Sinquefield Cup 2025: Praggnanandhaa continues in joint lead with Caruana ahead of final round
India’s R Praggnanandhaa continued in joint lead of the Sinquefield Cup 2025 after he drew his eighth-round match against American GM Wesley So on Wednesday in St. Louis.
Praggnanandhaa shares the lead with the USA’s Fabiano Caruana, who split points with France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the penultimate round.
With a potential tiebreak looming in sight, Praggnanandhaa expressed his confidence, having won three titles in playoffs in 2025. “This year, playoffs have been good for me. [But] You never know what’s going to happen.”
In the final round, Praggnanandhaa will take on the USA’s Levon Aronian with black pieces, while Caruana will square up against India’s D Gukesh with white pieces.
On Wednesday, World champion Gukesh played out a topsy-turvy draw against Aronian in a game where both players fumbled chances to claim a win.
In the only decisive result of the round, Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov claimed his first win of the tournament, after he outplayed Frenchman Alireza Firouzja.
“So far I think this is the most difficult tournament in my career. But, yeah, I have to go through that and come back stronger,” said Abdusattorov.
Published on Aug 27, 2025