R Praggnanandhaa vs Magnus Carlsen again? Indian GM reaches semis at Chessable Masters

Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has reached the semi-final of the ongoing Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters 2022 online tournament. The 16-year-old defeated China's Wei Yi 2.5-1.5 to confirm a spot in the semis on Tuesday, May 24. Pragnanandhaa will now face Anish Giri of the Netherlands in his semi-final clash on May 25. 

Pragnanandhaa won the first two games of his four-match series against Wei Yi. The Chinese Grandmaster, however, made a strong comeback to win the third game. A draw in the fourth and final game ensured a victory for Praggnanandhaa, who advanced to the next round of the online competition. 

Earlier in the tournament, Praggnanandhaa had defeated the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen to cement his place in the top eight. Carlsen, on the other hand, beat David Anton of Spain to win his quarter-final match on Tuesday. He will play against China's Ding Liren in the other semi-final that will take place at the same time as Praggnanandhaa's match on Wednesday. 

Praggnanandhaa vs Carlsen?

If everything goes well for Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen, they will have another opportunity to play against each other in the final of the competition on Thursday, May 26. Pragnanandhaa will be most excited to play against Carlsen if they reach the final given that he will have an opportunity to create history. Praggnanandhaa is only the third Indian after Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna to beat Carlsen in a chess game. 

Earlier, Praggnanandhaa had defeated Carlsen at the Airthings Masters in February, this year. Praggnanandhaa beat Carlsen in the 8th round of the Airthings Masters, which is another 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. 

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 had 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)