Bengaluru: R Praggananandhaa will take on world No. 2 Fabiano Caruana in the Grand Chess Tour final. The 21-year-old Indian grandmaster defeated Vincent Keymer 19-9 in the semi-finals on Sunday while Caruana got the better of fellow American Wesley So to set up a summit clash.
So and Keymer will play the third-place match.
In the classical portion of the semi-final, the first game ended in a draw after Pragg outplayed Keymer but couldn’t convert it into a win. In the second game, the Indian won after Keymer blundered from a winning position.
Seemingly shaken by the manner of his loss, Keymer started the Rapid portion of their match with three losses in a row. Pragg won the match with four games to spare, although the four Blitz games were played anyway.
Speaking about his final against Caruana, Pragg said: “We’ve had some crazy matches in the past, so it’s going to be interesting. We’ll see, I mean it’s going to be a close fight and who’s going to show up at their best on the given day is going to take it.”
Caruana who won his semi-final against So with a tighter scoreline – 18-12 – than Pragg, goes in as defending champion. “It is clear he’s (Pragg) a player who takes a lot of risks, and he’ll give you chances, and he’ll also punish you if you don’t take those chances. That’s the kind of player that I play against… but I am very happy to be in the Final,” Caruana said.