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SportsPosted at: May 14 2025 10:25PM


Praggnanandhaa leads, Firouzja downs Gukesh at Superbet Chess Classic

Bucharest, May 14 (UNI) After six rounds of play at the Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025, the tournament remains wide open with four players tied for the lead on Wednesday.
In the only decisive game of the day, Grandmaster (GM) Alireza Firouzja defeated reigning World Champion GM D Gukesh to join GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana and R Praggnanandhaa at the top of the leaderboard with 3.5 points apiece.
The round's other two games ended in draws, including a tense encounter between GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Praggnanandhaa. The Polish GM lost his footing, yet the Indian teenager was unable to fully capitalise. Despite winning a queen for a rook and knight and maintaining an initiative, Praggnanandhaa could not convert the advantage into a full point.
The highlight of the day was the clash between Firouzja and Gukesh. Though marred by mutual inaccuracies, the game was a complex struggle. Firouzja gained and lost a winning position multiple times, but it was Gukesh who made the final and fatal error.
"I think it should've been a very smooth game actually. After the opening I'm much better. I think I just spent too much time for no reason," Firouzja said post-match. He admitted that a critical move would have simplified matters, instead of the played 30.Qxg4.
Gukesh, who now sits alone at the bottom of the table with 2 points from 6 games, misjudged the endgame. “I think he just thought that this is a theoretical draw, but it's the wrong bishop. It should be the white-coloured bishop,” Firouzja noted.
This was Firouzja’s first win since the opening round, despite having promising positions in nearly all his games. “I think I should've won all the games except against Fabiano, I think. I was winning in all the games and I was never in trouble... now it's a fair result, I think,” he said.
The 18-year-old Gukesh, who became World Champion earlier this year, has struggled in Bucharest. Veteran GM Peter Svidler remarked, "With Gukesh, I’ve never seen him play this poorly," but added, "I’m not expecting this to last for more than one event. I think he’s way too stable and way too good."
Round seven will feature a high-stakes matchup between two joint leaders, Praggnanandhaa and Firouzja. Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave will have the black pieces against GMs Levon Aronian and Bogdan-Daniel Deac, respectively. Meanwhile, Gukesh will be under pressure to bounce back with the white pieces against GM Wesley So.
The 2025 Superbet Chess Classic is the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour and is being held at the Grand Hotel Bucharest from May 7 to 16. The 10-player round-robin event features a prize pool of USD 350,000 and follows a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes added thereafter, and a 30-second increment from move one. UNI BDN SSP
Tags: #Praggnanandhaa leads# Firouzja downs Gukesh at Superbet Chess Classic
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