Indian GM Praggnanandhaa surprises world no. 3 Caruana: to meet Carlsen in final

Baku, Azerbaijan: With a tie-break, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5 in the FIDE World Cup chess competition semifinals held here on Monday.

Following a 1-1 draw in the two-game classical series, the 18-year-old Indian prodigy prevailed in a nerve-wracking tie-breaker against the highly-rated American GM in a battle of the wits.

Praggnanandhaa will now take on Norway’s Magnus Carlsen in the final.

“Pragg goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!,” chess legend Viswanathan Anand posted on ‘X’, formerly Twitter.

With PTI inputs