Picture Credit: X

Picture Credit: X

Y oung chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa beat World Champion Ding Liren at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 in Wijk aan Zee in Netherlands on Tuesday, 16th January. The 18-year-old Indian chess wizard took over legend Vishwanathan Anand to become World No. 1 Indian, as per the live ratings.  

Also Read: R Praggnanandhaa finishes third at Tata Steel Chess 2023; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave claims title

Praggnanandhaa, who has already established himself as a force to reckon with in chess, kickstarted with confident with his blacks against struggling Liren’s white. This was the second time that the duo faced each other, having played last year in the round of four with Ding with white and Pragg winning the game with his blacks.

Speaking after his win over world champion, the Indian star said, “I felt I equalised and then somehow things started to go wrong for him. Even after I won the pawn I felt it should be holdable.” “I think any day, if you beat such a strong player, it’s always special because it’s not very easy to beat them. The first time winning against a world champion in classical chess feels good,” he added.

Moreover, while the Masters group saw Anish Giri emerge as the sole leader after he secured victory over D Gukesh. Alireza Firouzja, however continues to trail.

Masters Round 4 Standings at Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024:

RANKING

PLAYERS

RATING

POINTS

1

Anish Giri

2749

3.5

2

Alireza Firouzja

2759

3

3

R Praggnanandhaa

2743

2.5

4

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

2727

2.5

5

Wei Yi

2740

2.5

6

Ian Nepomniachtchi

2769

2.5

7

Vidit S. Gujrathi

2742

2

8

Ding Liren

2780

2

9

Max Warmerdram

2625

2

10

D Gukesh

2725

1.5

11

Jordan van Foreest

2682

1.5

12

Ju Wenjun

2549

1

13

Alexander Donchenko

2643

1

14

Parham Maghsoodloo

2740

0.5