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 …

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 …