R Praggnanandhaa registered his fourth draw of the tournament after splitting the point with American grandmaster Wesley So in the fifth round of the Super Chess Classic. With all games ending in draws on the day, Germany’s Vincent Keymer retained his sole lead in the standings, moving to 3.5 points. Praggnanandhaa is tied for second place alongside Dutch grandmasters Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest.
France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So are jointly placed fifth with 2.5 points each. American star Fabiano Caruana and Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov follow closely on two points, though Sindarov still has a game in hand.
Romania’s Bogdan-Daniel Deac occupies ninth place with 1.5 points, while France’s Alireza Firouzja remains at the bottom of the standings on one point. In the remaining fifth-round encounters, Keymer held Giri to a draw with the black pieces, Vachier-Lagrave shared the point with Van Foreest, Sindarov drew against Firouzja, and Deac managed to hold Caruana.
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Playing black, Praggnanandhaa opted for the Berlin Defence against So, who adopted a cautious approach in the opening stages of the closed variation. Several minor pieces were exchanged early in the middlegame before Wesley gradually seized the initiative through pressure on the kingside.
However, Praggnanandhaa defended resourcefully and generated enough counterplay to neutralise the threats, eventually leading So to force a repetition of moves. The game concluded peacefully after 45 moves.
Firouzja returned to action after missing the previous round due to an ankle injury suffered after round three. The French grandmaster had sought permission to play his game against Sindarov from his hotel room, and the contest ultimately ended in a draw.
Keymer also employed the Berlin Defence in his game against Giri and encountered few difficulties. The players soon entered a rook-and-minor-piece endgame where a draw appeared inevitable, with the game ending after just 32 moves.
Tuesday marks the tournament’s only rest day, with play set to resume on Wednesday for the final four rounds of the USD 350,000 event.
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