GM Wesley So continues to guide after spherical 4 of the 2026 Sinquefield Cup on Thursday. There was one decisive recreation, the place GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu gave GM Jorden van Foreest his third loss. Praggnanandhaa is now half a degree behind the chief, as are GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian (who drew GMs Vincent Keymer and So himself). We noticed two different attracts in GM Anish Giri vs. GM Javokhir Sindarov and GM Sam Sevian vs. GM Fabiano Caruana.
Within the 2026 Cairns Cup spherical 4, we noticed three decisive video games, and it may have been 4. GM Tan Zhongyi leads by a full level after beating GM Vaishali Rameshbabu. There are 4 gamers behind her: GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (who gave GM Alexandra Kosteniuk her fourth loss), GM Divya Deshmukh (who saved a misplaced knight endgame vs. IM Carissa Yip), and IM Alice Lee, who misplaced to the fourth participant within the tie, IM Stavroula Tsolakidou. The one draw was GM Humpy Koneru vs. GM Anna Muzychuk.
Spherical 5 of each tournaments is on Friday, August 14, beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 19:00 CEST / 10:30 p.m. IST. It’s adopted by a relaxation day on Saturday.
Aside from Praggnanandhaa rising greater, the standings are unchanged from spherical three. So leads the match by a mere half-point.
Sinquefield Cup | Spherical 4 Standings
As if to make up for 4 attracts within the earlier spherical, we noticed a majority of decisive video games within the Cairns Cup. The Chinese language grandmaster leads the occasion by a full level.
Cairns Cup | Spherical 4 Standings
Praggnanandhaa Offers Extra Misfortune To Van Foreest
The outcomes have simmered just a little bit because the first three rounds, the place eight out of 15 video games had been decisive. To this point, we’ve had decisive video games in each spherical; two instances, nearly all of video games had been decisive. You possibly can see a graphic under that exhibits the win-rate in earlier years on the Sinquefield Cup.
When Praggnanandhaa provided a sacrifice on transfer eight, and Van Foreest grabbed the pawn, it was clear that we had been going to have a battle on our arms. Praggnanandhaa stated he was stunned his opponent took the pawn, and needed to take time to recollect what precisely White is meant to do. “This was like one in every of 10 issues I checked out,” he reminded the viewers after the sport.
Van Foreest captured twice on e4 and reached the next place. However after probably the most pure 10.Nc3, attacking the bishop, the Dutchman took 11 minutes to deliver his bishop again to c6, an indication that maybe he was pondering on his personal.
The sport blew up as, fairly quickly, Black sacrificed his queen. On the plus aspect, Pragg famous, “The advantage of this place is I can by no means be worse,” after profitable the queen. He went on to transform the fabric benefit, regardless that he noticed many fortress alternatives for his opponent, and he ultimately showcased find out how to win with queen vs. rook. Requested how a lot time he is spent learning such an endgame, Praggnanandhaa responded, “If I can not win this, I should not be enjoying at this degree!”
GM Rafael Leitao goes over the Recreation of the Day under. (It is going to be added quickly).
The remainder of the video games had been drawn. The marquee matchup was Aronian vs. So, which was a real battle (in a Berlin Protection), however the sparks simmered to a threefold repetition by transfer 32. Displaying the next fantasy variation he calculated, which didn’t occur within the recreation, Aronian joked, “After all I noticed Na4, nevertheless it appears so ridiculous, if you concentrate on it. And my second, Aryan Tari, has been telling me, ‘Do not do silly issues such as you did earlier than.’ and I used to be simply pondering of his face if I meet Nh5 with Na4, even when it is the most effective transfer!”
My second, Aryan Tari, has been telling me, ‘Do not do silly issues such as you did earlier than.’
—Levon Aronian
Aronian did not “do silly issues” and, with no errors from both participant, it was a draw. Vachier-Lagrave performed 1.d4 in opposition to Keymer, obtained a quick benefit in some unspecified time in the future, nevertheless it additionally ended by transfer 35.
Giri made the primary draw of the day in opposition to Sindarov, and he noticed that he as soon as once more defended a pawn-down opposite-color bishop endgame. However, not like yesterday, he did not lose this one. Talking of the painful loss to Sevian in spherical three (“unimaginable,” in Giri’s phrases), he quipped, “If folks wouldn’t be shedding such positions, I might be out of labor in a short time! I feel, for the sake of chess, it is okay that White received that recreation.”
If folks wouldn’t be shedding such positions, I might be out of labor in a short time!
—Anish Giri
Sevian reached a place the place he was up the alternate for a pawn, however the place by no means left the drawing margin for Caruana. It was the longest recreation of the day, however Caruana left little doubt that he’d maintain the endgame.
Friday is the final spherical earlier than a relaxation day. So may have the white items in opposition to spherical 4’s winner, Praggnanandhaa, within the marquee matchup.
Spherical 5 Pairings
Cairns Cup Spherical 4: Tan Takes Sole Lead
Simply as in spherical two of the Sinquefield Cup, we almost noticed 4 white wins within the Cairns Cup. Nonetheless, we noticed three winners: Tan, Tsolakidou, and Assaubayeva.
The largest miss was undoubtedly Yip’s. An extended battle within the Philidor Protection transitioned to a profitable benefit for White within the knight endgame. She discovered the profitable plan, sacrificing her knight for 3 handed pawns, however a single fallacious transfer, 57.Kg4?, undid all that tough work. Divya drew the sport with out giving Yip any hope for a win from that time.
The one different draw, Humpy vs. Muzychuk, was a 99-accuracy affair by either side. It featured the Samisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Protection—the identical opening Caruana misplaced with White in spherical three—however each gamers simply adopted the highest line, roughly. No possibilities.
Assaubayeva was the primary to win, in opposition to the struggling Kosteniuk. She began with the Reti Opening, and she or he performed a pawn sacrifice that appears just like the Blumenfeld Gambit with reversed colours. Kosteniuk will need to have blended one thing up in her preparation, nevertheless, and she or he performed a shedding transfer as early as transfer 10. Assaubayeva confirmed simply how profitable the white initiative was, with 12.c5! being the important thing transfer.
One of many two co-leaders, Tan, received one other recreation, this time in opposition to Vaishali. White performed a form of Leningrad Dutch with reversed colours, together with her 8.f4 being a transfer performed a number of instances by Caruana (twice final yr in opposition to So). Within the middlegame, Vaishali provided an alternate sacrifice, however one that might not be taken. In a while, nevertheless, she sacrificed one other alternate, which needed to be taken, nevertheless it did not work in any respect. Vaishali resigned earlier than making her fortieth transfer, with Stockfish asserting a mate in 9 strikes.
Lee dropped out of the co-lead with the loss to Tsolakidou. The Greek worldwide grasp’s offbeat play within the London System paid off. And though she missed a superb (not-trivial) Greek Reward sacrifice on transfer 16—she certainly thought-about it—the white assault was too arduous for Lee to parry anyway. 20.Nf6+! was the start of the tip for the American IM.
On Friday, Tan has the black items in opposition to her former co-leader, Lee.
Spherical 5 Pairings
The 2026 Sinquefield Cup is the fifth and remaining leg of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. Ten gamers competed in a classical round-robin match with a $475,000 prize fund and counts for qualification into the Grand Chess Tour Finals. It runs alongside the 2026 Cairns Cup, which can also be a 10-player round-robin that includes a few of the strongest girls on the earth, with a prize fund of $250,000.
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