R Praggnanandhaa, a young prodigy from India, maintained his prospects of making history at the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 in Baku by drawing with the great Magnus Carlsen in the opening match.
After 35 moves, the first game of the Chess World Cup final between the two players ended in a draw. The World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen will play with white pieces in the second classical match on Wednesday, and Praggnanandhaa used white pieces in the first classical match. In a generally solid struggle where Pragg and Carlsen took their time with each move, both players lost their queens and bishops in a burst of quick moves.
There will be two traditional games in the Chess World Cup final. For the first 40 moves, the two players will each get 90 minutes. The remaining time for the game will be allotted in increments of 30 seconds for each play.
The two players will play two games in fast succession with a time limit of 10 minutes for each player and a 10-second increment for each move if the two traditional games fail to produce a clear winner.
Praggnanandhaa defeated world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5 on the tie-break in the quarterfinals to get to his first World Cup final against five-time champion Carlsen.
In addition, Praggnanandhaa qualified for the Candidates tournament as the third-youngest player, behind only the legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen.
"I never expected to face Magnus in this tournament because the only way I could do so was in the championship game, and I didn't anticipate making it that far. Pragg stated on Monday, "I'll simply try to do my best and see how it goes.
I really wanted to fill this slot, therefore it feels incredibly fantastic to qualify for the Candidates.
