R Praggnanandhaa's chess controversy: American GM Wesley So clarifies incident - 'Things happened so fast'

NEW DELHI: American Grandmaster Wesley So clarified the confusion around his controversial game against R Praggnanandhaa at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid. He said that the draw was suggested by him, not by the arbiters.

Explaining the tense moment on Friday, So wrote on X: "Regarding my game with Pragg yesterday, I was the one who proposed to draw the game, not the arbiters. Things happened so fast and everyone did what seems best at the moment. Criticizing the arbiters are uncalled for. Big congrats to Nihal Sarin for dominating the rapid!"




The incident took place on Thursday during Day 2 of the tournament in Kolkata. Round 6 suddenly became the centre of attention due to a dramatic turn of events.

Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa was low on time and had only one second left on his clock. He pushed a pawn close to promotion but quickly realised he did not have enough time to complete the move and replace it with a new queen.

As his time was about to expire, Pragg stopped the clock and asked for help. Many commentators felt Wesley So would win the game on time.

However, after a discussion, the arbiters declared the game a draw. This decision sparked strong debate across the chess world.

Renowned chess arbiter Chris Bird openly criticised the ruling.

On X, he wrote: "Should have been ruled a loss. "6.11.2 A player may pause the chessclock only in order to seek the arbiter’s assistance, for example when promotion has taken place and the piece required is not available." No promotion actually took place so this is not relevant here."

Young Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin won the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid title on Saturday. His victory came just a day after the passing of his maternal grandfather, who had introduced him to the game of 64 squares.

Nihal secured the Open title in Round 9 with a calm draw against five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.

He finished first with 6.5 points. Anand came second with six points, while Arjun Erigaisi finished third with five points.

After his win, Nihal said: "Yesterday night I got the news that my maternal grandfather who taught me chess, had passed away. I would like to dedicate this tournament victory to him,"

In the women’s section, Russia’s Kateryna Lagno won the title with 6.5 points. Aleksandra Goryachkina finished second, while 2025 Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh claimed third place.


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