 "Sinquefield Cup Twist: Gukesh held by World No.42, Praggnanandhaa loses No.3 spot in live rating")
It was a subdued day for Indian chess stars at the Sinquefield Cup 2025 on Wednesday as world champion D Gukesh was held to a draw by world No.42 Sam Sevian of the USA, while R Praggnanandhaa lost the third position in the live world rating after failing to beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Praggnanandhaa had climbed to a career-best third ranking in live rating after a stunning win over Gukesh in Round 1 on Monday, his first over the youngest chess world champion in three years. The 20-year-old Praggnanandhaa needed to maintain the world No.3 spot till the end of the month to make it official, but a draw against Nodirbek with Black pieces saw him slip back to the No.4 spot.
Caruana overatakes Praggnanandhaa in live rating
USA’s Fabiano Caruana took his world No.3 spot back by beating Alireza Firouzja in Round 3 of the Sinquefield Cup 2025 on Wednesday. He was the only one to secure a win in the third round as all four other matches ended in a draw.
Praggnanandhaa, Caruana and Levin Aronian are in joint lead after three rounds with two points each, while Gukesh, Firouzja, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Sevian are in joint second spot with 1.5 points each.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda is third with 1 point, while Nodirbek only has half a point so far.
Gukesh suffers disappointing result vs Sevian
Gukesh could have climbed to the joint top position, but he failed to beat world No.42 Sevian in the third round. The world No.5 Gukesh was playing with the Black pieces, but despite the disadvantage, many would have expected him to get past Sevian. In a Sicilian Defense opening, both players reached an equal endgame, where neither had any real advantage, leading to a draw after 44 moves.
“It was a fine result,” Gukesh told the broadcaster. “With Black a draw is always a fine result. I was pressing for some time, but I guess it was never really much. He is a very strong player. I played him once in Sharjah, I think in 2023. That also ended in a draw. That was also a Sicilian, I think.”
Gukes vs Sevian in interactive:
On his upcoming match against Maxime, Gukesh said: “They are always super exciting. MVL is a super exciting player. Just looking forward to playing a good game tomorrow and seeing what happens.”
Praggnanandhaa faces Sevian in the fourth round. The American would be upbeat after holding the world champion to a draw.
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