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Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the 16-year old Grandmaster on Tuesday became the first Indian player to reach the final of the Chessable Masters online rapid tournament by defeating Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri 1.5-0.5 in the tiebreaker in the semi-finals after their best-of-four rapid games ended 2-2.
He will meet World No. 2 Ding Liren in the finals of the tournament. In a shock, Liren had defeated the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen 2.5-1.5 after winning the fourth 15-minute rapid game in the other semi-final. The two-day final will involve two sets of matches, unlike in quarter-finals and semi-finals, where only one set is carried out. The opening game of the semi-final ended in a draw. Later in the second game, Praggnanandhaa gave Giri the first defeat of the tournament. In the third game, Giri seemed to have the upper hand but Praggnanandhaa forced a draw to go 2-1 up. Giri won the last game to level the scores and sent the semi-final clash into a tie break. The Dutch Grandmaster lost the first tie-breaker. In the second tie-breaker, Praggnanandhaa ensured a draw and booked his slot at the finals. Earlier, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa had defeated China's Wei Yi in the quarter-finals of the ongoing Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament. Notably, the Indian Grandmaster had also defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen in the fifth round of the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament. It was Praggnanandhaa's second victory over Carlsen in just three months. (ANI)
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