Pragg, in unstoppable form this year, is now a career-best world No.3

R. Praggnanandhaa is proving to be unstoppable this year. Last night at the Sinquefield Cup 2025 at St Louis, Missouri in the US, he ended a three-year win drought in classical format against friend and world champion D. Gukesh after only 36 moves to move to world No.3 spot – his best ever with only Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura ahead of him.

Pundits of the game have tried to dissect Pragg’s resurgence in the wake of a dream year by Gukesh in 2024, but many felt it had been simply a positive rub-off of the later’s success. Speaking to Indian Express, veteran Hungarian GM and World Championship challenger Peter Leko said: ‘’The success of Gukesh also had a very positive effect on Praggnanandhaa. Suddenly, over the last half a year, ever since Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Masters 2025)… Praggnanandhaa has been unstoppable. I believe it’s very much connected to the fact that Gukesh had been so incredibly successful the year before.

 ‘’It’s as if Pragg says: ‘Wait a second, if Gukesh can do it, I can do it as well,’” Leko added. Pragg’s sensational win also levelled the head-to-head score between the two with both now having four classical wins apiece.

The match lasted just under four hours in Missouri with the win – which enriched Pragg by 5.0 Elo points to propel him to third position. He has taken a joint lead with  another in-form player, Levon Aronian, who defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov. One of the most challenging classical tournaments in the cycle, the Sinquefield Cup is the fifth and final event of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) circuit. After this event, the top four players will be finalised for the GCT finals in Brazil.

Reflecting on his significant win, Pragg said later:  “I’ve been having some tough results against him lately. Last year, I messed up three winning positions and over the past two years, I haven’t scored a single win against him—even in rapid. It’s been bad. It’s good to get a win.”

Pragg prepared a sharp opening to ask some tough questions in a complex position - hoping Gukesh would falter. Though the world champion didn’t fall into the trap immediately, Pragg gained a significant time advantage on the clock as Gukesh made passive choices that also included an early queen trade by the 10th move. “I don’t know what happened. Just felt like (Gukesh) he was off today. I got a really good position out of the opening,” he added.