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R Praggnanandhaa fought through exhaustion and nerves to defeat D Gukesh and clinch the Tata Steel Chess title.
R Praggnanandhaa defeated D Gukesh to clinch the Tata Steel Chess title (X)
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa said he was ‘still shaking’ after a ‘crazy day’ as he clinched Tata Steel Masters title for the first time in his prolific career after beating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju.
The 19-year-old from Chennai came from behind to upstage the 18-year-old world number three 2-1 in the tiebreaker of the event’s 87th edition on Sunday.
ALSO READ | Tata Steel Chess: R Praggnanandhaa Beats Gukesh D In Tiebreaker To Clinch Title
“I am still shaking, it was such a crazy day. I don’t know how to express. I didn’t really expect to win. Somehow things went my way,” Praggnanandhaa told the official tournament website after his triumph.
Asked if it was the most tense day of his chess career, which began when he was a mere two years of age.
“Today is more special because I won the tournament. Definitely most stressful day,” he responded.
In a must-win second game of the tiebreaker, Praggnanandhaa employed the Trompowsky opening, and this time Gukesh could claim a slight advantage with his black pieces.
“I was just trying to relax, to rest a bit. It was a very difficult game. Against Vincent I didn’t play anywhere close to the level I was playing here. I should buy something for Arjun. At some point I thought Gukesh was better,” the former world youth champion quipped.
“For sure, (this win) it is the highlight. When I came here, I wanted to win but the field was very strong. I didn’t really think about it much until yesterday,” he added.
“I am completely exhausted. I was also quite tired. I just want to get some rest now.”
This was after both players ended up tied on 8.5 points after losing their 13th-round games. While Gukesh lost to fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa went down to Vincent Keymer of Germany.
During the tie-break, by just keeping his position together, Praggnanandhaa patiently waited and capitalised on an unforced error from Gukesh to first knock down a pawn and then his technical abilities were enough to see the normal blitz games through with a 1-1 score.
This took the match into sudden death, where Praggnanandhaa drew white and once again Gukesh was better with some imaginative play on the queen side that netted him a pawn.
The sudden death had a time control of two minutes and thirty seconds for white against three for black but that did not deter Praggnanandhaa from trying to defend an inferior endgame.
Just while the position looked completely drawn and another game was on the cards, Gukesh lost control in the battle of nerves and first lost a pawn then his last remaining knight.
Praggnanandhaa showed perfect technique to take the full point and his maiden victory at the Masters.
(With inputs from Agencies)
