Praggnanandhaa climbs to World No. 3 after beating Gukesh at Sinquefield Cup

India Today

a day ago

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa reached a new career milestone on Monday, climbing to world No. 3 in the live FIDE ratings after defeating reigning world champion D Gukesh in the opening round of the Sinquefield Cup 2025 in St. Louis. The 20-year-old delivered a composed performance in a classical format, marking his first victory over Gukesh at this time control in more than three years.advertisementThe Sinquefield Cup is the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour and holds significant weight in the 2025 chess calendar. With strong performances throughout the year - including a win at the Superbet Chess Classic in Romania—Praggnanandhaa has been one of the standout players on the circuit. This victory not only strengthens his bid for the Grand Chess Tour finals but also puts him in strong contention for a top-three spot in the official FIDE rankings, due to be updated on 1 September.Speaking after the game, Praggnanandhaa reflected on the significance of the result: "This is my first win here at Sinquefield Cup. Last year, I made nine draws, which is also where I spoiled many winning positions. This is a different story. Yeah, I am happy to be here and it's nice to be here."
His last classical win against Gukesh came in April 2022 at the Kvika Reykjavk Open. Since then, their encounters have often seen Gukesh with the upper hand."I haven't had really great results against him in the last few years," Praggnanandhaa admitted. "This is my first classical win in like three years, and the previous one I got was also lucky because he was completely winning throughout. Also, I messed up three winning positions last year. So finally, I am happy that I managed to get one win."Analysing the game, the Chennai-based Grandmaster noted Gukesh's early indecision in a known theoretical line. "It was a smooth game. It was surprising from him because he was off at the start, like he spent so much time at a theoretical position and this endgame is just unpleasant for him," he said. "It started to get worse and worse. I guess the last chance was to take his pawn on B4, but I think it still should be winning and I think it's a good game to start with."Praggnanandhaa's Elo rating in the live standings now sits at 2784, just behind Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura—the only two players above 2800. He overtook Fabiano Caruana, who was held to a draw by Jan-Krzysztof Duda in Round 1.The win sets up a highly anticipated clash in Round 2 between Praggnanandhaa and Caruana - a direct battle in the race for the official No. 3 ranking. A win would give the Indians a critical buffer heading into the rest of the tournament.- EndsMust Watch