Praggnanandhaa overcomes compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in World Cup quarters in blitz after repeated games failed to find a winner

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In round 1 of their quarterfinal clash which began on Tuesday, Erigaisi had come out trumps, winning with black pieces. Praggnanandhaa, this time playing with black, took the all-or-nothing approach the next day and managed to beat his older opponent to take the match to tie-breakers.

Judging by how exciting their two games were, a fiery contest was expected. But nobody would’ve predicted seven games of pure joy. In fact, it was the only quarterfinal match that went into tie-breaks.

After the first two games (with a time control of 25 minutes+10 sec increments) ended in draws, the third (10 mins+10 secs) was won by Praggnanandhaa with black, but Arjun levelled in the next game with the same time controls to force the matter into the next round of tie-breakers (5 mins+3 sec time control). There, Praggnanandhaa again took the lead with black pieces before Arjun fought back once more to push the contest to sudden death.

In a match where the players won three times each from the black side, Praggnanandhaa finally advanced after winning the sudden death with white pieces.

Despite a testing time-control of three minutes and two-second increment per move per player, Praggnanandhaa arrived 30 seconds late for the key game but still managed to come out stronger with precise play.

“I kind of forgot that I have to run for the game! I lost 30 seconds there, but I kind of recovered from that, and when I managed to equal the time I was quite happy,” he said after the match.

The duo admitted that the match was emotionally taxing as they are the best of friends when not competing against each other. Despite facing off in a high-stakes match, they would spend the rest of the evening together, taking walks, and talking chess. They wouldn’t discuss their game though.

In the big league

Winning the tie-breaker, more importantly, means that Praggnanandhaa is more or less assured of a spot in the 2024 Candidates Tournament, which will determine the challenger to world champion Ding Liren.

With Carlsen officially declining to be part of the eight-player Candidates tournament which will be held in Toronto from April 2-25, the remaining three semifinalists in this FIDE World Cup will fill the three qualifying spots available from this competition.

Four Indians had made it to the quarterfinals, but D Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi were eliminated on Wednesday by Carlsen and Nijat Abasov respectively. Praggnanandhaa remains the only Indian in the fray, with a semifinal against American Fabiano Caruana awaiting him, starting Saturday.

In the other semifinal, favourite Carlsen faces Azerbaijan’s Abasov, the 97th-ranked player who’s riding on home support in this tournament.

After a gruelling quarterfinal, Praggnanandhaa would like to make the most of the rest day, as he will face a tough test in Caruana who, with a ELO rating of 2791, is placed second in live FIDE ratings. Praggnanandhaa is 22nd with an ELO rating of 2721.

The Indian will take heart from the fact that he has beaten some really good players in the tournament, even ousting Hikaru Nakamura in Rd 4 of the tournament. He may be ranked lower than Caruana but the American will know that he can’t take him lightly.

In the women’s semifinal, Bulgaria’s surprise package Nurgyul Salimova upstaged Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk 3.5-2.5 for a place in the final against Russian second seed Aleksandra Goryachkina.

Making it to the Candidates is quite an achievement for Praggnanandhaa who took up the sport at the age of three, watching his older sister, Woman Grandmaster & International Master Vaishali Rameshbabu, who was introduced to the game by her parents just to cut down on her TV viewing time.

He’s come a long way from there, winning the World Youth Chess Championship Under-8 title in 2013, earning his IM title at the age of 10, and getting his Grandmaster title at 12. Though Gukesh is currently the highest-ranked Indian in live rankings, Praggnanandhaa has been the face of the next generation of Indian chess superstars ever since he beat Carlsen as a 16-year-old.
The Candidates is really the big boys club but Praggnanandhaa seems fired up. Caruana should be ready for a tough challenge.