Praggnanandhaa beats Carlsen twice in 4 days

Carlsen has been vocal and direct in his assessment of the Indian prodigies, praising them as some of the best calculators in the game

- MAYANK

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. 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.