Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa (Photo: X)
Stavanger: Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa ended his campaign on a positive note by defeating American Hikaru Nakamura in the finale to sign off third even as world number one Magnus Carlsen won the Norway Chess tournament here.Carlsen walked away with prize money of 7,00,000 NOK (Around USD 65,000 reserved for the winner) for ending with 17.5 points in the unique tournament that ensured that each round had a winner either through Classical time control or Armageddon if the game ended in a draw.
Nakamura finished second on 15.5 points despite losing to Praggnanandhaa, who concluded third on 14.5 points.
Praggnanandhaa can be happy with the fact that he defeated the top three ranked players in the world in one of the strongest ever tournaments.
He had beaten Carlsen and Caruana under Classical time control earlier in the tournament and his win against Nakamura ensured that he became the first player ever to beat the top three.
The fourth place went to Alireza Firouzja (13.5 points) who accounted for reigning world champion Ding Liren of China. The Iranian turned Frenchman also won under the Armageddon, leaving Liren at the bottom of the standings behind Caruana who finished on 10 points for the fifth place in the six-players double round-robin tournament.
In the Women's section, Wenjun Ju had no trouble securing the top spot at the expense of compatriot Tingjie Lei. The Chinese won with 19 points in all coming from three wins under Classical time control.
Anna Muzychuk finished second on 16 points, 1.5 points ahead of Lei who in turn was two points clear of R Vaishali. Koneru Humpy on 10 points was a distant fifth ahead of veteran Pia Cramling who tallied eight points in all.
The final round was not devoid of excitement. Carlsen delivers on demand and he did just that yet again against Fabiano Caruana.
After a regulation draw in the Ruy Lopez as white Carlsen reserved his energy for the final Armageddon and his Queen pawn opening ensured a tangible advantage as the game progressed.
The Norwegian won in the Queen and pawns endgame after 52 moves when his passed pawn in the centre was about to become a new Queen.
Praggnanandhaa took his chances in the middle game arising out of a London system and did not regret as Nakamura was on the backfoot right from the word go. Unleashing a king side attack the Indian romped home in just 31 moves.
Results final round men: Magnus Calrsen (Nor, 17.5) beat Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 11.5) 1.5-1; R Praggnanadhaa (Ind, 14.5) beat Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 15.5) 1.5-1; Firouzja Alireza (Fra, 13.5) beat Ding Liren (Chn, 7) 1.5-1.
Women: Wenjun Ju (Chn, 19) beat Tingjie Lei (Chn, 14.5) 3-0; Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 16) beat Koneru Humpy (Ind, 10) 1.5-1; R Vaishali (12.5) lost to Pia Cramling (Swe, 8) 1-1.5.
( Source : PTI )
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