New Delhi: GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, continuing his brilliant performance, defeated GM Anish Giri in the second round of the FTX Crypto Cup, which is a part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. After a win against world number 4 Alireza Firouzja in round 1 and then against Giri, Praggnanandhaa is tied for the top place with world number 1 Magnus Carlsen.

After going down against Anish in the final round of the Oslo Esports Cup, which cost him a podium finish, the 17-year-old grandmaster came back stronger. After the first two games ended in a draw, Praggnanandhaa missed an opportunity as Anish managed to escape with a draw in the third game. It was in the fourth game where Pragg played brilliantly and used his rook and passed pawn to win the match.

“The chess speaks for itself” @HansMokeNiemann like a boss after outplaying the world champ pic.twitter.com/ABGaYMFs6x

— Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (@ChampChessTour) August 16, 2022

On the other hand, the USA’s top junior player GM Hans Niemann surprised everyone by defeating Magnus Carlsen in the first game. With g and h-pawns rolling down the board and with an attacking play, Niemann won the first game. However, Magnus showed his class and won the next three games to clinch the match. Alireza Firouzja defeated Le Quang Liem and Levon Aronian won against Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the blitz tie-breaks.

GM Anish Giri (2760) vs GM R Praggnanandhaa (2661)

The players played the opening well and the position was equal till move 20. Anish went 21.Rd3 which was a mistake as it allows Rc2, which is exactly what Pragg played. White’s position falls apart as Ba3 seems the only move to continue, which is not very good for white.

After a few exchanges, Pragg had a passed pawn in the centre, which eventually was the deciding factor in the game. Pragg gave up the pawn to win an exchange and have an edge in the endgame. It was then just a matter of time and technique for the young grandmaster as he converted the game.

Anish Giri, who is known for his humourous tweets wrote, “Gonna be babysitting Pragg in three hours. Come watch!” before the game, while it turned out to be completely opposite. After the game, the Dutch grandmaster shared a tweet showing a kid defeating a man in Judo.

Gonna be babysitting Pragg in three hours. Come watch!?♟ pic.twitter.com/F8HfZznJ7q

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) August 16, 2022

Blunder in game 4 be like https://t.co/J6AhGfGqEW

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) August 16, 2022

Standings:

A total of eight players are competing in the tournament with USD 7,500 at stake in every match. Praggnanandhaa will now face Hans Niemann in round 3.