Chess World Cup: R Praggnanandhaa overcomes veteran Michal Krasenkow to enter fourth round

Sochi: Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated veteran Michal Krasenkow 2-0 in the rapid tie-break in the third round of the FIDE chess World Cup on Tuesday. The 15-year old Praggnanandhaa, playing in his maiden World Cup, won a see-saw second tie-break game to book a fourth-round match with a 3-1 margin against the winner of the Maxime Vachier-Lagrave-David Paravyan clash. The 57-year old Krasenkow fought hard before the Indian teenager secured a win in 67 moves in the second tie-break game. Praggnanandhaa had taken the lead in the two-game mini match before the Polish veteran bounced back to force the tie-break. The experienced P Harikrishna, who beat Constantin Lupulescu (Romania) 1.5-0.5 on Monday, will face Iran’s M Amin Tabatabaei in the fourth round on Thursday. The Indian challenge in the women’s section ended when D Harika lost to Valentina Gunina in the third round late on Monday night.