Praggnanandhaa joins Alireza at the top after Grand Chess Tour rapid section

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won his final three rapid games to finish as joint leader with Firouzja Alireza on 12 points in the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour. D Gukesh slipped behind after drawing all three of his games

Zagreb (Croatia): Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won three matches in a row on the final day to finish the rapid section of the Croatian leg of the Grand Chess Tour as joint leader with France’s Firouzja Alireza on 12 points.

Having fallen a little behind after the second day, Praggnanandhaa produced his best performance in the last three rounds, defeating Croatia’s Ivan Saric, Romania’s Deac Bogdan-Daniel and the Netherlands’ Anish Giri to draw level with Alireza.

---

The other Frenchman, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov remained within striking distance of the two leaders after a strong finish in the rapid section, reaching 11 points. World champion D Gukesh of India and Germany’s Vincent Keymer are close behind with 10 points each.

With 18 rounds in the blitz section still to be played, Giri is on eight points, one point ahead of Deac and the Netherlands’ Jorden van Foreest, while Saric is last with just two points.

For Praggnanandhaa, things began to fall into place against Saric, who has been struggling in the tournament. The Caro-Kann Defence gave the Indian an active position right from the opening and, though it took time to convert the advantage, Praggnanandhaa remained in control throughout.

In the second game, Praggnanandhaa broke through Deac’s defence from a Petroff Defence and, by the 15th move, the outcome was almost certain. The Romanian soon lost a piece and never recovered.

In the final game of the day, Praggnanandhaa outplayed the usually dependable Giri. He won a pawn from a Catalan Opening and then finished the game efficiently with fine tactical manoeuvres. The game ended in just 34 moves.

For Gukesh, it was a contrasting day compared to Praggnanandhaa’s, as the youngest-ever world champion could only draw all three games and slipped slightly behind. Abdusattorov, Keymer and Alireza all shared the points with Gukesh.

**Standings after Round 9 (Rapid):** 1-2: Firouzja Alireza (Fra), R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) 12 each; 3-4: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 11 each; 5-6: D Gukesh (Ind), Vincent Keymer (Ger) 10 each; 7: Anish Giri (Ned) 8; 8-9: Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou), Jorden van Foreest (Ned) 7 each; 10: Ivan Saric (Cro) 2.