 "Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh are competing in the fifth leg of the Grand Chess Tour. AFP")
St. Louis (USA): World champion D Gukesh has his task cut out when he takes on Alireza Firouzja of France while compatriot R Praggnanandhaa will meet Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland in the sixth round of the Sinquefield Cup here.
A rest day in high-level tournaments usually results in combative chess and past the halfway stage both Pragg and Gukesh will not settle for anything less when the action resumes.
Local hero Fabiano Caruana leads the field on 3.5 points with two victories and three draws thus far and has been the pick among the 10 participants post the halfway stage.
Praggnanandhaa is just a half a point behind on 3 with a lone victory over Gukesh in the first round, followed by four back-to-back draws.
Also sharing the second spot is the in-form Armenian-turned-American Levon Aronian, while a pack of five players – American duo of Wesley So and Samuel Sevian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Firouzja, and Gukesh are all within striking distance with 2.5 points each.
Another half point adrift is Duda, who has a full point lead over last-placed Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Firouzja is a tough customer but Gukesh is in the zone wherein he has survived some tough positions and came back strongly after his first-round loss.
The fact that Gukesh will have white pieces in this contest tilts the balance in favour of the Indian who needs a turnaround performance in the last four rounds.
Praggnanandhaa started off with a brilliant win but then he has been hunting for an elusive victory in the last four games. The Indian has got a perfect player to break the ice in Duda who is known for his uncompromising style and tactical complications.
While Caruana remains a favourite to win the title here, there are even more stakes besides the USD 350000 prize fund. The top four players in the overall standings of the Grand Chess Tour will make it to the grand finale slated to be held in Brazil later this year.
Pairings round 6: R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3) vs Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 2); D Gukesh (Ind, 2.5) vs Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 2.5); Samuel Sevian (Usa, 2.5) vs Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 3.5); Levon Aronian (Usa, 3) vs Wesley So (Usa, 2.5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1) vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5).