Grand Chess Tour Finals: Nothing to separate Praggnanandhaa, Vachier-Lagrave as tie heads into speed rounds
Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa played out a second draw against France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave during their semifinal tie of the Grand Chess Tour Finals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday.
The result leaves both players tied on 6-6 after the first classical game on Monday also ended in a draw. In contrast to the first game, both players went for a safer approach, and the match was over in 21 moves.
“I just wanted to play normal chess. If there’s a fight, I will fight, and if I don’t get anything, then a draw is not a bad result. I just wanted to play a bit faster today, especially after what happened yesterday,” Praggnanandhaa said.
The two GMs will now face off in six games of speed chess – two rapid games and four blitz games.
Meanwhile, the situation is the same in the other semifinal clash between Americans Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian, with both having six points each after the classical chess round.
Published on Sep 30, 2025