The much awaited final match between Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw after 35 moves in the first game on Tuesday. Both the chess maestros will go head-to-head in the second game today, August 23.
https://twitter.com/airnewsalerts/status/1694198675420164303?s=20
Magnus Carlsen will have the White pieces in Wednesday’s game. If the game ends in a draw, the players will go into tiebreaks. However, a win for either means winning the World Cup. If a tie occurs, a playoff occurs on the third day of the round. The tiebreak procedure involves two rapid games. If further resolution is required, two ‘slow blitz’ games are played.
At home, India is cheering up for the Indian prodigy’s win and complementing the occasion with Chandrayaan-3. A success in both, the space and board of chess will be historical milestone for the country.
In Chess, if India’s hope, Praggnanandhaa beats Magnus on 23 August 2023, he will create history of being the youngest ever player in the world to win the FIDE World Cup. The game starts at 4.30 p.m. IST.
Carlsen vs Praggnanandhaa
Praggnanandhaa has faced Carlsen on previous occasions, where he challenged the five-time world champion, defeating him thrice in the last 6 months. Praggnanandhaa defeated Carlsen in February 2022 at the Airthings Masters (an online rapid chess tournament), in the process becoming the youngest person to defeat Carlsen since he became world champion in 2013.
The second time he stunned the Norwegian was at the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament on May 20.
Drawing huge viewership
The final match of the Chess World Cup is also drawing huge viewership, on which Praggnanandhaa said that it was very good to know that we have such numbers! “It shows that Chess is growing – I’m very happy to see that.”
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan grandmaster Nijat Abasov defeated American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana. Fabiano must win in the next game to take the match to tie-breaks. The player who prevails in this match wins the Bronze medal and secures a ticket to the FIDE Candidates World Cup.