BAKU (Azerbaijan): The battle for the FIDE Chess World Cup between world number one Magnus Carlsen and India’s 18-year-old Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa will be decided in tie-break games here on Thursday.
Carlsen chose to play out a quick draw in the second game on Wednesday. The second classical time-control game was the shortest for both players in the competition.
Asked about the short draw, Praggnanandhaa said, “Mainly, it was due to his bad health because it is very rare to see Magnus playing for a draw with white (pieces).”
Carlsen said he was feeling a little better than he did the previous day. “Still, it didn’t feel like I had the energy for a full fight. So I thought, let’s get one more day of rest. Hopefully, I’ll have more strength on Thursday.”
