ST LOUIS: Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa outplayed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France to jump to joint lead alongside American Wesley So after the end of the eighth and penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup here.
The victory took Praggnanandhaa to five points out of a possible eight and the Indian is now assured of a place in the Grand finale scheduled later this year.
On a day when Wesley played another draw with compatriot Sevian Samuels, Javokhir Sindarov won his third game on the trot to be within striking distance of the leaders on 4.5 points. On the receiving end was Jorden van Foreest of Holland who continues to trail the field.
In another big result of the day, German Vincent Keymer put it across top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States to join Sindarov in third spot. In other game of the day, Dutchman Anish Giri drew with Levon Aronian of the United States.
Being his last white game of the day, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave took all the risks against Praggnanandhaa but the tactic boomeranged. The Ruy Lopez was met with another Moller variation by Pragg and an early piece sacrifice by the Frenchman was only optically good.
Praggnanandhaa lost three pawns in exchange for the piece but relocated his forces well to win in just 28 moves.
Vincent Keymer played his own brand of chess to outwit Caruana with white pieces. It was an irregular queen pawn game wherein the players reached a dynamic middlegame wherein Keymer's tactical skills proved superior on this day. As it happened the German knocked down a couple of pawns before forcing resignation in 76 moves.
After an indifferent start world championship contender Sindarov seems to be have gotten in the groove when it matters the most. The Uzbek was at his best in a technical endgame arising out of a Petrosian variation of the Queen's Indian defense.
After an early pawn sacrifice, Sindarov won a rook for a minor piece and then kept pushing till Foreest could no longer sustain. The game lasted 56 moves.
In the final round now, Praggnanandhaa will play as white against Giri while another interesting clash is lined up between Sindarov and Wesley So. Keymer too has his task cut out against Foreest and in case the former wins, he might tie for the top spot.
Results round 8: Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 4.5) beat Jorden Van Foreest (Ned, 1.5); Sevian Samuels (Usa, 4) drew with Wesley So (Usa, 5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 4.5) beat Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 4); Anish Giri (Ned, 3.5) drew with Levon Aronian (Usa, 3.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 4) lost to R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 5).