Airthings Masters: Praggnanandhaa returns to face world’s elite

R. Praggnanandhaa will be up against the world’s elite, including World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, in the $150,000 Airthings Masters online rapid chess tournament from February 19.

R. Praggnanandhaa will be up against the world’s elite, including World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, in the $150,000 Airthings Masters online rapid chess tournament from February 19. (File photo)

Fresh from his debut in the elite Tata Steel tournament, R. Praggnanandhaa will return to face the world’s elite, including World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, in the $150,000 Airthings Masters online rapid chess tournament from February 19.

The event kicks off the $1.6 million Meltwaters Champions Chess Tour with a revised format and points system. It features several top-10 players like Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniatchi, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. World rapid champions Alexandra Kosteniuk and Nodirbek Abdusattorov are also part of the field. Praggnanandhaa, 16, is the youngest player in the fray.

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All 16-players play on a round-robin format, the time-control being 15 minutes + 10-second increment per move for each player. A win is worth three points and a draw earns a point. The top eight finishers move to the knockout phase.

The quarterfinals and semifinals will be matches played over four rapid games. In case of a tie, action will resume with two blitz games where each player gets five minutes + 3-second increment per move for each game.

If the tie persists, an Armageddon game will follow where the player with white pieces gets five minutes to black’s four. A draw signals victory for black.

The final will be two sets of four-game matches and a playoff, if needed.