Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday congratulated Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa for defeating five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen at the FTX Crypto Cup.
India's Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa stunned five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen at the FTX Crypto Cup and finished runners-up in the tournament in Miami.
"Well done Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa ! Inspiring rise and game that resulted in the defeat of five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen at the FTX Crypto Cup. Defeating Magnus Carlsen thrice in 6 months is a remarkable feat!" tweeted Thakur.
This was 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa's third consecutive win in his career against the Norwegians. Although Carlsen went on to clinch the FTX Crypto Cup Tamil Nadu gave him a tough time.
In the final match of the FTX Crypto Cup, Praggnanandhaa was trailing but he produced a clutch moment against Magnus Carlsen and defeated him in three games in a row in the blitz playoffs to create history.
The clash was intense and Praggnanandhaa finished just one below Carlsen, who somehow managed to defend his title despite the threats posed by Praggnanandhaa.
Praggnanandhaa started with a winning streak in the championship after defeating his opponent in the first game. But then the 17-year-old lost two matches in a row to Quang Liem Le, the Vietnamese contender and Jan-Krzystof Duda, his Polish counterpart. Duda seized the lead from Praggnanandhaa after winning the first game.
The next two games were drawn matches, Praggnanandhaa won the fourth to tie the positions. The Polish player then won both tie-break rounds to claim a 4-2 victory.
( With inputs from ANI )
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