Pragg & Caruana post wins, share lead @ GCT Superbet Romania
GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) and Fabiano Caruana (USA) posted their first wins moving into the lead with 2.0 points after the third round of the GCT Superbet Chess Classic Romania at Grand Hotel, Bucharest. Caruana brought down overnight sole leader Firouzja, while Praggnanandhaa grounded Abdusattorov with some endgame finesse. Others games between Gukesh – Deac, Aronian – MVL and So – Duda ended without a result.
Nodirbek has always been a tough customer, but today Pragg was upto the task. The Grunfeld game saw the Indian Grandmaster experimenting with a long pawn push on the king rook file. The Uzbek GM under estimated it’s potency and was down with a painful defence right through the game. While the opposite colored bishops offer good drawing chances, the presence of rook and the advanced pawn tilted the equation in favor of white. After 29…Bg7 the black king appeared to be in ICU, surviving under a thin line. The late king and pawn march proved decisive for Praggnanandhaa who can be truly proud of this positional masterpiece.
In line for a hat-trick of titles at Romania, the 2023 & 2024 Superbet Classic champion Caruana made the best of his chance to put it across leader Firouzja. The Queens Gambit Declined game that lasted 73 moves was a testament of the resilience of Firouzja and the persistence of Caruana. The queen & pawn vs rook & pawn ending position that occurred after 62…Kxf5 was more like a study. Credit goes to the American Grandmaster who showed the precision of a renowned surgeon in execution.
With a high stake of $ 350,000 prize money one can expect a fight through the whole tournament. This nine round GCT classical event concludes on 16th May, 2025. The fourth round is scheduled to begin by Saturday, 10th May 2025, at 3 PM local time.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2758) – Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2771) 1. c4 g6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Bf4 O-O 7. e3 c5 8. cxd5 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Qxd5 10. Be2 cxd4 11. cxd4 Nc6 12. O-O Bf5 13. h4 Rac8 14. h5 Rfd8 15. h6 Bf6 16. Qa4 Qa5 17. Qxa5 Nxa5 18. Rac1 Nc6 19. a3 e6 20. Ng5 e5 21. dxe5 Nxe5 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Rd1 Be7 24. e4 Bxg5 25. Bxg5 Bxe4 26. Bf6 Nc6 27. Rd7 Nb8 28. Re7 Bd5 29. Bg7 Rd8 30. Bb5 a6 31. Ba4 b5 32. Bd1 Nc6 33. Rc7 Be6 34. Rxc6 Rxd1+ 35. Kh2 Rd8 36. Rxa6 Bc4 37. Ra7 Bd5 38. f3 Ra8 39. Rd7 Bc4 40. Rb7 Re8 41. Kg3 Ra8 42. Kf2 Re8 43. Be5 Rc8 44. Bg7 Ra8 45. g4 Re8 46. Kg3 Be2 47. f4 Ra8 48. Kh4 Rc8 49. Kg5 Bd3 50. Be5 Re8 51. Bd6 Bc4 52. f5 Rc8 53. Be5 Re8 54. Rd7 Rc8 55. Bf6 gxf5? (better defence would be 55…Bb3)
56. gxf5 Kf8 57. Rb7 Ra8 58. Be7+ Ke8 59. Bb4 Ra6 60. Rb8+ Kd7 61. Rh8 1-0
Firouzja Alireza (2757) – Caruana Fabiano (2776) 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 c6 7. Qc2 Be7 8. e3 Nh5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. g4 Nhf6 11. Rg1 Nb6 12. h3 Be6 13. Bd3 g6 14. O-O-O O-O-O 15. Kb1 Kb8 16. Ka1 Rc8 17. Rc1 Rc7 18. Nd2 h5 19. g5 Nfd7 20. h4 c5 21. dxc5 Nxc5 22. Nb5 Rcc8 23. Qc3 Bd7 24. Qa3 Bxb5 25. Bxb5 Rc7 26. Rc2 Rhc8 27. Rgc1 Ne4 28. Rxc7 Rxc7 29. Qxe7 Rxe7 30. Nxe4 Rxe4 31. Rh1 d4 32. Bd3 Rg4 33. Bc2 Rg2 34. exd4 Rxf2 35. Kb1 Nc4 36. Bd3 Nd6 37. Rf1 Rd2 38. Rf3 Rg2 39. b3 b5 40. a4 bxa4 41. Bc4 axb3 42. Bxb3 Nf5 43. Rh3 Rf2 44. Bxf7 Nxh4 45. Rb3+ Kc7 46. Ra3 a5 47. Bd5 Rf5 48. Rc3+ Kd6 49. Be4 Rxg5 50. Rc6+ Kd7 51. Ra6 Rg4 52. Bc2 Ke7 53. Rxa5 Kf6 54. Ra6+ Kg5 55. d5 Nf5 56. Kb2 h4 57. Kc3 h3 58. d6 h2 59. d7 Rd4 60. Bxf5 h1=Q 61. Kxd4 Qh8+ 62. Kd5 Kxf5 63. Rd6 Qd8 64. Kc6 g5 65. Rd1 ? (65. Rd3 was a must here)
65…g4 66. Re1 Qa8+ 67. Kd6 g3 68. Ke7 Qa3+ 69. Ke8 Qa4 70. Rf1+ Ke6 71. Re1+ Kf5 72. Re2 Qb5 73. Re7 g2 0-1
Results (Round 3): Gukesh Dommaraju (1.5) drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (1.5), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2.0) beat Abdusattorov Nodirbek (1.0), Aronian Levon (1.0) drew with Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (1.5), So Wesley (1.5) drew with Duda Jan-Krzysztof (1.5), Firouzja Alireza (1.5) lost to Caruana Fabiano (2.0).
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