India's chess player Praggnanandhaa. The Indian prodigy managed to beat USA GM Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5 after tiebreaks and will battle it out against Magnus Carlsen for the title (FIDE World Cup).
Credit: PTI Photo
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa's incredible run in the Chess World Cup has reminded the legendary Garry Kasparov of his time as the king of 64 squares.
Impressed with the teen sensation's win over world No.3 Fabiano Caruana here on Monday, the former world champion Kasparov took to X, formerly Twitter, to laud the 18-year-old's feats and his mother's efforts.
"Congrats to @rpragchess — and to his mother. As someone whose proud mama accompanied me to every event, it's a special kind of support! The Chennai Indian defeated two New York cowboys! He has been very tenacious in difficult positions," Kasparov tweeted.
Continuing his dream run, Praggnanandhaa on Monday stunned Caruana 3.5-2.5 via the tie-break in the semifinals to set up a summit clash with world number one and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway at the FIDE's premier event.
Praggnanandhaa defeated Caruana after four rapid tiebreak games and thereafter stormed into the final of the showpiece.
After the two-game classical series ended 1-1, the Indian prodigy outlasted the highly-rated American GM in a battle of wits in a nerve-wracking tie-breaker.
Praggnanandhaa also became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand -- also a five-time world champion --in 2002 to make it to the final of the FIDE World Cup.