Phenomenal Praggnanandhaa clinches 2nd UzChess Cup Masters in thrilling Playoffs, now World #4 and India #1

It does not matter how many times you get knocked down. What matters is how many times you have the ability to get up and fight. R stands for Rameshbabu in Praggnanandhaa's name. However, in this tournament, he once again showed that it can be for 'Resilient' as he showed incredible resilience. He lost two games in-a-row in Round 5 and 6, won the last two rounds in a virtual must-win situation. In the Playoffs, twice he won must-win games against Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) with white and black pieces respectively. This triumph made Praggnanandhaa World no.4 and India no.1 in live ratings. His calmness and the ability to overcome adverse situation reminds one the character of Sripati Samanta written by Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay aka Bonoful. It was appreciated by the maestro, Vishy Anand too. GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) and GM Saparmyrat Atabayev (TKM) won the Challengers and Futures section. Shamsiddin Vokhidov's (UZB) victory over Ian Nepomniachtchi also marked the end of an era. There is no Russian in World Top ten. Photos: Shahid Ahmed