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In the eighth round of the Airthings Masters, an online fast chess tournament, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa, a 16-year-old, astonished the world by defeating World No. 1 Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, 31, with 39 black piece moves.
As he ominously turned up the gears, Carlsen had piled up three wins in a row. However, he blundered terribly against 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa, and the Indian star held on to win, according to ANI.
Praggnanandhaa is in joint 12th place with eight points after eight rounds, according to a PTI report. His stunning triumph over Carlsen follows a mediocre performance in the earlier rounds, which included a single victory over Lev Aronian, two draws, and four losses.
The 16-year-old drew against Anish Giri and Quang Liem Le and lost to Eric Hansen, Ding Liren, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
Carlsen, the world number one, upset Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in a world championship match a few months ago and now leads the standings with 19 points, ahead of Ding Liren and Hansen (both on 15 points).
In the preliminary rounds of the Airthings Masters, each player receives three points for a win and one point for a tie. In the preliminary round, there are seven more rounds to go.
It was Praggnanandhaa’s first win against the Norwegian in any form of chess, and it came after a three-game losing streak. Carlsen ended in fifth place, up from 11th place the day before.
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