16-year-old chess prodigy BEATS World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen
16-year-old chess prodigy who became youngest international master aged 10 BEATS World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen in online championship
- Indian teenage chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa beat Carlson
- He has won praise for his 39-move victory against the dominant World No. 1
- Carlsen, 31, appeared to blunder in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event
- He later revealed that he was recovering from a Covid-19 infection
A 16-year-old chess prodigy who became the youngest international master at the age of 10 has beaten World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen in an online championship.
Indian teenage chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won praise for his stunning performance on Tuesday over the five-time World Champion.
Praggnanandhaa, 16, who became a grandmaster in 2016, beat Carlsen late on Monday at the Airthings Masters rapid chess tournament in 39 moves after the world’s best appeared to blunder.
Indian teenage chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (pictured in 2019) won praise for his stunning performance on Tuesday over the five-time World Champion
https://youtube.com/watch?v=eioETv099kE%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1
‘It’s about time to go to bed as I don’t think I will have dinner at 2.30 in the morning,’ a visibly calm Praggnanandhaa said after the victory, playing black.
Others have beaten Carlsen – including Indians Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna – but Praggnanandhaa is the youngest since the Norwegian chess prodigy became world champion in 2013.
Anand, a five-time world champion and acclaimed as the greatest chess player India has produced, tweeted: ‘Always proud of our talents! Very good day for @rpragchess.’
Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar also joined in the praise for Chennai-born Praggnanandhaa, widely regarded as a future world title challenger.
‘What a wonderful feeling it must be for Pragg. All of 16, and to have beaten the experienced & decorated Magnus Carlsen, and that too while playing black, is magical!,’ Tendulkar wrote on Twitter.
‘Best wishes on a long & successful chess career ahead. You’ve made India proud!’
Praggnanandhaa, 16, who became a grandmaster in 2016, beat Carlsen (pictured in London) late on Monday at the Airthings Masters rapid chess tournament in 39 moves after the world’s best appeared to blunder
Carlsen, 31, appeared to blunder in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event for a total prize pool of over $1.5 million.
The World Champion immediately logged off when he lost, but later said he was still feeling the after-effects of a recent coronavirus infection.
‘It was better today, but the first couple of days, I was feeling like I am okay but I don’t have any energy and it was kind of hard to focus,’ Carlsen said on Monday.
Carlsen won his fifth straight world chess title in December, overcoming Ian Nepomniachtchi in a contest that saw the Russian lose his nerve after losing an epic eight-hour game, the longest ever played at a world championships.
The teenager’s victory follows an underwhelming performance in the tournament so far where his previous victory came in the eighth round over grandmaster Levon Aronian.
‘His results in the past six months has swung between extremes,’ Praggnanandhaa’s coach RB Ramesh was quoted as saying on ESPN.
Indian chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in 2016 became the youngest international master in history at age 10
Carlsen (pictured in 2004) himself was a young grandmaster, receiving the title at the age of just 13. He has held the World No.1 position since 1 July 2011
‘The fluctuation can be worrying and needs to be stabilised. This win against Magnus is important. Beating one of the strongest players in chess history is a huge moment for him.’
Carlsen himself was a young grandmaster, receiving the title at the age of just 13. He has held the World No.1 position since 1 July 2011.
Praggnanandhaa has been tipped as a future World Number 1 himself, and may have to oust Carlson from that title in order to get there.
The teenager faces another chess prodigy – Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who is 17 – in the next round of the tournament.
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