Digital Desk: In the eighth round of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament, young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa startled world number one Magnus Carlsen. In a Tarrasch variation game early on Monday, he won with black pieces in 39 moves, ending Carlsen's three-game winning streak.
In the preliminary rounds of the Airthings Masters, a player receives three points for a win and one point for a tie. In addition, there are seven more rounds in the preliminary round.
After eight rounds, the Indian Grandmaster is tied for 12th place with eight points. His stunning triumph over world champion Carlsen comes after a moderate performance in the preliminary rounds, including a single victory over Lev Aronian, two draws, and four losses.
He drew against Anish Giri and Quang Liem Le and lost against Eric Hansen, Ding Liren, Jan-Kryzstof Duda, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, who lost the world championship match to Carlsen of Norway a few months ago, leads the standings with 19 points, followed by Ding Liren and Hansen (both on 15 points).
R Praggnanandhaa, born in 2005, is the fifth-youngest Grandmaster in the world. According to the website Chess.com, he became the second-youngest grandmaster in chess history at 12 years, 10 months, and 13 days. He earned his third grandmaster norm at the fourth Gredine open in Ortisei, Italy. However, he still maintains the distinction for becoming the world's youngest international master at the age of 10.
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