After over one hour of intense competition, R Praggnanandhaa and world No.1 Magnus Carlsen drew the second game of the Chess World Cup Final. From the very first move, it was visible that Carlsen was playing for a draw. It was his clear intention to take the game to the tie-breakers on Thursday. Even Indian chess legend predicted earlier that Carlsen was going for a draw. Commentators said that Carlsen's tactic was due to the reason that he had been suffering from food poisoning. It could be the reason for him to carry the match on the third day to gain maximum fitness and concentration. Both Grandmasters are eyeing their maiden World Cup title.

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Chess World Cup 2023 Final: Praggnanandhaa-Carlsen Game 2

Carlsen was low on energy on Tuesday due to the illness. There were some aggressive moves during the 30-move Game 2. The queens came off and rooks were sacrificed toward the end. In the tie-breaker, the two players will play two games in a rapid format with a time control of 10 minutes for each player and a 10-second increment for each move.

If a winner is still not decided, two more rapid games will be played with a time control of 5 minutes and a 3-second increment of each move. If the score is still a draw, then the final will be played in a sudden-death mode.

"Yeah, in a way (easy day). I guess we both were okay with a draw. We move on to the tie-breaks. When he took on D4 very early, I knew at that moment that it was going to be easy. It was supposed to be nothing for white. It had all the making of a draw," Praaggnanandhaa told FIDE after the second game.

Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has praised 18-year-old chess grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa for becoming the runners-up in the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023. Neeraj said that he is very proud of Praggnanandhaa as the Indian prodigy played very well against Magnus Carlsen at such a young age.

Also Read: Chess World Cup 2023: Praggnanandhaa loses to Magnus Carlsen in the tiebreaker

Neeraj Chopra is currently competing in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. He qualifies for the javelin throw final with a massive throw of 88.77m. Before going to the javelin throw event, he gave this bite to the reporters. He is also proud for the Chandrayan 3.

Question to Neeraj- do you take inspiration from Chandrayaan Mission?
Neeraj- Yes. All Indians are proud of ISRO. Also very proud of Praggnanandhaa. He played very well against Magnus Carlsen pic.twitter.com/uU4LeCQOoO

— jonathan selvaraj (@jon_selvaraj) August 25, 2023

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Indian chess sensation R Praggnanandhaa's remarkable journey ended with a final defeat as he finished as the runner-up at the 2023 Chess World Cup in Azerbaijan's Baku, after losing the tiebreaks against Magnus Carlsen. Earlier the two played out draws in the two classical games. The 18-year-old Indian grandmaster lost the match 7-5, but his performance was praised by many as a sign of his immense talent.

Though Praggnanandhaa could not beat Carlsen, he has his chin up as he defeated many high-ranked opponents on his way to the finals, including world no. 2 Hikaru Nakamura and no. 3 Fabiano Caruana. Praggnanandhaa also secured a ticket to the FIDE Candidates tournament that will start from April 2 to 25, 2024, in Toronto, Canada by winning the silver medal.

Praggnanandhaa's dream of winning the Chess World Cup 2023 was shattered as Norway's five times world champion Magnus Carlsen defeated the 18-year-old grandmaster in the first tiebreaker of the final on Thursday. Praggnanandhaa is the youngest player to play in the World Cup final.

Also Read: Praggnanandhaa-Carlsen Game 2 Drawn in the Chess World Cup 2023: The Final Moves to Tie-Breakers

In the Chess World Cup 2023 final, the first two rounds did not go through and both games ended in a draw. The winner of the World Cup was decided on Thursday via a tiebreaker, with Carlsen winning the first 25-minute rapid game. The second game ended in a draw and Carlsen managed to win the World Cup for the first time since 2021.

In the first rapid game, the 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa put up a good fight against veteran Carlsen and at one stage the first game seemed to be going away, but the pressure of the last five minutes and Carlsen's experience quickly turned everything around. And once Praggnanandhaa lost in the opening game of the tiebreaker of this title match that everything went out of his hands from here on.

In the second game, Praggnanandhaa was playing with the black pieces. It was a do or die game for him as the first game went to Carlsen. The Indian youth has started the game after praying for a while. Both the players lost one knight each at the beginning of the second game. But the effect of defeat in the first game was clearly visible on Praggnanandhaa. And in terms of time, Carlsen took an edge over the Indian player. Even before the completion of half time of the second innings, the Indian youth agreed to the draw. And with this, Norway's five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen won Chess World Cup 2023 title. 

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Earlier, India's Praggnanandhaa had defeated world no three Fabiano Caruana in the semifinals via a tiebreak. After that, he made it to the Chess World Cup 2023 final. Significantly, he has confirmed his place in the Candidates Tournament 2024. Moreover, Praggnanandhaa became the third youngest player to reach the prestigious tournament after Carlsen and Bobby Fischer. He will also be the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to play in the candidates.