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Praggnanandhaa wins Superbet Chess Classic, but world champion Gukesh's form raises concerns
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 .
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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.
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