Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa came out to be winner in the Norway Chess Group A open chess tourney with 7.5 points from nine rounds.
Praggnanandhaa, 16, was in fine form and remained undefeated through the 9 rounds.
He ended the tournament with a victory over fellow Indian V Praneeth, an International Master.
Praggnanandhaa (Elo 2642) concluded a full point before second-placed IM Marsel Efroimski (Israel) and IM Jung Min Seo (Sweden). Praneeth with 6 points was joint third however was placed 6th because of an inferior tie-break score.
Apart from defeating Praneeth, Praggnanandhaa sealed victories over Victor Mikhalevski (in round 8), Vitaly Kunin (round 6), Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov (round 4), Semen Mutusov (round 2) and Mathias Unneland (round 1). He drew his other 3 matches.
Praggnanandhaa has been putting in superb performances in recent times and had trounced world number one Magnus Carlsen for a second time in the Chessable Master online event and was beaten by a close final to China’s Ding Liren.
Praggnanandhaa will be part of the India B team in the open event of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai next month.
Praggnanandhaa’s coach R B Ramesh congratulated him following the victory and stated it will help encourage him overall.
“Congratulations to him for the victory. He was the top seed, so it is not a surprise that he won the tournament. He played well in general, drew three games with black pieces and won the remaining games. It will help boost his confidence,” Ramesh stated.
