Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa kept himself in the hunt for an overall top four finish in the Grand Chess Tour, while the reigning world champion D Gukesh went out of contention in the eighth and penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup.

In the 10-player round-robin tournament, Praggnanandhaa drew with Wesley So of the United States, and Gukesh was held to a draw by Levon Aronian of the USA.

Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave ensured a draw with white pieces against American Fabiano Caruana, who made it to the grand finale with his first-place ranking, irrespective of the result in the final round.  

The top four in the overall Grand Chess Tour standings will also qualify for the finals to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which will be introduced from this year. 

Apart from Vachier-Lagrave, Aronian, Caruana and Praggnanandhaa are firm contenders for the finals.

Praggnanandhaa and Caruana stayed half a point clear of the field, taking themselves up to 5.5 points from eight games. 

With 3.5 points, Gukesh is positioned eighth in the standings ahead of Alireza Firouzja (3) of France and Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan with 2.5 points.

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