Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa just had a fantastic run, clinching his third title of the year at the UzChess Cup Masters 2025 in Tashkent!1 This victory is extra special because it propelled him to become the top-ranked Indian chess player in live ratings.
Heading into the final day, Praggnanandhaa was trailing by a full point behind the local favorite, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and was also half a point behind another Uzbek player, Javokhir Sindarov. But in a thrilling turn of events, he managed to secure a decisive win against Abdusattorov in the final round of the round-robin stage, bringing all three players to a tie at 5.5 points.
The tension continued through the tiebreaks. After the first double round-robin blitz tournament, all three players were still tied with two points each.2 Praggnanandhaa showed his strength by winning both his games with the white pieces, despite losing with black.
The decisive moment came in the second round of tiebreaks. Praggnanandhaa drew with Abdusattorov with white, and then, in a crucial game, he beat Sindarov with black. Sindarov then went on to defeat Abdusattorov, which ultimately secured the title for Praggnanandhaa!
This incredible performance boosted Praggnanandhaa’s live Elo rating to 2778.3, moving him up three spots and surpassing reigning classical world champion D.3 Gukesh (2776.6) to become the top Indian player. He’s now the World No. 4, right behind Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana.4
This win marks Praggnanandhaa’s third major title this year, adding to his triumphs at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament and the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Classic Romania. What a year it’s been for him!
Discussion about this post