Chessable Masters | Praggnanandhaa loses final to China's Ding Liren

Chessable Masters | Praggnanandhaa loses final to China's Ding Liren

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A file image of Praggnanandhaa.

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(Twitter)

India's boy wonder Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa played an incredible two-round final against Ding Liren of China and force a tiebreak in the Chessable Masters, in the fourth leg of the nine-round tournament. Eventually the Indian lost the match by 2.5-1.5, 0.5-1.5 margin in the tiebreak playoffs.

Pragg, interestingly, had appeared for his school exam just before the first round of the final, after playing the semi-final till late in the night, and won the second game in the four-game mini-match after the first ended in a draw. Later, he forced a blitz playoff, drawing one, and losing the second.

A runner-up finish means that Pragg won USD 15000 in prize money and USD 6250 in bonuses. What makes this campaign even more memorable is the fact that he beat world no.1 Magnus Carlsen in the preliminary stage. On the other hand, Ding claimed the USD25,000 first prize, USD6,250 in bonuses, apart from winning the title. 

Even though the Chinese had the match fully in his grasp after winning the first round, but Praggnanandhaa had other ideas. At the end of it all, it was still a brilliant performance by the Indian wizard, the youngest of the three in the fray in Chessable Masters, and one that enhances his reputation as a world-beater in the making.

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