New Delhi: The 18-year-old Grand Master Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was heartily welcomed at the Chennai airport upon his return from Budapest.
Praggnanandhaa became the youngest player to win a silver medal in the World Cup event.
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu | Indian chess grandmaster and 2023 FIDE World Cup runner-up R Praggnanandhaa received a grand welcome at the Chennai Airport, as he returns to the country. pic.twitter.com/8QU5vV7n2Q
— ANI (@ANI) August 30, 2023
Upon interacting with the media at the Chennai airport Praggnanandhaa said, “It feels great, from watching the legends from far away to be seen alongside them, it’s great.” He also said his achievement will result in the game of chess reaching far greater heights in the country.
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu | “It feels really great. I think it is good for Chess,” says Indian chess grandmaster and 2023 FIDE World Cup runner-up R Praggnanandhaa, as his schoolmates, All India Chess Federation representatives and State Government representatives receive him at… pic.twitter.com/s2TpHCR7tz
— ANI (@ANI) August 30, 2023
Praggnanandhaa proved his mettle throughout the tournament. The young Indian prodigy took down world number 2, Hikaru Nakamura, and the world number 3 Fabian Caruana, before setting the final clash with world number 1, Magnus Carlsen.
The finals of the World Cup were nothing less than blockbuster drama in itself. Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen played 35 moves draw on day 1 way and then 30 moves draw on day 2, taking the game finally to the tie-breaker round on day 3.
Praggnanandhaa on the paper had the upper hand as he played three tie-breaker rounds before reaching the finals in comparison to Carlsen who featured in just one against Vincent Keymer.
However, Praggnanandhaa eventually fell short as he lost the tie-breaker round by a score difference of 0.5 to 1.5 of Carlsen. This was also Carlsen’s first-ever World Cup title.
Despite his loss, Praggnanandhaa will be happy to receive compliments from the world champion Carlsen who said, “Congratulations to Praggnanandhaa, he had an exceptional tournament.”
Interestingly, this was India’s best-ever campaign at the World Cup with four of the eight quarterfinalists being Indian.
Apart from Praggnanandhaa, India’s Gukesh D, Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi also made it to the quarterfinals.
Praggnanandhaa met Arjun in the quarters ensuring at least one Indian in the semifinals, which was eventually the case as Vidit fell short against Nijat Abasov and Gukesh was knocked out by the eventual winner of the tournament Magnus Carlsen.
