Praggnanandhaa Upsets Magnus Carlsen With 39 Moves In Freestyle Chess Tournament

Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated world number one Magnus Carlsen in Round 4 of the Las Vegas Chess Grand Slam Tour on Wednesday, marking one of the biggest wins of the tournament so far.

Praggnanandhaa won the match in 39 moves, continuing his strong run in Group A with three straight victories from Rounds 2 to 4. He was the most consistent performer in the group, according to chess platform Chess.com.

The 19-year-old outplayed Carlsen under a rapid time control of 10 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move.

Praggnanandhaa shares the lead in Group A — also referred to as Group White — with Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, all on 4.5 points. His performance includes wins over Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vincent Keymer and a draw against Abdusattorov.

Carlsen recovered to score 1.5 points from his final two games, finishing in a tie for fourth and entering a tiebreak against Levon Aronian for a place in the quarterfinals.

Aronian defeated Carlsen 2-0 in the tiebreak on Wednesday, advancing to the knockout stage and sending the Norwegian to the lower bracket.

Group A qualifiers Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov, Sindarov, and Aronian will be joined in the quarterfinals by Group B qualifiers Hikaru Nakamura, Hans Niemann, Arjun Erigaisi, and Fabiano Caruana.