New Delhi: Eighteen-year-old chess Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa took world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen to the tiebreakers of the FIDE World Cup final in Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday with Carlsen winning his first-ever World Cup by 2.5 points to Chennai-born Praggnanandhaa’s 1.5 points.
However, grandmasters and live commentators Daniel Naroditsky and Peter Leko repeatedly praised Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa for his efforts, with Naroditsky labelling him as the “consummate professional” throughout the tournament and Leko crediting his sportsmanship in supporting Carlsen when the latter had fallen sick ahead of the final.
What is FIDE World Cup
Held every two years since 2005, the FIDE World Cup is a single-elimination knockout tournament featuring 206 players across eight rounds of play, with the top 50 seeded players receiving a bye for the first round.
Each round features players facing each other in two 90-minute matches of classical chess across two days. Each player receives 1 point for a victory and half a point for a draw.
Tiebreakers of two rapid chess matches occur on the third day of play if the points are shared after the classical chess matches, with more matches of shorter length to take place in case the points remain tied.
Seeded at 31 coming into the tournament, Praggnanandhaa turned heads in the fourth round by knocking out second seed Hikaru Nakamura by 3 points to 1. He then continued his unbeaten run, recording two more victories against higher seeded players, fellow countryman Arjun Erigaisi and third seed Fabiano Caruana.
Praggnanandhaa’s runners-up finish means that he will take the next step in his bid to qualify for the historic pinnacle of chess — the World Chess Championship.
World Chess Championship
The top three podium finishes in the FIDE World Cup qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in Toronto, Canada, in April 2024 that will feature eight players.
As the name suggests, the Candidates Tournament serves as the qualification for the World Chess Championship, and takes place in a double round-robin format in which each player plays 14 rounds, facing each opponent twice. As with the FIDE World Cup, each player receives 1 point for a win and 0.5 points for a draw.
Carlsen’s withdrawal from the Candidates Tournament earlier this year due to a diminishing interest in classical chess and a lack of motivation to play in every major tournament means that the fourth-placed Nijat Abasov from Azerbaijan will qualify with Praggnanandhaa and third-placed Fabiano Caruana from the United States.
According to the FIDE 2023-24 cycle, the winner of the Candidates Tournament will face off in the 2024 World Chess Championship against the defending champion, China’s Ding Liren, although the venue and dates are yet to be finalised.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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