NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian teenage chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won praise Tuesday for a stunning victory over world number one Magnus Carlsen in an online championship.
Praggnanandhaa, 16, who in 2016 became the youngest international master in history at age 10, beat Carlsen late on Monday at the Airthings Masters rapid chess tournament.
“It’s about time to go to bed as I don’t think I will have dinner at 2.30 in the morning,” a visibly calm Praggnanandhaa said after the 39-move victory playing black.
Others have beaten Carlsen -- including Indians Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna -- but Praggnanandhaa is the youngest since the Norwegian became world champion in 2013.
Anand, a five-time world champion and acclaimed as the greatest chess player India has produced, tweeted: “Always proud of our talents! Very good day for @rpragchess.”
Carlsen, 31, appeared to blunder in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event for a total prize pool of over $1.5 million.
On Monday, Carlsen had said he was still feeling the after-effects of a recent coronavirus infection.
Carlsen won his fifth straight world chess title in December, overcoming Ian Nepomniachtchi in a contest that saw the Russian lose his nerve after losing an epic eight-hour game, the longest ever played at a world championships.