Chess World Cup 2023: R Praggnanandhaa Vs Magnus Carlsen Game 2 Of Final Ends In Draw, Tiebreaker To Decide Winner

The second game of Classical Chess at the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) World Cup final between Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Norway's world number one star Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw on Wednesday, with the winner of the tournament set to be decided on Thursday.  International Chess Federation (FIDE) took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the news with the fans. 

"Magnus Carlsen takes a quiet draw with white against Praggnanandhaa and sends the final to tiebreaks. The winner of the #FIDEWorldCup will be decided tomorrow!," tweeted the federation. 

Carlsen drew the first game of classical chess after 35 moves with the Indian prodigy. In case the second game ended in a tie, the players would have moved to two games of Rapid Chess to decide the winner of this year's Chess World Cup final being played at Baku, Azerbaijan. 

Praggnanandhaa: "I didn't really think that he would go for a quick draw today, but I realised when he went for this line that he wants to make a draw; I was also fine with that. I also feel exhausted, as I said in the previous interviews. Now I can just give everything tomorrow_ pic.twitter.com/b8toebGxFe — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 23, 2023

Praggnanandhaa started on a strong note with white pieces and enjoyed a time advantage over the Norwegian in the initial phase. Carlsen managed to bounce back against a player who seemed to be well-versed with the lines and moves the Norwegian was going to opt for.

Both Grandmasters continued their play in the second classical game on Wednesday, in which Magnus had white pieces.  After defeating World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana in tiebreaks, Praggnanandhaa reached the final to set up a clash with Carlsen.

With both the classical chess games tied a playoff will take place on Thursday. The tiebreak procedure involves two rapid games with a time control of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move. If further resolution is required, two 'slow blitz' games with a time control of 10 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move follow.