Who would say it David Nalbandian can be associated for life with young world chess prodigy? Who would say it Rameshbabu Pragnanandhaa could do what the man from Cordoba did on the tennis court tennis, but on a board of black and white squares? There are such things in life. Yes, perverted, but curious nonetheless.
In October 2007, Nalbandian established himself Champion of the Madrid Masters 1000. when he was 25th in the world rankings. It was the sixth title in his career. But it will forever remain in history, because it was the only time a player has beaten Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same championship, which took the top three positions in the ranking. King David killed three Marias of world tennis in Spain. The Holy Trinity. unmatched.
Well then, Pragg, as everyone in the chess world calls him, could repeat what Nalbandian did this Wednesday. Favorite son of the Indian school, who Viswanathan Anand how the world champion faces a great chance to make a historical revolution.
The fact is that at the World Championships, which is being held in Baku, he has already knocked out Hikaru Nakamura already Fabiano Caruanaand now he is playing in the final against Magnus Carlsen. If he had established himself in the capital of Azerbaijan, he would have done it by victories over the top three in the rating. Like Nalbandian in Madrid.
That this journalistic game is a bit contrived? Numbers are numbers and your aunt is not there. No discipline can match this, but it’s rare to find heroes that can handle the top three and lift the trophy. So the game continues, but with more details.
Nalbandyan, for history
Nalbandian arrived in Madrid at the end of 2007, in which he did not achieve much, given his outstanding qualities. He failed to reach the semi-finals, he only reached the quarter-finals in Barcelona, and flew out to the 1/8 finals of the tournament. Australian Open, Roland Garros and at the Indian Wells and Montreal Masters 1000 tournaments.
i couldn’t win Top ten: Croatian Ivan Lyubibich (8th) beat him in Indian Wells, Russian Nikolai Davydenko (4th place) at Roland Garros and Serb Djokovic (4th place) in Montreal. But you can expect the unpredictable from a talented person. And Nalbandian did it.
The week of October 15-21, 2007 has gone down in tennis history. After sending the French in three sets Arno Clement (40°) and Czech Thomas Berdych (11°), and after two Juan Martin del Potro (53 °), the feat was coming. In the quarter-finals, he beat the Spaniard Nadal (2nd) 6-1 and 6-2, in the semi-finals he did the same with Djokovic (3rd) 6-4 and 7-6 (7-4), and in the final he turned the tide match. against the Swiss Federer (1st) with a score of 1-6, 6-3 and 6-3. A real feat for books and bronze.
Pragg’s dream
Sixteen years later, Pragnanandha wants to emulate him on the blackboard in Baku. Indian is 29th place in the world ranking from FIDE with an ELO of 2707. He is already 23rd in the live rating with 2735. Obviously, this increase was due to his performance at the World Championship.
In this direct elimination tournament, two players play two color-changing games at a planned pace of 90 minutes for 40 moves and another half an hour to go, always incrementing by 30 seconds per move.
If there is no definition, then on another day the tie-breaks of the two games are played at an increasingly high speed: first at 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move, then at 10 plus 10, and then at 5 plus 3. If parity is maintained, unique games will come to 3 plus 2 until there is a winner. And the 18-year-old guy broke through in a big way.
In the opening, he won the first game with black against the French. Maxime Lagarde (2599) and the passage was secured by White’s draw in the second. in Czech David Navara (2695; 42nd in the world) beat him with white in the first and drew with black in the second. This was followed by a duel against the American Hikaru Nakamura (2787), who occupies the second place in the ranking. Game parity was at the planned pace, but Pragg He scored in 25 minutes plus 10 seconds and beat him on both occasions.
Already in the 1/8 finals, the Indian equalized the score in the first game as black with the Hungarian. Ferenc Berkes (2615) and beat him in a rematch with white. Duel with a compatriot Arjun Erigaysi (2704; 32nd in the world) reached the quarterfinals and became the most extensive who played Pragg at the World Championship: the score was 5 to 4. Each won the planned game, the next two started with a score of 25 plus 10, and then the young man twice match point at 10 plus 10 and at 5 plus 3. But his opponent recovered. Until the ninth Pragg Won with white in a blitz bet of 3 plus 2.
Semi-final time. Opposite the genius was Fabiano Caruana (2782), an American of Italian origin, the third racket of the world and a rival of Magnus Carlsen in Matches for the title played in 2018 in London. They repeated the tables in four opening games and Pragg He was able to take advantage of white only in the fifth, at a rate of 10 plus 10. The Indian defended equality in the sixth and qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament..
“I didn’t expect to be able to face Magnus in this tournament because the only way to face him is in the final,” said the Indian with a smile. His calmness during conversation is also transmitted when defending on the board. He showed it against the beast Carlsen, who has always respected him as a strong opponent, in the first match of the final, which ended in a draw on Tuesday.
On Wednesday there will be a rematch, and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa will go on a feat. And if not, then there will be tie-breaks on Thursday. It’s time to wait if David Nalbandian can be associated for life with the young world chess prodigy.
HS