Praggnanandhaa finishes third, makes tour finals

The Indian aggregated 11.5 points from 16 games to match the tally of U.S.A.’s Christopher Yoo

Chess Grandmaster Praggnanandha playing chess at The Hindu Office in Chennai. File

R. Praggnanandhaa tied for second place before finishing third in the Hou Yifan Challenge online rapid chess tournament on Tuesday.

The Indian aggregated 11.5 points from 16 games to match the tally of U.S.A.’s Christopher Yoo. Since Yoo was victorious in their encounter , Praggnanandhaa was placed third.

Leon Mendonca (10 points) was fifth, Aditya Mittal (9.5) finished joint ninth and R. Vaishali (6.5) ended up tied 11th.

Germany’s Vincent Keymer (13.5 points) won the title with a round to spare. He also tops the list of eight Tour finalists who fight for $40,000 in a knockout final that takes place from October 14 to 17. Praggnanandhaa (5th) and Mendonca (8th) are the two Indians in the line-up.

Mendonca also through

With D. Gukesh not taking part in the last leg of the Tour, Mendonca made the ‘cut’ as the eighth finisher.

After the four legs of the Tour, Team Polgar defeated Team Kramnik 324.5 points to 302.5. That meant, Team Polgar’s Gukesh and Nihal Sarin have earned a chance to travel to Dubai to witness the World chess championship title clash involving Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi in December.