Superbet Classic R1: Praggnanandhaa overcomes adversity against Gukesh
Superbet Chess Classic 2025 is off to a great start. D Gukesh had R Praggnanandhaa on the ropes. However, he showed his resiliency and escaped the grasp of the World Champion. The game resulted in a draw. Alireza Firouzja (FRA) and Wesley So (USA) are the only two players to score a win each in the first round. Firouzja spotted a tactic correctly which his opponent, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) missed. So's opponent Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) made a one-move blunder in the endgame which was heading towards a draw. It will be Fabiano Caruana (USA) vs Praggnanandhaa and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) vs D Gukesh in Round 2. It starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Firouzja and So score full point
Gukesh - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5
It has been over three years since the last R Praggnanandhaa (2758) defeated D Gukesh (2787) in a Classical rated game. Praggnanandhaa opted for the Queen's Gambit Accepted line against the World Champion.
Black was forced to play 18...Qd4 to pin the bishop and avoid material loss. 19.Nf3 Qc4+ 20.Kb1 Rb8 now White needed to play 21.Qe7 to maintain his firm grip on the position. Instead, he went for 21.Bh7+ to trap the queen Kxh7 22.Re4 Nb6 23.Rxc4 bxc4 White may have gotten the queen for a rook and bishop. However, Black has enough compensation for it. Praggnanandhaa being a staunch defender, managed to survive adversity.
Firouzja - Vachier-Lagrave
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2723) blundered 43...Bc8?? Find out the winning continuation which Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2757) executed in the game.
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Schedule and Format
Superbet Chess Classic will have one round per day from 7th to 16th April. Rest day is on Monday 12th April. Each round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST, except the last round which starts at 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control will be 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Prize
The total prize fund for each Classical event is US$ 350000. The top three prizes are US$ 100000, $65000 and $48000.
Round 1 results
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | POL | 2739 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | ½ - ½ | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 10 | |||
| 2 | 2 | FRA | 2757 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | 1 - 0 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 9 | |||
| 3 | 3 | USA | 2751 | GM | So, Wesley | 1 - 0 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 8 | |||
| 4 | 4 | USA | 2747 | GM | Aronian, Levon | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 7 | |||
| 5 | 5 | IND | 2787 | GM | Gukesh, D | ½ - ½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 6 |
Standings after Round 1
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | |
| 3 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | ||
| 3 | 6 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 0,5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0,25 | |
| 7 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 0,5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0,25 | ||
| 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 0,5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0,25 | ||
| 6 | 1 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 0,5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,25 | |
| 4 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 0,5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,25 | ||
| 5 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 0,5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,25 | ||
| 9 | 8 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0,00 | |
| 9 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0,00 |
Round 2 pairings
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | FRA | 2723 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 3 | ||||
| 2 | 8 | ROU | 2668 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 10 | USA | 2776 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 6 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | POL | 2739 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 2 | ||||
| 5 | 7 | UZB | 2771 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 5 |
