R Praggnanandhaa advances to FIDE World Cup semifinals
On Thursday, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa advanced to the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup chess competition after defeating fellow countryman Arjun Erigaisi 5-4 in a sudden death tie-break. The 17-year-old qualified for the semis against American ace Fabiano Caruana.
By almost winning a spot in the Candidates competition, the teenage chess prodigy from Chennai would be the only other Indian, aside from five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, to compete. Magnus Carlsen, the current world champion, is not expected to compete in the Candidates, thus Praggnanandhaa could participate in the competition to determine who would challenge him.
After dropping the first game of the two-game classical series, Praggnanandhaa came back to win the second one on Wednesday, forcing a tie-break. In the opening 5+3 blitz match, Praggnanandhaa outplayed Erigaisi with some outstanding play.
In the next, Erigaisi responded to tie the game. Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi respectively won games three and four to force a sudden-death match in the quarterfinal. It's interesting to note that players using black pieces won every game.
Both Indian showed steely resolve by winning important games as the last eight match fluctuated as a result of the pair's resourceful play.
D Gukesh, 17, and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, 17, both of India, were eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing to world No. 1 Carlsen and Nijat Abasov, respectively. In order to select who will oppose Ding Liren in 2024, the top three finishers in the competition advance to the Candidates event.