Latest news with #SuperbetChessClassicRomania2025
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First Post
17-05-2025
- Sport
- First Post
Praggnanandhaa wins Superbet Chess Classic, but world champion Gukesh's form raises concerns
Chess world champion, D Gukesh of India, had another tough outing as he continues to struggle for form in 2025 after winning the World Chess Championship. read more R Praggnanandhaa won the Superbet Chess Classic in Romania but D Gukesh had a tough time in the tournament. Images: Grand Chess Tour on X Indian chess Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured his second big title of 2025 on Friday as he won the Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025, in contrast to world champion and compatriot D Gukesh, who finished joint sixth to ninth in the 10-player field. This is the first Grand Chess Tour victory for the 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa, who took a prize money of $77,667 (Rs 66,48,345 approximately). Earlier, he won the Tata Steel Chess 2025 . STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Praggnanandhaa's victory, however, wasn't clear-cut as he was tied for the first position with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja at the end of the nine rounds of classical chess. Praggnanandhaa eventually won a three-way tiebreaker to emerge as the winner. Praggnanandhaa wins title in tiebreaker The first two games in the tiebreaker — Praggnanandhaa vs Firouzja and Vachier-Lagrave vs Firouzja — ended in draws. Praggnanandhaa clinched the title in the last blitz tiebreaker game by beating Vachier-Lagrave. What makes Praggnanandhaa's victory even more special is that he clinched the title despite managing seven draws in the nine rounds of the main event. Ahead of the final round, Praggnanandhaa had the sole lead, but he drew against Levon Aronian in the last game while Firouzja and Vachier-Lagrave drew level by winning their last matches. Gukesh's poor form continues in Romania The 18-year-old world champion from India, Gukesh, however, had a tough time as his poor form continues. After finishing 11th in the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour , the Chennai youngster would be hoping to turn around his fortunes in Bucharest, but it wasn't to be. The Indian Grandmaster only scored 4/9 with one win, six draws and two defeats. By the end of the seventh round in Bucharest, Gukesh was tied last. While he drew his match against Praggnanandhaa, he was beaten in 69 moves by Firouzja and in just 31 moves by Vachier-Lagrave. His only victory came against Aronian. While Gukesh is only 18 and his game is still developing, his form has become a concern as he gets ready to take world No.1 Magnus Carlsen at Norway Chess on 25 May. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Praggnanandhaa bests MVL in tiebreaks to win Chess Classic Romania as Niemann praises GCT playoff format
It took a herculean effort from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja to win on-demand in their respective last classical round games to enforce a tiebreak with R. Praggnanandhaa, but the Indian showed tremendous resoluteness to eventually win the three-way tiebreaker. He beat MVL in the final blitz tiebreak to clinch the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) — the Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025 — on Friday night. Praggnanandhaa, who was leading by half a point over MVL and Firouzja, drew his last round game against the USA's Levon Aronian, which allowed the French duo to catch up with him. The three-way tiebreak saw all three players pit against each other. The first two blitz matches — between Pragg and Firouzja and MVL and Firouzja — were drawn before the Indian got the better of MVL in the final blitz game. The tiebreak format, which is result-oriented with shorter time controls and Armageddon if necessary, was praised by American Grandmaster Hans Niemann. 'GCT has a very creative Armageddon tiebreak format. An intriguing idea that could be used by other competitions. Best wishes to Pragg. Niemann wrote on X. Very innovative Armageddon tiebreak format from GCT. Interesting concept that other tournaments could adopt. Congrats to Pragg! — Hans Niemann (@HansMokeNiemann) May 16, 2025 Since the tiebreak format had already been used in earlier tournaments, it can be argued whether or not it was innovative. Niemann's statement, though, might be an indication of his comment to FIDE. This is particularly in light of Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi's contentious agreement to split the World Blitz Title at the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York on Wall Street. Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi agreed to share the title after the final ended in a tie, as the decision came after three sudden-death games failed to produce a winner. After that, Niemann went on an explosive rant on social media, lashing out at FIDE, the global governing body of chess, for allowing the two players to share the prestigious title. 'The chess world is officially a joke. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN HISTORY. I can't believe that the official body of chess is being controlled by a singular player FOR THE 2ND TIME THIS WEEK. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WORLD CHAMPION! (sic)' Niemann posted on his X handle.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
R Praggnanandhaa wins Superbet Chess Classic, his first Grand Chess Tour victory
R Praggnanandhaa won the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, Romania. (Image: X) R Praggnanandhaa won the Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025 , claiming his first Grand Chess Tour victory. He took home $77,667 and 10 GCT points following the title triumph. The journey, though, was far from easy. He drew his final classical game against Levon Aronian , but two of his rivals managed to win on demand. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda, while Alireza Firouzja, from a worse position, outmaneuvered Bogdan-Daniel Deac in a King's Indian Defense. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Ultimately, Praggnanandhaa beat Vachier-Lagrave in blitz playoffs to secure the title. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Tukarkan Bitcoin dan Ethereum - Tanpa Dompet Diperlukan! IC Markets MULAI SEKARANG Undo Vachier-Lagrave and Firouzja both won their last-round games, tying for first before the tiebreaks. After three blitz games, Praggnanandhaa emerged victorious. He received an extra $10,000 bonus for finishing ahead of the other two players tied for first. This was the third playoff in five years at the Grand Chess Tour. Because the award ceremony had to happen on the same day, Technical Director Tony Rich explained that tiebreaks were expedited. With three players involved, a single round-robin blitz was played — no rapid games. After three games, no winner was decided, and the final decisive game was Praggnanandhaa vs. Vachier-Lagrave. What started as a seemingly drawn heavy-piece endgame suddenly became a tactical scramble. At the award ceremony, Praggnanandhaa remarked, "I didn't do so well last time. Resting for a few hours before the tiebreak definitely helped," referencing his earlier early draw with Aronian and subsequent rest in his hotel. His victory earns him nine rating points, keeping him at No. 7 in the world rankings. The next Grand Chess Tour event is the 2025 SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia, scheduled for July 1-6.
The Hindu
10-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Indian Chess Wrap, May 10: Praggnanandhaa in joint lead at Superbet Classic, Gukesh loses to Vachier-Lagrave
Grand Chess Tour: Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025 World Champion D. Gukesh lost to France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the fourth round of the Superbet Classic in Romania on Saturday. The other Indian in the competition, R. Praggnanandhaa settled for a draw against Deac Bogdan-Daniel. At the end of four rounds, he had 2.5 points, putting him in the joint-lead Fabian Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave. Gukesh played with the black pieces and his opponent gained advantage through the middle game after a Scottish opening. Vachier-Lagrave managed to weaken Gukesh's queenside and forced a resignation in 31 moves. Gukesh was winless and in eighth place with 1.5 points at the end of the fourth round. Asian Individual Chess Championships 2025 Indian GrandMasters Murali Karthikeyan and P Iniyan were in joint-lead on 3.5 points with Iranian Bardiya Daneshvar after the end of the fourth round at the Asian Continental Chess Championship in Al Ain on Saturday. Karthikeyan defeated Iran's Sina Mohaved while Iniyan got the better of Meng Yihan. Pranav Anand held top seed Nihal Sarin to a draw. Sarin had three points after the result. In the women's section, Srija Sheshadri was the best performing Indian with 3.5 points. FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–2025 R. Vaishali lost to China's Zhu Jiner on Saturday at the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Austria. The Indian opted for the Sicilian defense against the King's Pawn opening by Zhu. The contest eventually moved to the French variation after Vaishali opted for e6 against Zhu's Nf3. The game moved towards a Rook-and-pawn end game, and the Chinese's advanced pawns on the a and f files eventually forced a resignation in 59 moves. The result meant Vaishali conceded her lead, and was joint-second at three points. Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk was leading with four points from as many rounds.
