18-year-old Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa registered his first-ever classical win over World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger on Wednesday, May 29. The Indian Grandmaster took the sole lead in the open section of the prestigious six-player tournament after the momentous victory at Carlsen's home turf. Playing with white pieces, last year's FIDE World Cup runner-up, battled against the odds to beat Carlsen.
R Praggnanandhaa took his tally to 5.5 out of 9 points at the end of the third round in the Norway Chess tournament. American Grandmaster Fabio Caruana, meanwhile, took the second spot after taking three full points following his win over GM Ding Liren on Wednesday.
Incidentally, R Praggnanandhaa's sister R Vaishali retained her sole lead position in the women's section of Norway Chess.
Magnus Carlsen, who paid the price for a daring opening move against Praggnanandhaa, slipped to fifth in the six-man standings in the open section of Norway Chess. Praggnanandhaa did not let the opening surprise him as he kept his calm and got the job done. Despite trailing on the clock for the most part of the game, Praggnanandhaa managed to beat Carlsen with white pieces and seal three crucial points.
It was a big boost for Praggnanandhaa, who had lost the World Cup last year to Magnus Carlsen. Incidentally, Praggnanandhaa is only the fourth Indian to beat Carlsen in classical chess.
In another match, GM Hikaru Nakamura defeated GM Alireza Firouzja in Armageddon to retain the third spot on the table. Ding Liren, who will take on GM D Gukesh for the World Championship title later in the year, was reeling at the last spot after 3 rounds with 2.5 points out of 9 on Wednesday.
Norway Chess offers USD 160,000 in prize funds for the Open and the Women's section. Six players will compete against each other twice in classical chess from May 27 to June 7.
Norway Chess: R Praggnanandha scores first-ever classical win over Magnus Carlsen Vaishali came up with a stupendous effort to beat compatriot Koneru Humpy and jump into sole lead on Tuesday. GM Vaishali held GM Anna Muzychuk to a draw with black pieces on Wednesday to retain the sole lead position after three rounds in the women's section.
OPEN: 1. R Praggnanandhaa - 5.5, 2. Fabio Caruana - 5, 3. Hikaru Nakamura - 4, 4. Alireza Firouzja - 3.5, 5. Magnus Carlsen - 3, 6. Ding Liren - 2.5.
WOMEN: 1. R Vaishali - 5.5, 2. Ju Wenjun 4.5, 3. Lei Tingjie 4, 4. Pia Cramling - 3, 4. Koneru Humpy - 3, 4. Anna Muzychuk - 3.
Source: India Today