Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa: Indian grandmaster, 16, defeats World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, an Indian teenage chess grandmaster, received praise for his stunning victory against world number one Magnus Carlsen in an online tournament. At the ‘Airthings Masters’ fast chess competition on Monday, February 21, Praggnanandhaa, 16, who became the youngest International Master in history at the age of ten in 2016, defeated Carlsen in 39 moves. He played with black pieces in a Tarrasch variation to halt Carlsen’s run of three straight wins.
"It's about time to go to bed as I don't think I will have dinner at 2.30 in the morning," the 16-year-old stated shortly after the historic triumph when asked about his plans for the celebration. After Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna, the 16-year-old Grandmaster from Chennai is only the third Indian to defeat Magnus Carlsen. At the age of seven, he won the 'FIDE Master' title, which is an open title between Grandmaster and International Master. In 2013, Praggnanandhaa won the World Youth Chess Championship Under-8, at eight years old.
