Norway Chess: Praggnanandhaa stuns world champion Ding, continues giant-slaying run
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa continued his giant-slaying run in Norway Chess, beating World Champion Ding Liren in an Armageddon tiebreaker in his Round 7 match.
The 18-year-old held his composure through the classical game and pounced on an opportunity in the tiebreaker to pile up the pressure on Ding Liren, who has looked off-colour throughout the tournament in Stavanger.
Praggnanandhaa has been in fine form in Norway Chess, a prestigious double round-robin tournament. The teenage prodigy defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in a Classical game for the first time last week before defeating No. 2 Fabiano Caruana over the weekend. It was a commendable effort from R Praggnanandhaa as he kept his composure after losing to Firouzja Alireza of France in the Armageddon tiebreaker on Monday.
With the win over world champion Ding Liren, R Praggnanandhaa kept his hopes of winning the tournament. He is now at the third spot in the 6-man Open Section of Norway Chess with 11 points, 2.5 points behind leader Magnus Carlsen. Hikaru Nakamura is at the second spot with 12.5 points.
RACE FOR TOP HEATS UP IN NORWAY
In another game on Monday, Hikaru Nakamura kept the pressure on Magnus Carlsen by clinching an Armageddon win over the World No. 1 in their Round 7 match.
Praggnanandhaa has two outright wins and two Armageddon wins so far in the Norway Chess. The Chennai superstar will next face Magnus Carlsen in a much-anticipated reverse fixture.
Praggnanandhaa’s composure and body language after these big victories in Stavanger have earned him a lot of fans. The
While Praggnanandhaa gets a huge boost after beating Ding Liren, the world champion is looking jaded in Norway. Liren looks a far cry from the man who won the last world championship title against Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and needs to really gather himself to make a match of it in the next edition of the tournament against India’s D Gukesh. Currently, as per FIDE, the apex governing body, there are bids from Delhi, Chennai and Singapore to hold the World Championship match.
STANDINGS IN NORWAY CHESS OPEN SECTION AFTER ROUND 7
1. Magnus Carlsen – 13, 2. Hikaru Nakamura – 12.5, 3. R Praggnanandhaa – 11, 4. Alireza Firouzja – 9.5, 5. Fabiano Caruana – 7.5, 6. Ding Liren – 3.5.