Stavanger (Norway), June 6 (IANS) Grandmaster (GM) Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu on Friday night, scripting the greatest ever comeback in a Super Tournament to become the first Indian to win the title in the Norway Chess championship, beating Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the 10th and final round of the classical chess event.
With this win, the 20-year-old from Chennai claimed the top prize of $100,000. In the third game in this round, World No.1 Magnus Carlsen defeated reigning World Champion D Gukesh of India to end his home tournament with victory.
Playing with white pieces, Pragg capitalised on some mistakes by Keymar in the middle-game to win on the 45th move to finish the tournament with 18 points from five wins, two losses, and two draws, both of which he won in the Armageddon game.
The former World No.4 finished a point ahead of overnight leader Wesley So of the United States, who drew with Alireza Firouzja in the final round and thus ended with 17 points from two wins and eight draws, winning six of them in Armageddon. Wesley So bagged 1.5 points to one by Firouzja in the 10th round.
Firouzja, the French player of Iranian origin, ended third with 15.5 points in this event with a special scoring format in which a win fetches a player three points while a draw gets each player one point, with an option of bagging a bonus point by winning the Armageddon game. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, who lost twice to Praggnanandhaa in this event, ended with 13 points from three wins, four losses, and three draws — two Armageddon wins.
Keymar ended fifth with 11 points while reigning Classical World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju of India came sixth and last with eight points from one win, five defeats, and four draws — with two Armageddon wins.
The focus on the final was on Pragg as he was trailing half a point behind overnight leader Wesley So. He jumped into the lead once Welsely So agreed to an early draw with Firouzja. He went on to convert the advantage he gained in the middle game into a clinical win over Keymar, who played some questionable moves, and won the title outright.
Pragg, who had slipped to No. 16 in the World Rankings in the last list released on June 1, came up with a brilliant performance in Norway Chess as he stormed back from the brink to win the prestigious title.
He was sixth and last in the standings after the sixth round but won four games in a row, including his second win over Carlsen and a penultimate round victory, and compatriot Gukesh, which propelled him into contention for the title. This was the first such winning streak in the event since Carlsen’s in 2021.
–IANS
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