Praggnanandhaa, Nandhidhaa cap stellar run by winning titles

New Delhi, November 3

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Top-seeded Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and compatriot PV Nandhidhaa won the titles in the open and women’s sections, respectively, at the Asian Continental Chess Championship here today.

Praggnanandhaa drew with compatriot B Adhiban in a 63-move game in the ninth and final round to emerge victorious with seven points.

The 17-year-old had come into the final round with a half-a-point lead over the others. He held off Adhiban and shared the honours to win the top prize.

The triumph also earned Praggnanandhaa a ticket to the next FIDE World Cup.

SL Narayanan, Harsha Bharathakoti, Karthik Venkataraman and Shamsiddin Vokhidov had an outside chance of a shot at the title, but missed out after drawn games.

GM SP Sethuraman defeated IM Koustav Chatterjee in 41 moves to join five others on 6.5 points. Bharathakoti took the second spot on the basis of a better tie-break score, while Adhiban was third.

In the women’s event, Nandhidhaa drew her ninth-round match against Divya Deshmukh to finish with 7.5 points. The 26-year old remained unbeaten throughout and won six games.