Praggnanandhaa wins Paracin Open chess title with a dominant, unbeaten run

 Young Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa added to his growing reputation as a star of the future by winning the Open A section of the 15th International Chess Open Paracin held in the town of Paracin in Serbia.

Playing in the Open A section of the event, the 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa garnered eight points from nine rounds, finishing half a point ahead of his nearest rival, Alexandr Predke, a Russian player playing under the flag of FIDE, the sport’s world governing body.

In the ninth and final round on Saturday, Praggnanandhaa, the Grandmaster from Chennai, played out a draw with Serbia’s Alisher Suleymenov while Predke defeated India’s V Pranav on the second board with white pieces to move up to 7.5 points. Suleymenov finished third with seven points after a tie with India’s Al Muthaiah, who defeated Arystanbek Urazayev of Serbia to move up to seven points in the classical chess tournament.

Praggnanandhaa, who had twice beaten world champion, Magnus Carlsen, in the Meltwater Champions Tour rapid chess tournament in recent months, remained unbeaten in the nine-round Swiss League tournament as the second seed won seven games and drew two.

Among the other Indians in the fray, V Pranav finished fifth after a tie on 8.5 points with seven other players including compatriots Arjun Kalyan and Harshavardhan G B, both of whom finished in the top 10. (IANS)