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World Champion d Gukesh Faces Alireza Firouzja, While r Praggnananandhaa mes jan-krzysztof duda in sinquefield cup round six as fabiano caruana leadway with 3.5 points in St. Louis

St. Louis (USA): World champion D Gukesh has his task cut out when he faces Alireza Firouzja of France, while compatriot R Praggnanandhaa meets Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the sixth round of the Sinquefield Cup here.

A rest day in elite tournaments usually results in combative chess and, past the halfway stage, both Pragg and Gukesh will push for full points when action resumes.

Local hero Fabiano Caruana leads with 3.5 points from two wins and three draws, emerging as the pick among the 10 participants at the halfway mark.

Praggnanandhaa trails by half a point with 3, having defeated Gukesh in the opener before drawing his next four games. Sharing second place is in-form Levon Aronian, while five players — Wesley So and Samuel Sevian (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Firouzja and Gukesh — are all close behind on 2.5 points.

Duda is on 2, half a point behind them, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan remains last with 1.

Firouzja is a tough opponent, but Gukesh, playing with white, holds the edge as he looks to recover strongly from his first-round loss. Praggnanandhaa, too, will see Duda’s uncompromising style as the perfect chance to break his four-game winless streak.

Caruana remains favourite for the title, but the \$350,000 prize fund and qualification for the Grand Chess Tour finale in Brazil later this year add to the stakes.

Round 6 pairings: Praggnanandhaa (ind, 3) vs duda (pole, 2); Gukesh (Ind, 2.5) vs. Firezja (from, 2.5); Sevian (USA, 2.5) vs. Caruana (USA, 3.5); Aronian (USA, 3) vs. SO (USA, 2.5); Abdusattorov (UZB, 1) vs Vachier-Lagrave (from, 2.5).