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India’s rising star R Praggnanandhaa, on Thursday, September 8, finished third in the Tata Steel Chess 2023 in Kolkata. The youngster, who recently gave five-time World chess champion Magnus Carlsen a run for his money, finished joint-third along with Alexander Grischuk and Vidit Gujrathi.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who is a former world rapid chess champion, won the rapid chess title in Kolkata. The veteran, who was visiting India for the first time, ended his campaign with seven points, quite a distance above the second-placed Teimour Radjavov, who had 5.5 points.
Praggnanandhaa’s roller-coaster ride in Tata Steel Chess
Praggnanandhaa, who finished as runner-up in the world championships, managed to secure two wins and started his campaign on a handsome note. But then, he lost to India’s No.1 D Gukesh in one of the most thrilling contests of the day.
The 18-year-old looked impressive and beat Gujrathi in his 38th move when he delivered a checkmate. Gujrathi started in an attacking mode, but it did not ruffle Praggnanandhaa, who responded brilliantly.
Thereafter, Praggnanandhaa faced Gukesh in the penultimate round but failed to carry his momentum. Gukesh used his queenside pawns to good effect and got the teenager under pressure. After 45 moves, he secured victory.
Praggnanandhaa, however, managed to recover and beat Arjun Erigasi, the current rapid chess champion, on his 39th move. The young sensation recently made a mark after beating World No.2 Hikaru Nakamura and World No.3 Fabiano Caruana before almost taking down Magnus Carlsen.
He also became the third-youngest to qualify for the Candidates 2024 tournament to be held in Canada in April.
As far as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is concerned, he started his journey at the Tata Steel Chess 2023 by beating Erigasi. Then he got the better of Pentala Harikrishna to win the championship with a round to spare. Maxime finished with a draw against Radjabov in six moves.
