R Praggnanandhaa wins Superbet Chess Classic 2025 in Playoffs
R Praggnanandhaa defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) in the Playoffs to win Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic 2025. In the ninth round, Praggnanandhaa drew his game against Levon Aronian (USA). World Champion, D Gukesh shared the point with Fabiano Caruana (USA) and the latter was out of championship contention. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Alireza Firouzja (FRA) defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) respectively. Praggnanandhaa, MVL and Firouzja ended up scoring 5.5/9 each. Praggnanandhaa drew with Firouzja and defeated MVL to win his first GCT event of his career. This is also his second tournament triumph of the year after he won 87th Tata Steel Masters three months ago. Praggnanandhaa won US$ 77667 and currently has 18 GCT points in this season. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Praggnanandhaa's first Grand Chess Tour tournament triumph
"Yeah it feels great to win a GCT event. Last year also I was close. We had this tie-break last year as well. I didn't do so well last time. I guess getting to rest few hours before the tie-break certainly helps. The tie-break games were crazy. It could have gone either way." - R Praggnanandhaa on his initial feelings of feeling his first-ever Grand Chess Tour event at Superbet Chess Classic 2025. "No, to be honest, I did not know that it was a three-way tie. I came down, they were scanning, like they were doing the check before the games. I asked them if it's a two-way or a three-way tie and they said three-way tie. Yeah I saw the last-minute swindle by Alireza. I had zero preparation but it was good to have rest before the game. It certainly helps." - Praggnanandhaa on his approach towards the Playoff games.
"Nothing specific. Just trying to be more ambitious whenever I play. Trying to go for tournament wins and I am happy it's coming." - R Praggnanandhaa won 87th Tata Steel Masters earlier this year. He shared his reasoning behind 2025 seeming to be his year. "There is a very good support system for me starting with my family, support system by the Adani group who is supporting me from last year, also my trainers, Vaibhav (GM Vaibhav Suri) was with me here. He was working quite hard throughout the event. There are also other seconds out there. Also huge thanks to Ramesh sir. We were working a lot. After last year didn't go my way. We were working, like trying to improve on things. I think we are seeing the results of all the hard work. I think without all of their support, it's just not possible to here." - Praggnanandhaa shared his thoughts on his support system.
"Not really. They did inspire me to work a lot, work hard and give my best on the board as well. I think that's the good thing that we are all inspiring each other to grow together. Yeah that's why we are seeing such results. One side is like Gukesh winning the World Championship, Arjun crossing 2800. These things, yeah they do give inspiration to do well." - Praggnanandhaa on whether he locked himself at WACA to spend hours on training after getting inspired by D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi's performances last year.
Praggnanandhaa - Aronian: 0.5-0.5
R Praggnanandhaa (2758) drew his ninth round game against Levon Aronian (USA, 2747).
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Alireza Firouzja (FRA) defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) respectively. Thus, setting up a three-way Playoffs between Praggnanandhaa, MVL and Firouzja.
Playoff: Firouzja - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5
R Praggnanandhaa (2717) drew his first Playoff Blitz game against Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2857). Praggnanandhaa made a lot of attempts on his opponent's king. However, the game ended in a draw via perpetual check.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2748) had a good position against Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2857), still the game ended in a draw.
Praggnanandhaa - Vachier-Lagrave: 1-0
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2748) has a 4.5-2.5 score against R Praggnanandhaa (2717) in Blitz rated games. However, Praggnanandhaa scored a win when it mattered the most when the World Blitz 2021 champion blundered in a relatively balanced queen and rook endgame.
36...a5? 37.Rf4 now Black needed to play Qe7 to prevent Qa7. Instead, he played 37...Qc3?? 38.Qa7 and it's over. Praggnanandhaa won the game and the tournament.
Replay live commentary
Replay Round 9 and Playoff games
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 9 results
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | UZB | 2771 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | ½ - ½ | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 3 | |||
| 2 | 5 | IND | 2787 | GM | Gukesh, D | ½ - ½ | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 10 | |||
| 3 | 9 | FRA | 2723 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 1 - 0 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 1 | |||
| 4 | 6 | IND | 2758 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | ½ - ½ | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 8 | ROU | 2668 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | 0 - 1 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 2 |
Standings after Round 9
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 5,5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 22,50 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 5,5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 24,00 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 5,5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 24,00 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 22,75 | |
| 5 | 7 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 4,5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 19,00 | |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 17,75 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 17,00 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 17,00 | |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 18,00 | |
| 10 | 1 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14,00 |
GCT standings
