Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa beats Chess King Magnus Carlsen in Airthings Masters - Get Details Here

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa beats Chess King Magnus Carlsen: 16-year-old Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa from Chennai scripted history on Monday by beating world No. 1 and the reigning five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen who was the favourite to win against India's teen prodigy was left surprised when Praggnanandhaa beat him in the 8^th Round of the Airthings Masters online rapid chess tournament. Praggnanandhaa, while playing with Black Pieces managed to outfox World No 1 in 39 moves in a Tarrasch variation. The Indian GM lies in joint 12th spot after eight rounds with eight points.

3^rd Indian to beat Norwegian Grandmaster

The achievement of Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is special and historic as this is only the third time that an Indian has been able to beat Norwegian Chess King Magnus Carlsen. Before him, Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna have also managed to beat Carlsen on two different occasions. Before Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa had a tough journey in the tournament and had beaten Armenian GM Levon Aronian merely hours before his historic match.

Dream Come True for Teenage Prodigy

Beating World Champion Magnus Carlsen was a dream come true for Praggnanandhaa. Norwegian World No 1 Carlsen, the undisputed emperor of chess and is considered to be ‘Greatest of All Time’ in the Chess fraternity. Earlier, while interacting with media persons after becoming the 2^nd youngest grandmaster, Praggyu (as Praggnanandhaa is fondly called in the chess circuit) had said that. “Beating him once is my biggest dream,”. Describing his idol's approach to the game he had added “He (Carlsen) has a solution for even the most complicated problem.” But on Monday, even the World Champion didn’t have a move to counter Praggnanandhaa.

Congratulations Pour in for Teen Prodigy

Following his win over World No 1, Magnus Carlsen wishes poured in for Teen Prodigy Praggnanandhaa. Cricket Legend Sachin Tendulkar has congratulated Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa on Twitter. In a short message, Master Blaster wrote “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! Best wishes on a long & successful chess career ahead. You’ve made India proud!”

Thank you very much sir! It means a lot coming from you!! https://t.co/NwlZDksfmZ

— Praggnanandhaa (@rpragchess) February 21, 2022

On similar lines, Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs & Sports Mr Anurag Thakur, Film Actor Anupam Kher and Spiritual Guru Sadhguru have also congratulated Praggnanandhaa.

Remarkable achievement ! ♟
Inspiring and a proud moment for India’s 🇮🇳Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa!

The 16-year old Grandmaster scored a victory over reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

I am confident you will achieve even more going ahead; wishing you the very best ! pic.twitter.com/kiT29sutFy

— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) February 22, 2022

Praggnanandhaa- Congratulations on a wonderful achievement. You have delighted the Nation with your talent & skill. It’s great to see you living up to your name. My Best Wishes & Blessings. –Sg @rpragchess https://t.co/2EDFMrICOw

— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) February 22, 2022

Proud of you my dearest #Praggnanandhaa. What a grand victory!! Jai Ho!! 👏👏👍🇮🇳 #chesschampion @rpragchess pic.twitter.com/93sOcZFFhh

— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) February 22, 2022

About Airthings Masters

Airthings Masters is an online rapid chess tournament. The tournament has a 16-player format and is held online in rapid tournament. For each match, a player gets three points for a win and one for a draw in the preliminary rounds. In total there are 7 preliminary rounds following which the top 8 players are selected to enter the knockout stage.