Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, a young Indian Grandmaster, defeated China’s Wei Yi 2.5-1.5 to advance to the semifinals of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters 2022 online tournament.
In the semifinals, Praggnanandhaa, 16, will face Anish Giri (Netherlands). In the other semifinal, world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen will face China’s Ding Liren.
Giri and Carlsen easily defeated Aryan Tori of Norway and David Anton Gujjaro of Spain, respectively, while Liren defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5 in the quarterfinals.
Late on Monday, the young teenage Indian star opened with a win with black pieces in 90 moves in the quarterfinals against Yi. He built on that strong start by winning the second game of the four-game match to go up 2-0.
The Chinese star came back to win the third game of the series, narrowing the gap. A draw in the fourth round was enough to secure the Indian GM a place in the semifinals.
Praggnanandhaa caused a stir earlier in the preliminary round when he defeated Carlsen in the sixth round. He came in fourth place, trailing Anish, Carlsen, and Ding Liren.
The two other Indian players in the 16-player field, P Harikrishna and Gujrathi, finished outside the top 8 and did not advance to the knockout bracket.