So leads, Pragg joins chasers
Wesley So remained the sole leader of the Sinquefield Cup after round four on Thursday. Only one of the five games ended decisively, with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeating Jorden van Foreest to move into the group immediately behind the leader.
Praggnanandhaa is now level with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian, half a point behind So. Three players currently have a fifty-percent score on 2/4, while Van Foreest is struggling after drawing one game and losing three so far in the event.
Round 4 results
Picture this: you’ve outplayed your opponent move by move, you’re clearly better – and then the endgame slips into a draw, simply because you lacked the crucial theoretical knowledge. That is exactly where this course comes in. Without solid endgame skills, there’s no way forward. Rook endgames are most essential: they occur more often than any other type of endgame, and often make the difference between victory and half a point. If you master them, you’ll confidently convert your advantages into wins!
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Sole leader Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The day’s only decisive game became sharp almost immediately. Pragg offered a pawn sacrifice early on in a battle emerging from a French Defence, and Van Foreest accepted it. The Indian grandmaster had not expected his opponent to take the pawn, and consequently spent some time recalling the details of White’s plan.
The complications soon intensified, with Black eventually sacrificing his queen for a minor piece and a rook. Importantly, Pragg emerged in a position without any realistic danger of finding himself worse. The main practical question was whether Van Foreest could construct a fortress and prevent White from converting.
Pragg remained alert to several possible defensive setups and gradually found a way to make his material advantage count. The final phase became a technical exercise in converting queen against rook, and Van Foreest was eventually forced to concede.
A pure queen versus rook endgame appeared in the one decisive game of round four | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Vachier-Lagrave remained in the chasing group after drawing Keymer. The Frenchman opened with 1.d4, once again steering away from his usual 1.e4 (he played 1.c4 in his previous game with white) and obtained a brief edge at one stage, but the advantage soon disappeared and the players agreed a draw by move 35.
Meanwhile, Aronian and So explored a Berlin Defence and produced a genuine fight, with both players calculating sharp possibilities before the position eventually settled down. Aronian considered some highly complicated continuations, but did not see sufficient reason to take unnecessary risks.
In the post-game interview, Aronian told Maurice Ashley that he saw 22.Nf5 Nh4 23.Na4 here, but decided it was overly optimistic, noting that his second Aryan Tari warned him about his tendency to take too many risks.
Therefore, Aronian played it safe with 22.Qf5, which he correctly assessed as drawing if Black found the correct continuations. With neither side making a serious error, the game ended by threefold repetition on move 32.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave having a look at the battle between Levon Aronian and Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes
In the game Giri v. Sindarov, the Dutch grandmaster once again found himself defending an opposite-coloured bishop ending while a pawn down, similar to the type of position he had faced against Sevian in round three. This time, however, his defensive setup held, and Sindarov was unable to make further progress.
The longest game was Sevian’s draw with Caruana. Sevian reached an endgame in which he was an exchange up for a pawn, but the position remained within the drawing margin throughout. Caruana defended accurately and never allowed his opponent to create serious winning chances, eventually securing the half-point.
Following Friday’s fifth round, the players will get a rest day.
Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes