GM R Praggnanandhaa wins Super GM chess tourney in Budapest

Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa became champion at the V Geza Hetenyi Memorial Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament 2023 in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old GM scored 6.5 points to finish clear first in the 10-player event. After nine rounds of play, he ended up a point ahead of M Amin Tabatabaei (Iran) and Russia's Sanan Sjugirov.

Praggnanandhaa recorded five wins, drew three games, and suffered only one defeat in the tournament, at the hands of Amin Tabatabaei in the fifth round.

In the final round, he secured a draw against Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek with white pieces.

The teenage Indian GM now has a live rating of 2707.3. Praggnanandhaa scored wins over Sjugirov, Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran), Adam Kozak (Hungary), and Peter Prohaszka (Hungary).

He drew his last three games, against Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine), Maxim Matlakov (Russia), and Wojtaszek.

Praggnanandhaa has continued his good form Global Chess League and is peaking at the right time.

With the FIDE World Cup 2023 just a few days away, the young Indian grandmaster must continue his momentum.

The inaugural edition of this Super GM Round-Robin tournament has a total prize fund of €10700. The top three prizes are €5000, €2500 and €1500 each respectively.