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Praggnanandhaa clinches Superbet Chess Classic title
This victory solidified his lead in the FIDE Circuit 2025, strengthening his bid for 2026 World Championship contention.
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Bhavana P - Mon, 19, May 2025
- 14:21 EDT
- 0
Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa / FIDE
Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu emerged victorious at the 2025 Superbet Chess Classic Romania, claiming his maiden Grand Chess Tour (GCT) title.
The win comes after a three-way playoff against French-Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzja and French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Also read: USA to face India in chess showdown at Arlington
The tournament, held in Bucharest from May 7 to 16, featured ten of the world’s top grandmasters and witnessed intense competition throughout. After nine rounds of classical chess, Praggnanandhaa, Firouzja, and Vachier-Lagrave were tied at the top, necessitating a blitz playoff to determine the champion.
Praggnanandhaa had earlier secured a vital win over Wesley So in the penultimate round and drew with Levon Aronian in the final round to maintain his lead.
Firouzja and Vachier-Lagrave both secured last-round wins, defeating Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Jan-Krzysztof Duda respectively, to join the playoff. The tiebreak featured a single round-robin blitz format (5+2). The first two games—Firouzja vs. Praggnanandhaa and Firouzja vs. Vachier-Lagrave—ended in hard-fought draws.
In the decisive third game, Praggnanandhaa capitalized on an endgame blunder by Vachier-Lagrave to secure victory, sealing the championship.
This marks the 19-year-old’s second major title of the year and reinforces his position at the top of the FIDE Circuit 2025 standings.
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