Chess World Cup final: All eyes on today's game as Praggnanandhaa holds Carlsen to a draw in 1st game

Indian chess wizz, R Praggnanandhaa, faced off against the world's top Grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE World Cup final last evening (August 22). The much anticipated first game of the finale ended in a tense draw after 35 moves, making it clear that this battle was far from over.

Game 1 of the FIDE World Cup Finals ends in a draw

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa made a solid draw with the White pieces against World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen. It was a balanced game, where the players agreed to a draw in an equal Rook and Knight ending after 35 moves of play.

Photo:… pic.twitter.com/LFrdfC6VID

— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) August 22, 2023

This showdown at Baku marked the 20th time Praggnanandhaa was pitted against Carlsen, with the latter holding a slight edge in their head-to-head encounters.

ALSO READ: 18-yr-old Praggnanandhaa beats number 2 and 3 players to set up Chess World Cup final with Magnus Carlsen

Game highlights

• Praggnanandhaa, playing white, known for his unconventional openings, caught Carlsen off guard by opting for the uncommon c4 as his opening move.
• This surprise seemed to momentarily baffle the reigning world champion. Carlsen admitted, "Pragg moves around a bit with his openings. I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t prepare for c4."
• Carlsen took 28 minutes for one of his moves, while he was navigating initial moves by Pragg.

Magnus Carlsen: "Normally, I would just probably have a bit of an advantage having a rest day while he had to play a tough tiebreak yesterday, but I've been in a pretty rough shape the last couple of days. I got some food poisoning after the game against Abasov. I haven't been… pic.twitter.com/e1Io9I4EFI

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 22, 2023

• However, Carlsen quickly regrouped banking on his experience and instincts to make "common sense moves" as the game progressed.
• Carlsen excels in rapid and blitz formats when competing against players of his age group, but his performance looked to be less consistent when pitted against young Pragg.
• Carlsen, who will start the next game with the Whites would be relying on the second game to make a strike.
• Carlsen's strategy seems to revolve around winning one of the Classical games to avoid the tiebreakers, as Pragg could easily turn tables in a rapid or blitz, the limited-time game formats.
• Throughout the game, Praggnanandhaa consistently found himself lagging in terms of time, but this didn't affect his performances long as he had his bases covered.

Meanwhile, Nijat Abasov took down Fabiano Caruana with a powerful attack in the 1st game of the 3rd-4th place match! A draw today will place Abasov in third place.

Nijat Abasov scores a sudden victory against Fabiano Caruana when the latter drops his guard for a moment and allows a decisive attack. Fabiano must win on demand tomorrow to take the match to tiebreaks.

ℹ️ The player who prevails in this match wins the bronze medal and secures… pic.twitter.com/pS6KE2woLe

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 22, 2023

Carlsen's rocky road

• Carlsen, who was seen sipping the coffee quite a few times during the match, looked a bit low, despite getting a rest day before the final.
• He later revealed that he had been suffering from food poisoning since his semi-final victory over Nijat Abasov.

Carlsen, who has never won a World Cup title before will be facing Pragg again for the second game who is in tremendous form after knocking out world no 3 Hikaru Nakamura and world no 2 Fabiano Caruana earlier in this event.

ALSO READ: Ding Liren is the new world champion but a checkmate for Magnus Carlsen is still some time away

With the first game ending in a draw, the chess world eagerly awaits the second encounter between these two giants of the game today evening (4:30 PM IST). If the match remains undecided after the second game, tiebreakers will come into play, adding another layer of tension to the showdown.