Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa stormed into the finals of the World Cup chess tournament after a stunning victory over world number 2 Fabiano Caruana in the semifinal at Baku in Azerbaijan.

The 18-year-old from Chennai will be the youngest ever grandmaster and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to enter the final of the World Cup chess tournament where he will face world number 1 Magnus Carlsen today.

The Indian teenager defeated Caruana 3.5-2.5 via the tie-break in the semifinal round.

“Pragg goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!,” chess legend Viswanathan Anand wrote on  X (formerly Twitter).

Pragg had shown his class in the earlier rounds when he beat world number 3 and five-time US chess champion Hikaru Nakamura.

He has also become only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to get the coveted Candidates spot in the history of the sport.