Praggnanandhaa enters Chess World Cup final! Rahul Gandhi, Viswanathan extend wishes

An 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster, R Praggnanandhaa has qualified for the Chess World Cup finals after defeating World’s third chess champ, Fabiano Caruana in the semis. Now, Praggnanandhaa has become the youngest ever to reach the final of the tournament. Since his victory in the semifinals, netizens, Indians and politicians have garnered immense wishes and congratulation to the grandmaster.

The chess sensation continued his dream run in the FIDE World Cup in Azerbaijan’s Baku, as he outclassed US’ Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5 in a nail-biting tiebreaker. Now, he is all set to take on World’s No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, a five -times title winner from Norway, in the grand finale of the championship.

Prominent personalities extend wishes to Praggnanandhaa 

Several prominent politicians and personalities took to their social media to extend best wishes and luck to Praggnanandhaa for the summit clash against Carlsen.

In a tweet, Congress Rahul Gandhi extended his wishes to him and said, “Congratulations to R Praggnanandhaa for an outstanding FIDE Chess World Cup journey to the finals. My best wishes for the title match against Magnus Carlsen. More than a billion Indians are cheering for you.”

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also congratulated Praggnanandhaa saying ‘it was a proud moment for the country as the teenager became the youngest player to reach the final of the Chess World Cup.’

“India’s 18-year-old Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa creates history! Becomes the youngest player to reach the Chess World Cup final. Truly, a proud moment for India. Heartiest Congratulations! Now for the big match,” the minister tweeted on X.

Chess legend and 5-times winner Viswanathan Anand heaped praised the 18-year-old and was awestruck by his rich vein of form in the Chess World Cup.

“Pragg goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!” he wrote on X.

2nd Indian to reach semifinals of FIDE World Cup chess tournament

Before reaching the finals against Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa became the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to reach the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament.

Currently, he is the 3rd youngest chess player after the legendary Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournaments.

Moreover, the top three in the tournament will qualify for the Candidates event next year to determine the challenger to current world champion Ding Liren of China.