Pragg leads, Gukesh wins @ GCT Superbet Romania
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju scored his first victory at the the $ 350,000 prize money GCT Superbet Chess Classic Romania while GM Praggnanandhaa (5.0) scalped GM Wesley So (3.5) moving into sole lead after the 8th round at Grand Hotel, Bucharest.
GM Praggnanandhaa, placing himself well for FIDE Circuit points & GCT Superbet title, sits on top of the table with 5.0 points followed by Caruana, MVL and Firouzja at 4.5 points. Further half a point behind at 4.0 points were Deac and Abdusattorov.
GM Praggnanandhaa came up with Benko not seen much at the highest level these days. A surprised GM Wesley So had to find answers over the board, but fell short. The dynamics of the position was such that Pragg constantly appeared to be exerting the pressure on the Filipino-American Grandmaster. The double rook and queen ending that resulted after the middle-game was not easy on usually solid Wesley So. It turned out to be tricky and black’s over the board threats weren’t met appropriately. After So’s 29.g3? white’s position collapsed quickly and it was all over by 38th move. Pragg felt Benko could become the new Berlin for 1.d4 having successfully executed his plan against a super Grandmaster.
GM Gukesh Dommaraju got his first win of the tournament scoring over GM Levon Aronian. An early pawn sacrifice in the Ruy Lopez resulted in multiple trade-offs leading the game into a double rook and two minor pieces middle game. Further to that the black king was in the thick of action inching all the way to “d4” by the 21st move. The position resembled a soccer match where the goal keeper was fighting it out along with the forwards. As the game wore on it became clear that Aronian had given away one too much. In addition, the daring king march by Gukesh proved fruitful in the ensuing rook and pawn end game. This win should augment the spirits of the world champion who should be looking make amends in the Norway chess starting in ten days time at Stavanger.
Games between Duda – Deac, Firouzja – Abdusattorov, Caruana – MVL ended in draws effecting minimal changes in the cross-table. The 9th & final round is scheduled to begin an hour early on Friday, 16th May 2025, at 2 PM local time.
So Wesley (2751) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2758) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3 axb5 6. Bxb5 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 Bb7 8. Bd2 Qb6 9. Nf3 Nxd5 10. a4 e6 11. e4 Nxc3 12. Bxc3 Bxe4 13. Ne5 Qb7 14. Qh5 Bg6 15. Nxg6 Qe4+ 16. Kf1 fxg6 17. Qh3 Qf5 18. Qg3 Nc6 19. Qc7 Qd5 20. Bxc6 dxc6 21. h4 Be7 22. Rh3 Rf8 23. Qe5 Bf6 24. Qe2 Bd4 25. Bxd4 cxd4 26. h5 Rf6 27. Kg1 Kf7 28. hxg6+ Rxg6 29. g3? (29. Rf3+ will hold on)
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 0-1
Levon Aronian (2747) – Gukesh Dommaraju (2787) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Re1 Qd6 8. d4 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Qxd4 10. Nxd4 Bxd1 11. Nxc6 Bxc2 12. Nxe7 Kxe7 13. b3 Bd3 14. Ba3+ Ke6 15. Rac1 Rac8 16. f4 exf4 17. e5 Ng4 18. Nf3 h6 19. Nd4+ Kd5 20. e6 Ne3 21. exf7 Kxd4 22. Bb2+ Kd5 23. Bxg7 c5 24. Red1 Ke4 25. Rd2 Rhf8 26. Bxf8 Rxf8 27. Rxc5 Rxf7 28. a4 Bf1 29. Rc8 Bxg2 30. Re8+ Kf5 31. Rxg2 Nxg2 32. Kxg2 Rc7 33. Rf8+ Ke4 34. Rf6 Rc6 35. Rf7 Rb6 36. Re7+ Kf5 37. Rf7+ Ke4 38. Re7+ Kf5 39. Rf7+ Kg5 40. h4+ Kg4 41. Rg7+ Kxh4 42. Kf3 Rxb3+ 43. Kxf4 h5 44. a5
44…Kh3 0-1
Results (Round 8): Aronian Levon (3.5) lost to Gukesh Dommaraju (3.5), Duda Jan-Krzysztof (3.0) drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (4.0), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (4.0) drew with Firouzja Alireza (4.5), Caruana Fabiano (4.5) drew with Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (4.5), So Wesley (3.5) lost to Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (5.0)
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Picture Courtesy: Official Site
