GCT Super Chess Classic 2026: Sindarov’s knight sac goes in vain against Praggnanandhaa

By admin May 16, 2026 0 comments

Three out of five games ended decisively at Grand Chess Tour Super Chess Classic 2026. R Praggnanandhaa won a highly anticipated clash against the World Championship Challenger, Javokhir Sindarov.

Praggnanandhaa, MVL and Keymer score

The second round was an eventful one. All three decisive games saw some exciting chess played between them. After losing both games at the FIDE Candidates 2026 against Javokhir Sindarov, this is a welcome victory for the defending champion – R Praggnanandhaa. In the third round, two of the three leaders – Praggnanandhaa and Keymer will face each other.

R Praggnanandhaa is happy to get his first Classical win against the World Championship Challenger, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) in nearly a year | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Sindarov – Praggnanandhaa: 0-1

Javokhir Sindarov (UZB, 2776) and R Praggnanandhaa (2733) have played a dozen Classical rated games against each other. Praggnanandhaa won four, Sindarov three and the remianing five ended in draws. The Indian ace won their 13th Classical battle after Sindarov made an interesting knight sacrifice.

Position after 22.Nxh6+!?

22.Nxh6+!? is an interesting sacrifice. It seems like it should work but in reality, it doesn’t. The primary reason behind that is, White does not have sufficient pieces to continue the attack and Black’s queen can only be delayed to come to the aid of the king but cannot be kept completely away from the action. 22…gxh6 23.Bxg6 fxg6 24.Rc1 Qb5 25.Qxh6 Qd3+ 26.Ka1 Qd4 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Qxg6 Re2 29.Qf5+ Ke8 30.Qg6+ Kf8 31.Qf5+ Ke8 32.Qg6+ Kd8 33.Qg8+ Re8 34.Qg5+ Ne7 35.Rce1 Qd3 36.Re3?? Qg6-+ and it’s over. White’s compensation is gone and Black won the game in the next few moves. Considering the fact that Praggnanandhaa is a staunch defender and Sindarov had nothing to lose here, it was a good attempt by the FIDE World Cup 2025 winner.

R Praggnanandhaa bounced back well showcasing his defence skills against Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Interview with R Praggnanadhaa | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Keymer – Deac: 1-0

Vincent Keymer (GER, 2759) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2650) had played only two Classical rated games against each other. Both ended in draws. Deac had the white pieces on both occassion. For the first time Keymer got the white pieces against the Romania no.1. He struck at the right time to get the upperhand.

Position after 46.d5!

46.d5! is the necessary break. The intent is clear – White wants to focus all of his pieces on the kingside and the idea worked. Instead of playing 46…Bg5, Black went wrong 46…exd5?? 47.Qf5+- Qc8 48.Rf3 Rf8 49.Re3 Qd8 50.Re6! a beautiful finish by the World no.7 and Germany no.1.

Vincent Keymer (GER) played beautiful chess to beat Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Interview with Vincent Keymer | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the All-French battle against Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Interview with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Fabiano Caruana (USA) – Anish Giri (NED): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Jorden van Foreest (NED) – Wesley So (USA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Ceremonial first move of Round 2 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

GM Peter Leko (HUN) and GM Jan Smeets (NED) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 2 in progress | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Replay Round 2 live stream

Replay Round 2 live commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, & Cristian Chirila, IMs Nazi Paikidze & Irene Sukandar, and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Round 2 games

Schedule and Format

Super Chess Classic will have one round per day from 14th to 23rd May. Rest day is on Tuesday 19th May. Each round starts at 4 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST, except the last round which starts at 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control will be 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.