Round 6 of the Sinquefield Cup had lots of blood; today, not so much. (As an old friend used to say in a different context, they can’t all be jewels.) It’s not from a lack of effort - well, discounting the draw between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ian Nepomniachtchi, anyway - it’s just the way things turn out sometimes. Levon Aronian was well-prepared for Fabiano Caruana’s 4.d3 Anti-Berlin, and held comfortably. Leinier Dominguez and Alireza Firouzja tested a sharp Najdorf line, and in the imbalanced ending that resulted both players fought for a win before reconciling themselves to a draw. Finally, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had a brief moment when he enjoyed a clear advantage against Hans Niemann in the early middlegame, but when he played 19.Nd4 rather than 19.Nd5 it slipped away. A drawish double-rook ending soon arose, and while MVL gave it the old college try Niemann never gave him any opportunity to play for a win.
Two rounds remain, and here are the pairings for round 8:
Dominguez (3/6) - Mamedyarov (2/6)
Firouzja (3.5/6) - So (4/6)
Niemann (3/6) - Caruana (3.5/7)
Aronian (3/6) - Nepomniachtchi (3.5/6)