Sinquefield Cup: Fabiano Caruana takes early lead in St. Louis

The Sinquefield Cup, a penultimate event of the Grand Chess Tour held in St. Louis, USA, commenced with top seed Fabiano Caruana taking an early lead. Caruana was the sole winner of the opening round, defeating Jorden Van Foreest of the Netherlands after the latter committed a middle-game pawn blunder.

Other matches resulted in draws. Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured a draw against American Samuel Sevian using the Arkhengelsk variation of the Ruy Lopez. Additional draws included Javokhir Sindarov against Levon Aronian, Vincent Keymer against Wesley So, and Anish Giri against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The tournament features a USD 475,000 prize fund and consists of 10 players competing over nine rounds.