New Delhi: Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu registered his second win over world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2022 after the 16-year-old beat the Norwegian at the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament.
Praggnanandhaa on Friday made the most of the one-move blunder from Carlsen and kept his chances alive of progressing to the knockout stage.Chess
The 5th-round match at the USD 150,000 online tournament was heading for a dull draw after Praggnanandhaa’s 40th move but in a stunning twist, Carlsen misplayed his knight on his previous move as Indian checked with an attack on his back piece. Carlsen resigned on the spot.
Pragg’s win woke up the young star who had posted mixed results on the first day. Pragg followed up with a draw against fellow Indian Pentala Harikrishna and then beat the Englishman, Gawain Jones, to rise up to second on the leaderboard.
With a win worth three points, Praggnandha took his tally to 12 points while Carlsen was 2nd on the leaderboard behind China’s Wei Yi on Day 2 of the tournament. Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest Grandmaster in the world, is also part of the 16-man tournament..
Earlier this year in February, Praggnanandhaa had defeated World No 1 Carlsen in the eighth round of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament.
Despite a win over Carlsen on Friday, Praggnanandhaa, who revealed he’s taking school exams during the event, wasn’t happy with his own performance.
“I’m not so thrilled about my game quality. I’m missing some stuff, some tricks, and some tactics so I need to be sharper,” the Indian Grandmaster esd quoted as saying by the organisers.
Following his loss to Pragg, Carlsen faced another youngster: the 13-year-old American Abhimanyu Mishra,
Despite Carlsen bouncing back with a win, there was no suggestion Mishra was star-struck as he battled hard. The game ended with a curious position in which the teenager’s rook was boxed into a corner and unable to move.
Among the other Indians in the fray, Harikrishna was in the 7th spot with 11 points with two wins, five draws, and one defeat. Vidit Gujarathi was in 13th position with eight points from one win, five draws, and two defeats.
