Superbet Classic R3: Praggnanandhaa outplays Abdusattorov
R Praggnanandhaa outplayed Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) to get in the lead at Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic 2025. The former World Rapid champion made an incorrect decision by trading his dark-square bishop. The longterm lingering weakness caused him to concede the game. D Gukesh drew against Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) after both player missed slim chances. Fabiano Caruana (USA) got the better of Alireza Firouzja (FRA) who went wrong in the endgame. Both Praggnanandhaa and Caruana are at 2/3 each. They are closely followed by half a dozen players at 1.5/3 including the World Champion. Round 4 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Caruana and Praggnanandhaa share the lead
Fabiano Caruana and R Praggnanandhaa have emerged coleaders 2/3. Six players are trailing by a half point at 1.5/3 each.
Praggnanandhaa - Abdusattorov: 1-0
R Praggnanandhaa (2758) drew seven Classical rated games against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2771). The sole victory was scored by Praggnanandhaa. He added one more win to the list.
24...Bg4 would have been fine for Black. However, 24...Bxe5 giving up the dark-square bishop created long-term weakness on the kingside for Black. 25.Bxg5 Bxe4 26.Bf6 the bishop remains firmly placed on f6, later on g7 from where Black has no way to displace it. It not only fixes the black king on g8 but also ties down the rook to keep a lookout on the back-rank. Praggnanandhaa does not miss these opportunities and he went on to convert his advantage into a win.
Gukesh - Bogdan-Daniel: 0.5-0.5
The World Champion, D Gukesh (2787) had played only one Classical rated game against Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2668). It was at the very same event last year. Gukesh won that encounter. He got himself a promising position in the middlegame.
White does not have to recapture on d4 immediately. The intermediate move 20.Ng4! is an effective one. 20...h5 21.Qxh5 Qg6 22.Qxg6 Nxg6 23.Nxd6 Nxd6 24.f5 is one of the lines where White could have maintained an upperhand. Instead, the game continued 20.Bxd4 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 f6 White's advantage dissipated. Eventually, it was Black who got some chances in the end. However, White managed to draw via perpetual check.
Replay live commentary
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 3 results
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | IND | 2787 | GM | Gukesh, D | ½ - ½ | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 6 | IND | 2758 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 1 - 0 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 7 | |||
| 3 | 4 | USA | 2747 | GM | Aronian, Levon | ½ - ½ | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 9 | |||
| 4 | 3 | USA | 2751 | GM | So, Wesley | ½ - ½ | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 1 | |||
| 5 | 2 | FRA | 2757 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | 0 - 1 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 10 |
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3,25 | |
| 2 | 6 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2,75 | |
| 3 | 9 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 1,5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2,00 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 1,5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1,75 | |
| 5 | 2 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 1,5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,25 | |
| 3 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 1,5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,25 | ||
| 7 | 1 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 1,5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2,50 | |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 1,5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2,25 | |
| 9 | 7 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1,25 | |
| 10 | 4 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,25 |
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | USA | 2776 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 7 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | FRA | 2757 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 8 | ROU | 2668 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 6 | ||||
| 4 | 9 | FRA | 2723 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 5 | ||||
| 5 | 1 | POL | 2739 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 4 |
