Praggnanandhaa finishes third in Hou Yifan Challenge, qualifies for Tour Finals along with Mendonca

R. Praggnanandhaa finished third and Leon Mendonca took the fifth spot as the two Indians qualified for the Tour Finals to be held in October.

Praggnanandhaa aggregated 11.5 points from 16 games to match the tally of USA’s Christopher Yoo. Since Yoo was victorious in their encounter, Praggnanandhaa was placed third. (File photo)

India's R. Praggnanandhaa tied for second place before finishing third in the Hou Yifan Challenge online rapid chess tournament on Tuesday.

The Indian contender aggregated 11.5 points from 16 games to match the tally of USA’s Christopher Yoo. Since Yoo was victorious in their encounter, Praggnanandhaa was placed third.

Leon Mendonca (10 points) was fifth, Aditya Mittal (9.5) finished joint-ninth and R. Vaishali (6.5) ended up tied-11th. Germany’s Vincent Keymer (13.5 points) won the title with a round to spare.

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Keymer also tops the list of eight Tour finalists who fight for $40,000 in a knockout final that takes place from October 14 to 17. Praggnanandhaa (5th) and Mendonca (8th) are the two Indians in the line-up. With D. Gukesh not taking part in the last leg of the Tour, Mendonca made the ‘cut’ as the eighth finisher.

After the four legs of the Tour, Team Polgar defeated Team Kramnik 324.5 points to 302.5. That meant that Team Polgar’s Gukesh and Nihal Sarin have earned a chance to travel to Dubai to witness the World chess championship title clash involving Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi in December.