Praggnanandhaa Beats Caruana To Win GCT Title, First Indian Champion
· Sports · Times of India, Indian Express
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa, 21, defeated Fabiano Caruana 15-13 in the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) final in St Louis, US, on Thursday night, becoming the first Indian and only the seventh player in the tournament's 11-year history to claim the title. The world No. 12 pocketed $200,000 in prize money and added the GCT crown to his earlier Norway Chess triumph, where he beat world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen twice in classical games in Oslo. In the final, Praggnanandhaa lost the first classical game and missed a likely equaliser in the second, but bounced back by winning both rapid games, worth four points each, before drawing the four-game blitz section 2-2. He had beaten German super talent Vincent Keymer in the semifinals. Praggnanandhaa skipped the Global Chess League in Bengaluru to prepare for next month's Chess Olympiad, where India will defend its maiden team gold medal.
Why it matters
The 21-year-old has now claimed two of the most prestigious titles on the elite chess circuit in a single summer, establishing himself as the leading Indian player heading into the Olympiad where India defends its historic team gold. His success at the above-Elo 2600 level signals the rise of a deeper Indian chess generation beyond Viswanathan Anand.
Read the original report — Times of India
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