This is a huge opening surprise from Pragg, opting for one of the sharpest opening variations of the open games! The white knight attacks one of the most vulnerable points of the black position: the bishop pawn on the kingside.
What makes it interesting is that, though Pragg has played this position twice before in tournament games, he has picked such a high-voltage opening for a crucial game against a strong opponent.
Black will gain tempi in attacking White's knight and bishop which are out hunting right now. Black will also use the gained time to mobilise his pieces in active squares.
The game is about to move into a high octane clash from here onwards, as Black sacrifices a pawn willingly, for a development advantage, dynamism for his pieces, and White's problems in development.
This is the moment that Black seizes the initiative and starts his counterattack. Though there is no defined play for Black in compensation for his lost pawn, he has initiative on his side, apart from better development and freedom of play for his pieces, most of his pawns having moved around or captured.
The centralization of the knight starts Black's counterplay in this position to exploit the time, space, and dynamism gained with a pawn sacrifice. Note how the two white pieces, which have been developed, are actually problems to solve, rather than developed assets in this position! Black will gain tempo and pressure by further attacking them.
This is a crucial diagonal for this bishop, who can always target the kingside after pushing the king's pawn up.
The knight casts an eye both on White’s kingside as well as White’s light bishop. This is the kind of advantage I talked about earlier, that Black would gain with a pawn sacrifice in the opening.
Wesley captures the white bishop for his knight
The first sign of concrete compensation for he sacrificed pawn. Black will also be able to capture the white pawn in the center, appearing defenseless and powerless.
White is still reeling under a passivity in his position for the extra pawn that he captured in the opening. Looking at the speed with which Pragg plays the position, it is obvious that he has come well armed for the game.
White nullifies Black's domination of the file, offering an exchange of rooks. He is seemingly not concerned about an exchange of Knights shattering the pawn structure on the kingside.
Though the position is still equal, this appears a tad passive
Pragg refuses his kingside pawn structure to be shattered, moving the knight away. The knight also covers a square on the queenside where the black rooks might attempt to penetrate in the future.
Though this appears dangerous, Wesley need not worry about moving his bishop away. He has a resource ready to still defend the position better.
This guarantees the exchange of bishops, after which White's pawn on the queenside flank will get doubled. In a way, this is good news for Wesley, as White's material advantage is almost nullified. But the active white rook might be a minor problem for Black.
Welcome to the eighth and penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup being held at Saint Louis, USA.
Pragg is leading the tournament along with Caruana on four and a half points from 8 games. Wesley So follows the leaders, along with Aronian, on four points. And they are clashing with each other today.
But there is more to it than this simple narrative.
We have a game today between two players who are both fresh from their victories yesterday. We also have a game between two players who are knocking on the doors of the finals of the Grand Chess Tour. After all, a good finish at the Sinquefield Cup will enable them to finish in the top 4 places of the Grand Chess Tour. That, in return, will give them a ticket to play the Grand Chess Tour finals later this year. And we also have a game between two players who have not lost a single game in this tournament so far.
And finally, we have a game between two players who are representative of different generations, almost, with Pragg being the more dynamic one and Wesley being the deeper one when it comes to understanding and practice. We have a great clash in our hands today!