A young Indian chess player named Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who is 18 years old, did really well in a big chess tournament called the FIDE World Cup. He beat a player from the USA named Fabiano Caruana, who is 31 years old, in the semi-finals.
Now, Praggnanandhaa will play in the final of the tournament against a very famous chess player named Magnus Carlsen. Magnus is considered the best in the world and he is 32 years old. In the semi-finals, Praggnanandhaa and Caruana had two games where they tied, and then they played a special tie-breaker game, which Praggnanandhaa won. This made him the winner with a score of 3.5-2.5. He is only the second Indian player, after Viswanathan Anand, to reach the final of this tournament.
After his win, Praggnanandhaa said, “I didn’t expect to play against Magnus in this tournament because I thought I might not even make it to the final. I will try my best and see what happens.” Magnus Carlsen also won his semi-final against a player from Azerbaijan named Nijat Abasov.
Praggnanandhaa became the youngest Grandmaster in India when he was just 12 years and 10 months old in 2018. He wants to do well in another big chess event next year, where he can challenge the World Chess Champion Ding Liren. Only two other players, Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen, have qualified for this event like Praggnanandhaa did.
