Want to come with fresh mind tomorrow: Praggnanandhaa

The second game of Classical Chess at the FIDE World Cup final between Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Norway's world number one Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw

Baku: Indian chess grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa said that he will come to continue his International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Cup final match against world number one Magnus Carlsen with a fresh mind and would try to get some rest because he has been playing a lot of tiebreaks.

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 Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw on Wednesday, with the winner of the tournament set to be decided on Thursday.

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“I did not 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 and relax after that,” the grandmaster said after the game, according to a tweet by the International Chess Federation.

“I did not feel he had a lot of energy; I did not think he was unwell. I hope he recovers for tomorrow,” he added.

After the first game ended in a draw, Carlsen had said he had been suffering from food poisoning after his semifinal victory against Azerbaijan’s Nijat Abasov which eventually affected his preparation for the final of the FIDE Chess World Cup against
Praggnanandhaa.

“Normally, I would just probably have a bit of an advantage having a rest day while he had to play a tough tiebreak yesterday, but I’ve been in a pretty rough shape the last couple of days. I got some food poisoning after the game against Abasov. I haven’t been able to eat for the last two days. This also meant that I was really calm cause I had no energy to be nervous, I am happy with the way that I solved the problem in the opening so the result is fine,” Carlsen had said. The Indian grandmaster concluded, “Tomorrow, I just want to come with a fresh mind. I will try to rest today; it is very important because I have been playing a lot of tiebreaks here. I know it can take a lot of games or short ones as well, so I have to be ready for everything.”

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.