Praggnanandhaa Shines with Strong Start, Gukesh Recovers After Early Setback in Grand Chess Tour Croatia

Zagreb: Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa made an impressive start to the Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia, the third leg of the Grand Chess Tour, finishing the opening day in joint second place. Meanwhile, reigning world champion D. Gukesh ended the day tied for sixth after three rounds of rapid chess.

Praggnanandhaa opened his campaign with a convincing victory over Vincent Keymer before securing a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Gukesh, on the other hand, suffered a first-round defeat to Vachier-Lagrave but bounced back with a win against Ivan Saric in the second round.

The day's final round featured an all-Indian showdown between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh, with the game ending in a draw. After three rounds, Praggnanandhaa has four points out of a possible six, placing him in joint second, while Gukesh sits tied for sixth with three points. Six more rapid rounds remain before the tournament shifts to the blitz phase.

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French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja emerged as the sole leader after the opening day with five points. Firouzja, who had been forced to withdraw from the Romania leg of the Grand Chess Tour due to an ankle injury, continued his strong return by drawing with Anish Giri to maintain his lead.

Elsewhere, Keymer recovered from his opening-round defeat by beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Bogdan-Daniel Deac claimed his first victory of the tournament against Saric. Vachier-Lagrave and Jorden van Foreest played out a draw.

The Croatia event features a nine-round rapid tournament played with a time control of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, followed by an 18-round double round-robin blitz competition with five minutes and a two-second increment. Rapid victories are worth two points and draws one point, while blitz wins earn one point and draws half a point.

With inputs from IANS