Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out an easy and quick draw with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while world champion D Gukesh survived anxious moments before splitting the point with Duda Jan-Krzysztof in the fifth round of the Sinquefield Cup.

On a day when all the five games were drawn, Fabiano Caruana of the United States maintained his sole lead on 3.5 points after signing peace with compatriot Wesley So. In other games, US’ Samuel Sevian continued with his solid performance and drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, while compatriot Levon Aronian drew with Frenchman Alireza Firouzja.

After the halfway stage in the nine-round event, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour, Caruana is followed by Praggnanandhaa and Aronian, and a pack of five players — Gukesh, Firouzja, Wesley, Sevian and Vachier-Lagrave — share the fourth spot with 2.5 points apiece. Not far behind is Duda on two points. Abdusattorov is still at the bottom on one point.

Praggnanandhaa had to do little with his black pieces as the Rossolimo Sicilian by Vachier-Lagrave presented zero troubles. After some routine theory, the players reached a middle game, wherein the Frenchman decided against taking any risks and went for a repetition to draw in just 26 moves.

Gukesh had another eventful game in a Queen pawn opening with black pieces. After equalizing easily, the Indian went for his trademark complications, but they almost backfired as Duda found some shrewd manoeuvres leading to a clearly better position, according to the computer. However, a mistake in the middle game cost the Polish Grandmaster dearly as Gukesh was able to neutralise white’s initiative and eventually shared the point through repetition. The game lasted 45 moves.

The players will resume the battle after a lone rest day in the tournament and it could be an exciting finish as there is just one-point difference between Caruana and the player placed eighth in the standings currently. The top four in the overall standings of the Grand Chess Tour will qualify for the grand finale to be held later this year.

Round 5 results: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3); Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 2) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 2.5); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3.5) drew with Wesley So (SUA, 2.5); Samuel Savian (USA) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1); Levon Aronian (USA, 3); drew with Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 2.5).