Sports

Praggnanandhaa finishes joint third at Grand Chess Tour Croatia; Firouzja wins

By TestNeeti Editorial TeamPublished Monday, 6 July 2026 2 min readSource: Bhaskar EnglishArticle 25 of 26

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa finished joint third at the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour, recovering from an early defeat to end with 21.5 points, shared with France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. France's Alireza Firouzja won the title after defeating Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov in an Armageddon tie-break, both having finished on 23.5 points. Reigning world champion D Gukesh ended sixth with 18.5 points. Praggnanandhaa lost his first game of the final day to Germany's Vincent Keymer but collected six points from his remaining eight blitz games, including a key win over eventual champion Firouzja. Firouzja earned USD 47,000, while Praggnanandhaa and Vachier-Lagrave shared USD 25,000 each.

Key Facts & Details

8 points

1
R Praggnanandhaa finished joint third at the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour with 21.5 points, tied with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
2
Alireza Firouzja of France won the title, beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov in an Armageddon tie-break after both scored 23.5 points.
3
Reigning world champion D Gukesh finished sixth with 18.5 points.
4
Praggnanandhaa lost his opening final-day game to Vincent Keymer but recovered with six points from his remaining eight blitz games.
5
Firouzja received USD 47,000 as winner, while Praggnanandhaa and Vachier-Lagrave shared USD 25,000 each.

Deep Dive

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One of Praggnanandhaa's biggest wins came against eventual champion Firouzja, helping him into the top three.
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In the tie-break, the first two games were drawn before Firouzja held Abdusattorov in the Armageddon game; holding the black pieces, a draw was enough to win.
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Final standings included Keymer fifth (20 points), Anish Giri seventh (17), Bogdan-Daniel Deac eighth (15) and Croatia's Ivan Saric last (7).

Exam Focus

Examiners may ask who won the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour, Praggnanandhaa's finishing position, or how the title was decided.

Exam Relevance & Angle

Indian chess is a strong exam theme, and results like Praggnanandhaa's joint-third finish and world champion Gukesh's placement at the Grand Chess Tour are the kind of specific data points current-affairs sections test.

Target Exams

SSC CGLSSC CHSLRRB NTPCState PCS

Background & Context

The Grand Chess Tour is an annual series of elite international chess tournaments featuring the world's top players across classical, rapid and blitz formats. Blitz chess uses very short time controls, while an Armageddon game is a decisive tie-break in which Black needs only a draw to win because White has more time. India has emerged as a chess powerhouse, with R Praggnanandhaa and world champion D Gukesh among a strong new generation of grandmasters competing regularly against established stars such as Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.