NEW DELHI — Indian teenage chess grandmaster
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won praise Tuesday for a stunning victory over world
number one
Magnus Carlsen in an online championship.
اضافة اعلان
Praggnanandhaa, 16, who in 2016 became the youngest
international master in history at age 10, beat Carlsen late on Monday at the
Airthings Masters rapid chess tournament.
"It's about time to go to bed as I don't think I
will have dinner at 2:30 in the morning," a visibly calm Praggnanandhaa
said after the 39-move victory playing black.
Others have beaten Carlsen — including Indians
Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna — but Praggnanandhaa is the youngest
since the Norwegian became world champion in 2013.
Anand, a five-time world champion and acclaimed as the
greatest
chess player India has produced, tweeted: "Always proud of our
talents! Very good day for
@rpragchess."
Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar also joined
in the praise for Chennai-born Praggnanandhaa, widely regarded as a future
world title challenger.
"What a wonderful feeling it must be for Pragg.
All of 16, and to have beaten the experienced & decorated Magnus Carlsen,
and that too while playing black, is magical!," Tendulkar wrote on
Twitter.
"Best wishes on a long & successful chess
career ahead. You've made India proud!"
Carlsen, 31, appeared to blunder in the
Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event for a total prize pool of over $1.5 million.
On Monday, Carlsen had said he was still feeling the
after-effects of a recent coronavirus infection.
"It was better today, but the first couple of
days, I was feeling like I am okay but I don't have any energy and it was kind
of hard to focus," Carlsen said.
Carlsen won his fifth straight world chess title in
December, overcoming
Ian Nepomniachtchi in a contest that saw the Russian lose
his nerve after losing an epic eight-hour game, the longest ever played at a
world championships.
The teenager's victory follows an underwhelming
performance in the tournament so far where his previous victory came in the
eighth round over grandmaster
Levon Aronian.
"His results in the past six months has swung
between extremes," Praggnanandhaa's coach RB Ramesh was quoted as saying
on ESPN.
"The fluctuation can be worrying and needs to be stabilized.
This win against Magnus is important. Beating one of the strongest players in
chess history is a huge moment for him."
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