Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa R. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Indian teenage chess sensation R. Pragananadhaa continued with his dominating ways in the ongoing Norway Chess competition as he defeated the world number two player Fabiano Caruana in round five in a classical chess game on Saturday night.
With this victory, he defeated both world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway and the world number two Caruana in classic chess for the first time ever.
His heroics at the ongoing competition have also brought him into the top ten of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Rankings. “PRAGG IS BACK Young prodigy Praggnanandhaa stuns the chess world again by defeating World No.2 Fabiano Caruana in Round 5! After toppling World No.1 Magnus Carlsen in Round 3, he’s now beaten the top two players in classical chess for the first time ever, rocketing into the top 10! What a tournament for the Indian prodigy #NorwayChess,” tweeted the official handle of Norway Chess on X.
The 18-year-old had defeated Carlsen in round three. Using white pieces, the runners-up from last year’s FIDE Chess World Cup battled it out with some intelligent moves against Carlsen for a win. Earlier in his budding career, Pragananadhaa had notched some wins over Carlsen in rapid and blitz chess games.
Just a day after registering his first classical win over the five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen, India’s star prodigy Praggnanandhaa went down against America’s Hikaru Nakamura in Round 4 of the Norway Chess 2024 at the SpareBank 1 SR-Bank on Thursday.
Nakamura displayed masterful preparation against Praggnanandhaa, who sacrificed a knight in a desperate bid to save the game. Nakamura, having anticipated this very sacrifice, played flawlessly and secured a convincing victory to climb to the top spot of the overall standings.
Praggnanandhaa’s sister Vaishali, on the other hand, continued her dominant performance by defeating the legendary Pia Cramling, extending her lead to a total of 8.5 points.
Indian Women’s chess Grandmaster Humpy suffered a loss in the classical game against Anna Muzychuk in round 4. In another exciting game of the Norway Chess Women’s Tournament, Ju Wenjun triumphed over her compatriot Lie Tengjie in the fourth Armageddon tiebreak of the tournament.
The local hero Carlsen registered a narrow victory over Fabiano Caruana in the Norway Chess main event to bag three points. Caruana had a golden opportunity to close the rating gap with Carlsen to just four points, but the game, initially calm, took a dramatic turn in the endgame. Carlsen capitalised on a small advantage, ultimately clinching the win when Caruana blundered with only seconds left on his clock.
Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja stunned the reigning World Champion Ding Liren to earn three crucial points ahead of the rest day.
Norway Chess 2024 commenced with a dynamic start, bringing together the world’s elite chess players for a super-tournament in a competition that started on May 27 and will go on till June 7 at SpareBank 1 SR-Bank.
This year, the tournament features not only the renowned Norway Chess tournament but also introduces Norway Chess Women, an all-female tournament showcasing the best female players globally. Both tournaments follow a 6-player double round-robin format with equal prize funds, underscoring a commitment to gender equality in chess, as per a press release from Norway Chess.