On Sunday, teenager Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa was defeated by Poland’s Jan-Krzystof Duda in the sixth round of the FTX Crypto Cup, the American finale of the Champions Chess Tour. It was the 17-year-old GM’s second defeat, following his defeat to Quang Liem Le in the previous round. He remained in second place, 13 match points behind world No.1 Magnus Carlsen (15 match points).
When he won the first game, Duda drew first blood.
Praggnanandhaa won the fourth game to tie the match after two draws. The Polish player then demonstrated his class by winning both tie-break games to secure a 4-2 victory.
Later that night, Praggnanandhaa will face Carlsen in the tournament’s final round.
Carlsen had to bring his A-game to defeat Alireza Firouzja 3.5-2.5 in the tie-breaker. The Norwegian dropped the first game but won the next to tie the match. The world champion won the blitz tie-break series after drawing games three and four.
In other round matches, Liem Le defeated Anish Giri of the Netherlands 2.5-1.5, and Levon Aronian defeated Hans Niemann 2.5-1.5.
The Champions Chess Tour’s American finale is an eight-player all-play-all tournament. Each match victory at the event is worth USD 7,500.
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