Gukesh takes on Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa meets Duda

World champion D Gukesh faces Alireza Firouzja, while R Praggnanandhaa meets Jan-Krzysztof Duda in Sinquefield Cup round six as Fabiano Caruana leads midway with 3.5 points in St. Louis

St. Louis (USA): World champion D Gukesh has his task cut out when he faces Alireza Firouzja of France, while compatriot R Praggnanandhaa meets Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the sixth round of the Sinquefield Cup here.

A rest day in elite tournaments usually results in combative chess and, past the halfway stage, both Pragg and Gukesh will push for full points when action resumes.

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Local hero Fabiano Caruana leads with 3.5 points from two wins and three draws, emerging as the pick among the 10 participants at the halfway mark.

Praggnanandhaa trails by half a point with 3, having defeated Gukesh in the opener before drawing his next four games. Sharing second place is in-form Levon Aronian, while five players — Wesley So and Samuel Sevian (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Firouzja and Gukesh — are all close behind on 2.5 points.

Duda is on 2, half a point behind them, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan remains last with 1.

Firouzja is a tough opponent, but Gukesh, playing with white, holds the edge as he looks to recover strongly from his first-round loss. Praggnanandhaa, too, will see Duda’s uncompromising style as the perfect chance to break his four-game winless streak.

Caruana remains favourite for the title, but the \$350,000 prize fund and qualification for the Grand Chess Tour finale in Brazil later this year add to the stakes.

Round 6 pairings: Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3) vs Duda (Pol, 2); Gukesh (Ind, 2.5) vs Firouzja (Fra, 2.5); Sevian (USA, 2.5) vs Caruana (USA, 3.5); Aronian (USA, 3) vs So (USA, 2.5); Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1) vs Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5).