Welcome to Sportstar Highlights of round 2 of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 final, being played in Baku, Azerbaijan. India’s R. Praggnanandhaa drew with black pieces against World No. 1 Norway’s Magnus Carlsen in the second classical game as the final moves to tiebreaks.
FOLLOW LIVE | PRAGGNANANDHAA VS MAGNUS CARLSEN CHESS WORLD CUP FINAL TIEBREAKS
PRAGGNANANDHAA vs CARLSEN MOVE-BY-MOVE INTERACTIVE
- Board Courtesy - Lichess.org
CARUANA vs ABASOV MOVE-BY-MOVE INTERACTIVE
- Board Courtesy - Lichess.org
SECRET OF PRAGG’S ENERGY!
“My mom has been a huge load of support not only for me but also for my sister.”PraggnanandhaaOn his Mother’s presence at the venue
Praggnanandhaa’s mother Nagalakshmi. | Photo Credit: FIDE/Maria Emelianova
MAGNUS TO COME BACK TOMORROW WITH MORE STRENGTH!
“I am very grateful to the organisers, FIDE and the doctors and nurses, who got me some good treatment. Today, I am feeling a bit better but I still didn’t feel like I had the energy for a full fight, so I thought, let’s get one more day of rest. Hopefully, I will have more strength tomorrow.”Magnus CarlsenAfter the second round match vs Praggnanandhaa
PRAGGNANANDHAA VS MAGNUS CHESS WORLD CUP FINAL SECOND ROUND MATCH REPORT
WHAT’S NOW?
Tomorrow, Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen will play a set of tiebreaks, beginning with two rapid games of 25+10 time control, and if the score is 1-1, the match moves to the second tiebreak, which will be two games of 10+10 time control. If no result is obtained, the match proceeds to the third tiebreak - a 2-blitz game of 5+3 time control followed by a sudden death blitz match of 3+2 time control. Sudden death will continue to change the colours after each game until the result is obtained.
TIEBREAK FORMAT
The game is still in the early stages but Caruana has the positional advantage. Abasov is still not out of this game as he eyes to build a pawn fortress on either side of the board.
FINAL HEADS TO TIEBREAK
After exchanging rook and the light-squared bishops, both players mutually agreed to a draw, which means the final is heading to an all-important tiebreak tomorrow.
Praggnanandhaa plays an attacking move in h6 and after rook to adi, king f8, f3 and bishop to b4, this is the position achieved on the board.
Abasov queen to e7 on the 11th move puts Caruana in a better position according to the bar and he continues to press further with accurate moves.
The bishops are placed at the middle of the board on c4, c5 and f4, f5 as the game is heating up with Carlsen putting his rook in the middle of first rank at d-file.
MATCH ENDING QUICKLY?
The match is leading towards an early draw after Magnus showed his intentions by exchanging queens and knight quickly.
After the first eight moves, this is the position which has been achieved on the board by Magnus and Praggnanandhaa. The top game at this position was played by British grandmaster Nigel Short and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik won with the black after Short failed to maintain equality with white.
FIRST VISUALS FROM THE GAME
WHAT’S FOUR KNIGHT GAME
The classical Four Knights’ Game is one of the beginning principles of the opening. All four knights get developed (hence the name), leading to a symmetrical position.
RECRODS BROKEN BY 18-YEAR-OLD PRAGG
WITH MOTHER ON HIS SIDE, PRAGG IS TAKING THE CHESS WORLD BY STORM
CARSEN SUFFERING FROM POOD POISONING
“Normally, I would probably have a bit of an advantage having a rest day while he had to play a tough tiebreaker yesterday. But I’ve been in pretty rough shape these past couple of days like I got some food poisoning after the game against Abasov. I haven’t been able to eat for the last two days. This also meant that I was really calm and I had no energy… so I didn’t have any energy to be nervous. Overall, I’m happy with the way I solved the problems from the opening (phase). The result is fine.”Magnus CarlsenAfter Final Round 1 Draw vs Praggnanandhaa
FINAL DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS
CARLSEN ROAD TO FINAL
Round 1: Bye
Round 2: Beat Levan Pantsulaia 2-0
Round 3: Beat Aryan Tari 1.5-0.5
Round 4: Beat Vincent Keymar 3.5-2.5
Round 5: Beat Vasyl Ivanchuk 2-0
Round 6: Beat D. Gukesh 1.5-0.5
Round 7: Beat Nijat Abasov 1.5-0.5
PRAGG READY FOR THE BIG BATTLE!
“Í don’t think I was in any trouble at all. It’ll be a fight. I’ll definitely push very hard. Today, I’ll just try and rest. Come fresh (tomorrow) and do the best that I can do.”Praggnanandhaa After Round 1 final
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total matches 19 | Carlsen won: 8 | Praggnanandhaa won: 5 | Draw 6
MATCH FORMAT
Two traditional Chess games with classical time controls will be played over two days. Both players will be given 90 minutes each for the initial 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes added after that, with a 30-second increment per move starting from Move 1.
PRAGGNANANDHAA ROAD TO FINAL
Round 1: Bye
Round 2: Beat Lagarde Maxime 1.5-0.5
Round 3: Beat David Navara 1.5-0.5
Round 4: Beat Hikaru Nakamura 3-1
Round 5 : Beat Ferenc Berkes 1.5-0.5
Round 6: Beat Arjun Erigaisi 5-4
Round 7: Beat Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5
FINAL FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Praggnanandhaa vs Magnus Carlsen Final First Round Report
In keeping with the rising expectations of the chess world, a confident R. Praggnanandhaa matched favourite Magnus Carlsen for a comfortable 35-move draw in their first-round clash in the final of the FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
For the third place, worth a spot in the Candidates Tournament, local Nijat Abasov stunned Fabiano Caruana in 26 moves after the American faltered badly on the 23rd move.
“Í don’t think I was in any trouble at all,” said Praggnanandhaa after the game. Asked about the second game, he said, “It’ll be a fight. I’ll definitely push very hard. Today, I’ll just try and rest. Come fresh (tomorrow) and do the best that I can do.”
Praggnanandhaa surprised Carlsen with his choice of opening move – pushing the queen-bishop pawn to the four rank – but admitted he was not clear of how to gain any advantage with white pieces and his rival took his time to play his moves using “common sense.”
CHECK OUT THE FULL REPORT HERE - READ
- Rakesh Rao
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