Praggnanandhaa in sole lead at Xtracon chess with 6.5/7 and a rating performance of 2788!

by Sagar Shah - 26/07/2019

Praggnanandhaa has struck golden form at the strong Xtracon Open in Denmark. Starting as the 21st seed, Pragg is the sole leader of the tournament with a score of 6.5/7. He currently has a performance rating of 2788 and has gained 20 Elo points, taking his live rating to 2560. Pragg also scalped two 2600+ GMs - Anton Korobov and Daniele Vocaturo. In this article we see both the games. Apart from Pragg there are three more Indians who are doing well. Karthikeyan Murali is unbeaten and is on 5.5/7. Vaishali has beaten already two grandmasters and is well on course for an IM norm. Bharath Subramaniyam, who is a few months shy of turning 12, beat 2615 rated Rasmus Svane and is on the 6th place on the ranking list.

In September 2017, Praggnanandhaa breached the 2500 mark and as on 1st of July 2019 his Elo is 2540. While Pragg has ensured that his rating always remains above the 2500 mark and has also minimally improved it, a big breakthrough was required for him to start moving towards the 2600 mark. It seems as if the Xtracon Open is proving to be that breakthrough event for the youngster from Chennai. Yet to turn 14, Pragg is playing the best chess of his life and is leading the tournament with a score of 6.5/7 and a rating performance of 2788.

Praggnanandhaa's 2788 performance with wins over two 2600+ players in last two rounds - Anton Korobov and Daniele Vocaturo

The Xtracon Open is held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 20-27th of July 2019 has 368 players taking part from 25 different countries. We have 25 grandmasters and 15 International Masters in the fray fighting for the top prize of Rs.2,00,000. Interesting thing to note is that although the number of GMs is not very high, the number of GMs above the Elo of 2600 is substantial -13 in all. The top seed is Grandelius Nils followed by Anton Korobov, Gabrel Sargissian, Sam Sevian and so on.

Praggnanandhaa started the event as the 21st seed

Even before Praggnanandhaa could start his rampage in the tournament, it was his sister R. Vaishali who produced the biggest upset by beating Samuel Sevian in round 3.

Vaishali, then went on to beat Johan Salomon and with 5.0/6 she had a rating performance of 2576! In round seven she lost her game to Hansen Sune Berg. But the girl is all set for her IM norm and who knows, two good games and she might score her maiden GM norm as well!

Karthikeyan Murali is on 5.5/7 and is still unbeaten at the event. He has chances of a strong finish if he can do well in the last two rounds.

We mustn't forget the young talent Bharath Subramaniyam. Just 11 years old, Bharath recently became an International Master. He started off the tournament not so well, losing to Kristen Schmidt (2225) in round 3. However, since that game Bharath is back in form and has scored four wins on a trot.

Have a look at the big fish that Bharath caught in round 7 - GM Rasmus Svane rated 2615. Let's have a look at that game:

Bharath likes to play the Benoni - a sharp opening and he doesn't shy away from the challenge, no matter who his opponent is. Rasmus Svane is a strong player, but Bharath backed himself. At some point he was lost, but the position was so complex that Svane couldn't find the best continuation. Bharath managed to win:

Coming back to Praggnanandhaa's games. His first big scalp was Anton Korobov in round six. The position was round about even going into the endgame and then Korobov made a huge blunder which gave Pragg the win:

In round seven Pragg was up against Italian numero uno Daniele Vocaturo. Pragg played the Maroczy Bind and smoothly won his game. There were points where his play could have been improved slightly, but overall it was a very clinical effort.

Video analysis of the game by IM Sagar Shah

Pragg now faces GM Mads Andersson in round 8.

Pragg enroute his victory against Daniele Vocaturo

Standings after round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	21	GM	R Praggnanandhaa	IND	2540	6,5	25,0	31,50	0,0
2	3	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2681	6,0	25,0	28,25	0,0
3	14	GM	Kryakvin Dmitry	RUS	2586	6,0	24,5	27,75	0,0
4	8	GM	Tari Aryan	NOR	2620	6,0	24,0	27,75	0,0
5	16	GM	Hansen Sune Berg	DEN	2575	6,0	23,5	27,50	0,0
6	32	CM	H Bharath Subramaniyam	IND	2405	6,0	23,0	27,00	0,0
7	12	GM	Andersen Mads	DEN	2605	6,0	23,0	26,75	0,0
8	4	GM	Sevian Samuel	USA	2667	6,0	22,5	22,50	0,0
9	13	GM	Postny Evgeny	ISR	2601	5,5	25,0	25,75	0,0
10	1	GM	Grandelius Nils	SWE	2691	5,5	25,0	25,25	0,0
11	15	GM	Kollars Dmitrij	GER	2581	5,5	24,0	25,75	0,0
12	2	GM	Korobov Anton	UKR	2687	5,5	24,0	24,75	0,0
13	11	GM	Vocaturo Daniele	ITA	2612	5,5	24,0	24,00	0,0
14	20	GM	Christiansen Johan-Sebastian	NOR	2548	5,5	23,5	24,25	0,0
15	10	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	IND	2613	5,5	23,5	23,50	0,0
16	34	FM	Roseneck Jonas	GER	2398	5,5	23,5	23,25	0,0
17	24	IM	Bjerre Jonas Buhl	DEN	2503	5,5	23,0	24,50	0,0
18	33	IM	Antonsen Mikkel	DEN	2400	5,5	22,5	23,25	0,0
19	6	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	UKR	2628	5,5	22,5	23,00	0,0
20	39	IM	Zude Erik	GER	2385	5,5	22,5	22,75	0,0

Pairings of round 8

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	12	GM	Andersen Mads	2605	6		6½	GM	R Praggnanandhaa	2540	21
2	16	GM	Hansen Sune Berg	2575	6		6	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2681	3
3	14	GM	Kryakvin Dmitry	2586	6		6	GM	Sevian Samuel	2667	4
4	8	GM	Tari Aryan	2620	6		6	CM	H Bharath Subramaniyam	2405	32
5	24	IM	Bjerre Jonas Buhl	2503	5½		5½	GM	Grandelius Nils	2691	1
6	2	GM	Korobov Anton	2687	5½		5½	IM	Antonsen Mikkel	2400	33
7	20	GM	Christiansen Johan-Sebastian	2548	5½		5½	GM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	2637	5
8	6	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	2628	5½		5½	GM	Cramling Pia	2479	27
9	10	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2613	5½		5½	IM	Jepson Christian	2391	35
10	26	GM	Hector Jonny	2487	5½		5½	GM	Vocaturo Daniele	2612	11

Round 8 will begin at 5 p.m. IST

Related news: