Miami, Aug 19: The FTX Crypto Cup seems to be heading towards a tense two-horse race as Indian teenager Praggnanandhaa and Norway’s World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen both crushed their opponents in the fourth round here and remained in joint lead.
The two front-runners look increasingly impossible to catch up with as they stretched their lead over the pack with three points each on Thursday, that took them to perfect 12/12 scores.
Pragg defeated American Levin Aronian 3-1 while Carlsen handed a similar verdict to Vietnam’s Liem Quang Le in the fourth round.
The second Major of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season may now go down to the final round on Sunday when Carlsen, the world champion, and 17-year-old Pragg face each other.
With three rounds to go, Carlsen and Pragg aren’t completely in the clear yet though. The exciting teenager Alireza Firouzja is still in the hunt for the FTX title and sits third on the leaderboard with eight points. (IANS)
