Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa holds his own against world No. 1 Carlsen, first game ends in draw

New Delhi, August 22

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa held his own against the world No.1 Magnus Carlsen in the opening game of the FIDE World Cup Chess as he secured a draw in the first classical game of the final in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.

The evenly matched game ended after 35 moves as both players agreed to a draw.

Carlsen will have the advantage of playing with white pieces in the second game on Wednesday. Praggnanandhaa ran into time trouble midway through the first game as 90 minutes were given as per the rule for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game. And the 18-year-old took a lot of time after 25 moves as time on his clock read 18 minutes left as opposed to 30 minutes for Carlsen. Later, Praggnanandhaa claimed he was not under any pressure in the first game. “I don’t think I was in any trouble at all,” Praggnanandhaa said after the game. However, in an interaction on X, formerly Twitter, Praggnanandhaa said he could have done things better in the opening game. On Wednesday, it will be Carlsen will have the advantage of playing with the white. Carlsen suffered food poisoning in the game against Nijat Abasov. “It will be a fight. He will definitely push hard. I’ll try to rest and come fresh, I think that’s the best I can do,” Carlsen said.

If Wednesday’s game ends in a draw, then two tie-breakers will be played in the rapid format on Thursday with a time control of 25 minutes for each player.

If the tie-breakers fail to end the deadlock, the duo will play two more games in a rapid format with a time control of 10 minutes for each player. Further tie-breakers will be played with a time control of 5 minutes for each player.