Praggnanandhaa in joint lead at Superbet Chess Classic 2025, Gukesh still winless

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13-05-2025

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa held Poland's Duda Jan-Krzysztof to a draw in Round 6 of the Superbet Chess Classic 2025 in Bucharest, maintaining joint lead with 3.5 points in the Grand Chess Tour. read more
R Pragggnandhaa is leading with 3.5 points after six rounds. Image: AP
Bucharest, Romania: Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Poland's Duda Jan-Krzysztof to maintain joint lead with 3.5 points after the sixth round of Superbet Chess Classics, a part of the grand chess tour.
Playing the black side of an English opening, Praggnanandhaa was subjected to some initial tactics by Duda but the Indian was quite up to task in not giving any free-way to the Polish opponent.
Duda showed his intent with a queen sacrifice for a rook and minor piece in the middle game and Praggnanandhaa was quick to realise that his chances were slim. The draw was the best result possible as neither player could make much progress.
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However, it was a mixed day for Indian fans as D. Gukesh suffered a defeat at the hands of France's Alireza Firouzja, denting his chances in the tournament.
Meanwhile, USA's Fabiano Caruana was seen trying hard to break through with a piece sacrifice against local hero Deac Bogdan-Daniel but it looked though he would have to settle for a draw as well.
The other overnight leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave could do little with his white pieces either as drew very quickly with Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Results (round 6): Duda jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 2.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 3.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2); Levon Aronian (Usa, 3) drew with Wesley So (Usa, 3); Firouzja Alireza (Fra, 2.5) beat D Gukesh (Ind, 2); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 3) playing Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou, 2.5).