Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa vs Magnus Carlsen, Chess World Cup 2023
Yesterday, Magnus Carlsen achieved the goal he had been working towards all week long: he won the FIDE World Cup for the first time in his career. This victory came after three days and four games of incredibly tense chess spanning two formats. In the championship match, he prevailed over Praggnanandhaa of India, but not before the 18-year-old adolescent prodigy had pushed him to the limit in the tie-breaker. After the second game of the tiebreaker, it was determined that Carlsen had won the match. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the two competitors played games that ended in draws each time.
Despite the fact that the young man from Chennai was unable to win in the end, the FIDE World Cup was still a memorable experience for him because he earned a seat in the famous Candidates Tournament. This tournament is held in order to select an opponent for world champion Ding Liren to face in the next global chess championship match.
Pragg, who turned 18 during the course of the World Cup, was the youngest player to ever compete in the World Cup finals, and he is also the youngest player to ever win the World Cup. Pragg, who was given the seed number 31, is the player with the lowest ranking to advance to the World Cup final.
Praggnanandhaa became the third youngest player behind the legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament thanks to the fact that he made it to the final round of the competition.
Well played Champ. India is proud of you.