Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa showcased an impressive comeback at the Superbet Rapid and Blitz tournament, part of the Grand Chess Tour, held in Warsaw, Poland. After a challenging start in the rapid section, Praggnanandhaa demonstrated his expertise in the blitz format, climbing to second place in the overall standings by the end of the first half of the blitz section.
The blitz format, known for its fast-paced nature with just five minutes per game and a three-second increment per move, allowed Praggnanandhaa to shine. He started the blitz section with losses to Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania and Levon Aronian of the United States but quickly recovered. He secured victories against notable players, including Firouzja Alireza of France and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Praggnanandhaa’s momentum continued as he defeated former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, Aravindh Chithambaram, and David Gavrilescu of Romania, earning 5.5 points out of nine games.
Despite his strong performance, Praggnanandhaa trails behind Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia, who leads the tournament with a commanding 19 points. Fedoseev’s dominance in both the rapid and blitz sections has made him the favorite to win, with a 3.5-point lead over Praggnanandhaa. Indian GM Aravindh Chithambaram, who had a promising start in the rapid section, struggled in the blitz rounds, managing only 3.5 points from nine games and slipping to a shared third place with Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
The tournament, held at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, features a single round-robin rapid segment followed by a double round-robin blitz segment. With nine more blitz games remaining, Praggnanandhaa has a chance to close the gap and challenge Fedoseev for the top spot. The event has drawn attention for its high-level competition and the remarkable performances of young talents like Praggnanandhaa, who continues to make waves in the chess world.
