3 min readUpdated: Mar 30, 2026 05:18 PM IST
It was a rare pawn attack, and a rather unexpected line that surprised Anish Giri in his opener against R Praggnanandhaa as the Indian took a whole 1 point on Day 1 at the Candidates at Cyprus.
Chess.com dubbed the win induced by the Grand Prix Attack – an aggressive variant of the Sicilian Defence – as the cleanest win of the day, with Pragg playing with white.
The idea of the Grand Prix Attack was to keep attacking the Black’s King with an early f-pawn push, and an eventual long castle by Giri saw him walk right into the trap, after positions had looked fairly equal.
Said to have originated in 1800 in London, chessdoctrine.com, cites two instances of the Grand Prix leading to a sharp situation: one involving Pragg in 2021 against Aryan Tari. Another dates back to Anand vs Kasparov in 1994. It is said to throw up 38 % wins for Black as against 26 % for white, though in amateurs its 49 to 47. Reddit was aflutter with claims that Pragg used Giri’s own Chessable tutorial against him.
Chessbase reckoned Pragg used the H pawn to trap Giri.
What made the line adopted by Pragg a hoot was that it managed to disarm a very cautious Dutchman who is not prone to getting surprised. Chess.com described the Grand Prix Attack, as ‘an opening favored by club players for its very straightforward plan of pushing the f-pawn and giving checkmate. Caveman tactics are generally unlikely to work against a theoretician as renowned as the Dutch number-one, but Giri decided not to play what he’d recommended in his Chessable course on the Sicilian,’ Chess.com noted.
Because it’s not often played at this level, Giri was thrown off and ended up spending massive time navigating the opening, while the Indian 20-year-old shuffled his pieces at a quick clip.
Story continues below this ad
Chess.com further wrote, ‘It wasn’t that Praggnanandhaa was winning out of the opening, but Giri found himself forced to castle on the opposite wing to his opponent. His position was shaky, though tantalizingly close to equality for much of the game until things fell apart in the run-up to the time control. Praggnanandhaa didn’t put a foot wrong and brilliantly converted his advantage when given the chance.’
Later speaking to FIDE, Pragg said, “I think this line is playable and takes my opponent out of theory.” Giri said he had anticipated a deviation, but Pragg took him by surprise by opting for this. “Although it was OK until I blundered, my position was gradually becoming unpleasant,” Giri told FIDE of how the Indian grandmaster masterfully contrived the rook ending with Super technique.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
