Superbet Classic 2024 R4: Praggnanandhaa scores his first Classical win over Giri
R Praggnanandhaa scored his first win at Grand Chess Tour Superbet Classic 2024 against Anish Giri (NED) in Round 4. On his 30th birthday, Giri jested about facing the teenager with the black pieces. It was evident in his game that there was some truth in his humor. He made some uncharacteristic move and spent the better part of his game in defending. The eventuality of that game was Praggnanandhaa's win which is what happened. D Gukesh had a relatively peaceful draw against Alireza Firouzja (FRA). Fabiano Caruana (USA) scored his first-ever Classical victory against Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) to gain sole lead 3/4. In Round 5, it will be Gukesh vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and Wesley So (USA) vs Praggnanandhaa. Round 5 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Grand Chess Tour/Lennart Ootes
Caruana emerges sole leader
It was a day of firsts as both Fabiano Caruana (USA) and R Praggnanandhaa scored their first Classical win against their respective opponents. If you are wondering when they both will clash against each other, it will be in the penultimate round. Currently, Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh are trailing the sole leader Caruana by a half point at 2.5/4 each.
Praggnanandhaa - Giri: 1-0
R Praggnanandhaa (2747) defeated Anish Giri (NED, 2745) twice last month at Superbet Rapid and Blitz in both formats. He also lost one in Blitz. However, one thing he had left to do was beat the Netherlands no.1 in a Classical rated game. That was fulfilled.
Black got antsy and played a peculiar move 18...Rd5? 19.b4 preventing the rook's retreat on the d-file Bd6 20.Bxf6 even Qh4 would have helped White to gain the exchange. 20...Qxf6 21.Qxf6 gxf6 22.e4 Rxd3 23.Rxd3 Bxb4 although White gained an exchange, the path to victory is not a cakewalk.
After a few moves the game arrived at the above position. It was still not easy to find out how White can win this. Yes, eventually White will win but Praggnanandhaa managed to figure out by slowly improving his position coupled with the fact that his opponent also made a few erroneous decisions.
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Caruana - Deac: 1-0
Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2805) played Classical rated games against Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2680) only at this event. Their first three encounters ended in draws including last year. However, this time, the World no.2 outplayed the Romania no.2.
It is evident from the above position that White is in complete control. 30.f5 gxf5? only helped White 31.exf5 Nf6 32.Kf4 d5 33.Be7 Re8 34.Re3 and White won as there are too many threats for Black to defend.
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Schedule and Format
Superbet Chess Classic will have one round played each day from 26th June to 5th July 2024. Each round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Except the last round on 5th July which will start at 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. The sole rest day is on Monday 1st July. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control will be 120 minutes KO + 30 sec./move.
Prize
The total prize fund of each Classical event is the double of Rapid and Blitz events - US$ 350000.
Replay Round 4 games
Round 4 results
Standings after Round 4
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2805 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 1 - 0 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | 2680 | 7 | |
| 2 | 8 | 2770 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | ½ - ½ | GM | So, Wesley | 2757 | 6 | |
| 3 | 9 | 2747 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu | 1 - 0 | GM | Giri, Anish | 2745 | 5 | |
| 4 | 1 | 2737 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | ½ - ½ | GM | Gukesh, Dommaraju | 2763 | 4 | |
| 5 | 2 | 2766 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | ½ - ½ | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2732 | 3 |
