By Shaurya Dutt
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 20 : Chess grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa opened up on the win against the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the recently concluded Norway Chess 2024 saying that he got a great opening in the start and lucky that he was able to convert it.
Even though Carlsen clinched his sixth Norway Chess title, it was a huge victory for the home country hero, as he had not played many classical tournaments in the recent past.
On the other hand, in Praggnanandhaa's last match, Nakamura was in a must-win situation to finish on top, but the game ended in a draw. The 18-year-old chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa won the tiebreak game, capping off his debut outing at Norway Chess in third place behind Nakamura.
The Chess grandmaster went on to say that it way a difficult game against the Norwegian player.
"It was a difficult game. I knew I would face him in the third round. Before the game, I was ready for a fight because we both had made two draws in the first two games and I knew that he would come for a fight and I was mentally ready for it and he surprised me with a new opening," Praggnanandhaa told ANI.
The 18-year-old further stated that the game wasn't an easy one as Carlsen is a very good defender in bad positions.
"I got a very big advantage out of the opening and managed to convert it. It wasn't easy especially because he's a very good defender in bad positions but I think the position was the advantage which was it was good enough," the young prodigy asserted.
The grandmaster went on to say he was not really thinking about the Armageddon game because it's a faster format
"The Armageddon game didn't go well for me at the start, but then I managed to find a good resource and come back. I wouldn't really put too much thought into the Armageddon game because it's a faster format. I was quite upset with my play in the main game," the Chess player stated.
In the end, Praggnanandhaa concluded by saying that the Norway Chess tournament gave him a lot of confidence.
"The Norway Chess tournament gave me a lot of confidence that I can fight these guys on equal terms. I knew that if I played my best, I could do that. I wouldn't necessarily say that I played my best in all the games in Norway, and even though I didn't really feel like I did that, still I managed to give... Yeah, still I managed to play in an equal strength to these players," the Chess grandmaster concluded.
Praggnanandhaa will be next seen in the Superbet Romania Classical tournament which will take place between June 24 and July 6.
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