GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was topped the winner of the 2022 Julius Baer Challenger Championship on Tuesday after overcoming rising star GM Pranav Venkatesh, requiring solely three of their 4 scheduled mini-matches to take action.

Praggnanandhaa was unstoppable in each the speedy and blitz time controls, scoring 6.5 to Pranav’s 1.5 over eight video games in Tel Aviv, Israel.

How to assessment?

The first day of play featured the primary three-game mini-match which Praggnanandhaa was capable of clinch in three video games with two wins and one draw. In the primary sport, the higher-rated celebrity set the tone of the match with a crushing victory on the black facet of the Spanish Game: Morphy Defense, hopping his knights towards Pranav’s king and forcing resignation on transfer 30.

Pranav, who only recently earned the GM title to develop into India’s seventy fifth grandmaster, confirmed a willingness to combat with the black items within the second sport however may solely handle a draw after castling reverse sides.

The stage is getting set for the encounter later in the present day…..keep tuned..#chess @GM_Pranav_V @rpragchess @juliusbaer @chess24com @ChampChessTour #challengerschesstour #juliusbaer @SebKuhnert pic.twitter.com/YYKIuDl4dE

— Pranav V (@GM_Pranav_V) December 11, 2022

History would repeat itself in sport three the place Praggnanandhaa repeated the Morphy Defense as soon as extra and located himself content material with equality on transfer 40. Sensing the necessity to press, Pranav performed the doubtful 41.h4 and fell sufferer to a nasty double-check and misplaced the sport and the match 0.5-2.5.

Starting the second day of speedy with a recent scorecard, Pranav opted to alter up his black repertoire and play the Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation in an try and problem his opponent’s theoretical data. Never one to draw back from such a battle, the 2022 Reykjavik Open winner performed a novelty on transfer 10 and slowly floor down his much less skilled opponent.

Although the next sport was the longest of the occasion, one factor was changing into clear: Praggnanandhaa’s expertise and grinding fashion was leaving Pranav with few alternatives to insert himself into the match. The Indian number-six, who has been an actual thorn in GM Magnus Carlsen’s facet in latest matches corresponding to these, confirmed his second match win with a 2-0 rating after the 75-mover.

The third day left Pranav with an incredible deficit to beat, needing to win each remaining matches. However, one factor that stood in his favor was his aptitude within the blitz time controls. The 16-year-old from Tamil Nadu demonstrated his pace chess excellence (evident by his 3050 score on Chess.com) and scored his first win of the occasion to kick off day three.

Now in with a sniff to steal a match off his illustrious opponent, Pranav hoped for some dynamic play within the second sport however was snared as soon as extra by constricting play from his opponent. The Italian Opening: Pianissimo Variation lived as much as its identify and the quiet however lethal play from Praggnanandhaa allowed him to equalize within the match.

Clearly stunted by the earlier sport, Pranav discovered himself in hassle early on within the ultimate sport of the day and was decisively overwhelmed.

Having gained his first three matches, Praggnanandhaa alleviated the necessity for a fourth match and claimed the match, including one more title to a breakout yr for the 17-year-old.