Praggnanandhaa Battles to Draw in Grand Chess Tour Finals Third-Place Match

São Paulo – Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa secured a hard-fought draw against American GM Levon Aronian in the first of two classical games for the third-place playoff at the 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals in São Paulo, Brazil. Both players earned points in the overall match format.

Sicilian Surprise Leads to Draw

The game, which saw Praggnanandhaa playing with the Black pieces, ended in a draw after a lengthy battle that went into a straightforward endgame.

• Opening Choice: Praggnanandhaa opened with the Sicilian Defence, a move that reportedly surprised Aronian.
• Aronian’s Strategy: The American GM pressed for an advantage in a routine endgame. However, the 18-year-old Indian prodigy defended tenaciously, preventing Aronian from converting his minimal edge.
• Aronian’s Reaction: Speaking to Sportstar, Aronian admitted he did not anticipate the Sicilian Defence, stating he planned to “test the theory” because Praggnanandhaa “had some bad games in equal endgames.” He acknowledged that his opponent’s endgame play has “improved.”

Praggnanandhaa Focused on Fighting Chess

Despite a recent semifinal loss to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL) that relegated him to the third-place match, Praggnanandhaa stated his focus remains on delivering challenging games.

“I wanted a fight. I did try to play some Sicilian lines. I’ll try to fight in every game I play,” Praggnanandhaa said after the game.

The draw gives the Indian GM a solid start in the battle for third place, which offers a significant prize money difference ($15,000) and potentially an automatic berth into the next Grand Chess Tour, adding pressure for both players.

Final Also Opens with a Tie

The title match of the Grand Chess Tour Finals, contested between American GM Fabiano Caruana and French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, also began with a draw. Their Game  was a lengthy, intense struggle that lasted over five hours, with Caruana pushing hard in a Queen endgame before MVL’s resourceful defence secured the draw.

The second classical game for both the Final and the Third-Place match will take place on Friday, after which the matches may proceed to Rapid and Blitz tiebreakers if the scores remain level.