Indian teenager R Praggnanandhaa claimed a resounding victory over Magnus Carlsen at the Airthings Masters, his first-ever chess victory against world No. 1 Norway.
Indian teenager R Praggnanandhaa stuns world chess champion Magnus Carlsen (Photo: FIDE)
16-year-old Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa claimed his first-ever victory over world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in Round 8 of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament, on Monday.
Praggnanandhaa won with Black and ended Carlsen’s 3-match Airthings Masters winning streak in just 19 moves in a Tarrasch Variations game.
The Indian GM is tied for 12th after eight rounds with eight points. His spectacular win over Carlsen comes after a mediocre run in previous rounds that included a singles win over Lev Aronian, two draws and four losses.
When asked what he would do to celebrate the stunning victory over Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa said: “I think it’s about just going to bed,” as Chess24 reports.
He drew with Anish Giri and Quang Liem Le and lost to Eric Hansen, Ding Liren, Jan-Kryzstof Duda and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, who lost the World Cup match to Norwegian no. 1 Carlsen a few months ago, leads the table with 19 points, followed by Ding Liren and Hansen (both with 15 points).
In the Airthings Masters, a 16-player online rapid tournament, a player is awarded three points for a win and one for a tie in the preliminary rounds. Seven more rounds remain in the preliminary round.
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