Our Bureau
London
Chennai Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa secured joint first place at the London Chess Classic 2025 Open, earning 8.17 FIDE Circuit points and boosting his lead to 115.17 points from seven events, positioning him strongly for the final Candidates 2026 qualification spot.
The 20-year-old remained unbeaten across nine rounds in the 120-player Swiss tournament (average Elo 2581), scoring 7/9 alongside England’s Ameet K. Ghashi and Serbia’s Velimir Ivić. Praggnanandhaa started with a perfect 3/3, beating Stanley Badacsonyi, Eldar Gasanov, and Nico Chasin, before draws against Pranav Anand and Tamás Jr. Fodor. He rebounded with wins over Eytan Rozen and David Gavrilescu to lead sole after round eight, but drew Israel’s Ilya Smirin in the finale, allowing the others to catch up.
This podium extends Praggnanandhaa’s stellar 2025 classical run, despite a fourth-round exit at the FIDE World Cup in Goa. He tops the Circuit ahead of qualified players like Anish Giri (81.18) and Fabiano Caruana (65.55); Germany’s Vincent Keymer (55.83) trails far behind. Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov poses the lone threat, needing victories in London Masters, World Rapid, and Blitz— a daunting feat despite his Masters dominance.
Praggnanandhaa’s late entry into the Open (bypassing the elite Masters) underscores his strategic push for Circuit points, the last open Candidates path after missing World Cup qualification. With Indians D. Gukesh already qualified via other routes, Praggnanandhaa’s consistency cements India’s chess rise.
