Hyderabad:The first game of the FIDE World Cup final 223 between India's R Praggnanandhaa and world champion Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw after 35 moves. The second game will be played on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster was impressive against a fancied and higher-rated opponent and forced a stalemate in 35 moves while playing white pieces. This means Carlsen will have the advantage of playing white in the second game of the two-match classical series on Wednesday.
Praggnanandhaa's dream run during the ongoing FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan reached its pinnacle Tuesday evening as the teen prodigy clashed with legendary Carlsen. The final match began at 4:30 pm IST and continued till around 7:30 pm.
"I don't think I was in any trouble at all," Praggnanandhaa said after the game. However, Carlsen will have the advantage of playing white in the second game of the two-match classical series on Wednesday. Praggnanandhaa said later in an interaction posted on the 'X' (formerly Twitter) handle of FIDE: "Rb8, I felt I should have done something there. But maybe this position is just solid and I don't have anything. What I played there was not the best try but I could not find anything."
About tomorrow's second game against Carlsen, he said, "It'll be a fight. He'll definitely push very hard. I'll try to rest and come fresh, I think that's the best I can do." Carlsen, who has been under the weather due to food poisoning said that even though he had a break, he wasn't in the best physical shape.
"Normally, I would just probably have a bit of an advantage having a rest day while he had to play a tough tie-break yesterday but I've been in a pretty rough shape the last couple of days. "I got some food poisoning after the game against (Nijat) Abasov. I haven't been able to eat for the last two days. This also meant that I was really calm because I had no energy to be nervous," the Norwegian added in jest.
What happened in the semi-final
Praggnanandhaa made history on Monday as he beat world no.3 Fabiano Caruana after tiebreaks to reach the finals. Praggnanandhaa managed to beat Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5 after tiebreaks. After drawing the first two tie-break games, the Indian slayed Caruana, the World No. 3 by rating.
After two draws in the regular part of the semi-finals, Caruana and Praggnanandhaa met in the tiebreaks to decide who would go to the finals. The initial two rapid tiebreak games ended in draws. Notably, Caruana had a winning position in the first tiebreak game but failed to capitalise, allowing Praggnanandhaa or Pragg as he is now called to evade defeat. In the second game, both sides were equal throughout.
Then, in the second rapid tiebreak match – where the time controls moved from 25 to 10 minutes each – Praggnanandhaa played significantly better in the first game, gaining the upper hand on the white side of the Italian Game. Caruana correctly sacrificed a pawn and reached equality but then played somewhat sluggishly and allowed his opponent to consolidate.
Also read: Proud of Praggnanandhaa's accomplishment of winning against Carlsen: PM Modi
Pragg then advanced his pawns, capturing one and subsequently launching an assault on Black's Queenside, joined by the white king. Even though White promoted a second queen, Caruana continued to resist, hoping for a miracle. Unfortunately for the American, Pragg was confident in his execution and secured victory.
In the second game, Praggnanandhaa again achieved a better position (this time as Black). In the endgame, the Indian was completely winning, but he allowed White to make a comeback, and the game ended in a draw, thus eliminating Caruana.
Iconic Gary Kasparov lauds Pragg's mother
Praggnanandhaa had none other than the iconic Gary Kasparov, acknowledging the Indian GM's mother's role, which was akin to his own playing days. The glint in R Nagalakshmi's eyes and that disarming smile standing in a corner of a room while watching her son ace the battle of 64 squares has been one of the most photogenic moments of GM R Praggnanandhaa's dream run during the ongoing World Cup Chess.
Impressed with the teen sensation's win over world No.3 Fabiano Caruana on Monday, the former world champion Kasparov took to X, formerly Twitter, to laud the 18-year-old's feats and his mother's efforts. "Congrats to @rpragchess and to his mother. As someone whose proud mama accompanied me to every event, it's a special kind of support! The Chennai Indian defeated two New York cowboys! He has been very tenacious in difficult positions," Kasparov tweeted. (With inputs from the official FIDE website)
Also read: India's Dual Triumph: Praggnanandhaa in Chess World Cup final; Country awaits Chandrayaan-3's lunar touchdown
