Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa emerged winner in the Norway Chess Group A open chess tournament here with 7.5 points from nine rounds. The 16-year old GM was in fine form and remained unbeaten through the nine rounds. He finished the tournament with a win over fellow Indian V Praneeth, an International Master. He has been putting impressive performances in recent times and had dad beaten world number one Magnus Carlsen for a second time in the Chessable Master online event.
Praggnanandhaa (Elo 2642) finished a full point ahead of second-placed IM Marsel Efroimski (Israel) and IM Jung Min Seo (Sweden). Praneeth with six points was joint third but was placed sixth due to an inferior tie-break score.
Apart from beating Praneeth, Praggnanandhaa posted wins over Victor Mikhalevski (in round 8), Vitaly Kunin (round 6), Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov (round 4), Semen Mutusov (round 2) and Mathias Unneland (round 1). He drew his other three games.
The GM will be part of the India B team in the open event of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai next month.
