MOSCOW, September 7 Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi played a draw with Frenchman Maxim Vachier -Lagrave in the fifth round of the fifth stage of the Grand Chess Tour in St. Louis (USA) — Sinquefield Cup. (USA) — draw; Shahriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) — Fabiano Caruana (USA) — draw; Lenier Dominguez (USA) — Hans Niemann (USA) — draw. The next round will take place on Thursday, Nepomniachtchi will play white with Caruana. The final stage of the Grand Chess Tour takes place in the USA from September 1 to September 12. Nepomniachtchi won the Candidates Tournament in Madrid in early July and won the right to play with Carlsen again for the world crown in 2023. However, the Norwegian refused to play a match for the world title. Now Nepomniachtchi must face the Chinese Ding Liren, who came second in the Candidates Tournament.
