Praggnanandhaa Becomes First Indian to Win Grand Chess Tour
India’s Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa made history recently by becoming the first-ever Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour. The Indian grandmaster made an incredible comeback from six points down against American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana and won 15-13 on the decisive day at the Saint Louis Chess Club. This has enabled him to claim his first Grand Chess Tour title and USD 200,000 as prize money. It is one more landmark event for Praggnanandhaa who has already stunned everyone with his Norway Chess victory.
Praggnanandhaa started the crucial day by being six points behind Caruana, but he bounced back to claim his victory in style by winning both rapid games and leading by two points.
He kept his cool in the blitz phase which comprised four games. In the opening blitz game, the game ended in a draw, whereas Caruana won the second game to level the scores at 12-12.
In the third game of the blitz phase, the Indian grandmaster came back to be two points ahead. In the last game, all he needed to do was to draw the game, and he managed to do that.
With the 15-13 win over Caruana, Praggnanandhaa won the Grand Chess Tour for the first time in his career and became the first Indian player to lift the coveted trophy.
In addition to claiming the tournament win, Praggnanandhaa also qualified for next year’s Grand Chess Tour along with Caruana and US GM Wesley So, who came third with a 18-12 win against Vincent Keymer from Germany.
What made the win even more special was that Praggnanandhaa went into the final day with a big handicap.
Winning the Grand Chess Tour is the latest achievement in a fantastic year for Praggnanandhaa.
Earlier in the year, he won the Norway Chess for the first time and that too without being seeded. In the tournament, he had won two games against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.
The Indian prodigy, who is mentored by five-time World Champion Vishwanathan Anand, continues to prove himself as one of India’s top chess talents.
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