India's teen prodigy and Grand Master Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu stunned world champion Magnus Carlsen for the second time in 2022 after making the most of a late blunder from the Norwegian superstar. Both the chess players locked horns in the fifth round of the Chessable Master online rapid chess tournament on Friday and the 16-year-old teen sensation kept his chances alive by advancing to the knockout stage after victory over Carlsen.
The fifth-round match at the USD 150,000 online tournament headed towards a draw on Friday but a one-move blunder from Carlsen - a misplaced black knight in his 40th move - brought his sudden death.
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 Grand Master in the world, is also part of the 16-man tournament..
16-year-old Praggnanandha beat Magnus Carlsen for the first time in February at Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament. Praggnanandhaa had won with black pieces to end Carlsen's 3-match winning run at the Airthings Masters in just 19 moves in a Tarrasch variation game.
"I think it’s about just going to bed," Praggnanandhaa had famously said after beating Carlsen when asked how he would celebrate the victory.
In fact, Praggnanandhaa wasn't happy with his showing against Carlsen on Friday despite having sealed 3 crucial points that keeps him in the hunt.
Notably, Praggnanandhaa lost to Carlsen 3-0 in a best of four contest as the Norewegian aveged his loss from February at the Oslo Esports Cup in April.
Earlier this year in February at the Airthings Masters, Praggnanandhaa had defeated the Norwegian. 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.
