2021 Grand Swiss, Round 6

 Two hard-fought draws at the top in Shirov-Firouzja and Najer-Caruana meant that the three joint leaders after round 5 are still joint leaders after round 6. They are joined by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who beat Ponkratov, and Krishnan Sasikiran, who beat Predke, making it a five-way tie  on 4½ going into the rest day.

There are fifteen players just behind them on 4, including three of the top ten seeds: Caruana, Esipenko and Dubov. With such a large chasing pack, it's unlikely - although by no means impossible - that someone in a lower scoregroup will shoot up in the second half and take one of the top two places.


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