India teenage Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa scripted another major milestone in his Chess career, defeating World No.1 Magnus Carlsen in a commanding 39-move encounter at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas.
The 19-year-old Indian, playing with white pieces, outplayed the five-time World Champion in the fourth round of the rapid format tournament, securing a 93.9 per cent accuracy rate compared to Carlsen’s uncharacteristically low 84.9 per cent .
The emphatic victory helped Praggnanandhaa take sole lead in Group White with 3.5 points after four rounds.
The Las Vegas leg of the tournament, co-founded by Carlsen and featuring the innovative Freestyle (Chess960) format, made Praggnanandhaa’s victory particularly significant, as the young Indian outwitted the Norwegian on a stage of his own making.
“I like Freestyle more than Classical right now,” Praggnanandhaa remarked after the match, exuding calm and confidence. With this win, he has now defeated Carlsen across all three time formats – Classical, Rapid, and Blitz- underlining his consistency and growing dominance.
Carlsen, who began the tournament with wins over Vincent Keymer and Levon Aronian, saw his campaign unravel after a draw with Javokhir Sindarov and successive defeats to Praggnanandhaa and Wesley So.
Despite a final group-stage win, the Norwegian fell short and was eliminated in the playoffs after back-to-back losses to Aronian.
Praggnanandhaa finished Group White with 4.5 points, tied with Sindarov and Abdusattorov but advanced on tiebreak. Fellow Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi also progressed from Group Black, while Vidit Gujrathi exited early.
The win bolsters Praggnanandhaa’s fast-growing stature on the world chess stage and adds to the mounting list of victories by Indian players over Carlsen in recent years, signalling a generational shift in the global Chess landscape.
