Chess World Cup Final 2023 Highlights: World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway beat India's 18-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in their FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 final duel as the all-time great finally adds only major title missing from his trophy cabinet. Carlsen will take home $1,10,000 while the runner-up will be awarded $80,000. Praggnanandhaa lost but his World Cup journey has been quite inspiring as the 18-year-old took down two of world's top three, to set up a summit clash with Carlsen. The Chennai-born secured his place in 2024 Candidates Tournament - an event that determines who gets to challenge reigning world champion Liren of China.
The title decider started on Tuesday as Game 1 between the two chess geniuses ended in a draw after 35 moves. Even after Game 2 on Wednesday, the winner could not be found and therefore the conclusion of the match was decided through a tie-breaker on Thursday (August 24). In the first rapid game of Final tie-break, Carlsen prevails with black, leaving his Indian counterpart in a must-win situation. The Norwegian required to just draw the second tie-breaker game to win the final.
The 18-year-old chess prodigy was one step away from winning the title that eluded India's legendary Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, a former five-time World Chess Champion.
Praggnanandhaa on Monday (August 21) defeated World no. 3 Fabiano Caruana of USA in in tie-breaks in FIDE World Chess Cup semifinal, following a 1-1 tie in their two-game classics -- a win which helped him set up the summit clash against Carlsen.
Before Praggnanandhaa, two-time FIDE World Chess Championship winner (2000 and 2002) Viswanathan Anand was the only Indian chess player ever to make it to the finals of the Chess World Cup. In the last 21 years, Praggnanandhaa is the first Indian to reach the Chess World Cup final, after Viswanathan Anand.
At the age of 16, Praggnanandhaa had defeated then-world champion Magnus Carlsen in a rapid game at the Airthings Masters Rapid Chess Tournament on 22 February, 2022, to become the youngest player to defeat the Norwegian. In 2016, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest (10 years, 10 months, and 19 days) international master in history.
18-year-old Praggnanandhaa, born on August 10, 2005 in India's Chennai, is now the third youngest chess player ever to qualify for the Candidates tournament.