NEW DELHI The young and talented Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured a remarkable victory by winning both rapid games, resulting in the elimination of the second-seeded Hikaru Nakamura on Friday. This victory propelled Praggnanandhaa into the last 16 of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament in Baku.
The initial two classical games between the players concluded in draws, leading to the tie-break games where the 18-year-old Indian, who had just celebrated his birthday on Thursday, delivered a stunning performance that surprised the American Grandmaster Nakamura.
Five-time world champion and Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand hailed the young GM and said, "Praggnanandhaa does it! Eliminating one of the pre tournament favourites Hikaru Nakamura to go through to the next round. A truly impressive performance by Prag!"
Praggnanandhaa will meet Hungarian GM Ferenc Berkes in the round of 16.
Another promising young talent, D Gukesh, also advanced to the last 16 by defeating Andrey Esipenko.
However, another Indian - Nihal Sarin- bowed out of the competition, losing both the tie-break games to Ian Nepomniachtchi in the fourth round.
Indian players Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi had already secured the last 16 berths.
In the women's section, D Harika advanced at the expense of Eline Roebers, winning the rapid tie-break.
However, the country's No.1 women's player Koneru Humpy was ousted by Bella Khotenashvili (Georgia) as she lost both the tie-break games after the two-match classical series had ended 1-1 with each player securing a win. Harika is the only Indian player remaining in the women's event.
(With PTI inputs)
