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The world's number one chess player, Magnus Carlsen from Norway, defeated one of the youngest grandmasters in the history of chess, R Praggnanandhaa from India, to win the FIDE World Cup 2023 trophy, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 32-year-old clinched the tournament for the first time in his career with the score of 1.5-0.5 in the tiebreaker on August 24, Thursday.
After the two classical time-control games in the FIDE World Cup final, which concluded in two straight draws, the first game of the tiebreaker was played in the 25+10 rapid format. Praggnanandhaa went for the Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, known as the very quiet variation, but he made a big mistake in putting his knight to f5, allowing Carlsen to take the initiative with the black pieces.
Later, the exchange of queens equalised the position somewhat in the first game of the tiebreaker for R Praggnanandhaa, signalling the start of the endgame, where Magnus Carlsen is known as the best player of his generation. And it proved to be the case, when Praggnanandhaa made a huge blunder under time pressure, before accepting defeat in the first game of the tiebreaker against Carlsen.
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The second game of the tiebreaker in the 25+10 rapid format, the former multi-time world chess champion had a great advantage, to finish the FIDE World Cup final in style with the white pieces against R Praggnanandhaa. The Alpine variation in the Sicilian Defense, which is one of the favourite lines for Carlsen, has put an insane amount of pressure on Praggnanandhaa to do something in a must win situation.
Soon, R Praggnanandhaa went a pawn down, trying to force the issue in the second game of the tiebreaker. It led to more time pressure on the young Indian chess grandmaster, who went on to agree for a draw, to let Magnus Carlsen get his hands on the FIDE World Cup trophy.
