In a proud moment R Praggnanandhaa, a 16-year-old Chess prodigy from Chennai, has created history by defeating world number 1 Magnus Carlsen at the online rapid chess tournament Airthings Masters.
The young Indian grandmaster managed to disturb Carlsen’s three-match-winning streak by defeating him in the 8th round of the game. This win is very special as the child prodigy had lost 3 consecutive games on the first day.
After the big win, Praggnanandhaa has become only the third Indian ever to have defeated Carlsen. The earlier two players have been Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna. After this great achievement, he is now at the 12th position in the tournament.
Little past 2am in India on Monday, 16 yr-old GM R Praggnanandhaa had one of the biggest moments of his young career so far. A win with Black over world champion Magnus Carlsen in the Airthings Masters, a 16-player online rapid tournament. Massive for Pragg! #AirthingsMasters pic.twitter.com/7kCnS1xsAg
— Susan Ninan (@ninansusan) February 21, 2022
Speaking about Praggnanandhaa’s historic achievement, his mentor Anand told ESPN:
“What I really admire about him is that he takes the blows and does it his way, as the song goes. In Wijk aan Zee he had some really tough blows but still fought and beat (Andrey) Esipenko in the last round. The first day in the current tournament was really bad for him but on the second day he came up with two very good wins. His fighting spirit is really something.”
While this isn’t the first time, Praggnanandhaa made our country proud. At 10 years of age, he became the youngest International Master in history. He achieved this milestone in 2016. And, then again in 2018, Praggnandhaa became the second youngest Grandmaster in the history of chess at the age of 12. In 2019, he won the U-18 World Chess Championship.
Not just us, rather the whole world is celebrating his great achievement!
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! pic.twitter.com/hTQiwznJvX— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 21, 2022
WooooooW !
— KrishnaFromAtlanta (@Krishna59638949) February 22, 2022
When this Sassy Norwegian beat Our Grandmaster Vish Anand, Never thought he did be BEAT by a KID !!
Circle of LIFE !!
😂😂😂 https://t.co/rlllOMGobJ
He joins one of only 3 Indian players to have a W over Magnus Carlsen.
— Yew’s Finest (@FinestYew) February 21, 2022
He also accomplished this as a 16 year old playing in the pre dawn hours of the morning.
The game itself is pretty riveting stuff. Sort of incredible how he found those moves in a rapid game. https://t.co/L0h7YIG4nl
This is huge!!! I never dreamt of this.
— Sai Naveen Kethineedi (@kethineedi799) February 21, 2022
I bow down to this 16 year old kid.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa. #chess #India https://t.co/IRRpR9w9dQ
What a brilliant kid!
