R Praggnanandhaa clinches maiden title after come-from-behind 2-1 win over D Gukesh in tie-breaker; says he was completely exhausted on stressful day
India’s R Praggnanandhaa with his trophy yesterday. PIC/FIDE
The Indian juggernaut in international chess remained unstoppable as Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa fought through exhaustion and nerves to defeat world champion D Gukesh in a clash of compatriots to clinch the Tata Steel Masters title for the first time in his prolific career. The bespectacled 19-year-old from Chennai, a city that has become the cradle of Indian chess, came from behind to upstage the 18-year-old World No. 3 2-1 in the tiebreaker of the event’s 87th edition here on Sunday.
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Tied on 8.5 points
This was after both players ended up tied on 8.5 points after losing their 13th-round games. While Gukesh lost to fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa went down to Vincent Keymer of Germany. In the tie-breaker, there was huge drama typical of two young players looking to win each and every game they played in the tournament as they played the tie-break. “I am still shaking, it was such a crazy day. I don’t know how to express. I didn’t really expect to win. Somehow things went my way,” Praggnanandhaa told the official tournament website after his triumph.
Asked if it was the most tense day of his chess career, which began when he was a mere two years of age. “Today is more special because I won the tournament. Definitely most stressful day,” he responded. The teenager became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title. Anand won it thrice (2003, 2004 and 2006) individually when it was called the Corus Chess Tournament, named on the title sponsor of that time. The legend also shared the honours twice (1989 and 1998) in its earliest form of Hoogovens Tournament.
Praggnanandhaa faced the Benoni with reversed colours in the first game of the tie-break and it seemed like he had equalised easily in the middle game. However, Gukesh had other thoughts as he kept trying and won, thanks to a blunder by Praggnanandhaa that cost him a full rook. In a must-win second game of the tie-breaker, Praggnanandhaa employed the Trompowsky opening, and this time Gukesh could claim a slight advantage with his black pieces.
“I was just trying to relax, to rest a bit. It was a very difficult game. Against Vincent, I didn’t play anywhere close to the level I was playing here. I should buy something for Arjun. At some point, I thought Gukesh was better,” the former world youth champion quipped. “For sure, [this win] it is the highlight. When I came here, I wanted to win but the field was very strong. I didn’t really think about it much until yesterday,” he added. “I am completely exhausted. I was also quite tired. I just want to get some rest now.”
During the tie-break, by just keeping his position together, Praggnanandhaa patiently waited and capitalised on an unforced error from Gukesh to first knock down a pawn and then his technical abilities were enough to see the normal blitz games through with a 1-1 score. This took the match into sudden death, where Praggnanandhaa drew white and once again Gukesh was better with some imaginative play on the queen side that netted him a pawn. The sudden death had a time control of two minutes and thirty seconds for white against three for black.
Gukesh errs at the end
Just while the position looked completely drawn and another game was on the cards, Gukesh lost control in the battle of nerves and first lost a pawn then his last remaining knight. Praggnanandhaa showed perfect technique to take the full point and his maiden victory at the Masters. For Gukesh, this was the second year running when he tied for first position and lost the tie-breaker. In the previous edition, Gukesh had lost to Chinese Wei Yi.
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