Praggnanandhaa wins GCT Superbet Romania in play-off
World No. 7 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) clinched the GCT Superbet Romania title in play-offs over French duo Alireza and MVL at Grand Hotel, Bucharest. Pragg landed his second big title this year adding GCT Superbet Romania to Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee which also he won in play-off in February. Pragg takes the winner’s cheque of $ 77,667 along with crucial FIDE Circuit points. The winner also landed 10 GCT points and moves to the second spot behind MVL in Grand Chess Tour standings.
A three-way-tie ensured after all the classical games concluded with GMs Vachier-Lagrave Maxime, Praggnanandhaa and Firouzja left standing on top with 5.5 points. The play-off consisting of one blitz game each between the three players saw GM Praggnanandhaa emerge the winner with a score of 1.5-0.5 after holding Firouzja through perpetual checks and defeating MVL when the Frenchman blundered in a roughly equal position.
Four of the ten players viz., Pragg, MVL, Firouzja and Caruana finished with a plus score, while Uzbek star Abdusattorov managed 50% after a brilliant later round win over Duda. Rest of the lot including world champion Gukesh returned with a minus score. Twin losses to French GMs Firouzja and MVL derailed the plans of the Indian Grandmaster who gained his momentum in the penultimate round defeating Aronian. Knowing the fighting qualities of Gukesh one can expect him to comeback strongly in the Norway Chess scheduled to begin from 26th May, 2025.
The GCT caravan moves next to Zagreb for the SuperUnited Rapid & BLitz Croatia scheduled from 1st to 6th July, 2025.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2758) – Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (2723) 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. g3 Qb6 7. Ndb5 Ne5 8. Bg2 a6 9. Na4 Qd8 10. Nd6+ Bxd6 11. Qxd6 Nxc4 12. Qc5 d5 13. b3 Bd7 14. bxc4 Bxa4 15. Qa3 Bc6 16. O-O Qe7 17. Qc3 d4 18. Bxc6+ bxc6 19. Qxd4 O-O 20. Bg5 c5 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Qg4+ Kh8 23. Rab1 Rfd8 24. Rb2 Rab8 25. Rfb1 Rd1+ 26. Rxd1 Rxb2 27. h4 f5 28. Qf4 Kg7 29. e4 fxe4 30. Qg4+ Kh8 31. Qxe4 Qf6 32. Qe3 Rxa2 33. Qxc5 Kg7 34. Qe3 Rc2 35. Rd4 h5 36. Kg2 a5 37. Rf4 Qc3?? (37… Qe7 38. Qe5+ f6 39. Qxh5 is also difficult for black)
38. Qa7!! 1-0 (The final play-off game for the title after Firouzja-Pragg & MVL-Firouzja games ended in draws).
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (2723) – Duda Jan-Krzysztof (2739) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. a4 Rb8 10. a5 Ba7 11. h3 Bb7 12. Re1 O-O 13. Be3 exd4 14. cxd4 Nb4 15. Nc3 Bxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Rc1 Rc8 18. Bc2 d5 19. Bb1 Qd6 20. g3 Nc6 21. Bf4 Qf6 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23. Rxe4 Qf5 24. Ne5 Nxe5 25. Rxe5 Qxh3 26. Re7 h6 27. d5 g5 28. Be5 Rce8 29. d6 cxd6 30. Rxa7 dxe5 31. Rxa6 e4 32. Qf1 Qg4 33. Rxh6 e3 34. Qd3 Re4? 35. Kg2 exf2 36. Rch1 f1=Q+ 37. Kxf1 Qf5+ 38. Kg2 Qe5 39. Rh8+ Kg7 40. Rxf8 Qxb2+ 41. Kf3 Rd4 42. Rxf7+ Kxf7 43. Qf5+ Ke7 44. Qe5+ 1-0
Final Standings & Prize Money: 1-3 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu ($ 77,667), Vachier-Lagrave Maxime, Firouzja Alireza (both $ 67,667) 5.5, 4 Caruana Fabiano ($ 32,000) 5.0, 5 Abdusattorov Nodirbek ($ 26,000) 4.5, 6-9 Aronian Levon, Deac Bogdan-Danie, So Wesley, Gukesh Dommaraju ($ 17,125 each) 4.0, 10 Duda Jan-Krzysztof ($ 10,500) 3.0 pts
Results (Round 9): Abdusattorov Nodirbek (4.5) drew with So Wesley (4.0), Gukesh Dommaraju (4.0) drew with Caruana Fabiano (5.0),Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (5.5) beat Duda Jan-Krzysztof (3.0), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (5.5) drew with Aronian Levon (4.0), Deac Bogdan-Daniel (4.0) lost to Firouzja Alireza (5.5)
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Picture Courtesy: Official Site
