a solid draw against the former World Blitz champion, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA). It will be Praggnanandhaa vs Gukesh in Round 3 which starts today at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Five draws
Gukesh - Nepomniachtchi: 0.5-0.5
D Gukesh (2766) is yet to lose a Classical rated game against Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767). That did not change yesterday.
26.e5 Nd5 27.Nxd5 Bxd5 28.Bxd5 cxd5 29.Rxd5 would have gained a pawn but it's not that much. The game continued 26.g4 h6 27.Qd4 Qxd4+ 28.Rxd4 c5 29.Rd2 and the game eventually ended in a draw.
Giri - Ding
16...h4 17.Bxh4 the world champion sacrificed his queen Qxh4 18.Nxh4 Nxf2 19.Qf3 Nh3+ 20.Kh1 Nf2+ and White cannot get out of the perpetual check without suffering material loss.
Replay live stream
Schedule and Format
Sinquefield Cup will have one round per day from 19th to 28th August. Rest day is on Saturday 24th August. Each round starts at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST, except the last round on 28th August. It will start at 11 am. local time, 9:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event.
Prize
The total prize fund is US$ 350000.
Replay Round 2 games
Round 2 results
Standings after Round 2
Round 3 pairings
| Table | White | Score | Fed. | Rating | Black | Score | Fed. | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 0.5 | USA | 2793 | GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 1.0 | UZB | 2762 | |
| 2 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 1.0 | IND | 2749 | GM Gukesh D | 1.0 | IND | 2766 | |
| 3 | GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 1.0 | FID | 2767 | GM Giri, Anish | 1.0 | NED | 2746 | |
| 4 | GM Ding, Liren | 1.0 | CHN | 2745 | GM So, Wesley | 1.0 | USA | 2751 | |
| 5 | GM Firouzja, Alireza | 1.5 | FRA | 2751 | GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 1.0 | FRA | 2721 |
