BUCHAREST: World number two Fabiano Caruana defended his Superbet Classic title by winning all three rapid games in a thrilling four-way tiebreaker, featuring Indian Grandmasters D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa, after a rather dull tournament. Caruana lost to Anish Giri of Holland in the Classical format to split the competition wide open as Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and France’s Alireza Firouzja all finished the classical section tied for first.
Praggnanandhaa survived by the skin of the teeth against Alireza, who held a completely winning position for a long time. If the Frenchman had won the final classical round there would have been no need of tiebreak games as he would have overtaken Caruana on points.
But Caruana lost, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa drew and that set up a four-way tiebreaker to decide the winner. Caruana, not known as a tiebreaker master, proved that he can get the better of the younger generation as he defeated all three — Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Alireza to come up trumps and win the first prize hamper of $ 68500. PTI
Praggnanandhaa survived by the skin of the teeth against Alireza, who held a completely winning position for a long time. If the Frenchman had won the final classical round there would have been no need of tiebreak games as he would have overtaken Caruana on points.
But Caruana lost, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa drew and that set up a four-way tiebreaker to decide the winner. Caruana, not known as a tiebreaker master, proved that he can get the better of the younger generation as he defeated all three — Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Alireza to come up trumps and win the first prize hamper of $ 68500. PTI
