XTX London Chess Classic Open 2025 R5-6: Praggnanandhaa and Velimir Ivic emerge coleaders
GM R Praggnanandhaa and GM Velimir Ivic (SRB) have emerged coleaders 5/6 at XTX Markets London Chess Classic Open 2025. Praggnanandhaa started the day with a 21-move draw against GM Tamas Fodos Jr. (HUN). Then he defeated IM Eytan Rozen (ISR) to get back in the lead. GM Pranav Anand won his fifth round game against GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP). Pranav showed his calculation skills better than his opponent. However, in Round 6, he misjudged an exchange sacrifice and lost to the new coleader, Ivic. Both Pranav and the reigning National double champion, GM Iniyan Pa are among the group of dozen players trailing the leaders by a half point at 4.5/6 each. Round 7 starts today at 4 p.m. local time, 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Yury Krylov / London Chess Classic
Iniyan and Pranav Anand in pursuit
Round 5: Tamas - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5
GM Tamas Fodor Jr. (HUN, 2508) made a quick 21-move draw against GM R Praggnanandhaa (2768).
Pranav - Yuffa: 1-0
GM Pranav Anand (2581) had played three Classical rated games against GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP, 2618). He lost the first one and drew the next two. The last one took place over 3.5 months ago. This time, it was Pranav's turn to score his first Classical win over his opponent.
38...fxg6 recapture would have been fine for Black. Instead, he went for some tactics 38...Qg5 attacking the knight as well as an x-ray checkmate threat on g2. However, White found a counter-tactics of his own 39.gxf7+ Kf8 40.exd5 Qxd2 41.Qf1 Ra8 42.Re6 Qa5 43.Rxb6 d3 44.Re6 d2 45.b6 and White won.
The reigning National double champion, GM Iniyan Pa (2601) scored a fine victory over IM Jonah B Willow (ENG, 2472).
Round 6: Pranav - Ivic: 0-1
The only time GM Pranav Anand faced in a Classical rated game against GM Velimir Ivic (SRB, 2618) was over three years ago. Pranav won that encounter. This time also, he managed to get himself a good position.
Black made an interesting exchange sacrifice 27...Rxf4!? What White should not have done is to accept the sacrifice. Instead, 28.Rf1 Rff8 29.Bg5 d5 30.Bxd5 Bxd5 31.Nxd5 would have maintained the upperhand for White. It was important for White to have the dark-square bishop on the board, as Black had dark-square weakness on the kingside and his own dark-square bishop was out of place. 28.Bxf4 exf4-+ turned the tables and Black got the decisive advantage.
Praggnanandhaa - Eytan: 1-0
IM Eytan Rozen (ISR, 2515) made a fundamental mistake in the middlegame arising out of Sicilian Dragon against GM R Praggnanandhaa. The IM paid a heavy price for it.
Replay all Round 5-6 Open games
Round 6 results
| Bo. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | PGN | ||
| 2 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | IM | Rozen, Eytan | 2515 | PGN | ||
| 3 | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | PGN | ||
| 4 | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | IM | Chasin, Nico | 2512 | PGN | ||
| 5 | GM | Sanal, Vahap | 2546 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Fodor, Tamas Jr | 2508 | PGN | ||
| 6 | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | PGN | ||
| 7 | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | 3½ | 1 - 0 | 3½ | FM | Kazarian, Anna-Maja *) | 2224 | PGN | ||
| 8 | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2618 | 3½ | ½ - ½ | 3½ | GM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | 2487 | PGN | ||
| 9 | IM | Mahadevan, Siva | 2424 | 3½ | 0 - 1 | 3½ | GM | Kraemer, Martin | 2571 | PGN | ||
| 10 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2560 | 3½ | ½ - ½ | 3½ | GM | Gasanov, Eldar | 2447 | PGN |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | None | 5 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | None | 5 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | None | 4,5 | |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | None | 4,5 | |
| 5 | 6 | GM | Kraemer, Martin | 2571 | Sc Heimbach-Weis-Neuwied | 4,5 | |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | None | 4,5 | |
| 7 | 9 | GM | Sanal, Vahap | 2546 | None | 4,5 | |
| 8 | 10 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | None | 4,5 | |
| 9 | 11 | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 | None | 4,5 | |
| 10 | 15 | IM | Chasin, Nico | 2512 | None | 4,5 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | 5 | 5 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | |||
| 2 | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | |||
| 3 | IM | Chasin, Nico | 2512 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | |||
| 4 | GM | Kraemer, Martin | 2571 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 | |||
| 5 | GM | Fodor, Tamas Jr | 2508 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | |||
| 6 | GM | Sanal, Vahap | 2546 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | |||
| 7 | FM | Kazarian, Anna-Maja *) | 2224 | 3½ | 3½ | IM | Mahadevan, Siva | 2424 | |||
| 8 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Willow, Jonah B | 2472 | |||
| 9 | GM | Gasanov, Eldar | 2447 | 4 | 4 | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2618 | |||
| 10 | IM | Aizenberg, Benny | 2444 | 4 | 4 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2560 |
