A Masterpiece • Praggnanandhaa vs Rapport • 2nd UzChess Cup Masters • Tashkent Uzbekistan (2025) • King’s Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation (E81)

Amid the vibrant chess scene in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, at the 2nd UzChess Cup Masters—a star-studded 10-player single round-robin from June 19-27 with a $80,000 prize fund and 90-min classical time control—world #4 Indian prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (2767), chasing his first title after recent wins in Wijk and Bucharest, faced Hungarian creative force Richárd Rapport (2714) in Round 6, their fourth classical clash where Pragg had lost the prior three. Rapport, struggling winless after two losses, desperately needed points as Abdusattorov led; this top-board showdown exploded into a “game of the year” candidate, snapping Pragg’s momentum despite his later comeback tournament win via tiebreaks.

Pragg unleashed the King’s Indian Sämisch with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Nge2, castling queenside amid Rapport’s flexible a6 b5 h4 h5 queenside bash. The bomb dropped on 15…Nxd5!!, a knight sac cracking open lines with Bf5+ Ra4 as Pragg grabbed material via Bxb6 cxb5. Rapport’s magic peaked with 20…e4! 23…Bc2!!, infiltrating as Pragg slipped on 21.Bb3?? 23.Bc4?? 30.Rc2??, losing cohesion. Rapport mopped up with Qa7 Re3, forcing resignation in a tactical masterpiece praised even by Kasparov for its intuition on the edge