Chess prodigy finishes 11th, misses out on QFs

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated Russia’s Vladislav Artemiev in the 15th and final round of the preliminary phase of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament, but missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals.

The 16-year-old started the final day of the preliminary rounds with a draw against German Vincent Keymer in round 13 before going down to Hans Mokko Niemann (USA) in the next. His stirring win over world champion Magnus Carlsen in the eighth round caused a flutter but up-and-down performances pegged Praggnanandhaa back.

He finished 11th in the standings with 19 points with the top eight going through to the knockout phase.

PM Modi lauds young player
“We are all rejoicing on the success of the young genius R Praggnanandhaa. Proud of his accomplishment of winning against the noted champion Magnus Carlsen. I wish the talented Praggnanandhaa the very best for his future endeavors,” tweeted PM Modi.

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