Pragg defeated Carlsen
In the third round of the game on May 29th, Pragg defeated Carlsen, the current world chess grandmaster. After beating Magnus Carlsen, R. Praggnanandhaa became the new leader in the game. While the world stood shocked and Indians applauded the victory, Norwegians felt disappointed, given Magnus’s country was Norway.
Pragg defeated Carlsen with an opportunity that he noticed when he saw the grandmaster Magnus take a high risk of playing a Sicilian move. It led to Magnus’s loss of the threat in the early middlegame. It is when the Indian prodigy Pragg dealt his hand with a precise play which led him to win the game in 37 moves. It earned him 3 points. However, it also landed him in an Armageddon game with Magnus at a later date.
Playing the World Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen at such a tournament was a challenge in itself, but the 18-year-old prodigy remained calm throughout, and that’s how Pragg defeated Carlsen. It was the first time that Pragg defeated Carlsen, who was the world grandmaster, at a classical game, and it made him stand at the top of the standings at the tournament.
While the world, India especially applauded as Pragg defeated Carlsen, R Vaishali, his elder sister, reached the top of women’s standings at the same tournament at the end of the third tournament.
Norway Chess Tournament 2024
Norway chess tournament is considered one of the most prestigious chess tournaments in the world, and it is currently being held in Stavanger in Norway. It began on May 27th and will end on June 7th. The tournament has a format of a six-player double-robin, and the control of time has been placed 120 minutes for the games with an increment time of 10 seconds for each move starting from the 41st move.
In case a game ends in a draw, it calls upon Armageddon game, which directs that the while begins with ten minutes, whereas Black begins with 7 minutes with draw odds. During this tournament, the most amusing and shocking defeat was revealed when Pragg defeated Carlsen.
Comments from Spectators after Pragg defeated Carlsen
As per the commentators and spectators, Carlsen made that risky move with Pragg to surprise him as he decided to avoid the castle move. It led to his loss to the India Prodigy. Through an exclusive interview with the Indian Express after Pragg defeated Carlsen, the Indian prodigy said that he felt that Magnus’s opening was quite provocative, but it assured him of the competition, and he did not mind it at all. He also said that he didn’t think this was his best game to date. Although he learnt some good moves, he had played better.
On the other side, during the game, another grandmaster from the US, Hikaru Nakamura, stated through a confessional booth at the tournament that he felt that Magnus had begun with a strong approach and there were only two ends for him in the match, either to win or to lose. According to him, Magnus’s play was highly risky and double-edged, which proved that he was ready to be all pout at the match with Pragg.
Later, after Nakamura’s game, he commented to TV 2 Sport of Norway that Magnus had only chosen to take that risk as he was playing as a teenager and felt confident, and he would not have played that move with veterans such as himself.
GM takes Revenge After Pragg defeats Carlsen
After Pragg defeated Carlsen, Carlsen extended the courtesy by defeating Pragg in an Armageddon match. This time, he was more careful with the 18-year-old, and it led him to gain full points. Although the grandmaster Magnus defeated Pragg and took back his position in the tournament, the whole world is still in shock at the way Pragg defeated Carlsen and led the prodigy, who defeated the world grandmaster when he was 12years old, under stress during that match.
Currently, R. Praggnanandhaa is in third standing with eight games where he won 2 games, lost 1, 2 Armageddon wins and five draws.
