Superbet Classic R8: Praggnanandhaa beats So, emerges sole leader
R Praggnanandhaa defeated Wesley So (USA) in Round 8 of Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic 2025. The Tata Steel 2025 winner, opted for the Benko Gambit. He managed to seize his opportunity when So went wrong in the major piece endgame. Praggnanandhaa is now the sole leader with a score 5/8. The only other win of the round was scored by the World Champion, D Gukesh. He scored his first win of the event against Levon Aronian (USA). Gukesh played boldly and moved his king to the center of the board and it paid off. Praggnanandhaa will face Aronian in the final round. A win makes him a clear champion whereas a draw might require him to Playoffs. Round 9 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Gukesh scores his first win of the event against Aronian
Three players - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Alireza Firouzja (FRA) and Fabiano Caruana (USA) are trailing R Praggnanandhaa by a half point at 4.5/8 each. If Praggnanandhaa draws his game against Levon Aronian (USA) in the final round, then whoever among the three pursuers, scores a win will have to play Playoffs.
So - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1
R Praggnanandhaa (2758) had five draws against Wesley So (USA, 2751) in Classical rated games and lost only one. In the penultimate round, he score his first win against So in a Classical rated game. Praggnanandhaa opted for the Benko Gambit with the black pieces and he deviated 12...Bxe4 from a game played by So online.
After declining a queen trade several times, White misplayed in the endgame 29.g3? Instead, 29.Rf3 would have continued the fight. 29.g3? blocks the h3-rook's path. 29...d3-+ 30.Qd2 Rg4 31.a5 Re4 32.Rxh7 Kg8 33.Rh4 Re2 34.Qc3 d2 35.Rd1 Rf8 36.Rh2 Qe4 37.Rf1 Rf3 38.Qc5 Re1 and it's over.
Aronian - Gukesh: 0-1
Levon Aronian (USA, 2747) and D Gukesh (2787) had three draws against each other in Classical rated games. This was the first time they had a decisive Classical battle. The only two-time FIDE World Cup winner, opted for the Deferred Exchange variation in the Ruy Lopez. Queens got traded by move no.10. The World Champion played fearlessly and brought his king to the center of the board.
20.e6? Ne3 21.exf7 Kxd4 gave Black a decisive advantage. White's ambitious play did not work out and Black scored his first win of the event.
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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 8 results
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | USA | 2747 | GM | Aronian, Levon | 0 - 1 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 5 | |||
| 2 | 1 | POL | 2739 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | ½ - ½ | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 8 | |||
| 3 | 2 | FRA | 2757 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 7 | |||
| 4 | 10 | USA | 2776 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | ½ - ½ | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 9 | |||
| 5 | 3 | USA | 2751 | GM | So, Wesley | 0 - 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 6 |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 19,50 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 4,5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 17,50 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 4,5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 17,50 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 4,5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 18,25 | |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 15,75 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 15,25 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 3,5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 13,25 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 3,5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 13,50 | |
| 4 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 3,5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 13,50 | ||
| 10 | 1 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12,50 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | UZB | 2771 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 3 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | IND | 2787 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 10 | ||||
| 3 | 9 | FRA | 2723 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | IND | 2758 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | ROU | 2668 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 2 |
