Praggnanandhaa becomes first Indian to win Grand Chess Tour title

“Honestly, I didn’t think I had many chances today,” Praggnanandhaa told ‘Chess.com’.

“It’s not every day that you can get one win from Fabi, but to get two, it was important in the rapid.”

The 21-year-old Chennai-lad, who has been mentored by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, started the day six points behind, but pulled another rabbit out of the hat and took a lead of two points after winning both the rapid games (four points to winner per game).

It was even-stevens in the subsequent four games of blitz, with Praggnanandhaa and Caruana winning one each while the remaining two were drawn.

The two-point lead at the end of the rapid games proved decisive for the Indian Grandmaster.

The first game of the blitz section was a drawn affair before Caruana won the second to level the scores at 12-12.

A determined Praggnanandhaa prevailed over his opponent in the third game to restore his two-point lead (14-12).