Guwahati: Young Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won the Norway Chess Open by defeating his opponents in the Group A open chess tournament held in Norway.
Praggnanandhaa came out on top after nine rounds with 7.5 points.
The first seed was in excellent form going undefeated through the first nine rounds. He defeated fellow Indian V Praneeth, an International Master, to win the competition late on Friday.
Praggnanandhaa (Elo 2642) finished a full point ahead of second-placed IM Marsel Efroimski (Israel) and IM Jung Min Seo (Sweden).
V Praneeth finished joint third with six points but was placed sixth due to a lower tie-break score.
Apart from beating Praneeth, Praggnanandhaa posted wins over Victor Mikhalevski (in round 8), Vitaly Kunin (round 6), Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov (round 4), Semen Mutusov (round 2) and Mathias Unneland (round 1).
The GM will compete in the open tournament of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai next month as part of the India B squad.
Praggnanandhaa’s coach R B Ramesh complimented him after the triumph and stated it would help him gain confidence.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen for the second time in the Chessable Master online event in May. The two players faced in the fifth round of the Chessable Masters online fast chess tournament, and Praggnanandhaa’s win over Carlsen kept his prospects of reaching the knockout stage alive.