Praggnanandhaa wins 2nd Uzchess Cup in tie-breaks
Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (5.5/9) just hung on there when the chips were down, never giving up, ending up winning the 2nd Uzchess Cup at Tashkent. Pragg broke Uzbek hearts edging out GMs Abdusattorov and Sindarov by a 1.5/2 score in the second set of blitz tie-breaks after the first set of tie-breaks ended with 2 points apiece for the top trio.
The top three ranked player’s received winners cheques for $ 20,000, $ 15,000 & $ 10,000 respectively. The nine round Super GM tournament surprisingly went without a rest day, and ran from 19th to 27th June, 2025.
In addition, the dramatic final round victory gave Pragg precious FIDE Circuit points, greatly improving his chances for the next Candidates cycle. Securing the World No. 4 and India No. 1 in the LIVE ratings is an added bonus for Pragg team and family. Uzchess Cup is the third title in 2025 for Praggnanandhaa who won Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee and GCT Superbet Romania early this year.
The twists and turns around of the final round showed rich blend of mystery that would have made Alfred Hitchcock proud. Destiny was what it was today for the Champion, who believed that the title was his till the very end. Pragg kept raising from the Phoenix repeatedly under must win situations, keeping the viewer anxiety high all along. Sitting behind the white pieces facing the Sicilian Defense Four Knights Variation a draw should have been for the asking under normal circumstances. But the pressure of playing at home with a just a draw required to clinch the title proved a little too much for Abdusattorov.
Castling long early in the game with 13. 0-0-0 could be one of the debatable decisions of the Uzbek star that boomeranged. For it paved way for a fluent attack by the Uzchess Champion on the queen-side which ultimately cost white it’s queen. Piling the double rooks along with a bishop holding a key diagonal wasn’t enough since the white king was too precariously placed. White resigned on the 49th move when the black queen and rook combo threatened a mate or heavy loss of material.
Rest they say is history. For, Pragg, Sindarov and Abdusattorov went through six tie break games – each playing the other twice with either color – completing the first set of blitz tie-breaks where all three finished with 2.0 points each. The second set of blitz tie-breaks with just a single game between the three Grandmasters saw the Indian coming up trumps with a 1.5/2 score while Sindarov (1.0/2) and Abdusattorov (0.5/2) came behind in that order.
GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Aravindh Chithambaram had forgettable tournament outing at Tashkent taking the final two spots with huge questions to be answered in the back of their minds. GM Aravindh Chithambaram will be part of the Biel Chess Festival starting mid July and will be working to regain his lost ELOs and better form in Switzerland.
For the bottom seed GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin it turned out to be a memorable finish. The Uzbek won the final two rounds defeating higher rated GMs Parham Maghsoodloo and Ian Nepomniachtchi shaking up the standings. GMs Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov will be moving again in the next few days for the GCT Croatia Rapid and Blitz at Zagreb.
(Round 9 Results): Abdusattorov Nodirbek (5.5) lost to Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (5.5), Vokhidov Shamsiddin (4.0) beat Nepomniachtchi Ian (3.5), Sindarov Javokhir (5.5) drew with Maghsoodloo Parham (4.5), Rapport Richard (4.5) drew with Yakubboev Nodirbek (4.5), Erigaisi Arjun (5.0) drew with Aravindh Chithambaram V R (2.5)
Final Ranking: 1-3 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India), Sindarov Javokhir, Abdusattorov Nodirbek (both Uzbekistan) 5.5, 4 Erigaisi Arjun (India) 5.0, 5-7 Maghsoodloo Parham (Iran), Rapport Richard (Hungary), Yakubboev Nodirbek (Uzbekistan) 4.5, 8 Vokhidov Shamsiddin (Uzbekistan) 4.0, 9 Nepomniachtchi Ian (Russia) 3.5, 10 Aravindh Chithambaram V R (India) 2.5
Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2767) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2767) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bf4 d6 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Ba4 e5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Qd3 a5 13. O-O-O Be7 14. Rhf1 O-O 15. g3 Rab8 16. f4 Rb4 17. Qa6 exf4 18. gxf4 Rfb8 19. e5 Qf5 20. exd6 Bf6 21. Bb3 Qc5 22. Rfe1 Bxc3 23. bxc3 Qxc3 24. Qd3 Qa1+ 25. Kd2 Qf6 26. c3 Bf5 27. Qxf5 Rd4+ 28. cxd4 Qxf5 29. Kc3 Qd7 30. Re5 Qxd6 31. Rde1 Kf8 32. Kd3 Rd8 33. R1e4 Qb4 34. f5 a4 35. Bc4 Qb1+ 36. Kc3 Qc1+ 37. Kd3 Qb1+ 38. Kc3 Rb8 39. Re3 Qc1+ 40. Kd3 Qd1+ 41. Kc3 Qa1+ 42. Kd3 Qb1+ 43. Kc3 g6 44. fxg6 Qc1+ 45. Kd3 Rb4 46. Re8+? (White goes down quickly. 46. Rc5 might hold for some more time)
46…Kg7 47. Rg8+ Kxg8 48. gxf7+ Kh7 49. f8=Q Qxc4+ 0-1
Vokhidov Shamsiddin (2644) – Nepomniachtchi Ian (2757) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 9. f4 Rb8 10. Bd3 c5 11. c4 Nb4 12. O-O Nxd3 13. Qxd3 Bb7 14. Rf2 Qc6 15. Re2 d5? (better was 15…Qb6)
16. exd6 Rd8 17. Bd2 Bxd6 18. Qg3 O-O 19. Bc3 e5 20. fxe5 Be7 21. Nd6 g6 22. Nf5 Qe6 23. Nxe7+ Qxe7 24. e6 f6 25. Rf1 Bc8 26. Qh4 Bxe6 27. Bxf6 Qf7 28. Ref2 Rd7 29. b3 Qe8 30. Qg5 Rdf7 31. Qxc5 Qd7 32. Qg5 Qd3 33. h3 Bc8 34. h4 Bb7 35. h5 a5 36. Rf5 Rg7 37. Qh6 Rff7 38. R5f2 1-0
Sindarov Javokhir (2710) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2767) 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Bf5 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 9. Bf4 c6 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Nd7 12. Ne5 Rd8 13. Rfd1 O-O 14. a4 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Rxd6 17. c3 Rfd8 18. Rd3 g6 19. b4 Qd5 20. Re3 a5 21. bxa5 Qxa5 22. h4 b5 23. Qc2 Ra8 24. h5 bxa4 25. h6 Rd7 26. Re5 Rd5 27. Ree1 Rh5 28. Qd2 Qc7 29. Reb1 Qh2+ 30. Kf1 Rxh6 31. Qe3 Rh5 32. Qf3 Qc7 33. g4 Rha5 34. Kg2 a3 35. Rh1 Rg5 36. Kf1 a2 37. Qe3 Rxg4 38. Qh6 f5 39. Qd2 Qb8 40. f3 Qf4 41. Qe2 Kg7 42. Rh3 Rg3 43. Rxg3 Qxg3 44. Qe3 h5 45. c4 h4 46. d5 cxd5 47. cxd5 h3 48. Qc3+ Kh7 49. Qb2 Qg2+ 50. Qxg2 hxg2+ 51. Kxg2
51…exd5 0-1 (Tie-break blitz game)
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