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Praggnanandhaa shines, Gukesh recovers in Zagreb
Firouzja leads after three rapid rounds with five points.
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IANS - Thu, 02, Jul 2026
- 05:31 EDT
- 25
Indian Grandmasters R. Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh compete at the Grand Chess Tour Super Rapid & Blitz tournament in Zagreb, Croatia / IANS
Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa finished the opening day of the Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia in joint second place, while reigning world champion D. Gukesh was tied for sixth after the first three rounds of the rapid section.
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Praggnanandhaa opened the tournament with a victory over Vincent Keymer before drawing with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Gukesh, meanwhile, lost his opening-round game to Vachier-Lagrave but bounced back with a win over Ivan Saric.
The two Indian players faced each other in the final round of the day and shared the point.
Praggnanandhaa ended Day one tied for second with four points from three rapid games, while Gukesh was tied for sixth with three points. Six rapid rounds remain before the tournament moves to the blitz section.
Alireza Firouzja holds the sole lead after the opening day with five points.
Just weeks ago, Firouzja was forced to withdraw from the Grand Chess Tour event in Romania after suffering an ankle injury. He played two games from a separate room before withdrawing from the tournament.
In Zagreb, Firouzja drew with Anish Giri in the third round to maintain his lead. Vincent Keymer recovered from his opening-round loss by defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Bogdan-Daniel Deac registered his first victory of the event against Ivan Saric. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Jorden van Foreest drew their game.
The tournament features two formats: a nine-round single round-robin rapid event, played with a time control of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment from move one, followed by an 18-round double round-robin blitz event played with five minutes plus a two-second increment from move one.
Rapid victories are worth two points and draws one point. In the blitz section, wins earn one point and draws half a point.
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