New Delhi: Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa held Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda to a draw in the sixth round of the Superbet Chess Classic, maintaining his position as joint leader with 3.5 points in this prestigious leg of the Grand Chess Tour. Playing black in an English Opening, Praggnanandhaa faced early tactical pressure as Duda attempted to push aggressively, even sacrificing his queen for a rook and a minor piece in the middlegame. However, the Indian prodigy defended accurately, recognizing the limitations of his opponent’s compensation and steering the game to a balanced draw.
Meanwhile, fellow Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh suffered a second defeat in the tournament, this time against France’s Alireza Firouzja. Despite the game appearing to head toward a draw after Firouzja missed his middlegame opportunities, Gukesh made a costly blunder in the endgame involving a rook, bishop, and one pawn each, which sealed his loss. The setback saw Gukesh drop to fifth place in the live world rankings, with Arjun Erigaisi surpassing him to become the new World No. 3.
At the close of Round 6, Praggnanandhaa shared the lead with Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, and American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana—all on 3.5 points. Caruana attempted to break through against Romanian GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel with a bold piece sacrifice, but had to settle for a draw. Vachier-Lagrave also couldn’t capitalize on the white pieces and drew quickly with Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov. As the tournament progresses, the leaderboard remains tightly contested with multiple players vying for the top spot.
Sorry, there was a YouTube error.
