Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa stunned world no 1 Magnus Carlsen in the eighth round of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament.
By: PTI | Chennai |
Updated: February 21, 2022 7:35:38 pm
R Praggnanandhaa defeated world no 1 Magnus Carlsen. (File)
Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa stunned world no 1 Magnus Carlsen in the eighth round of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament.
Praggnanandhaa won with black pieces in 39 moves in a Tarrasch variation game early on Monday to halt Carlsen’s run of three straight wins.
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The Indian GM lies in joint 12th spot after eight rounds with eight points. His spectacular win over Carlsen comes after a moderate run in the earlier rounds, which included a solitary victory over Lev Aronian, two draws and four defeats.
He drew against 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 championship match a few months ago to the Norwegian world no 1 Carlsen, is on top of the standings with 19 points followed by Ding Liren and Hansen (both on 15 points).
In the Airthings Masters, a 16-player online rapid tournament, a player gets three points for a win and one for a draw in the preliminary rounds. Seven more rounds remain in the preliminary phase.
At 16, India’s big chess hope scales first peak, beats his own hero and World No 1 Magnus Carlsen
Aggressive from the start, he pushed Carlsen onto the back foot but missed a glorious chance to kill the game in the middle stage. But he regained his wits and bounced back, piling relentless pressure on Carlsen, who cracked and blundered.
indianexpress.com
