Grand Master Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa beats World Champion Magnus Carlsen in FTX Crypto Cup final; ends up as runner up

India’s little grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is once again in this news as he beats world champion Magnus Carlsen, for the third time in a row.

The incident occurred in the FTX Crypto cup, in Miami. Both the players, having played twice before in a span of 7 months, clashed in the final. And Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa emerged victorious.

Both the players were inseparable at the end of the regulation game. It seemed that Clarsen had the upper hand as they entered the blitz-tiebreaker. He was almost on the verge of winning the match when he made a blunder. Carlsen was on the brink of forcing Armageddon (a single game that ensures result) when this blunder occurred. As a result, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was able to claim the match.

However, Clarsen was named the event winner with more points to his name. And Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa came in second.

Outstanding performance by Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in FTX Crypto Cup

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa had a great tournament in the USA. He started off his tournament with four consecutive wins. One of them included a dominating triumph of 3-1 over world No. 6 Levon Aronian. 

Then Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa also went on to defeat Anish Giri and Hans Nieman. Although it was not all smooth sailing for him as he also suffered two losses. One at the hand of China’s Quang Liem le in the fifth round. And another to Poland’s Jan-Krzyrstof Duda, in a tie-breaker in the 6th round. 

Grand Master Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa became the youngest international master in 2016 when he was just 10-year-old. Two years down the line, he received the title of Grand Master. He currently holds 2661 ratings and is ranked 89 in the world.