Young Indian International Master V Pranav finished with 6.5 points after losing to Predke in the final round.
Uzbekistan's GM Javokhir Sindarov set up a title clash against Chinese GM Wei Yi in the FIDE World Cup in Panaji on Sunday as the two players also confirmed their spots in the Candidates tournament.
Praggnanandhaa draws with Aronian, shares top spot at Superbet Classic
Vaishali becomes India's 84th Grandmaster, joins brother Praggnanandhaa in elite club
D Gukesh played out a draw with tournament leader and top seed Fabiano Caruana
Defending champion and Grandmaster R Vaishali jumped into sole lead in the women's section
Aravindh Chithambaram had a good second day as he beat former World champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and drew the last two games to find himself on the sole third spot in the Superbet Rapid and Blitz chess tournament.
Having lost three and drawn three coming into the third and final day of rapid, Praggnanadhaa lost to Lenier Dominguez of the US in the seventh round.
Lots to look forward to in Indian sports as packed 2026 calender awaits
Praggnanandhaa blundered for the second day running and lost to Richard Rapport of Romania in the third round
The Indian challenge in the women's section might already have ended as Zhongyi stood firmly ahead on five points while Goryachkina had 4.5 points in her kitty.
The 17-year-old Gukesh is in joint lead with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.
India hosts the event from a position of unprecedented strength with a string of titles under its belt.
The FIDE World Cup for chess will be held between October 30 and November 27, 2025.
World champion D Gukesh's struggles continued as he slumped to a third successive defeat, losing to 16-year-old Turkish Grandmaster Ediz Gurel in the seventh round of the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday.
The Indian challenge extends to the Challengers' section, where Divya Deshmukh will compete against some strong Grandmasters.
Gujrathi and Erigaisi will represent India in the men's individual event while Koneru Humpy and D Harika will do so in the women's section.
On current form, D Gukesh is the favourite to win the World Chess Championship title against his Chinese opponent, Ding Liren, believes Indian teenage Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa.
The 16-year-old top seed was in fine form and remained unbeaten through the nine rounds. He finished the tournament with a victory over fellow-Indian V Praneeth, an International Master, late on Friday.
Rameshbabu is no expert of the complex patterns of chess that his son R Praggnanandhaa has mastered so deeply. He is just an understanding father who is happy to work as a supporting force to the whiz kid.
Grandmasters Raunak Sadhwani and S L Narayanan, India's two best hopes, were held to draws by Daniel Barrish of South Africa and Steven Salas Rojas of Peru in the first game of the opening round of World Chess Cup, in Panjim, on Saturday.
Praggnanandhaa, who received a grand welcome in Chennai on Wednesday, said he is delighted that chess is getting attention in the country.
16-year old Praggnanandhaa halted his three-match losing streak to shock the higher-rated Vidit Gujrathi
World Junior champion Pranav Venkatesh scored a crushing victory over Grandmaster Alan Pichot of Spain to win the Fujairah Global Superstars chess tournament.
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
Teen sensation R Praggnanandhaa will enter as the favourite among the three Indian participants in the Candidates chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto from Wednesday to decide the challenger for the next world championship match.
World champion GM D Gukesh finished tied sixth as Levon Aronian of USA convincingly won the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz that concluded in St Louis.
The eight-player all-play-all tournament is the American finale of Champions Chess Tour. There is US$7,500 at stake for each match won at the event.
Superbet Classic: Praggnanadhaa beats Wesley; in sole lead
The second day of the final will also feature four games and the tie-break if required.
Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram crashed through the defenses of super-solid Anish Giri to jump in to sole lead after the end of the seventh round of Prague Masters.
"This is no small feat", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he led the nation in hailing young Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa's runner-up finish.
World Champion D Gukesh suffered his second straight defeat at the FIDE Grand Swiss, losing to Greece's Nikolas Theodorou in the sixth round in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram moved closer to his first major tournament victory after drawing with David Navara in the eighth round of the Prague Masters.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of world number three Hikaru Nakamura of United States, while R Praggnanandhaa went down to compatriot D Gukesh in the second round of Candidates chess tournament in Toronto.
S L Narayanan, Harsha Bharathakoti, Karthik Venkataraman and Shamsiddin Vokhidov, the other players who had an outside chance of a shot at the title, missed out after drawn games.
Hungary will officially host the 45th edition of the Olympiad for the first time, having hosted the second unofficial Chess Olympiad in 1926.
The trophy was unveiled during a colourful opening ceremony which was attended by Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and FIDE chief Arkady Dvorkovich.
World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi of India started off with a draw against Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the first game of the quarterfinals of Freestyle chess tournament in Paris on Wednesday.
Carlsen came up with a fine exchange sacrifice maintaining parity, and after 49 moves the draw was a just result giving the best player in the world a deserving 1.5-0.5 victory.
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