India’s 16-year-old Chief Master Rameshappu Pragnananda stunned world champion Magnus Carlsen again in the span of three months on Friday in the fast paced Online Chess Masters Tournament.
The Indian teenager made the most of Carlsen’s mistake by one step and kept his chances alive to advance to the knockout stage.
The match was headed towards a lackluster tie after Praggnanandha’s 40th move but in a stunning twist Carlsen mishandled his knight in his previous move as Praggnanandha checked him with an attack on his back piece.
.Tweet embed R5-8 chess masters: Tweet embed Carlsen beats again
Exactly 3 months after winning the Airthings Masters Championship, Bragg once again beat the world champion. This time World #1 made a one-step blunder that told him after winning, “I don’t want to win this way!” pic.twitter.com/ijEnuj5d9G
– ChessBase India (ChessbaseIndia) May 21 2022
Praggnanadhaa later revealed that he was taking school exams during the event in an interview with Chess24.
“I am not very happy about the quality of my game. I miss some things, some tricks, some tactics, so I need to be sharper,” he said.
With a three-point win, Bragnananda (12 points) crushed Gawain Jones (England) in the seventh round, following his sixth tie with 11th-placed compatriot B Harikrishna. Vidit Gujrathi (5) ranked 14th.
Earlier this year in February at Airthings Masters, Praggnanandhaa defeated the Norwegian. Young Indian master R Praggnanandhaa stunned World No. 1, Magnus Carlsen, in the eighth round of the Airthings Masters, a fast paced online chess tournament. Praggnanandhaa won a black cut in 39 moves in the Tarrasch variety game early Monday to halt Carlsen’s three-game winning streak.