Clinical Pragg takes down D Gukesh, becomes World No 3

While India's D Gukesh hogs the limelight as the World Champion, his compatriot R Praggnanandhaa's influence continues to grow by the day.

GM Praggnanandhaa got the better of GM Gukesh in their first round meeting in the Grand Chess Tour: Sinquefield Cup 2025 in Missouri, US.

Praggnanandhaa's win came in classical chess, the format in which Gukesh is the reigning world champion.

Praggnanandhaa's attacks were quick and clinical, placing Gukesh on the back foot from as early as the 10th move when the queens were exchanged.

Pragg, as he is fondly called, attacked Gukesh's queen-side relentlessly with a pair of bishops and smart knight manoeuvres. Even though there was no immediate threat to his king, Gukesh resigned by move 36 as Pragg had two well-defended passed pawns.

The best part of the win was Pragg moving a place up in live FIDE ratings to a career-best World No 3. Fabiano Caruana's draw against Jan-Krzysztof Duda means the American fell to fourth place, allowing 20-year-old Pragg to take his place.

Pragg has a live FIDE rating of 2784, while Gukesh is India's No. 2 at 2771, and Arjun Erigaisi is the third-best Indian at 2770. Magnus Carlsen has remained World No 1 since 2011.

Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa are the two Indians among the 10 top players competing in the Sinquefield Cup. In the absence of Carlsen, Caruana started as the top seed in the event. Gukesh has not won a tournament since becoming World Champion last December, defeating Ding Liren of China.