India's R Praggnanandhaa clinched the Superbet Classic title in Romania after prevailing in a dramatic three-way tie-break, edging out Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja in blitz deciders. The 18-year-old Indian grandmaster held his nerve in the final game against MVL, sealing a memorable win in the opening leg of the Grand Chess Tour.
In the blitz tiebreaks, the first two clashes – Praggnanandhaa vs Firouzja and Vachier-Lagrave vs Firouzja – ended in tightly contested draws, leaving the title hanging in the balance. It was in the decisive third game that Praggnanandhaa stepped, defeating Vachier-Lagrave to win the title.
Earlier in the day, Praggnanandhaa played out a solid draw against American veteran Levon Aronian in the final round. Facing an early surprise with the French Defence, the teenager opted for a quiet setup, steering the game into an early queen exchange. As the game progressed, regular piece trades led to a draw.
The players agreed to split the point after 43 moves.
With the draw, Pragg joined Firouzja and Vachier-Lagrave in the lead. Both Firouzja and MVL had earlier registered wins to catch up. Firouzja turned the tables on local favourite Deac Bogdan-Daniel after being worse for large parts of the middlegame, while MVL capitalised on a late positional blunder by Jan-Krzysztof Duda to notch up a comfortable win.
The tiebreak featured two blitz games for each player, and in case of a further deadlock, an Armageddon decider was scheduled. However, Praggnanandhaa rose to the occasion and sealed victory by defeating MVL in the final blitz game to clinch the title.
{{/usCountry}}The tiebreak featured two blitz games for each player, and in case of a further deadlock, an Armageddon decider was scheduled. However, Praggnanandhaa rose to the occasion and sealed victory by defeating MVL in the final blitz game to clinch the title.
{{/usCountry}}Among the other Indian participants, D Gukesh ended with 4 points following a final-round draw against Fabiano Caruana. The American, meanwhile, finished fourth with 5 points. Wesley So and Aronian ended the tournament tied with Gukesh and Deac, while Duda, with just 3 points, brought up the rear.