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Indian Grandmaster R Pragyanandha lost the title match to Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE Chess World Cup final on Thursday. But it did not give Karlsson an easy victory in the World Cup final. On Thursday, Karlsson won the first game in a tiebreaker after the first two rounds ended in draws and won the World Cup after drawing the second. Carlson, a five-time World Championship winner, won the World Cup for the first time.
India’s 18-year-old Pragyanand conceded points under pressure in a match full of ups and downs. Carlson won the first game in 45 moves. The International Chess Federation tweeted, “Pragyananda is the runner-up for the 2023 FIDE World Cup. Congratulations to the talented 18 year old Indian player for a great tournament! Entering the final, Pragyananda defeated World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura (quarterfinals) and World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana (semifinals). By winning a silver medal in the World Cup, Pragyanandha also secured a ticket for FIDE candidates.
Pragyanandha became the third youngest player to reach the prestigious tournament after Carlson and Bobby Fischer. He will be the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to play in Candidates. After two draws in two days, top seed Carlson beat Pragyanandha with black in the first game of the tiebreak, holding the Indian to a draw with white.