Praggnanandhaa wins Superbet Traditional after a tricky tiebreak

Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa posing after profitable first Grand Chess Tour match.
| Photograph Credit score: X/@rpraggnachess

Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France to win his first-ever match on the Grand Chess Tour by showcasing his supremacy within the Superbet Traditional in Romania.

The Indian, after drawing with the Armenian-American GM Levon Aronianin within the ultimate spherical, was assured of a tie for the primary place.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja additionally received to match Praggnanandhaa on 5.5 factors. This led to a tiebreaker between the three, with 5 minutes and a two-second increment after each transfer.

Within the first recreation with black items, Praggnanandhaa needed to work onerous in a barely tough place towards Firouzja however the finish end result was a draw. Within the second recreation Firouzja drew with Vachier-Lagrave.

Within the final recreation of the occasion, Praggnanandhaa crashed by the defences of Vachier-Lagrave earn the highest prize. The Indian scored 1.5 factors in his blitz video games, half a degree greater than Firouzja and yet another than the opposite French Grandmaster.

It was a candy comeback for Praggnanandhaa after final 12 months’s debacle when he misplaced all his video games within the play-offs.

“I didn’t achieve this properly final time. I suppose attending to relaxation a number of hours earlier than the tiebreak definitely helps,” Praggnanandhaa stated on the prize-giving ceremony.

After his comparatively early draw with Aronian within the Classical recreation, the Indian had rested in his room for a number of hours.

Praggnanandhaa additionally thanked his second for the match, GM Vaibhav Suri, and his everlasting coach Grandmaster RB Ramesh on the event. The Indian received a money award of $77,667 (round ₹66 lakh) for his efforts.

Outcomes (Spherical 9): R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 5.5) drew with Levon Aronian (USA, 4); Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou, 4) misplaced to Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 5.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 5.5) beat Jan Krzysztof (Pol, 3); Wesley So (4) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 4.5); D Gukesh (Ind, 4) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 5).

Tiebreak end result: Praggnanandhaa drew with Firouzja; Firouzja drew with Vachier-Lagrave; Praggnanandhaa beat Vachier-Lagrave.