'I'm surprised': Levon Aronian wins historic India GCT title after weakening Praggnanandha

Levon Aronian opens up about R Praggnanandhaa GCT title NEW DELHI: A year ago, American Grandmaster Levon Aronian defeated Rameshbaba Praggnanandha in his third-place match at the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) Final in São Paulo, Brazil. While playing rapid chess, he gradually understood one thing. Lightning and fast, as the Armenian giant realized, were the weak points of the young Indian.Last Thursday in St Louis, the same weak spot helped Praggnanandhaa script history.In the GCT final, he defeated Fabian Caruana 15–13 to become the first Indian and only the seventh player in the tournament’s 11-year history to lift the title, pocketing $200,000.He got there by winning both quick games in the final before holding a four-game blitz section to a 4-4 tie, the exact terrain Aronian once identified as his weakness.“After last year’s GCT final where I beat him, I thought blitz and rapid were his weaknesses and that should be exploited. And to be honest, I’m surprised. I think he’s made good progress in those aspects,” Aronian, who remains one of the most respected voices in the chess world, told TimesofIndia.com ahead of the new season of the Global CL) Gaurnges League (Grandmaster) in Bengal. this September.

GM Levon Aronian will return to the GCL after playing in and winning the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2023.

It’s a rare thing for one elite player to publicly give credit to another for filling a gap that, until recently, was exploited to overcome them. “You have to praise and congratulate someone who works hard to correct his weaknesses,” said the 43-year-old grandmaster. “So I’m happy for him because he’s a fighter and he’s a very likeable person.Aronian isn’t the only voice of the sport’s old guard to take notice.Earlier, Viswanathan Anand, who is returning to the fold with the Alaskan Knights for this year’s GCL, went further in a separate interview with this site and named Praggnanandha as the best player right now.“He wasn’t doing well in Norwegian chess. At a certain point there were four rounds left and he was down. And then he won four games in a row,” Anand explained.“He did something similar here, although his performance was much better in the Grand Chess Tour and also in the Rapid. He won the Rapid, he did well enough in the Blitz to win the tournament. Then he was kind of competing for the top spot here.”“He has that ability, and it’s becoming more and more apparent that he’s able to win late games and change everything. And that’s a very, very rare and useful skill.”Also Read: Amid ‘very long encounters’ and chess world run, Has Viswanathan Anand lost his ‘hunger’ for victory? | Exclusive“I think at this point I’d say he’s the number one player in the world,” Anand said, pointing to the same turnaround ability that Aronian’s comments now reflect since the loss.“Well, Magnus (Carlsen) doesn’t compete in the same events, but still, you know, if you take the classics included, and I know Pragg, he’s done incredibly well in tournaments that have been in August and everything. If you go back to Norwegian chess and see the development from there, I think it’s just fantastic.”