Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa has made the country proud by defeating world number 1 Magnus Carlsen at the online rapid chess tournament Airthings Masters.

The 16-year old chess prodigy achieved the feat in the eighth round of the game. It took Praggnanandhaa 39 moves to beat Carlsen. With this spectacular victory, Praggnanandhaa managed to break Carlsen’s three-match-winning streak.

What made Praggnanandhaa’s win special is the fact that he had lost three consecutive games on the first day of the tournament. These setbacks came against Eric Hensen from Canada, Ding Liren from China, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda from Poland.

Later on in the tournament, he had managed to defeat Armenian Grandmaster Lev Aronian. Praggnanandhaa had clocked two draws and four defeats before stunning Carlsen. The win against Carlsen came around 2:00 am on Monday, according to Indian Standard Time. The chess genius was playing as Black against the Norwegian Grandmaster in a Tarrasch variation game.

After the remarkable victory that has left chess lovers across the world in absolute awe of the young player, Praggnanandhaa’s current position in the tournament is number 12. His total score is 8 points. The number one position in the tournament is currently being held by Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia, who has scored 19 points so far. The second position is claimed by Ding Liren and Hansen, with 15 points each.

Airthings Masters is an online rapid chess tournament, where 16 players from across the world compete against each other. For every victory, a player bags three points, while a draw gets them one point.

Praggnandhaa hails from Padi, an industrial township in west Chennai. His father K Rameshbabu is a bank employee. In 2018, Praggnandhaa became the second youngest Grandmaster in the history of chess at the tender age of 12. He has travelled to more than 30 countries during his young chess career.