FIDE Chess World Cup: 'Chin up, champion', Praggnanandhaa receives praise despite going down to Magnus Carlsen

Indian chess Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa went down fighting to Magnus Carlsen in the tie-break round of the FIDE Chess World Cup final in Baku on Thursday.

Carlsen beat Praggnanandhaa with a 1.5-0.5 scoreline to win the World Cup title, that was the only trophy eluding him in his celebrated chess career.

The tie-breaks were held on Thursday after the two classical games of the final on Tuesday and Wednesday had ended in draws.

The 18-year-old Pragg had earlier beaten World No 3 Fabiano Caruana in the semi-finals. The youngster had become only the second Indian, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to reach the final of the FIDE Chess World Cup.

Despite the defeat to Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa won hearts from his fans and avid followers. Here’s how some of them reacted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter:

Praggnanandhaa can come back with a candidates spot and a truly wonderful result.@FIDE_chess #FIDEWorldCup2023

— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) August 24, 2023

We are proud of you #Praggnanandhaa Keeping Rocking @rpragchess