bucharest: Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram on Friday claimed his maiden major title as he won the Prague Masters tournament 2025.
He drew against Turkey’s Ediz Gurel to end the nine-round event with six points.
With the Indians ruling the roost of late, the 25-year-old is latest to join the club.
The other Indian in the competition, R Praggnanandhaa, ended the event with a defeat at the hands of Anish Giri, finishing with five points out of nine.
Dutch Grandmaster Giri’s victory over Praggnanandhaa in the final round confirmed Aravindh’s outright victory in the seventh edition of the tournament. Aravindh finished a full point ahead of the trio of Praggnanandhaa, Giri and Chinese GM Wei Yi – who were tied second with five points. Gurel finished third with 4.5 points.
Earlier, Aravindh secured an easy draw with David Navara of Czech Republic in the eighth and penultimate round. After losing two of his first three games, top-seeded Chinese GM Wei Yi bounced back impressively, defeating local favorite Nguyen Thai Dai Van to move into sole third place with 4.5 points.
In the Challengers’ section, Divya Deshmukh drew with Czech player Nemec Jychym but remained in last place
with two points.