Candidates Chess: Why R Praggnanandhaa’s campaign has gone south

R Praggnanandhaa. RevSportz picture

Javokhir Sindarov was uncharacteristically flat, failing to make the most of a winning opportunity against Matthias Bluebaum in the ninth round of the ongoing Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. The two players settled for a draw, reducing Sindarov’s lead at the top to 1.5. 

Anish Giri, the story of the second half of the Candidates so far, won with the black pieces against Fabiano Caruana. With 5.5 points and five rounds to go, the Dutch grandmaster is snapping at Sindarov’s heels.

R Praggnanandhaa, the only Indian in the Open section, let a winning position slip against Chinese grandmaster Wei Yi, and it was disappointing. The 20-year-old started off with a spark — a spectacular win against Giri in the first round. He has gradually fizzled. The tournament is all but over for the Indian grandmaster. The ongoing tournament gave him an opportunity to be D Gukesh’s heir apparent to the world title. But currently he is joint-fourth with just four points. Pragg has flattered to deceive.

After an inconsistent first half, Pragg needed to up his game on the home stretch. But his defeat to Giri in the eighth round set the youngster back. His error on the 35th move under time pressure proved to be costly. 

Why did Pragg’s campaign go south? To start with, maybe, Sindarov’s blitz in the first half of the tournament caught him off guard like the other players. The Uzbek grandmaster did an unprecedented 6/7 and took the tournament by storm. 

Also, Pragg wasn’t always up to scratch in terms of time management. Deep calculations had their downside. Unless there’s a dramatic turnaround, he will return from Cyprus with the feeling of what could have been. 

The post Candidates Chess: Why R Praggnanandhaa’s campaign has gone south appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.



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