Grand Chess Tour Finals 2025: Praggnanandhaa draws with Vachier-Lagrave

Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa escaped a late fumble to hold French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to a draw in their first semifinal game of the Grand Chess Tour Finals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday.

Praggnanandhaa made a poor move with just one second left on the clock to lose his grip on the game, but was fortunate that Vachier-Lagrave failed to capitalise.

“I don’t know why I panicked here, there was just no reason to panic,” Praggnanandhaa said.

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“When I was down to seven seconds or something, and then I panicked, and I could have literally played any other move and made an easier draw,” he added.

In the other semifinal, Fabiano Caruana played out a draw against Levon Aronian.

The tournament is being played in a single-elimination knockout format with mixed time controls. Each tie will consist of two classical games, two rapid games and four blitz games.

Published on Sep 29, 2025