For five and a half hours and 95 gruelling moves, R Praggnanandhaa threw everything he had at Fabiano Caruana. There were moments when the Indian seemed poised to strike back, when the game tilted in his favour. But in the end, the American held firm, forcing Praggnanandhaa to walk away with only a draw, a result that leaves him with a six-point deficit heading into the final day of the Grand Chess Tour Finals.

With two Rapid and four Blitz games remaining on the final day, Caruana now leads the match 9-3. Sixteen points are still up for grabs, but the margin for error has shrunk dramatically for the Indian.

After conceding a 6-0 lead in the first Classical game, Praggnanandhaa needed to respond. It wasn’t quite a must-win situation, but heading into the shorter time controls with a six-point gap is far from ideal.

Story continues below this ad

Determined to fight back, Praggnanandhaa, playing White, came prepared with a sharp line in the Italian Game, hoping to land a counterpunch. Caruana responded with the Polerio Variation, offering a pawn sacrifice to gain a lead in development and open lines for his pieces.

R Praggnanandhaa takes on Fabiano Caruana in the GCT Finals. ( Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club)

After following the standard line, Caruana deviated with a second pawn sacrifice, a move that was neither necessary nor objectively good. The engines slowly shifted in Praggnanandhaa’s favour by the 14th move. By then, both players were out of their opening preparation. Caruana spent nearly an hour on just six moves in this phase, though Praggnanandhaa held no significant clock advantage either.

Praggnanandhaa’s response after gaining a two-pawn edge wasn’t his best. He avoided trading his light-squared bishop, letting Caruana manoeuvre his own bishop and win back a pawn, almost neutralising the position. The Indian chose to preserve his bishop pair at the cost of his second pawn.

He then went for a queen exchange, giving up his remaining pawn advantage. The game drifted into an endgame where White had a rook and bishop pair against Black’s rook, bishop and knight. Caruana forced a trade of his knight for Praggnanandhaa’s dark-squared bishop, entering an opposite-coloured bishop endgame, but at the cost of a third pawn. Praggnanandhaa now had something worth fighting for, with an extra pawn.

Story continues below this ad

The slow grind suddenly turned sharp as both players raced to reach time control. Praggnanandhaa traded off one pair of rooks and kept the position tense. Soon, there was more than just hope for the Indian, as Caruana began to lose his grip. Praggnanandhaa deflected Black’s rook while his a-pawn started running down the flank. Then the American won the pawn back, a costly mistake that left Praggnanandhaa with an objectively winning position.

But converting a winning position in a complex endgame is often the hardest thing in chess. Praggnanandhaa’s hopes faded quickly when he let Caruana’s king come to the defence, as the American gave up two more pawns to shut the game down.

That was move 56. If Caruana thought the game would end soon, he was mistaken. Praggnanandhaa fought on for 39 more moves in an equal position, but Caruana had the right answer to every question asked of him.