Super Chess Classic: Fabiano Caruana Beats R Praggnanandhaa On Dramatic Day
Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa lost his first game in the Super Chess Classic after being defeated by Fabiano Caruana of the United States in a dramatic seventh round of the tournament.
Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa lost his first game in the Super Chess Classic after being defeated by Fabiano Caruana of the United States in a dramatic seventh round of the tournament that is a part of the Grand Chess tour in Bucharest, Romania. On a day when Jorden Van Foreest of Holland benefitted from the withdrawal of Frenchman Alireza Firouzja, world championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan put it across overnight leader Vincent Keymer of Germany. With two rounds still to come, Keymer was joined by Foreest and Caruana in the lead on 4.5 points while Anish Giri of Holland now follows the three leaders a half point behind.
Praggnanadhaa remained on 3.5 points in the company of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Wesley So of the United States and Sindarov. Deac Bogdan-Daniel is on 2.5 points.
Praggnanandhaa's first loss in the tournament almost threw him out of contention for a top place finish. The Indian started with the Queen pawn opening and faced the fashionable Ragozine variation in the Queen's gambit declined.
Knowing well that a victory was necessary to stay in contention, Praggnanandhaa went for a pretty complex position in the middle game but found Caruana at ease in the tactics that ensued.
With precision, the top seeded American found resourceful moves to put the Indian on the backfoot and then launched a decisive attack on the white king that could not be parried. The game lasted just 33 moves.
Sindarov outplayed Keymer in another Queen pawn game of the day albeit with white pieces.
Keymer was out of sorts in this encounter as he did not get the desired counter play after sacrificing a pawn and Sindarov was quick to pounce on the chances offered in the middle game and romped home in 40 moves. With a total prize pool of USD 375000 with USD 100000 reserved for the winner, there is still some chance that Praggnanandhaa can finish on the podium but the battle for the title seems to be between the top four in standings as of now.
Results after round 7: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 3.5) drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (ROU, 2.5) R Praggnanandhaa (IND, 3.5) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4.5); Javokhir SIndarov (UZB, 3.5) beat Vincent Keymer (GER, 4.5); Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 1) gave walkover to Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 4.5); Anish Giri (NED, 3) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3.5).
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