Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh lose in tiebreaker; Caruana wins title
Bucharest (Romania) (PTI): World number two Fabiano Caruana defended his Superbet Classic title by winning all three rapid games in a thrilling four-way tiebreaker, featuring Indian Grandmasters D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa, after a rather dull tournament.
Caruana lost to Anish Giri of Holland in the Classical format to split the competition wide open as Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and France's Alireza Firouzja all finished the classical section tied for first.
Praggnanandhaa survived by the skin of the teeth against Alireza, who held a completely winning position for a long time. If the Frenchman had won the final classical round there would have been no need of tiebreak games as he would have overtaken Caruana on points.
But Caruana lost, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa drew and that set up a four-way tiebreaker to decide the winner.
Caruana, not known as a tiebreaker master, proved that he can get the better of the younger generation as he defeated all three –- Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Alireza to come up trumps and win the first prize hamper of USD 68500.
The tiebreaker saw the two Indians on the backfoot. Gukesh could have done better but Caruana was spot on while Praggnanandhaa could have complicated things.
Earlier, Praggnanandhaa was staring at his first defeat in the tournament as Alireza was clearly on top.
The Indian struggled in the middle game and had to part with a rook for a minor piece but fought till the last to salvage a lost a position.
Gukesh played out a draw with Wesley So in a mere 22 moves, the Nimzo Indian defense did not give any confidence to the American and the draw was through repetition of moves.
Results final round: Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) beat Fabiano Caruana (5); Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 5) drew with R Praggnaanandhaa (Ind. 5); Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rom, 3.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 4.5); Wesley So (USa, 4) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 5);; Ian Nepomnichtchi (Fid, 4.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 4.5).
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Cricketer-actor Salil Ankola's mother found dead; injuries may be self-inflicted, say cops
Pune, Oct 4: Former cricketer Salil Ankola's mother was found dead in her Pune flat on Friday with her throat slit, a police official said, adding the injuries prima facie look "self inflicted".
The body of Mala Ashok Ankola (77) was found in her flat on Prabhat Road in Deccan Gymkhana area in the afternoon, the official said.
"The incident came to light after her maid came to the flat and then alerted relatives after no one answered the door," he said.
"When the door was opened, the woman was found dead with her throat slit. Prima facie, it looks like the injuries are self-inflicted. However, we are probing the case from all angles," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Sandip Singh Gill.
She was suffering from some mental ailment, Gill added.
Salil Ankola played one Test and 20 ODIs between 1989 and 1997. The fast-medium bowler later acted in films and TV serials.
