Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu surged into sole leadership at the Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025 after an impressive round-eight win over GM Wesley So with the Black pieces. The victory, achieved via the rarely seen Benko Gambit, puts him half a point ahead of his closest rivals heading into the final round.
Fellow Indian GM Gukesh Dommaraju also scored his first win of the tournament, taking advantage of an unsound pawn sacrifice by GM Levon Aronian, lifting himself out of last place.
🕒 Final round:
Friday, May 16 – starts one hour earlier at 7:30 a.m. ET / 13:30 CET / 5:00 p.m. IST
🟨 Round 8 Highlights:
- So 0-1 Praggnanandhaa:
A confident outing with Black saw Praggnanandhaa overcome one of the world’s most solid players. The Benko Gambit proved effective, and Pragg quipped, “We should make the Benko the new Berlin in d4!” He now needs only a draw in the final round against Aronian to secure at least a playoff spot. - Aronian 0-1 Gukesh:
Aronian’s speculative 16.f4 pawn push backfired. Gukesh, the top seed, converted the advantage smoothly and could finish at 50% with one more win. - Caruana ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave:
A sharp English Opening turned complex early. Caruana had chances but missed a concrete win, and MVL escaped with the draw. - Firouzja ½-½ Abdusattorov:
Firouzja pressed but couldn’t convert his structural edge against the resilient Uzbek GM. A balanced draw. - Duda ½-½ Deac:
Deac played solidly to hold the Four Knights Scotch. Though Duda sits at the bottom, Deac remains just a point behind the leader.
📊 Standings After Round 8:
- 1st: Praggnanandhaa – 5.5/8
- Chasing: Firouzja, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana – 5/8
- Still in Contention: Deac – 4.5/8
🔍 Key Final Round Matchups:
- Praggnanandhaa (White) vs. Aronian
- Caruana (Black) vs. Gukesh
- Vachier-Lagrave vs. Duda
- Deac vs. Firouzja
The road to an outright win is in Pragg’s hands, but any misstep could lead to playoffs—something we saw last year when Caruana stumbled in the final round but clinched the title in tiebreaks.
📺 How to Watch:
Catch live coverage of the final round on the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube channel or follow moves in real time on the Events Page. Commentary is provided by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Peter Svidler, IM Nazi Paikidze, GM Cristian Chirila, and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.
🏆 About the Event:
The Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025 is the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour. The 10-player round-robin features top global GMs competing from May 7 to 16 in Bucharest for a prize pool of $350,000. Time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes, with a 30-second increment from move one.
