'Your dedication and skill is inspiring': Netizens congratulate R Praggnanandhaa for his runner-up finish at Chess World Cup 2023

18-year-old Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa on Thursday finished as the runner up in the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Indian prodigy lost in a tie-breaker with the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.

Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen played two rounds of the final on Tuesday and Wednesday but both ended in a draw, setting up a tie-breaker for Thursday.

Carlsen won the opening game of the tie-breaker 25+10 while the second round ended as a draw, which was enough for Carlsen to be crowned as the FIDE World Cup 2023 Champion.

But, Praggnanandhaa will have his chance of revenge at the Candidates tournament  in 2024. R Praggnanandhaa defeated Caruana in the semi-final on Monday to confirm his place at the next year’s tournament.

Despite the defeat, fans of Praggnanandhaa took to X (formerly Twitter) to show their support for the 18-year-old Grand Master.

One user wrote, “Praggnanandhaa can come back with a candidates spot and a truly wonderful result.”

Another X user was confident that Praggnanandhaa will win the next year’s tournament.

One user compared the achievements of Praggnanandhaa with the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3.

Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles, Darshana Jardosh also congratulated the young Grand Master on this success, “Big Congratulations to our Hero @rpragchess for being the runner-up in the final match against Magnus Carlsen. You have inspired millions and we are incredibly proud of you dear Pragg”

One user named ‘Zimbu’ wrote, “R Praggnanandhaa as the runner-up in the Chess World Cup! Your dedication and skill have inspired many in the chess community.”

One X user compared the Indian prodigy to the maestro GM Viswanathan Anand, “One has to remember that the young Indian is already the only one from his country apart from V. Anand. Pragg beat two players in the top three apart from Carlsen in final.”