Aithings Masters: R Praggnanandhaa’s run ends

Chennai, February 23

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated Russia’s Vladislav Artemiev in the 15th and final round of the preliminary phase of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament, but couldn’t qualify for the quarterfinals.

The 16-year-old started the final day of the preliminary rounds with a draw against Germany’s Vincent Keymer in Round 13 before going down to Hans Moke Niemann (USA) in the next.

His stirring win over world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the eighth round caused a flutter but inconsistent performances pegged Praggnanandhaa back. He finished 11th in the standings with 19 points and the top-eight progress to the knockout phase.

However, a 32-move win over Keymer saw the teenager finish the event on a high.

He scored five wins from 15 rounds, drew four and lost six. He beat Carlsen, top-10 player Levon Aronian, Russian Andrey Esipenko, former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk and Keymer.

Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi topped the preliminary stage, racking up 29 points while Carlsen finished second on 25 points, followed by Artemiev (24). —