Grand Chess Tour Finals: Praggnanandhaa loses in semis; to play for third place

The lone Indian to have qualified for the 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, lost out to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semi-final tiebreak on Tuesday.

With both the classical games having ended in a draw, Praggnanandhaa and Vachier-Lagrave, faced off in the rapid and blitz tiebreaks.

The 20-year-old Indian was outclassed in the rapid time control, losing out 2-6 to the more experienced opponent.

Praggnanandhaa did try to fight back in the blitz games, but couldn't find a way past the Vachier-Lagrave with the latter hold for a 3-3 draw.

The eventual match score read 15-11 in favour of Vachier-Lagrave, who will now face Fabiano Caruana in the final.

Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa will face off against GM Levon Aronian in the third-place match. 

Aronian had lost 12-14 in the other semi-finals after a tense tiebreak battle.

The Grand Chess Tour Finals is the culmination of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour series, which combines three formats of chess – classical, rapid, and blitz.

The top four players during the series qualify for the a knock-out style final, starting from the semis.