India's Praggnanandhaa again frustrates World No.1 Magnus Carlsen in thrilling chess match

Indian chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa once again frustrated World No.1 Magnus Carlsen as the duo locked horns against each other in the 85th Tata Steel Chess Masters 2023. Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen met in the Final Round 12 on Saturday where the former managed to produce one of the best saves of his career. Praggnanandhaa drew against Carlsen for the first time in a 'Classical game' in only his second-ever Classical encounter against the World No. 1 ranked player. 

'I'm really frustrated. I feel like I should've gotten a lot more from the position I had. But he defends really well. I feel like this was a bit of a backbreaker, to be honest. Tournament victory is obviously gone & we’ll see if I can find some motivation to try tomorrow, but for now it’s disappointing," Carlsen said after the match.

Earlier, Praggnanandhaa had defeated Carlsen at the Airthings Masters in February, last year. Praggnanandhaa beat Carlsen in the 8th round of the Airthings Masters, which is an online chess competition. With the win, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest player to defeat Carlsen in a chess game since the latter was crowned the world champion in 2013. 

After that, Praggnanandhaa beat Carlsen in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters 2022 online tournament in May. Praggnanandhaa beat Carlsen in the fifth round of the tournament. Praggnanandhaa produced a superb performance to outwit Carlsen in the final round of the FTX Crypto Cup in August. It was his third win against the Norwegian in 2022. 

Praggnanandhaa's career

Praggnanandhaa, a chess prodigy from Tamil Nadu, earned the coveted Grandmaster title in 2018. He was the second-youngest person ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster at the time but is currently fifth on the list after being dethroned by Abhimanyu Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, Gukesh D, and Javokhir Sindarov. Earlier he also won the World Youth Chess Championships U-8 title in 2013, which earned him the title of FIDE Master at the age of 7. 

Image: PTI/AP