Praggnanandhaa squandered a winning advantage against Vincent Keymer in the Grand Chess Tour opener, allowing the resilient German to survive and secure a hard-fought draw.
Key Points
- R Praggnanandhaa missed a winning opportunity against Vincent Keymer after dominating much of the first classical game before settling for a draw.
- Keymer showed remarkable resilience in a difficult endgame, matching Praggnanandhaa move for move until the Indian grandmaster made a costly error.
- Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana also drew their opening classical game, with So opting for a cautious approach despite having the white pieces.
- The $450,000 Grand Chess Tour event features two classical games followed by rapid and blitz contests, with 28 points available across the stages.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa came close to winning but let the cup slip from the lip as he settled for a draw with Vincent Keymer of Germany in the first game of the grand finale of the Grand Chess tour in St. Louis on Sunday.
On a day when American Wesley So decided to play safe against compatriot Fabiano Caruana and drew effortlessly with his white pieces, Pragg was in full flow fighting hard from what looked like a spatial advantage for white.
Keymer Shows Grit to Salvage Draw
Keymer, who has been very steady riser did not have a clue while he was pressing for an advantage and when the turbulence ended the German found himself in a nearly hopeless endgame.
The fighter that he is, Keymer just stick in there and matched Pragg move for move till the Indian blundered away a full six points.
The $450,000 event this year is a $100,000 increase in prize fund compared to last year's event at Sao Paulo in Brazil.
And the think tank has done well to let the event remain in St. Louis where the tour was conceived.
Format Offers 28 Points, $200,000 Top Prize
The players will start the contest with two games in Classical wherein each victory will be worth 6 points and a draw will mean both players receiving 3 points each.
After the two Classical games the players will have to change gears and play the rapid and blitz games on the very next day.
In rapid section, each victory will be worth 4 points and a draw will split that between the players.
The two rapid games will be followed by four blitz games where each win will be worth two points each and a draw resulting in one point for both players. In all cases the player that loses does not get anything.
A total of 28 points are at stake and anyone who scores 15 points qualifies to the finals while the losing semifinalist will play against each other to determine the third place finisher.
The top three from here will also get a direct invite to the next year's Grand Chess tour. While the winner walks home with $200000, the second placed will earn $125,000 and the third will go home richer by $75000.
Results round 1 Classical: Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3); Wesley So (Usa, 3) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 3).
