Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out a fighting draw with Fabiano Caruana of the United States with black pieces and remained joint second after the end of the seventh round of the Sinquefield Cup, part of the Grand Chess tour.
Wesley So of the United States continued with his fine run in the tournament and drew with the super-solid Anish Giri of Holland to remain a half point ahead of nearest rivals. Along with Praggnanandhaa, Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France share the second position with four points apiece in their kitty. The result between Caruana and Praggnanandhaa was never in any serious doubt as the Indian faced a rather early endgame in the Ruy Lopez opening. Caruana tried to put pressure not wanting to give much to the Indian but as things turned out the middle game without queens did not offer much hopes. The pieces changed hands at regular intervals and Praggnanandhaa took little time to get an absolute level position on board.
With just two rounds remaining in the USD 475000 prize money tournament, as many as four players — Vincent Keymer of Germany, American duo of Levon Aronian and and Sevian Samuels and World Championship contender Javokhir Sindarov — share the fifth spot on 3.5 points each. The game was drawn in 56 moves with Praggnanandhaa having an extra Bishop with bare kings on board.
