In the fourth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands, teen chess sensation R Praggnanandhaa beat Chinese world champion Ding Liren. This victory propelled Praggnanandhaa to the position of top-rated Indian chess player, surpassing the famous Viswanathan Anand.
Following Tuesday night's triumph, Praggnanandhaa, who is just 18 years old, now has 27,48.3 points, compared to Anand's 27,48 points, in the FIDE live ratings. At the beginning of every month, the ratings are published by the world chess authority.
Praggnanandhaa became the second Indian, following Anand, to depose a reigning classical chess world champion in 62 moves while playing with black pieces. At the 2023 Tata Steel event, Praggnanandhaa had previously triumphed over Liren.
He has 2.5 points and is currently in third place at the Masters. An exclamation of relief! Afterwards, Praggnanandhaa made a statement.
Praggnanandhaa stated, "I was the one pushing from the opening itself" when asked to explain his game plan. I was able to gain an early pawn and proceed to push without taking any risks in my position, which is an advantage when playing black.
For the time being, all he can do is offer his all. My one and only objective in this competition is to perform to the best of my ability. There is no tournament like it. Unlike other tournaments, this one features thirteen rounds. Thus, it's the same as participating in yet another tournament. As for Praggnanandhaa, he simply wanted to "give it his all" and see the results unfold.
Praggnanandhaa faces off against current leader Anish Giri in Thursday's fifth round.
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