The Sinquefield Cup 2025 features one of the strongest playing fields for a Classical event this season, one that matches, or could even surpass the standard set by earlier events like the Tata Steel Masters or Norway Chess that happened earlier this year. With players such as Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL), and Wesley So, there is no breathing space in any round at the St Louis event.
This pressure has also dictated a notably cautious strategy right from the start. Players understand that an early mis-step could be dangerous, making aggressive play too risky in the initial rounds.
Even the lowest-seeded player of the event, American Samuel Sevian, is demonstrating his strength against high-quality opponents with impressive performances. Wednesday’s fourth round largely continued the trend set by the first three, with most games ending without a decisive result.
In fact, the results of the third and fourth rounds were identical, with Caruana being the only winner in each of the rounds, while both the Indians in the event, World No. 4 R. Praggnanandhaa and World No. 5 D. Gukesh, playing out a safe draw in their respective matches.
While Praggnanandhaa was forced to share the spoils with Sevian, Gukesh absorbed the pressure from Frenchman MVL, saving his position after a minor hiccup in the middle game. Caruana, meanwhile, registered back-to-back wins by defeating Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, whose horrendous run continued as he was condemned to a third loss in four rounds. The two points from the last two rounds have made Caruana the sole leader with 3 points, while Praggnanandhaa and Levon Aronian follow closely in joint-second place with 2.5 points each.
Facing Praggnanandhaa, Sevian — who had played a solid game to hold Gukesh comfortably to a draw in the previous round — brought out a deep line of preparation. Pragg, seeking his second win of the event after beating Gukesh in the first round, opened with c6 for an English Opening. The local player from Missouri, however, was comfortably prepared for this line and did not look in any discomfort against the Indian.
By his eighth move, Praggnanandhaa had already consumed 22 minutes from his starting 90, while Sevian — blitzing out his moves and still in his opening preparation — gained three minutes, building a nearly half-hour advantage on the clock. A match featuring no errors from either side ended in a draw by three-fold repetition, with Sevian still having more than an hour on his clock.
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Gukesh, who is in a five-way tie for third place with two points, will face his former Second Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the fifth round. Praggnanandhaa will take on MVL.
