Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured a commendable third-place finish at the Superbet Rapid and Blitz tournament in Warsaw, a key event in the Grand Chess Tour series.
Slovenian Grandmaster Vladimir Fedoseev emerged as the champion with an outstanding total of 26.5 points, finishing well ahead of the rest of the field. France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave claimed second place with 21.5 points, while Praggnanandhaa followed closely behind with 20.5 points.
Despite suffering several defeats in the blitz rounds, the 18-year-old Indian showed resilience, bouncing back with four wins in his final five games. He earned a prize purse of USD 25,000 for his overall performance.
Fedoseev dominated the blitz section, collecting 7.5 points out of 9 games on the final day. His only loss came at the hands of Polish GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda. For his strong showing, he took home the winner’s cheque of USD 40,000.
Vachier-Lagrave received USD 30,000 for finishing second.
India’s Aravindh Chithambaram, playing in his debut Grand Chess Tour event, tied for seventh place with Duda, both scoring 17 points.
Levon Aronian (USA) finished fourth with 20 points, followed by France’s Alireza Firouzja with 18.5. Romania’s Deac Bogdan-Daniel placed sixth with 18 points. David Gavrilescu (Romania) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) rounded out the leaderboard.
With this result, Vachier-Lagrave now leads the overall Grand Chess Tour standings. Fedoseev, who participated as a wildcard, will have to await a full invitation to compete further in the tour.
The Grand Chess Tour now moves to Bucharest, Romania, for its first classical leg beginning May 7. Indian stars D Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa will be in action alongside global heavyweights like Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Final standings:
Vladimir Fedoseev (Slovenia) – 26.5 pts
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) – 21.5 pts
R Praggnanandhaa (India) – 20.5 pts
Levon Aronian (USA) – 20 pts
Alireza Firouzja (France) – 18.5 pts
Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Romania) – 18 pts
7-8. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Aravindh Chithambaram (India) – 17 pts
David Gavrilescu (Romania) – 11 pts
Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) – 9 pts