Shalaka Kachare, Pune
On Thursday, August 17, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated fellow countryman Arjun Erigaisi in a sudden death tiebreaker, winning 5-4, and advanced directly to the FIDE World Chess Championship semifinals. The 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa will take on American Fabiano Caruana in the semi-finals and have a chance to qualify for next year’s Candidates tournament.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand is the only Indian to have played in the Candidates tournament so far. Both these Indian players (Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi) had won a game each in the classical series on Wednesday after which the match was drawn to the tie-breaker. Where Praggnanandhaa displayed an impressive strategy against Erigaisi in the opening 5+3 blitz game, but Erigaisi responded with an equalizer in the subsequent game.
Both players won the third and fourth games as the tournament went on, bringing the contest to a sudden-death finish. Each of these games had winners who used black pieces, and an unusual pattern started to emerge.
Given that it is predicted that Magnus Carlsen, the current world No. 1, will skip the Candidates, Praggnanandhaa may find himself taking part in the competition that ultimately decides who will face Ding Liren, the current world champion.
With fearless play by both the Indians won crucial games as the last eight clashes ebbed and flowed due to enterprising play by both. Renowned coach RB Ramesh said on X (formerly Twitter) after the match, ‘What a great match! Well played by both the young lions! Proud of both the players for their fighting spirit.”
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 Abbasov, respectively. R. Praggnanandhaa, however, will now compete against American Fabiano in the semifinals.
Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa has given hope that another Indian will win the World Cup after 21 years.