Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa — “Pragg” to his friends and space-stressed headline writers everywhere — has snagged the eighth and final slot in next spring’s Candidates tournament, riding a string of strong results this year that began with a win at the elite Tata Steel Masters in January and wrapped up with a tie for first in the just-completed London Chess Classic Open.
Pragg, who just turned 20, is likely to be a co-favorite with American GMs Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura to emerge as the official challenger to Indian world champ Dommaraju Gukesh, who will be making his first title defense since winning the crown in 2024.
Pragg’s win over Ukrainian GM Eldar Gasanov in London in a Queen’s Gambit Exchange line offered a fine illustration of the Indian phenom’s attacking acumen.
Patiently improving his position, White seizes the initiative after just a couple of careless moves from Black: 15. Kh1 Bb7?! (White has only a very slight pull on 15…Nh5 16. Bxe7 Rxe7 17. Qd2) 16. Bf5! Ng5?! (the engines are already recommending the craven 16…Bc8 to hold back the enemy forces)17. e4 g6 18. Bxg6!, a very principled piece sacrifice as Pragg prepares to blow up the center.
With Black’s king lacking shelter from the coming storm, White finds an inspired way to keep the attack going: 19. e5 Kf7?! (Kh7 was probably the best of a number of bad choices, although White’s attack hums along after 20. Nf4 Rg8 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Bg3; bad was 19…Nfh7? 20. Qxg6+ Kh8 21. f4 Ne4 22. Bxe7 Qxe7 23. Nxe4 dxe4 24. Qxh6, with three pawns for the piece and a monster center for White) 20. Nf4 Rg8 21. exf6 Bxf6 (see diagram) 22. Ne4!!, offering a second piece to open new lines.
White’s attack breaks through if Black accepts the gift horse; e.g. 22….Nxe4 23. fxe4 Bxh4 24. exd5 Bf6 25. Ne6 Qxd5 26. Nf4 Qg5 27. Qc4+ Kg7 28. Ne6+ and wins; or 22…dxe4 23. Qb3+ Kg7 (Ke7 24. fxe4 Ba6 25. e5 Bxf1 [Bg7 26. Qe6+ Kf8 27. Nxg6 mate] 26. Rxf1 Kd7 27. Bxg5 Bxg5 28. Qh3+ Ke8 29. Qe6+ Be7 30. Qxc6+ Kf7 [Qd7 31. Qxa8+] 31. Ne6+ Kf6 32. Nxd8+ and wins) 24. Bxg5 Bc8 (hxg5? 25. Ne6+) 25. Bxf6+ Qxf6 26. fxe4, and Black can’t shore up all his defensive holes.
With the nimble knights leading the way,White’s attack is a model of ruthless efficiency: 25. f4 Ne6 (Ne4 26. Nxe4 dxe4 27. Ne5+ Bxe5 28. dxe5 Qf5 29. Qb3+ Kg7 30. Bf6+ Kh7 31. Qf7+ and mate next) 26. Ng4 (threatening a rook fork with 27. Nxh6+ and a queen fork with 27. Nde5+ Bxe5 28. Nxe5+) Kg7 27. Bf6+ Kh7 28. f5!, when 28…gxf5 is met by 29. Nde5 Bxe5 30. Qxf5+ Rg6 31. Nxe5.
White wraps up the battle with one more tactic: 31. Rf7+ Kg8 32. Nxh6+!, and Gasanov resigned not needing to see 32…Rxh6 33. Rg7+ Kh8 34. Qd2 Rh5 35. Rg5+ Kh7 36. Rxh5+ Kg8 37. Qf4, with mate on the horizon.
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While barely out of his teens, Pragg is already feeling the heat from an even younger cohort of budding superstars.
As this is being written, 11-year-old Argentinian sensation Faustino Oro is on the verge of securing the second of the three needed grandmaster norms at a Category 12 tournament in Buenos Aires, seeking to become the youngest titled GM in history.
And Turkey’s 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, the world’s youngest GM (for now), scored another career breakthrough by defeating French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, ranked 15th in the world, in a classical match at the Monte Carlo Chess Club earlier this month.
The only decisive game of the six-game match showed astonishing positional maturity from Erdogmus against a world-class veteran grandmaster. On the White side of a Ruy Lopez Exchange, an opening favorite of Bobby Fischer as well, Erdogmus keeps his healthy kingside pawn majority attack throughout the opening and middlegame, neutralizing Black’s bishop pair to emerge with a winning endgame.
Already with 15. c3 Rhe8 (Bd7!? leaves the other Black bishop embarrassed after 16. Nd5 Be5 17. Nc4) 16. Nxe6 Rxe6 17. Rae1 Be7 18. g4!? (f4 looks a tad more consistent) g5?!, Black appears to be panicking in the face of the looming endgame imbalance and his lack of real counterplay. Erdogmus wastes no time putting his pawn majority in motion: 26. g5! Bc5 27. h4 Ne7 28. h5 Nd5 29. Bc1 Ne3+ (Be3 30. Kg3! Rg8 31. Nf7 Bxc1 32. Rxc1 Kd7 33. Rf1 keeps White in charge) 30. Bxe3 Bxe3 31. Nf7 Rg8 32. Kh3, when 32…Bxg5? loses to 33. Rg1 h6 34. Nxg5 hxg5 35. Rd1!, cutting the Black king off from the decisive action on the kingside.
Some precise play seals the win for White: 33. Kg4 Ke7 (also losing was 33…Bxg5 34. Nxg5 h6 35. Rf7+ Ke8 [Kd6 36. Rf6+ Kd5 37. Rxh6] 36. Rf5 hxg5 37. h6 Ke7 38. Kh5 Ke6 39. Rxg5 Rxg5+ 40. Kxg5 Kf7 41. Kf5 , and the White king will gobble up the Black queenside pawns) 34. g6! hxg6 35. h6! (hxg6?? Rxg6+ 36. Kh3 Rf6 37. Rxf6 Kxf6 38. Nd8 Ke7 39. Nc6+ Kd6 40. Na5 Kd5, and it’s Black who is winning) Bxh6 36. Nxh6 Rd8 37. Rf7+ Ke6 38. Rf2 — Black has two pawns for the lost piece but it’s not enough.
The Black queenside majority hobbled by White’s fourth move emerges as a critical factor in the finale: 42. axb4 cxb4 43. Ke4 bxc3, and Black resigned before White could deliver the quietus in lines like 44. bxc3 Kd6 45. Rf6+ Kc5 46. Rxg6 a5 47. Rg5+ Kc6 48. Kd4 Ra4 49. Ne5+ Kb7 50. Nxc4 and wins.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Praggnanandhaa-Gasanov, London Chess Classic Open, London, November 2025
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Re8 8. Nge2 Nbd7 9. O-O Nf8 10. Qc2 h6 11. Bh4 c6 12. a4 a5 13. f3 Ne6 14. Rad1 b6 15. Kh1 Bb7 16. Bf5 Ng5 17. e4 g6 18. Bxg6 fxg6 19. e5 Kf7 20. Nf4 Rg8 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Ne4 Be7 23. Nf2 Bd6 24. N4d3 Qd7 25. f4 Ne6 26. Ng4 Kg7 27. Bf6+ Kh7 28. f5 Nf8 29. Be5 Be7 30. fxg6+ Rxg6 31. Rf7+ Kg8 32. Nxh6+ Black resigns.
Erdogmus-Vachier-Lagrave, Game 5, Match, Monte Carlo, December 2025
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Qf6 6. d4 exd4 7. Bg5 Qd6 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. Be3 Nh6 10. Qd2 c5 11. Ne2 Qxd2 12. Nxd2 Be6 13. h3 O-O-O 14. Nf4 Bf6 15. c3 Rhe8 16. Nxe6 Rxe6 17. Rae1 Be7 18. g4 g5 19. f4 gxf4 20. Bxf4 Ng8 21. Nf3 f6 22. e5 c4 23. Kg2 fxe5 24. Rxe5 Rxe5 25. Nxe5 b5 26. g5 Bc5 27. h4 Ne7 28. h5 Nd5 29. Bc1 Ne3+ 30. Bxe3 Bxe3 31. Nf7 Rg8 32. Kh3 Kd7 33. Kg4 Ke7 34. g6 hxg6 35. h6 Bxh6 36. Nxh6 Rd8 37. Rf7+ Ke6 38. Rf2 Rd1 39. Kf4 c5 40. Ng4 Ra1 41. a3 b4 42. axb4 cxb4 43. Ke4 bxc3 and Black resigns.
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