Grand Chess Tour Croatia 2026: Praggnananda lagged behind in blitz, Alireza Firozha made a big lead

जाग्रेब (Croatia). Indian Grandmaster R. at the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2026 Praggnananda could not maintain his rapid rhythm in the blitz category. He scored only 3.5 points in the first nine blitz rounds played on Saturday, slipping from the joint lead to fourth place.

On the other hand, France’s Alireza Firozha performed brilliantly and took the solo lead in the competition. Now only one day of play is left in the tournament.

Alireza showed excellent form

In the blitz category, Alireza Firozha scored eight points in nine matches and reached the top position with a total of 20 points.

He has a three-point lead over Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusatorov and France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

Pragyanananda fourth, Gukesh fifth

Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnananda is now in fourth place with 15.5 points.

At the same time, the performance of current world champion D. Gukesh was also not as per expectations. He remains at fifth position with 14 points.

Starting with a win, then four consecutive losses

Praggnananda started the day by defeating Germany’s Vincent Keimer. After this he played a draw with Anish Giri.

However, four consecutive defeats after this affected both his rhythm and confidence. He scored only 3.5 points in the whole day.

Gukesh’s day was also challenging

D. Gukesh also struggled in the blitz category. He scored half a point more than Praggnananda, but he too lost four matches during the day.

Hopes of podium remain intact on the last day

There are still nine more rounds to be played in the blitz category. However, Alireza Firozha has made a strong lead at the top spot.

Despite this, if Praggnananda makes a spectacular comeback on the last day, he still has a chance to achieve a podium finish in this prestigious tournament with a prize money of two lakh dollars.

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