16-year-old R Praggnanandhaa creates history, beats Magnus Carlsen at Airthings Masters

16-year-old R Praggnanandhaa creates history, beats Magnus Carlsen at Airthings Masters

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A file image of R Praggnanandhaa.

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(Twitter)

R Praggnanandhaa stunned chess world when he upset five-time World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen with black pieces during the Airthings Masters. Praggnanandhaa had a difficult time in the tournament until he was placed against Carlsen as he had won a game against Armenian GM Levon Aronian only.

However, when it came to Carlsen, the youthful Praggnanandhaa was spot on and perhaps scored the biggest win of his career.

Using the black pieces, the Tamil Nadu native appeared to have secured a nice position in the middle game but was unable to develop it into something significant. With Carlsen playing all of his finest moves, his prospects seemed to be dwindling, but the Indian kept himself alive with some brilliant queen and knight play.

The World Champion, who is famed for his tenacity, ultimately gave up and conceded the game, giving Praggnanandhaa a 39-move victory. After former World Champion Vishwanathan Anand and GM Pentala Harikrishna, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa became only the third Indian in history to defeat Magnus Carlsen with this victory.

The Airthings Masters is an online event that takes place as part of the Champions Chess Tour and is played in a quick style of 15 minutes + 10 seconds.

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