Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France to win his first-ever tournament on the Grand Chess Tour by showcasing his supremacy in the Superbet Classic here.

The Indian, after drawing with the Armenian-American Levon Aronianin, was assured of a first place tie along with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja, all of whom finished on 5.5 points. This led to a five-minute tiebreaker between the three.

Praggnanandhaa drew the first game with Firouzja before the latter drew the second game with Vachier-Lagrave.

In the last game, Praggnanandhaa crashed through the defences of Vachier-Lagrave, earning the top prize. The Indian scored 1.5 points in his blitz games, half a point more than Firouzja and one more than the other French GM.

It was a sweet comeback for Praggnanandhaa after last year’s debacle when he lost all his Playoff games. “I didn’t do so well last time. I guess getting to rest a few hours before the tie-break certainly helps,” said the Indian GM.