On Sunday, R Praggnanandhaa achieved his first-ever victory in the Tata Steel Chess competition by defeating his countryman and current world champion D Gukesh. This was the biggest victory of his career to date.
As he returned home, hundreds of supporters and representatives from the national federation and the Tamil Nadu government met newly crowned Tata Steel Chess champion R Praggnanandhaa at the airport on Tuesday. In the biggest victory of his career to date, the 19-year-old Chennai native defeated D Gukesh, the current World Champion and fellow countryman, on Sunday to win his first Tata Steel Chess tournament title.
“I am thrilled to have won this tournament, and it is pleasing to see that two Indians and two Tamil Nadu players participated in the final tie-break. We both performed well. He also gave D Gukesh a lot of credit for his excellent performance.
During the 87th edition of the famous event in Wijk Aan Zee, Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh both finished with 8.5 points after losing their games in the 13th round. However, Praggnanandhaa shown incredible mental toughness to win 2-1 in the tie-breaker.
The first Indian to win the Tata Steel Chess title after Viswanathan Anand was Praggnanandhaa. Previously known as the Hoogovens Tournament, Anand shared the title twice (1989 and 1998) and won three times (2003, 2004, and 2006) when the competition was called the Corus Chess Tournament.
After overcoming fatigue and anxiety to defeat Gukesh in an exciting tie-breaker, Praggnanandhaa called the last day “crazy and long.”
By overcoming an early error that had cost him the first game of the tie-breaker, he showed his tenacity. With a must-win outcome, Praggnanandhaa chose a Trompowsky opening and forced the match into sudden death.Gukesh lost control in sudden death, and Praggnanandhaa took advantage of the situation to win his first title. A draw was imminent.
Next up for Praggnanandhaa is the Prague Masters, which takes place from February 25 to March 7.
