Latest news with #SinquefieldCup2025
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First Post
3 hours ago
- Sport
- First Post
Sinquefield Cup: Praggnanandhaa admits ‘huge respect' for Gukesh after maiden Classical victory over world champion
R Praggnanandhaa registered his maiden Classical victory over fellow Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh on Monday, beating the reigning world champion in just 36 moves in the opening round of the 2025 Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, USA. R Praggnanandhaa shakes D Gukesh's hand after defeating the Classical world champion in Round 1 of the 2025 Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, USA. Image credit: Grand Chess Tour Indian No 1 R Praggnanandhaa was over the moon after defeating fellow Indian Grandmaster and reigning world champion D Gukesh in the opening round of the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, USA on Monday. Not only did the victory, which was achieved in just 36 moves while playing with white pieces, give Praggnanandhaa the perfect start at the prestigious event, it also fulfilled a long-running quest of his – that of defeating his peer Gukesh in the Classical format. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Huge respect for Gukesh': Praggnanandhaa And what made the win even sweeter was the fact that 'Pragg' had waited three years to register the win. In a post on social media, the 20-year-old reiterated the 'huge respect' that he has for the youngest world champion in chess history and how tough it is to face him across the board. 'What a start to the Sinquefield Cup 2025,' Praggnanandhaa wrote on X after defeating Gukesh on Monday. 'Managed to get my first classical win against Gukesh after a long wait of over 3 years. Always a tough opponent and someone I have huge respect for,' he added. What a start to the Sinquefield Cup 2025 Managed to get my first classical win against Gukesh after a long wait of over 3 years. Always a tough opponent and someone I have huge respect for. — Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) August 19, 2025 Praggnanandhaa's victory over Gukesh in the all-Indian battle was one of only two games out of five that ended in a decisive result in the opening round. Armenian-American Grandmaster Levon Aronian, who had recently been crowned winner in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz that preceded the ongoing event, also registered victory, defeating Uzbekistani GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov while playing as black. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pragg vs Fabi up next Praggnanandhaa faces world No 3 Fabiano Caruana in his next outing while Gukesh is up against Nodirbek in Round 2. Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh currently are fifth and eighth respectively on the Grand Chess Tour standings, having collected 20 and 16 points so far. Also Read | Praggnanandhaa has historic world No. 3 FIDE ranking spot up for grabs after stunning Gukesh The former has the better shot of featuring in the GCT Finals, which takes place in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 26 September to 4 October where the top four players on the standings face off for the title. And in order to secure a top-four finish, Praggnanandhaa – who had won Superbet Chess Classic Romania, the second event of the tour – he will hope to go the distance in the ongoing event.
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Sinquefield Cup 2025: Praggnanandhaa downs Gukesh in opening round; Aronian beats Abdusattorov
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa beat world champion and compatriot D Gukesh in the opening round of the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Missouri on Tuesday. Playing with white pieces, Praggnanandhaa held the upper hand against an off-colour Gukesh throughout their encounter. With his chances fast dimming, Gukesh resigned ahead of his 36th move. 'I don't know what happened. Just felt like he [Gukesh] was off today. I got a really good position out of the opening. I've been having some tough results lately against him. 'Last year, I messed up three winning positions. Over the last two years, I haven't scored a single win against him. Even in Rapid it has been bad. So, it's good to finally get a win,' said Praggnanandhaa. The win also lifted Praggnanandhaa to third in the world rankings, as he leapfrogged American GM Fabiano Caruana in the live ratings. The only other decisive result on the opening day saw the USA's Levon Aronian defeat Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov with the black pieces. In the second round, Gukesh will face Abdusattorov, while Praggnanandhaa will take on Caruana — both Indian players starting with the white pieces. The Sinquefield Cup 2025 is part of the Grand Chess Tour. It is the final classical leg before the GCT 2025 finals.
India Today
11 hours ago
- Sport
- India Today
Praggnanandhaa climbs to World No. 3 after beating Gukesh at Sinquefield Cup
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 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 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 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
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First Post
11 hours ago
- Sport
- First Post
Praggnanandhaa has historic world No. 3 FIDE ranking spot up for grabs after stunning world champion Gukesh
A stunning win over chess world champion D Gukesh has propelled R Praggnanandhaa to a historic word No.3 spot in the live ranking. He is only behind Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, players with an Elo of over 2800. Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa climbed to a career-best world No.3 ranking in the live rating after a stunning win over world champion D Gukesh at the Sinquefield Cup 2025. With his Round 1 victory over Gukesh on Monday, Pragganandha overtook Fabiano Caruana in the live rating as the American played out a draw against Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland. Now the biggest challenge for Praggnanandhaa would be to maintain his top form till the end of August to emerge as the new World No.3 when fresh FIDE rankings are published on 1 September 2025. Interestingly, Praggnanandhaa faces his closest competitor Caruana in the second round of the Sinquefield Cup 2025 on Tuesday. A victory against Caruana will give the 20-year-old Indian Grandmaster a nice cushion as he aims to become world No.3 in the published FIDE ranking for the first time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Praggnanandhaa secures highest live rating, ranking after beating Gukesh Praggnanandhaa's highest FIDE ranking is No. 4, which he achieved in July 2025. This is the first time he has reached No. 3 in live standings. He also has an Elo rating of 2784 currently in live standings, which is his personal best. He is only behind Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, who have an over 2800 Elo rating. The icing on the cake was Praggnanandhaa's victory over compatriot Gukesh in a Classical match for the first time since April 2022. Praggnanandhaa had last beaten Gukesh in a Classical match at the Kvika Reykjavík Open on 12 April 2022. 'At this point, I think I know all the players quite well. I have played a lot against them. It's not that I know Gukesh particularly well, but I haven't had really great results against him in the last few years. 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,' Praggnanandhaa said. 'Also, I messed up three winning positions last year. Yeah, so, finally, I am happy that I managed to get one win. '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.' Reflecting on where Gukesh went wrong, Praggnanandhaa said, '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. 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.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
News18
12 hours ago
- Sport
- News18
R Praggnanandhaa Reacts To Big Win Over D Gukesh: 'After Long Wait Of Over 3 Years..'
Last Updated: Indian chess star R Praggnanandhaa celebrates beating world champion D Gukesh at Sinquefield Cup 2025, now sharing the lead with Levon Aronian. Star Indian chess player R Praggnanandhaa has said that he is glad to have beaten world champion D Gukesh after a long wait of over three years, expressing elation at his upbeat start at the Sinquefield Cup, an annual closed chess tournament held by the St Louis Chess Club in Missouri. With eight rounds still to come in the USD 350,000 prize money tournament, as many as six players share the third spot behind Praggnanandhaa and Aronian, while Gukesh and Abdusattorov are at the bottom of the heap, hoping to open their respective accounts in the next round. 'What a start to the Sinquefield Cup 2025. Managed to get my first classical win against Gukesh after a long wait of over 3 years. Always a tough opponent and someone I have huge respect for," Praggnanandhaa tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. What a start to the Sinquefield Cup 2025Managed to get my first classical win against Gukesh after a long wait of over 3 years. Always a tough opponent and someone I have huge respect for. — Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) August 19, 2025 Praggananandhaa faced the Queen's gambit, accepted by Gukesh, who played with black pieces, as the former took full advantage of playing with white. The solid approach was under scrutiny early, as Gukesh spent a lot of time in a known position and went for a dubious set-up that involved early exchange of queens. Praggnanandhaa had the Bishop duo as playing with white pieces gave him a distinct advantage. Making things worse for himself, Gukesh fell short of time and had to find some tough moves to stay in the match as well. Relentless, as he is, Praggnanandhaa didn't let the position slip out of hand as he won a pawn by force and the rest was easy. The match lasted just 36 moves. view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Loading comments...
