Chess World Cup: Praggnanandhaa shocks Caruana, meets Carlsen in final TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Aug 21, 2023, 10.24 PM IST Printed from NEW DELHI: In a remarkable display of skill and determination, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured a stunning victory over World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana with a score of 3.5-2.5 in the tie-breaker round of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament held in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday. With this sensational victory, Praggnanandhaa attains the distinction of being the third youngest player in history, following in the footsteps of the legendary Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen, to qualify for the Candidates tournament. Following a classical series of two games that concluded with a 1-1 draw, the 18-year-old Indian prodigy showcased his prowess by outsmarting the highly-regarded American GM in an intense tiebreaker. — FIDE_chess (@FIDE_chess) This thrilling encounter of mental prowess saw Praggnanandhaa triumph over his opponent. Now, Praggnanandhaa is set to face off against Norway's Carlsen in the final, marking a significant achievement in his chess career.
"Pragg
goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will
face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!," chess legend Viswanathan
Anand posted on 'X', formerly Twitter. — vishy64theking (@vishy64theking)
"I didn't expect to play Magnus in this tournament at all because the only
way I could play him was in the final, and I didn't expect to be in the final.
I will just try to give my best and see how it goes!," he said after
booking a spot in the summit clash. "It feels really good to qualify for
the Candidates; I really wanted to fix this spot
With the two
25'+10" games ending at 1-all, Praggnanandhaa prevailed in the first 10'+10"
game against Caruana to get within a draw of setting up a final clash with
world No.1 Carlsen. In the first game of tie-break, the Indian GM withstood a
lot of pressure from Caruana and held on for a draw in an exciting encounter.
The second rapid game too saw a similar result, pushing the semifinals to the
10'+10' series. Praggnanandhaa has been in a rich vein of form in the World Cup
and his biggest scalp before Caruana was another American Hikaru Nakamura, the
world No.2 and second-seed, following which he stopped compatriot Arjun
Erigaisi. "Congratulations @rpragchess for winning against Fabiano and
going to the finals at the World Cup in 2023! Proud and happy!," noted
chess coach RB Ramesh wrote on 'X'. — Rameshchess (@Rameshchess) Former women's
world No.1 Susan Polgar also hailed the young Indian GM. "Congratulations
to GM Praggnanandhaa for reaching the 2023 World Cup final to face Magnus! He
defeated world #2 Fabiano in the playoff to earn the coveted spot! He also
defeated world #3 Hikaru earlier!" — SusanPolgar (@SusanPolgar) AICF
president Sanjay Kapoor said, "Congratulations to Praggnanandhaa
@rpragchess on his amazing victory & making it to the FINALS of @FIDE_chess
Chess World Cup. Bravo! Indian chess lovers can't wait for the Final as it promises
to be one RED HOT Contest with the World no.1 @MagnusCarlsen on the other
side!" 8/21/23, 11:00 PM Chess World Cup:
— SnjKpr
(@SnjKpr) By becoming only the second Indian after Anand to reach the
semifinals of the world cup, Praggnanandhaa booked a spot in the Candidates
event in 2024 to determine the challenger to Ding Liren. The top three
finishers in the tournament qualify for the Candidates event in 2024 to
determine the challenger to current world champion Liren of China
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