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'Kya khela hain'- Fans react as Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa loses to Magnus Carlsen in Chess World Cup Final tie-breaker

After three days of intense battle between Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen, has lost against the World No.1.

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Rohit Kumar
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Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (Source- Twitter)

After three days of intense battle between Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen, the 18-year-old teenage prodigy has lost against the World No.1 at the FIDE Chess World Cup final. R Praggnanandhaa needed a great comeback in the second game of the tie-breaker in the Final against Carlsen but he failed to do so.

He was the youngest World Cup finalist ever. Seeded 31, Praggnanandhaa is also the lowest seed to make the final of the World Cup. He became the third youngest player after the legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the candidates tournament.

R Praggnanandhaa fights till the end

The tie-breaker games which took place in the 25+10 format (25 minutes for each player to complete the game with 10 seconds bonus time per move) were in favour of Carlsen who defeated the Indian in both games after 34 and 21 moves respectively.

The competition was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, where Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen played Game 2 of the final on Wednesday, which ended in a draw after 21 moves. On Tuesday, the first game of the final also ended in a draw after 35 moves. He is only the second Indian chess player to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup, after Viswanathan Anand in 2002. After the World Cup, the teen grandmaster will participate in the Candidates event in 2024.

After qualifying for the final the 18-year-old stated, "I didn’t expect to play Magnus in this tournament at all because the only way I could play him was in the final, and I didn’t expect to be in the final. I will just try to give my best and see how it goes!"

According to reports, this was not the first time that Praggnanandhaa was going up against Magnus Carlsen. Earlier in 2022, the youngster not only played against but also beat Carlsen in an online competition lasting 39 moves. In total Praggnanandhaa has faced Carlsen 19 times before this, with six games ending in a draw and Carlsen winning eight games. On his way to the final, Praggnanandhaa beat world's 2nd-ranked Hikaru Nakamura and 3rd-ranked Fabiano Caruana.

Here's how fans reacted: 

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