Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa began his Zagreb Grand Chess Tour campaign with an aggressive victory over top seed Vincent Keymer, showcasing a masterclass performance. While Praggnanandhaa holds a strong position, World Champion D Gukesh experienced mixed results, and Firouzja Alireza currently leads the tournament.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won three matches in a row on the final day to tie for the first place with Firouzja Alireza of France on 12 points as the rapid section of the Croatian leg of the Grand Chess Tour ended in Zagreb, Croatia on Friday.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa began his campaign in the Zagreb leg of the Grand Chess Tour with a victory over top seed Vincent Keymer of Germany before drawing his next two games.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured a tied third-place finish at the Croatian leg of the Grand Chess Tour, bouncing back with a strong performance on the final day. France's Firouzja Alireza claimed the top honours after a tie-break, while Praggnanandhaa shared his position with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Compatriot D Gukesh finished sixth.
Alireza Firouzja has established a dominant lead in the Croatian leg of the Grand Chess Tour after a stellar performance in the blitz section, accumulating 20 points.
World champion D Gukesh and Indian star R Praggnanandhaa are set to compete in the Zagreb Rapid and Blitz Tournament, part of the prestigious Grand Chess Tour. Despite Gukesh's sabbatical from classical chess, he joins a strong field including recent Norway Chess winner Praggnanandhaa, promising an exciting week of high-stakes chess.
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Top-seed Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) led the field at the end of the Rapid with 11 points. He is followed by Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Duda and Saric on 10 points.
Harikrishna continued his success story with the seasoned Grandmaster, who famously assisted Gukesh in the World Championship title match, showcasing his skills as a brilliant attacker.
Vaishali knew she had to win to remain in contention and her approach right from the start was in sync with the requirement of the tournament situation.
World champion Dommaraju Gukesh was beaten by compatriot Ramesh Praggnanandhaa and ended up two points behind Magnus Carlsen, with 15.5, in the Super United Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament in Zagreb, Croatia, on Saturday.
Gukesh had a fine run, beating Constantin Lupulescu and Saric after drawing with Richard Rapport in the day's first game.
Gukesh never got a chance against Mamedov who is known as a theoretician.
The 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa, who started very well on day one with three wins, could only manage four draws on the third day.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen was in stunning form, winning all nine of his games to take a significant lead. He has 20 points out of a possible 27 going into the second half of the blitz on Sunday.
Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh finished fifth while his illustrious compatriot Viswanathan Anand could only manage a tied seventh place in the third leg of the 2023 SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz chess tournament.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand started with a fluent win over Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest before faltering against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second round of the rapid event in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour tournament, in Zagreb, on Wednesday.
Erigaisi is two points clear of Praggnanandhaa and world champion Carlsen (15 points).
Apart from a place in the Candidates to be played in April next year in Canada, Vaishali got richer by US$25000 (Over Rs 20 Lakhs) while Vidit took home a whopping prize purse of US$80000 (Over Rs 66 Lakhs).
