File image of R Praggnanandhaa© AFP
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa lost to World Champion Ding Liren in the Armageddon tie-breaker after the two played out a draw under normal time control in the second round of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger. The second round of the prestigious event saw all three classical games ending up in a draw once again. Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja and Liren won with white in the subsequent Armageddon games to grab 1.5 points each.
India’s prodigy Praggnanandhaa, who went with a 2-0 head-to-head lead against Liren, played out his first classical draw in the main event.
But the Chinese GM then emerged victorious in the Armageddon tie-breaker In the highly anticipated pairing of the day, Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura played out a closely contested classical game that ended in a draw.
Carlsen, demonstrating his exceptional skill under pressure, managed to secure a crucial victory, adding to his impressive Armageddon record and taking the lead of 3 points in tournament standings.
Meanwhile, Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana also drew their classical game after a complex struggle.
Firouzja’s abilities in speed chess shone through in the Armageddon game as he bagged crucial 1.5 points.
In the women’s section R Vaishali defeated fellow Indian Koneru Humpy to register her first classical win in the tournament.
Despite Humpy’s slight advantage in the opening, a critical blunder under time pressure allowed Vaishali to claim victory, and claimed her first ever win against India’s number one female player.
With the win, Vaishali became India’s number two female player on the live rating list.
The other two classical matches between Lei Tingjie and Pia Cramling along with Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk ended up in hard-fought draws.
The Chinese duo of Wenjun and Tingjie emerged victorious in their respective Armageddon games.
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