St. Louis, 20 August

World champion D Gukesh put his opening-round blues behind him and scored an excellent victory over former world rapid champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the second round of the Sinquefield Cup.

On a day when R Praggnanandhaa played a quiet game to draw with Fabiano Caruana of the United States, Alireza Firouzja of France gave a perfect endgame lesson as he crashed through the defense of Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland in the other decisive game of the day.

Levon Aronian of the United States played out a draw with compatriot Samuel Sevian to remain in joint lead while another American Wesley So drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the 10-player USD 3,75,000 prize-money tournament.

With seven rounds still to come, Praggnanandhaa, Aronian and Firouzja share the lead on 1.5 points.

Gukesh moved to joint fourth place alongside Caruana, Wesley So, Sevian and Vachier-Lagrave. Duda stands on ninth spot on half a point while Abdusattorov is yet to open his account after losing his second game on the trot.

Gukesh faced the open Sicilian, popularised by the legendry Viktor Korchnoi in the last century. There have been many takers of the variation at the top level, including Caruana, but these days the opening is not a favourite among elite players.

Gukesh played one of the testing variations and did not shy away from mainstream theory. Abdusattorov got a passed pawn in the middle of the board supported by another pawn but his king was always under the hammer as Gukesh's imaginative manoeuvres proved.

The Indian ace won a rook for a knight endgame, and even though the counter-play remained for the Uzbek, it was hard to find the exact moves with the clock ticking. Gukesh wrapped the issue with some timely exchanges leading to a won endgame.

Praggnanandhaa decided to give Caruana a taste of his own medicine by going for the Rossolimo Variation that the American had used extensively in his World Championship match against Magnus Carlsen.

However, the American proved his understanding of the resulting pawn structure in the middle game and some exchanges steered the game to a draw in the rook-and-minor-piece endgame that ensued.

Firouzja had to showcase his skills in the endgame with a bishop and knight against the lone king and the Frenchman achieved it flawlessly.