Praggnanandhaa loses in the final of the Chessable Masters

In the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters 2022 online event final on Friday, young Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa lost in a tie-break to World No. 2 Ding Liren.

After losing the first set, the 16-year-old from Chennai came back to win the second. However, the two-game blitz tie-breaker was lost.

After losing the first set 1.5-2.5, the Indian GM came back to win the second 2.5-1.5 and force the blitz tie-break.

In the second of the tie-break games, Liren, 29, used his experience to defeat Praggnanandhaa. After a stalemate in the first blitz game, the Chinese player won the second in 49 moves, putting an end to the Indian teenager’s ambitions.

Earlier in the second set, which he needed to win to force a tie-break, Praggnanandhaa won the crucial second game in just 79 moves.

The next game ended in a 106-move standstill, forcing the title to be decided by a tie-breaker.

R B Ramesh, the Indian prodigy’s coach, hailed his ward’s efforts after the final.

“Ding, congrats for defeating both Pragg and the insects! I’m proud of you, @rpragchess, for displaying good nerves and general character in difficult situations “He sent out a tweet.

In the semi-final, the Indian GM overcame the highly rated Dutchman Anish Giri to become the first Indian player to reach the final of a Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event.

During the preliminary round, he defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the second time and advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating Wei Yi of China.