Erigaisi Arjun and R Praggnanandhaa - two teenage friends - went toe-to-toe and braincell-to-braincell before the latter emerged winner in their World Cup chess quarterfinal in Baku on Thursday. The reward for the 18-year-old is a date with Fabiano Caruana in the semis - he is the first Indian after Vishy Anand in the WC last four - and at least $50,000 in prize money. But importantly, he secures a spot in the Candidates tournament in 2024, the winner of which will play China's Ding Liren for the world crown. The intense tiebreak drama between the two Indians exploded from the 10-min games after a set of the first two rapid games ended in draws.
Praggu prevails after heart-stopping drama Veteran GM Peter Leko said during the webcast, "Sensational match...there were mistakes but the players showed incredible will to fight till the end." "Happy," reacted Praggu after reaching the semis. "I don't think it was easy at all.... we were just fighting and not playing well with white. Maybe it's hard to find ideas with white. For me at least. Arjun is strong with both colours, especially with black. I was just trying to calm down and play my best. Was not thinking of Candidates but was concentrating only on the games. To lose 30 seconds without doing anything was upsetting but I managed to recover."
The player with black pieces won four games in a row. Arjun triumphed in a must-win contest in the fourth tiebreak game (both 10-minute games) after losing the third one. Then, Praggu did the same in the sixth game after losing the fifth (both five-minute games). The tiebreak then moved to no-opportunity-to-bounce-back zone as the regulations stated the first decisive game (three minutes plus two second increment) would end the contest. — FIDE_chess (@FIDE_chess) The topsy-turvy nature of the contest reached its zenith as a player with white pieces - Praggu - finally struck with a supposedly favourable colour to end Arjun's gallant effort with a 5-4 scoreline. The drama had begun even before this game had started as Praggu reached the table after his clock was started and he almost lost half a minute in the three-minute game. He also displayed no nerve as he removed his player accreditation and jacket when saving time was of great essence.
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