World Cup Chess Final: Game 1 between Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen ends in draw
Baku (Azerbaijan), Aug 22: Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa held his own against World No.1 Magnus Carlsen to secure a draw in the first classical game of the final of the FIDE World Cup Chess here on Tuesday.
The 18-year old GM held his own against a fancied and higher-rated opponent and forced a stalemate in 35 moves playing white pieces.
In the middle of a major time crunch, Praggnanandhaa was able to hold Carlsen for a draw in an objectively equal position with white pieces. The Indian played a solid game and agreed to a draw on move 35.
"I don't think I was in any trouble at all," Praggnanandhaa said after the game.
However Carlsen will have the advantage of playing white in the second game of the two-match classical series on Wednesday.
Praggnanandhaa said later in an interaction posted on the 'X' (formerly Twitter) handle of FIDE: "Rb8, I felt I should have done something there. But maybe this position is just solid and I don't have anything. What I played there was not the best try but I could not find anything."
About tomorrow's second game against Carlsen, he said, "It'll be a fight. He'll definitely push very hard. I'll try to rest and come fresh, I think that's the best I can do."
Carlsen, who has been under the weather due to food poisoning said that even though he had a break, he wasn't in best physical shape.
"Normally, I would just probably have a bit of an advantage having a rest day while he had to play a tough tie-break yesterday but I've been in a pretty rough shape the last couple of days.
"I got some food poisoning after the game against (Nijat) Abasov. I haven't been able to eat for the last two days. This also meant that I was really calm because I had no energy to be nervous," the Norwegian added in jest.
Praggnanandhaa had earlier stormed into the final by shocking world No.3 Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5.
The Indian teenager became only the second player from the country to reach the final of the world cup after the legendary Viswanathan Anand and qualified for the Candidates tournament in 2024.
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Two Naxalites gunned down in encounter with cops in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur
Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): Two Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, police said.
The exchange of fire broke out in a forest along the Indravati river in the morning when a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Naxalite operation, a senior police official said.
After guns fell silent, bodies of two Naxalites, clad in uniform, along with a Self-Loading Rifle, an Insas rifle and a 12-bore rifle were recovered from the spot, he said.
Search operation was still underway, he added.
With this action, at least 25 Maoists have been killed in separate encounters in the state so far this year.
Earlier, 14 Maoists were gunned down in two encounters on January 3 in the Bastar region, which comprises seven districts, including Bijapur.
Last year, 285 Maoists were killed in various encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh.
The Centre has set a deadline of March 31 this year to eradicate Left-Wing Extremism from the country.
