Chessable Masters final: Indian GM Praggnanandhaa loses to Ding Liren in tie-break
Chennai(PTI): Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa went down fighting to world No.2 Ding Liren in the tie-break of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters 2022 online tournament final early on Friday.
The 16-year-old from Chennai fought back to win the second set after having lost the opener. But then lost the two-game blitz tie-breaker.
The Indian GM, who had lost the first set 1.5-2.5, hit back to win the second 2.5-1.5 and force the blitz tie-break.
The 29-year old Liren used his experience to trump Praggnanandhaa in the second of the tie-break games. After the first blitz game ended in stalemate, the Chinese player won the next in 49 moves to dash the Indian teenager's hopes.
Earlier in the second set which he needed to win to force a tie-break, Praggnanandhaa got the all-important victory in the second game in 79 moves.
The next game saw the two dish out a 106-move draw before another stalemate meant the title would be decided by the tie-breaker.
After the final, the Indian prodigy's coach R B Ramesh praised his ward's efforts and wrote on Twitter: "Congratulations Ding for beating both Pragg AND the mosquitoes! Proud of you @rpragchess, showed good nerves and character overall in tough situations."
The Indian GM had defeated the highly-rated Dutchman Anish Giri in the semifinal to become the first Indian player to reach the final of a Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event.
He had beaten world No.1 Magnus Carlsen for a second time during the preliminary phase in which he finished fourth and got past Wei Yi of China in the quarterfinals.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Unruly scenes witnessed in Punjab Assembly
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Assembly on Friday witnessed high drama on Friday after Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira made an allegedly objectionable remark against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during an intense argument over the alleged use of mobile phone in the house by the legislator.
During the one-day special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here, Mann accused Khaira of using a mobile phone when Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was reading out an official resolution on the revision of wages.
After rising from his seat, the chief minister pointed to the speaker, claiming that Khaira is busy on his mobile phone and urged him to ask the Congress MLA what Sandhwan had said about the resolution.
The speaker then asked Khaira to maintain order in the house and listen to the resolution carefully.
Mann then asked Khaira, "Why don't you go out and then use it (mobile phone)," which led to a strong verbal altercation during which the opposition MLA hurled an accusation against the chief minister. Meanwhile, the speaker appealed for order and insisted that the chair be addressed.
However, both Mann and Khaira continued arguing and could be seen pointing fingers at each other as the proceedings of the house were disrupted.
The AAP MLAs also rose from their seats with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema condemning Khaira for his conduct and demanded action against him.
Cheema further alleged that Khaira "always tries to disturb the house" as he spoke about his conduct in the assembly.
The incident occurred as an official resolution on the revision of wages was presented at the special session by Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond who said it paid homage to labourers on the International Workers' Day.
"Workers are the axis of construction of the nation, the community, the state and society. Every construction project succeeds only through their blood and sweat," the resolution read.
As per the resolution, "The base rate of minimum wages for the working class in Punjab was last revised in the year 2012. Although the dearness allowance has continued to increase since 2012, there has been no increase in the base rate of minimum wages.
On this sacred occasion of May Day, in this special session of the legislative assembly, this house proposes to revise and increase the minimum wages of labourers and strongly recommends to the government to take a decision regarding the increase of minimum wages for workers, so that the contributions of the workers can be acknowledged." PRK
