Praggnanandhaa beats Carlsen twice in 4 days

IT'S NOT OFTEN that World No 1 and former five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen is beaten by the same opponent twice in four days.

- MAYANK

India's R Praggnanandhaa, the soft-spoken, bespectacled rising star, did just that in Las Vegas.

On Thursday, Praggnanandhaa stunned Carlsen in the classification game for a quarterfinal spot in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour's upper bracket in Los Angeles, denying him a direct entry into the top eight for the first time in the tour.

On Saturday, Praggnanandhaa found Carlsen standing in his way again, this time in the lower bracket of the LA leg. The Chennai lad was one notch above the Norwegian maestro in the 43-move game, forcing Carlsen to resign for his second win over the World No 1.

What made this victory special was that Praggnanandhaa was coming off a grueling 10-hour loss, stretching over seven straight games against American Fabiano Caruana in the upper bracket quarterfinals. The Indian prodigy described it as one of the "craziest matches" he had ever played. He had regained ground after beating Germany's Vincent Keymer, but playing Carlsen is a herculean challenge even for one of the best next-generation stars.