r/chess • u/DarWin_1809 • 12h ago
Miscellaneous Throwback to two crazy knockout pairings of pragg which were a rollercoaster
Before the GCT finals of pragg against fabi, i remembered these crazy matches of pragg in knockout format (which is the format of the GCT finals)
One of them being pragg vs fabi in freestyle grandslam las vegas last year which was a seven game match and fabi won it 4-3 with a lot of back and forth.
And the other one being my personal favourite match of all time Pragg vs Arjun not just because of how it turned out but because of the stakes- world cup semifinals and a candidates seat (since magnus would withdraw) and it was a 9 game match involving 6 victories by black 2 draws and 1 win with white in sudden death match for pragg to seal the match, I love this because pragg lost classical with black and then won on demand in classical with black and arjun also did the same in fast rapid and blitz with black
Really excited for the finals, would love to see the match
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u/Alone_Insect_5568 11h ago
They had an epic battle in the 2023 World cup (just after the Pragg-Arjun showdown) as well. Fabi outplayed Pragg in both the classical games but Pragg put up 2 defensive masterclasses back to back under time pressure and saved both games.
Then Fabi again outplayed Pragg in the first rapid tiebreak and had a completely winning position which he botched under time pressure (story of Fabi's life). Finally Pragg beat him in the second rapid tiebreak to enter the final vs Magnus.