Magnus Carlsen beats R Praggnanandhaa to win FIDE Chess World Cup

Chess World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated Indian chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa at the FIDE World Cup final to win his first title in Baku. The Norwegian prevailed against the 18-year-old in a thrilling tiebreak as he added one more prestigious trophy to his collection.

Carlsen drew against Praggnanandhaa in the second 25+10 Rapid game and won the FIDE World Cup 2023. Since he won the first Rapid game, he defeated Praggnanandhaa 1.5-0.5 in the Rapid tiebreaks.

Pragg on the other hand who defeated world 2 Hikaru Nakamura and 3 Fabiano Caruana on his way to the final has also become the youngest to clinch the silver medal at the tournament.

Fabiano Caruana finished third after beating Nijat Abasov in the tiebreaks.

With the 2nd position, Praggnanandhaa also became only the 2nd Indian to secure a ticket to the Candidates tournament after Vishwanathan Anand.