Grand Chess Tour, Romania: Praggnanandhaa suffers first defeat, loses to Fabiano Caruana
Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa on Thursday suffered his first defeat at the Super Chess Classic 2026 in Romania against hand of American Fabiano Caruana.
Praggnanandhaa started with white pieces and resigned after 33 moves after Caruana got a passed pawn through the c file.
The Indian went for a Queen’s Gambit opening which was declined by Caruana. Praggnanandhaa went on to capture an additional pawn on the 19th move but the game slipped out of his hands as Caruana pushed his pawns’ on the a and b files.
Praggnanandhaa committed a mistake on the 24th move, getting his queen to e2 which left his a and b file pawns under pressure. He finally resigned before the 34th move as Caruana got a passed pawn on the c file.
The loss left Praggnanandhaa in eighth place with 3.5 points. Caruana leads the standings with 4.5 along with Vincent Keymer and Jorden Van Foreest. On Friday, Praggnanandhaa will face France’s Maxime-Vachier Lagrave.
Published on May 21, 2026