Praggnanandhaa shares lead with Carlsen

Miami, August 17

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Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa continued his fine run in the FTX Crypto Cup, beating Anish Giri of the Netherlands 2.5-1.5 in the second round here today.

Having started his campaign with a victory over world No. 4 Alireza Firouzja, the 17-year-old Indian scored the all-important win in the fourth and final game to hand Giri his second straight loss.

Praggnanandhaa, who played a key role in the Indian B team’s bronze medal win in the recent Chess Olympiad, edged out his Dutch opponent in 81 moves in the fourth game after the first three ended in draws.

The Indian GM now has six points after two wins, the same as Norway’s world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, who beat Hans Niemen 3-1.

Praggnanandhaa will take on Carlsen in the third round. He beat the world No. 1 twice in online matches recently and has been in good form in the past few months.

In other second round matches, Firouzja bounced back by beating Quang Liem Le of China 2.5-1.5, while Lev Aronian outlasted Poland’s Jan-Krzyztof Duda 3.5-2.5 in the tie-break.