Chess WC 2023 Final: Magnus Carlsen and R Praggnanandhaa game faces draw in first game

• Image Credit: Google

• Aug 22, 2023 | Poonam Nath

India's Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa drew with World No. 1 and five-time winner Magnus Carlsen with white...

Digital Desk: R Praggnanandhaa, India's young prodigy, maintained his prospects of writing history at the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 in Baku intact with a draw in the first game of the final against legendary No. 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen.

After 35 moves, the two players drew the first game of the Chess World Cup final on Tuesday, August 22. In the first classical match, Praggnanandhaa used white pieces, and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen will use white in the second classical encounter on Wednesday. 

However, Both players lost their queens and bishops during a period of quick movements in an otherwise solid struggle in which Pragg and Carlsen took their time with each move.

GAME PLANS: 

The Chess World Cup final will feature two traditional games. The first 40 movements will take 90 minutes for the two players. The remaining game time will be 30 minutes, with a 30-second increment for each move.

If the two classical games do not produce an outright winner, the two players will play two games in rapid style, each with a time limit of 10 minutes and a 10-second increment for each move.

If the result is still undecided, two further quick games with a time limit of 5 minutes and a 3-second increment of each move will be played. If the score remains a tie, the final will be played in a single blitz game in sudden-death mode.

About India's young Chess player R Praggnanandhaa-

Praggnanandhaa advanced to his first World Cup final against Carlsen after defeating world No.3 Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5 in a tie-break in the semifinals.

Praggnanandhaa also became the third youngest player to qualify for the Candidates event, following the famous Bobby Fischer and Carlsen.

"I didn't expect to play Magnus in this tournament because the only way I could play him was in the final, which I didn't expect to be in." "I'll just try my hardest and see how it goes!" Pragg stated on Monday.

"It feels really good to qualify for the Candidates; I really wanted to fix this spot," he added.