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“He reminds me so much of young Vishy”
Vladimir Kramnik and Judit Polgar are not only the head coaches of their respective teams in the Julius Baer Challengers Tour, but also the commentators in the live webcasts of the individual events. On day 4 of the Polgar Challenge, once it became clear that Praggnanandhaa would win the tournament, Kramnik reflected:
He reminds me so much of young Vishy. In everything. In the character, it seems to me he’s very sharp, light, quick. [.] And this kind of sharpness, you know.
Anand congratulated Pragg on his victory, noting as the youngster himself did later on that the biggest challenge lies ahead, at the next event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The former world champion tweeted:
Praggnanandhaa Wins Polgar Challenge Convincingly chess.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chess.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Reports Apr 11, 2021 | 9:55 PMby Colin McGourty
Praggnanandhaa powers into Champions Chess Tour
15-year-old Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa has won the Polgar Challenge with a round to spare to earn $3,000 and a place in the 5th leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, where he’s likely to face World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in less than two weeks’ time. In the end Pragg’s 3.5/4 on the final day was enough for him to finish a full 1.5 points ahead of the chasing pack of Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh, Nihal Sarin and Volodar Murzin. Team Polgar clinched team victory with 96.5 points to Team Kramnik’s 88.
Three-way tie for the lead after Day 1
The Polgar Challenge, the first event of the new $100,000 Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, got underway today with a series of fighting games that ended in a three-way tie for the lead.
Top seed
Nodirbek Abdusattorov grabbed the first win of the five-month tour with a convincing victory over Bulgarian teen Nurgyul Salimova. Abdusattorov, from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, famously beat two Grandmasters in a tournament when aged only nine.
The ambitious 16-year-old aims to be World Champion one day and showed his class by finishing joint-top of the table on day one of four after scoring an unbeaten 4/5. Abdusattorov shares the lead with India s exciting prodigy
Polgar Challenge Day 1: Praggnanandhaa storms back to lead
15-year-old Praggnanandhaa stormed back from a 1st round loss to Volodar Murzin to win his next four games and lead after Day 1 of the Polgar Challenge, the 1st event on the $100,000 Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour. He’s joined on 4/5 by the only unbeaten players, 14-year-old Christopher Yoo and 16-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov. All play for Team Kramnik, but the team scores are tied 25:25. Lei Tingjie is the top performing female player and had a great chance to take the sole lead on 4.5/5, while Awonder Liang won with an incredible smothered mate.
Praggnanandhaa took the lead, but only after Lei Tingjie missed a chance to move to 4.5/5