Praggnanandhaa traps Gukesh under time pressure to earn a fine win at Sinquefield Cup

On Tuesday, in a match that lasted 36 moves in just under four hours in Missouri, Praggnanandhaa took an early lead after the first round, joining another in-form player, Levon Aronian, who defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The win netted Pragg 5.0 Elo points, vaulting him to a career-high World No. 3 spot in the live ratings, behind only the two goliaths, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.

One of the most challenging Classical tournaments in the cycle, the Sinquefield Cup is the fifth and final event of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) circuit. After this, the top four players will be finalised for the GCT finals.

Praggnanandhaa prepared a sharp opening, asking tough questions in a complex position, hoping Gukesh would falter. Though the World Champion didn’t fall into the trap immediately, Pragg gained a significant time advantage on the clock as Gukesh made passive choices that also included an early queen trade by the 10th move.

In a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from Move 1, Pragg maintained his clock above his starting 90 minutes. Gukesh, meanwhile, was forced to spend time on nearly every move. By the time Pragg came out of his opening preparation, he seemed already happy with a favourable position with the white pieces.

As early as the 15th move — by which Pragg had used just over 12 minutes — the engine evaluation swung decisively in White’s favour, giving a hefty +1.31 advantage.

After the game, Praggnanandhaa pinpointed Gukesh’s critical errors. “He was supposed to take bishop c5 directly and not queen d1. That would have been slightly pleasant for White. This is the main line and it’s fine (for Black), but there’s still a lot to play,” Pragg told commentators while referring to Gukesh’s 10th move (10. Qxd1).

The World Champion compounded his troubles with another misjudgment on the 13th move (13. Ba7), misplacing his bishop on a7 instead of the stronger square e7, a self-sabotaging decision that left his bishop cornered. “His bishop a7 was surprising. I thought he had to go bishop e7,” Praggnanandhaa remarked.

This left Praggnanandhaa with a dominant bishop pair against a passive and cornered pair of black knights. At one point, he faced a choice to either simplify the position by trading his bishop for a knight or maintain the complexity. He opted for the latter, aiming to pile time pressure on Gukesh.

“After bishop b8, I was not sure. I could have also traded the bishop. That also looked quite good, but I felt keeping the bishop puts more pressure (on Gukesh), especially when he has no time,” he said.

In hindsight, Praggnanandhaa’s decision to maintain a complex position, forcing Gukesh to burn extra seconds, worked like a charm, as the latter resigned after the 36th move. Praggnanandhaa was surprised by how Gukesh managed his clock. “It was strange how he handled his time. He spent almost 20 minutes in a known position, which is surprising,” said Pragg.

“I don’t know what happened. Just felt like he was off today. I got a really good position out of the opening,” he added.

For Gukesh, perhaps the abundance of decisions led to overthinking. On this, Praggnanandhaa said, “It was a serious problem (Gukesh having so many decent options to move pieces). I thought I might mess it up because we (both) were getting low on time, but it’s such a good position to mess up. It takes some effort,” he laughed.

Veteran Hungarian GM and former World Championship challenger Peter Leko explains how Praggnanandhaa’s recent surge has been fueled by none other than the success of his rival Gukesh.

“The success of Gukesh also had a very positive effect on Praggnanandhaa. Suddenly, over the last half a year, ever since Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Masters 2025)… Praggnanandhaa has been unstoppable. I believe it’s very much connected to the fact that Gukesh had been so incredibly successful the year before,” Peter told The Indian Express.

“It’s as if Pragg says, ‘Wait a second, if Gukesh can do it, I can do it as well,’” he added.

Praggnanandhaa’s blockbuster win also levelled the head-to-head score between the two, with both now having four Classical chess wins apiece.

“I think two (wins) were when we were kids, so that doesn’t count,” Praggnanandhaa joked before acknowledging the importance of this win, given his recent struggles against Gukesh in this format. He said, “I’ve been having some tough results against him lately. Last year, I messed up three winning positions, and over the past two years, I haven’t scored a single win against him—even in rapid. It’s been bad. It’s good to get a win.”