In a significant victory, the Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated his opponent and world number one Magnus Carlsen and took the sole lead in the Norway Chess tournament.
The 18-year-old, who has defeated Carlsen multiple times in rapid and exhibition games, took the lead with 5.5 points after three rounds. Interestingly, Praggnanandhaa’s sister, R Vaishali, also claimed the top spot in the women’s competition with 5.5 points.
Playing with the white pieces, Praggnanandhaa’s victory pushed home favorite Carlsen to the fifth spot in the points table. Classical chess, also known as slow chess, allows players a significant amount of time to make their moves, typically at least one hour. Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa had drawn their previous three encounters in this format.
R Vaishali drew her game against Anna Muzychuk.
Praggnanandhaa on his win
“His opening was provocative. I said he wants to fight, because otherwise he could play something solid. I didn’t mind at all. We’ll fight and we’ll see how it goes,” Praggnanandhaa told The Indian Express after the victory.
Recently, Carlsen remarked that most Indians possess ‘supreme calculation skills,’ specifically highlighting coach RB Ramesh as a key influence in shaping this style among prominent Indian players.
Earlier, Praggnanandhaa’s coach Ramesh had said that in most of our training sessions, we practise without moving the pieces on the board. Many players train by moving the pieces, but this approach doesn’t develop strong visualisation skills. “That’s why Pragg is probably the best in his generation when it comes to visualisation,” he said.
With inputs from PTI.