WR Masters Cup: Pragg knocks out Anand in Armageddon

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
10/16/2024 – The quarterfinals of the WR Chess Masters Cup took place on Tuesday. Arjun Erigaisi and Alireza Firouzja advanced with victories in classical chess, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu won their matches in the Armageddon tiebreak. Notably, Raunak Sadhwani forfeited his first game against Firouzja. The semifinals will see all-Indian and all-French matchups as the tournament progresses.

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Indian and French representatives advance

The quarterfinals of the WR Chess Masters Cup took place on Tuesday at the luxurious Langham Hotel in London, delivering an exciting day of high-level competition. Two of the four matches were decided in classical chess, with Arjun Erigaisi and Alireza Firouzja advancing after securing 1½-½ victories. Meanwhile, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu needed an Armageddon decider to progress.

The first standout moment from the day was Raunak Sadhwani's unfortunate forfeit in his opening game against Alireza Firouzja. Paired against the world number 7, Raunak missed the start of his match due to technical issues with his alarms, which were connected to his AirPods and failed to ring. As a result, Firouzja won the first game by default and then comfortably held a draw in the second game to advance to the semifinals.

Three out of the five players from India's victorious Olympiad team in Budapest made it to the quarterfinals, including Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi, who faced off against each other. Arjun, currently ranked third in the world, displayed his strength by holding a draw with black in a complex encounter before winning with white to secure his semifinal spot. Meawhile, Praggnanandhaa, facing his mentor Viswanathan Anand, saw both classical games end in draws. However, it was the 19-year-old Pragg who triumphed in the Armageddon tiebreak, thus defeating his childhood idol.

The final quarterfinal match saw France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave take on Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the only contest without an Indian representative. Two relatively short draws, lasting 21 and 30 moves, led to an Armageddon decider, where MVL dominated with the white pieces to advance.

As the tournament moves to the semifinals, chess fans can look forward to an all-Indian battle between Arjun and Praggnanandhaa, while Firouzja and MVL will clash in an all-French duel. At 33, MVL stands out as the veteran among the remaining competitors.

Praggnanandhaa* 1 - 1 Anand

* Won in Armageddon

Vachier-Lagrave* 1 - 1 Abdusattorov

* Won in Armageddon

Arjun 1½ - ½ Vidit

Firouzja 1½ - ½ Raunak

Video gallery (by ChessBase India)

The Ultimate Showdown | Praggnanandhaa vs Vishy Anand

Raunak LOSES against Firouzja for not showing up on time!

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.