R Praggnanandhaa Held As Vincent Keymer Leads In Super Chess Classic, Alireza Firouzja Withdraws

Last Updated:May 21, 2026, 13:28 IST

Vincent Keymer leads the Super Chess Classic on 4.5 points after a walkover vs Alireza Firouzja, who withdrew injured, while all other round 6 games, were drawn

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by Romanian Deac Bogdan-Daniel, while France’s Alireza Firouzja decided to finally call it quits in the sixth round of the Super Chess Classic, part of the Grand Chess Tour.

Firouzja, who played two games despite an ankle injury, concluded that it was not possible for him to continue and withdrew on the rest day of the ten-player, nine-round tournament. Germany’s Vincent Keymer was the main beneficiary of Firouzja’s withdrawal, as he extended his lead to a full point after receiving a walkover in this round.

With all the other games ending in draws, Keymer remained the sole leader on 4.5 points, a full point ahead of Holland’s Jorden Van Foreest and Anish Giri, top-seeded American Fabiano Caruana, and Praggnanandhaa, who all have 3.5 points each.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Wesley So share sixth place on 3 points apiece, while World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan is close behind on 2.5 points. Romanian Deac Bogdan-Daniel is in ninth place with 2 points, and Firouzja ended his campaign with 1 point from 5 games.

Deac Bogdan-Daniel might be the lowest-ranked player, but the Romanian has repeatedly shown why he is the local favourite for the main event as a wild card.

How R Praggnanandhaa Drew Deac Bogdan-Daniel?

R Praggnanandhaa opted for complications right from the opening by choosing the Stonewall Dutch, but Deac did not flinch and matched the Indian move for move. The pieces were exchanged at regular intervals and, although Praggnanandhaa won a temporary pawn, the draw was inevitable. The game was over in 68 moves.

Sindarov was at the top of his game just a little over a month ago when he won the Candidates to earn the right to challenge Gukesh for the next World Championship match. However, here the Uzbek is yet to win a game after six rounds, having drawn his fifth game, this time against Caruana.

The game featured an Italian Opening in which Caruana had a slight advantage, but the American chose not to take excessive risks. The position was almost equal in the middlegame, and the players eventually repeated moves.

In the other game of the day, Van Foreest drew with compatriot Giri.

There are still three more rounds remaining in the event, which has a total prize pool of 375,000 USD, with 100,000 USD reserved for the winner.

Results round 6:

Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou, 2) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 4.5) walk-over Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 1); Caruana Fabiano (Usa, 3.5) drew with Javokhir SIndarov (Uzb, 2.5); Jorden Van Foreest (Ned, 3.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 3.5).

(With inputs from Agencies)

News sports chess R Praggnanandhaa Held As Vincent Keymer Leads In Super Chess Classic, Alireza Firouzja Withdraws

Read More