Chess World Cup: R Praggnanandhaa becomes first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to enter semi-finals

R Praggnanandhaa emerged victorious over compatriot and friend Arjun Erigaisi to win the sudden death tie-break at the FIDE Chess World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. The win took the 18-year-old into the semi-final stage of the tournament where he will face Fabiano Caruana. Praggnanandhaa is the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand to reach the semi-finals of the FIDE Chess World Cup. No other Indian had made it to this stage since the legendary Indian grandmaster had won the first two editions of the tournament in 2000 and 2002.

It was incredibly tense as @rpragchess picked up the most important win of his career! #FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/xoLGpvcWsC

— chess24 (@chess24com) August 17, 2023

By qualifying for the last-four he has also virtually assured himself of a place at next year’s Candidates tournament. With Magnus Carlsen ruling out the possibility of playing at the Candidates, Praggnanandhaa comes in as the best-three from the World Cup. “Happy,” said Praggnanandhaa after progressing. “I don’t think it was easy at all…. we were just fighting and not playing well with white. Maybe it’s hard to find ideas with white. For me at least. Arjun is strong with both colours, especially with black. “I was just trying to calm down and play my best. Was not thinking of Candidates but was concentrating only on the games. To lose 30 seconds without doing anything was upsetting but I managed to recover.”

A very exciting quarterfinal match between Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi finally concludes, after 7 tiebreak games, with Praggnanandhaa emerging as the winner and moving on to face Fabiano Caruana in the semifinals. #FIDEWorldCup

📷 Stev Bonhage pic.twitter.com/DBPGbPSyBa

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 17, 2023

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Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi had won their respective classical games forcing a decisive tie-breaker. The dramatic showdown saw player with black pieces win all games until Praggnanandhaa topped with whites in the ninth game to win by a 5-4 margin. The second semi-final will feature top seed Magnus Carlsen against local favourite Nijat Abasov. The Azerbaijan player had beaten Vidit Gujrathi in the quarter-final.