Chess
Heartbreak for R Praggnanandhaa as Magnus Carlsen wins FIDE World Cup 2023
India’s R Praggnanandhaa created history by becoming the youngest FIDE World Cup finalist at the age of 18.
World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen won the FIDE World Cup 2023 by defeating India's 18-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa on Thursday. The young Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa fought valiantly against Carlsen on Day 3 of the final in the tie-breaker only to settle for second place after losing the rapid-fire and blitz round by 0.5 to 1.5. Earlier, the two classical games had ended in a 1-1 draw stalemate.
After settling down for 35 moves draw on day 1 and 30 moves draw on day 2, the day of the tie-breaker came into play where both the finalists faced each other in two games in a controlled rapid-fire and blitz round to determine the ultimate winner.
The world No. 1 beat Praggnanandhaa 1.5-0.5 in the first tie-break match and then saw the second game to a draw in 22 moves.
The 33-year-old Norwegian won the FIDE World Cup for the first time in his career and the five-time world champion got a prize money of $110,000 (approximately ₹90,93,551). For finishing second , Praggnanandhaa has earned a whopping sum of USD 80,000 (approximately ₹66,13,444).
On the other hand, India’s R Praggnanandhaa even after losing the final managed to create history by becoming the youngest FIDE World Cup finalist at 18. Praggnanandhaa can keep his chin up as he beat higher-ranked opponents - world no. 2 Hikaru Nakamura and no. 3 Fabiano Caruana on the way to become the second Indian after the great Viswanathan Anand to enter the FIDE World Cup final. By finishing in runner-up position, Praggnanandhaa also secured a ticket to the FIDE Candidates tournament.
