Praggnanandhaa Defeats Van Foreest at Sinquefield Cup

Wesley So continues to lead the Sinquefield Cup after the fourth round held on Thursday, maintaining a half-point advantage over his closest competitors. The only decisive match of the day saw Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu triumph over Jorden van Foreest, moving him into a tie with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian, all trailing So by half a point.

The match between Pragg and Van Foreest quickly became intense, with Pragg sacrificing a pawn early in the game. Van Foreest accepted the sacrifice, which caught Pragg off guard, leading him to reconsider White's strategy. As the game progressed, Pragg managed to navigate through complex positions, ultimately converting his material advantage in a queen versus rook endgame, forcing Van Foreest to resign.

In other matches, Vachier-Lagrave drew against Keymer after a brief advantage slipped away, while Aronian and So engaged in a Berlin Defence that concluded in a draw after both players avoided significant risks. Giri held off Sindarov in a pawn-down endgame, and Sevian's match against Caruana ended in a draw despite Sevian having an exchange advantage.