The third round Sinquefield Cup clash between Praggnanandhaa and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov ended in a 46-move draw but not before there was plenty of laughter — at least for the 20-year-old from India at the expense of his rival.
With the game in a dead-drawn position, both players were playing out a draw with a threefold repetition — when the same position appears on the board three times. But when Nodirbek stopped his clock to call the arbiter Chris Bird over to claim a draw by threefold repetition, it turned out that he had jumped the gun. There was one more move left to be made to claim a draw.
When Pragg noticed opponent’s chess blunder
The live broadcast stream of the Sinquefield Cup shows Praggnanandhaa realising his opponent’s chess blunder: the Indian noticed that Nodirbek has jumped the gun by stopping the clock early. In the funny chess moment, Pragg can be seen holding up his index finger as if to indicate that there is one more move left to be made.
This is exactly what the chief arbiter at the Sinquefield Cup told Nodirbek as he explained how the Uzbek Gm had fallen afoul of the threefold repetition rule in chess. He then proceeded to add two minutes to Praggnanandhaa’s time. The Indian prodigy was seen smiling all throughout the incident, amused at the careless chess blunder from his opponent.
Indian grandmaster Praggnanandhaa reacts as his opponent, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, stops the clock to claim a draw one move before in their Sinquefield Cup clash. (Screengrab via YouTube/St Louis Chess Club)
Indian grandmaster Praggnanandhaa reacts as his opponent, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, is told by the chief arbiter that he’s made an error in stopping the clock to claim a draw one move before in their Sinquefield Cup clash. (Screengrab via YouTube/St Louis Chess Club)
Grandmaster Peter Svidler, who has helped Praggnanandhaa as a trainer in recent past, remarked on the live broadcast stream for the Sinquefield Cup match: “Is he actually going to add two minutes (to Pragg’s time)?”
To this, veteran grandmaster Yasser Seirawan said: “Yes, we have rules young man! And they state that for a wrongful draw claim, the opponent gets two minutes on their clock.”
INTERACTIVE: How Praggnanandhaa vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov game played out
As arbiter Chris Bird added the time to Pragg’s clock to penalise Nodirbek for his chess blunder, Svidler remarked: “I have honestly never seen this happen before.”
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What was even more hilarious was that Praggnanandhaa and Nodirbek agreed to a draw shortly after that chess blunder. This time, even the Uzbek GM laughed his funny chess moment.
Later on, Svidler said: “Nodirbek is giggling now, but he will feel as if he missed a very big chance today to win. He had a very nice position out of the opening, and in the early middle game, he was the only one with plans. Pragg was just poised. Like that saying, ‘one side is playing, the other side is watching.’”
Praggnanandhaa has had a good start to the Sinquefield Cup with a win over world champion Gukesh in the opening match itself.
Gukesh draws with Samual Savian
Gukesh had bounced back from the loss to Pragg with a win over Nodirbek, before drawing with Sam Sevian on Wednesday night.
