Praggnanandhaa wins London Chess Classic

Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa, seeded third, stormed to victory in the Open category of the London Chess Classic.

Published : Dec 07, 2019 11:05 IST , LONDON

R. Praggnanandhaa's London Chess Classic triumph has earned him 15 rating points.
R. Praggnanandhaa's London Chess Classic triumph has earned him 15 rating points.
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R. Praggnanandhaa's London Chess Classic triumph has earned him 15 rating points.

India's R. Praggnanandhaa won the FIDE Open category of the London Chess Classic, which concluded here on Friday, with a tally of 7.5 points out of nine rounds.

WATCH: When GM Praggnanandhaa beat The Hindu in chess

The 14-year-old finished joint first with Anton Smirnov of Australia, who also scored 7.5 points. In the ninth and final round that stretched to the next day, Praggnanandhaa drew with his compatriot Sahaj Grover. Earlier, in the eighth round, the Indian Grandmaster drew with his country-mate Arvindh Chithambaram (7 points), who ended up in third place.

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"This is a great win for Praggnanandhaa. It has given him nice visibility for all the European organisers. The victory will give 15 rating points. As the third seed, this is a good morale-boosting triumph for him. The best part in the tournament, he was aggressive. But it will not be easy for him in the Sunway Open in Sitges (Spain) (from December 12 to 22) that has a much tougher field," his coach R.B. Ramesh told Sportstar .

Praggnanandhaa revealed that the victory over Jules Moussard of France (seventh round) and the draw against Arvindh Chithambaram (eighth round) were the key factors in him winning the title.

"The win over Mossard, the second seed and Arvinth anna, who was the top seed, were important," the 14-year-old Indian GM said.

"In fact from the third round all the opponents were tough as they were all rated above 2400."

Praggnanandhaa will feature at the Sunway Open in Sitges, Spain from London on December 10.

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