Sports News | Praggnanandhaa's Historic Road to FIDE World Cup Final

Baku, Aug 24 (PTI) Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa wrote a golden chapter in Indian chess history by becoming only the second player from the country after Viswanathan Anand -- and the youngest -- to play in the FIDE World Cup final.

The 18-year-old Indian lost the summit clash to Norway's world No.1 Magnus Carlsen here on Thursday.

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PTI takes a look at his journey in the elite event:

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R Praggnanandhaa's road to World Cup final:

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*Got a bye in first round.

*Defeated French Grandmaster Maxime Lagarde 1.5-0.5 in second round.

*Beat experienced Czech GM David Navara 1.5-0.5 in third round.

*Beat world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura of USA 3-1 in fourth round.

*Beat Hungarian Ferenc Berkes 1.5-0.5 in fifth round.

*Registered a come-from-behind 5-4 win over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the sixth round.

*Beat Italian-American Grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana, ranked third in the world, 3.5-2.5 in the semifinal to become the youngest to reach the summit clash of the World Cup.

*Game 1 of Final on Tuesday ended in a draw after 35 moves.

*Game 2 between Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen also ended in a quick draw in just 30 moves.

*Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen returned on Thursday to play in the shorter time control games, with the Indian losing in the tie-break.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)