Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands): India's young chess wizard, R Praggnandhaa emerged triumphant against World Champion Ding Liren on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Tata Steel Masters. As a result of the victory, he surpassed five-time world champion Vishwanathan Anand as the top-ranked chess player in the country.
The teenager attained FIDE’s live rating of 2748.3 while Anand is at 2748. Also, he became the second Indian to defeat a reigning world champion in a classical chess.
Pragg was playing with the black pieces in the fixture. This was his first victory in the tournament after scripting three draws in the games played earlier by him. Coincidentally, Pragg had defeated the same opponent in 2023 on January 17 with black pieces. Back then, Ding was ranked second in the world and he was preparing for the Candidates tournament.
In the other games, where Indian challenge was at stake, Gukesh lost his match with Anish Giri while Vidit Gujrathi played a draw against Jorden Van Foreest. English opening was tried in the game between both the players but Gukesh underestimated the dangers of positions with opposite-coloured bishops on the board and that led to him losing the game.
Courtsey of his win, Anish has occupied the top spot on the leaderboard heading into the first rest day of the competition. Pragg is placed third, Vidit is at the seventh while Gukesh is at the 10th spot in the Tata Steel Masters Chess event.
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