Brilliancy loss, tournament win for ‘Pragg’

Young Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa scored a rare double at the 2nd UzChess Cup Masters Tournament in the Uzbekistan city of Tashkent — taking first place against a world-class field while losing a game during the tournament to Hungarian GM Richard Rapport that could very well be remembered as the brilliancy of the year.

The 19-year-old “Pragg,” tipped by many to be a potential world champion, overcame two painful mid-tournament losses to capture the UzChess title, winning his final two games in the 10-grandmaster event, and then edging local favorites GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov in the rapid playoff.

Unfortunately for the young Indian star, now ranked fourth in the world, the anthologies will likely only recall the spectacular sacrificial loss he suffered in Round 6 at the hands of Rapport, who to that point had not won a game in Tashkent.

Remarkably in this Saemisch King’s Indian, White was not surprised by Rapport’s stunning piece sacrifice on 14. Kb1 b4 15. Nb5 Nxd5!? 16. exd5 (Qxd5?? Be6 17. Qb7 Bxa2+ 18. Kc2 Qc8+ 19. Qxc8 Rfxc8+ 20. Kd2 Bb3, dominating) Bf5+, having explored the idea in his preparation. But in a follow-up that earned online praise from former world champ Garry Kasparov, Black doesn’t rush to win back the sacrificed material, instead patiently building his attack with moves like 17…Ra4! and 19…Rc8.

Rapport exploits Praggnanandhaa’s one defensive lapse with a striking bishop maneuver: 23. Bc4? (White later regretted not playing here 23. Nd4! Rxc1+ 24. Rxc1 Bxd4 25. Qc4 Bc5 26. Bc2, with real survival chances) Bc2!! (the game’s most inspired move — 23…Rxc4?! 24. Qxc4 Qxb5 25. Qxb5 Rxb5 was much less forceful) 24. Rd2 (Qxc2 Qxb5 25. Bxb5 Rxc2 26. Nd3 Rxb5, and Black is a pawn up with tremendous pressure) Ba4! 25. Nd4 Rac5 26. Nc6 (b3 b5 27. Bd3 Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 29. Bb1 Bxb3! 30. axb3 Qa7+ 31. Ra2 [Kb2 Qa3 mate] Qxd4+ 32. Qb2 Qd1 and wins) Bxc6 27. Nb3 Rxc4!, and Black finds yet another sacrifice to keep the attack humming.

Black’s strafing bishop pair, including that prize KID bishop on g7, prove too much in the end: 33. Rxc4 bxc4 34. Qxc4 (material equality has finally been restored, but Black’s attack remains in high gear) b3! 35. Rd1 (Nxb3 [Qxb3 Rb8] Qf2 36. Rb1 Re2 37. Qc1 Rc2; or 35. a3 Qxa3+ 36. Kb1 Qxb2 mate) bxa2 36. Qxa2 Qf2 37. Qb3 Re3, and White resigned facing such hopeless lines as 38. Nd3 (Rd3 Re1 39. Kb1 Qf1 40. Qc2 Rxc1+ 41. Qxc1 Qxd3+) Qxf3 39. Rd2 Qh1+ 40. Ka2 Qxh4.

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Pragg showed his mettle in the final two rounds, rebounding to defeat top Indian rival GM Argun Erigaisi and the front-running Abdusattorov to qualify for the three-man playoff. In the critical final-round encounter, Abdusattorov again “castles into it”  on the queenside, this time in a Four Knights Sicilian, and once again comes to grief.

With Black enjoying a half-open b-file targeting the White king, Abdusattorov’s too-casual play allows Black an enduring initiative after 16. f4 Rb4 17. Qa6?! (a risky foray on the wrong side) exf4 18. gxf4?? (positional suicide; White had to play 18. a3! Rbb8 19. Bxc6 Bg4 30. Rd3 f3 21. Qxa5 Rfc8, with chances still for both sides) Rfb8 19. e5 Qf5 20. exd6 Bf6!, with virtually all of Black’s army bearing down on the White king.

Black breaks down the White defensive fortress, eventually forcing Abdusattorov to give up his queen: 22. Rfe1 (Rd3? Bc8 already traps the White queen, while 22. Rf3 is met by 22…Bg4) Bxc3 23. bxc3 Qxc3 24. Qd3 Qa1+ 25. Kd2 Qf6 26. c3 Bf5 27. Qxf5 (equally bleak was 27. Qg3 Qxd6+ 28. Kc1 Qxf4+ 29. Qxf4 Rxf4, and White is down two pawns with no compensation) Rd4+! (a little finesse to mess up White’s pawn structure) 28. cxd4 Qxf5.

White puts up some dogged resistance before Black finally finds a way to make his material advantage tell: 43. Kc3 g6! (giving the king some luft so the final attack can break through) 44. fxg6 Qc1+ 45. Kd3 Rb4! 46. Re8+ (Ba6, the only safe square left for the bishop, loses the king to 46…Qd1+ 47. Kc3 [Ke4 Rxd4+ 48. Kf5 Qg4+ 49. Kf6 Qxg6 mate] Qxd4+ 48. Kc2 Rb2+ 49. Kc1 Qd2 mate) Kg7 47. Rg8+ Kxg8 48. gxf7+ Kh7 49. f8=Q (f8=N+ was worth a shot, but on 49…Kg7 50 Ne6+ Kf6, the poor White bishop remains trapped) Qxc4+, and White resigned. It’s over on 50. Ke4 (Kd2 Rb2+ 51. Kd1 Qc2+ and mate next) Qxd4+ 51. Kf3 (Kf5 Qf4+ 52. Ke6 Qxf8) Qg4+ 52. Kf2 Rb2+ 53. Ke1 Qg1+ 54. Qf1 Qxe3+ and wins.

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Georgia’s Ruben Quintans, just barely over 7 years old, has become the youngest American player to cross the 2000-ratings threshold and claim the title of expert, beating the record set in 2016 by now-GM Abhimanyu Mishra. Chess Life Online reports that the young Peach State star achieved the milestone with a nice win over fellow Class A player Evelyn Qiao at a recent Chess Zone Game of the Week event.

We pick it up from today’s diagram, where Qiao as White has just played 23. Bf1-c4. White’s busted kingside is a distinct liability and Quintans judges that activating his rook on the seventh rank is worth a pawn: 23…a6 24. Re7 b5! 25. Bxf7+ Kf8 26. Rb7 Rcc2, and now White had to find the computer-like 27. Bd5! Rxf2+ 28. Kg3! just to stay in the game; e.g. 28…Rcd2 (Rxh2 29. Re1 Rhg2+ 30. Kf4 Ne2+ 31. Ke5 Rg5+ 32. Kd6 and White’s king escapes) 29. Be4! g5 30. Kg4 Rg2+ 31. Kh5 Ne2 32. Rb8+, and it’s still a fight.

Instead, on the game’s 27. Rf1? Nf5!, the nimble knight suddenly threatens to go to both d6 and e3. There followed: 28. Be6 Ne3+ 29. Kg1 Nxf1 30. Kxf1 Rxf2+ 31. Kg1 Rg2+ 32. Kh1 Rxh2+ 33. Kg1 Rhd2, and White resigned as Black wins easily in such lines as 34. Bh3 Rd1+ 35. Bf1 Rcc1.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Praggnanandhaa-Rapport, 2nd UzChess Cup Masters, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 2025

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Nge2 a6 7. Be3 Nbd7 8. Qd2 b5 9. h4 h5 10. O-O-O e5 11. d5 Nb6 12. Bxb6 cxb6 13. cxb5 axb5 14. Kb1 b4 15. Nb5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Bf5+ 17. Ka1 Ra4 18. Nc1 Qd7 19. Bc4 Rc8 20. Qe2 e4 21. Bb3 exf3 22. gxf3 Ra5 23. Bc4 Bc2 24. Rd2 Ba4 25. Nd4 Rac5 26. Nc6 Bxc6 27. Nb3 Rxc4 28. Qxc4 Bb5 29. Qe4 Bc4 30. Rc2 b5 31. Nc1 Re8 32. Qf4 Qa7 33. Rxc4 bxc4 34. Qxc4 b3 35. Rd1 bxa2 36. Qxa2 Qf2 37. Qb3 Re3 White resigns.

Abdusattorov-Praggnanandhaa, 2nd UzChess Cup Masters, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 2025

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bf4 d6 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Ba4 e5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Qd3 a5 13. O-O-O Be7 14. Rhf1 O-O 15. g3 Rab8 16. f4 Rb4 17. Qa6 exf4 18. gxf4 Rfb8 19. e5 Qf5 20. exd6 Bf6 21. Bb3 Qc5 22. Rfe1 Bxc3 23. bxc3 Qxc3 24. Qd3 Qa1+ 25. Kd2 Qf6 26. c3 Bf5 27. Qxf5 Rd4+ 28. cxd4 Qxf5 29. Kc3 Qd7 30. Re5 Qxd6 31. Rde1 Kf8 32. Kd3 Rd8 33. R1e4 Qb4 34. f5 a4 35. Bc4 Qb1+ 36. Kc3 Qc1+ 37. Kd3 Qb1+ 38. Kc3 Rb8 39. Re3 Qc1+ 40. Kd3 Qd1+ 41. Kc3 Qa1+ 42. Kd3 Qb1+ 43. Kc3 g6 44. fxg6 Qc1+ 45. Kd3 Rb4 46. Re8+ Kg7 47. Rg8+ Kxg8 48. gxf7+ Kh7 49. f8=Q Qxc4+ White resigns.

• Got a game or a chess tidbit to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.