Chess World Cup: Praggnanandha beats Michal Krasenkow, roars into round four
Jul 20, 2021
New Delhi [India], July 20 : Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandha on Tuesday defeated legendary Michal Krasenkow of Poland in a rapid tiebreak in the ongoing FIDE Chess World Cup.
With this win, 15-year-old Praggnanandha qualified for the fourth round of the showpiece event. Praggnanandha is one of the youngest players still playing at the Chess World Cup.
Praggnanandha will face either Maxime Vachier-Lagrave or Paravyan in the next round.
Pragg has shown some sensational performances in the tournament. He was especially impressive as he scored two victories against the experienced GM Gabriel Sargissian (Armenia), who was rated 76 Elo points higher as well.
Needing a win in the second game, Sargissian sacrificed a piece for an attack, but his 15-year-old opponent calculated well.
Earlier this month, 16-year-old Nihal Sarin won the Serbia Open and as a result, he has recorded his consecutive tournament victory in Serbia.
In June, Abhimanyu Mishra became the youngest chess grandmaster in history. The 12-year-old player from New Jersey scored his third GM norm in Budapest, having already crossed the required 2500 Elo rating barrier.
Mishra broke GM Sergey Karjakin's record that was standing for 19 years. On August 12, 2002, Karjakin, a world championship challenger in 2016, secured the grandmaster title at the age of 12 years and seven months. Mishra, born on February 5, 2009, took 12 years, four months, and 25 days to obtain the highest title in chess.
