Victory against Magnus Carlsen one of the best till date for me: Praggnanandhaa | Chess News – Times of India

Praggu’s win in 39 moves came in the Airthings Masters, the opening leg of the Champions Chess Tour, which is a 16-player online rapid competition.
The contest turned in Praggu’s favour when the Norwegian – playing with white – committed an error in the 32nd move. The chess engines immediately showed a huge advantage in black’s favour. Praggu made sure he capitalised on Carlsen’s mistake and walked away with a victory seven moves later.
The win made waves in the chess world but the Indian prodigy, who has been a world champion in the Under-8 and Under-18 categories, kept a calm front. There was, of course, a sense of happiness in his voice when TOI caught up with him. “Definitely one of the best wins till date for me. Beating Magnus gives confidence to any player and I am no different,” Praggu said.

An advantage in the endgame against Magnus notwithstanding, Praggu revealed how he didn’t want to take it easy.
“Against a player of his calibre, you can never rest. I didn’t want to let go of the advantage and was just very happy that the result went in my favour,” he added.
Carlsen wasn’t the only top player Praggu aced on Sunday. He began the day by defeating the seasoned Levon Aronian, currently ranked sixth the world among active players, in an encounter that lasted 80 moves. He lost to Shahkhriyar Mamedyarov before drawing Anish Giri. R B Ramesh, Praggu’s long-time coach, feels the win over Levon got the ball rolling for the young- ster. “Praggu absolutely crushed Levon. It was a match where Praggu was winning throughout and took the confidence forward,” Ramesh mentioned.

For those tracking Praggu for years, his win against Carlsen doesn’t come as a surprise. From the time he first caught the attention of many with his U-8 title at the World Youth championships in 2013 to becoming a Grandmaster five years later, Praggu’s progress has been steady.
For Anand, Praggu’s character was on display in his performances on Sunday.
“Praggu took a lot of difficult blows at the Tata Steel Masters at Wijk Aan Zee last month and still beat Andrey Esipenko on the final day of the tournament. Things were difficult for him on Day 1 of the Airthings Masters, but he came back strongly,” Anand said.

With matches in the tournament starting well past 10pm Indian time, altering his sleep cycle also became part of Praggu’s preparations.
“I have been sleeping late for the last few days just to get used to these timings. It has definitely helped because I am a bit fresh,” said Praggu, hoping to make such feats more of a habit than a flash in the pan.