Praggnanandhaa Blunders Against Keymer as Wesley So Takes Sinquefield Cup Lead

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa suffered a rare checkmate loss to Germany's Vincent Keymer in round three of the $475,000 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis.

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa suffered a setback at the $475,000 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, going down to Germany's Vincent Keymer in their third-round clash. Despite a solid opening, the Indian ace blundered away his chances, culminating in a rare on-board checkmate seldom seen in elite Grandmaster play.

The defeat leaves Praggnanandhaa on 1.5 points after three rounds, placing him in joint-fourth spot alongside Keymer, Fabiano Caruana, and Sevian Samuels, with six rounds remaining in the 10-player tournament.

In the day's headline match, Wesley So of the United States surged into sole leadership with 2.5 points after outfoxing Fabiano Caruana to register his second straight victory. So is followed in the standings by Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on 2 points each. Aronian drew his round-three game with Jorden Van Foreest, while Vachier-Lagrave signed peace with Javokhir Sindarov.

Elsewhere, Sevian Samuels defeated Anish Giri in a marathon contest that spanned over 100 moves. Giri and Sindarov—who is slated to challenge D Gukesh for the world championship later this year—are tied on 1 point, while Van Foreest occupies the bottom of the table with half a point.

Reporting sourced from The Hindu Sport. Photo courtesy The Hindu Sport.