Latest news with #FreestyleChess
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First Post
a day ago
- Sport
- First Post
'Top players are not invisible': Praggnanandhaa on what went through his mind while beating Carlsen for the first time
Indian chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa has shared how he felt after beating Magnus Carlsen for the first time. The 20-year-old won his first game against the World No. 1 in an online battle in 2022. read more Indian chess star Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has shared the story of how he beat Magnus Carlsen for the first time, and how the win gave him a big boost in confidence. Speaking on YouTuber Raj Shamani's podcast, the 20-year-old said he was not expecting the win and that the moment came suddenly during an online rapid game in 2022. R Praggnanandhaa first defeated Magnus Carlsen as a 16-year-old in a rapid game at the Champions Chess Tour in 2022. His maiden classical victory against the World No. 1 came at Norway Chess 2024. He recently beat the five-time world champion twice in three days at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event in July. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I wasn't thinking anything. I was just playing and I got my chance out of nowhere and everything happened in like few minutes. It was a rapid game. So everything happened in few minutes then I realised… I was quite happy and it was online game,' the Indian GM said. 'At that time my parents were asleep. It was like 2:00 a.m. in the morning. I went and woke my dad up. I said, 'I won.' But then he went back to sleep because he had to go to the office tomorrow. He didn't care at all. Yeah. He said good and went back to sleep,' he added. 'I was just excited… I wasn't expecting it and then suddenly the game was also going in a trend that he was putting pressure on me and then suddenly I got my chance. I had to play some accurate moves which I did and I won. I also didn't expect so much reaction from outside after that. I was more excited about the fact that I just beat Magnus than the actual game,' he said. Praggnanandhaa says the victory showed him that top players aren't invincible Praggnanandhaa admitted the quality of the game wasn't very high but said that it gave him a lot of confidence. He added that once you beat a top player, you realise they are not unbeatable. 'I didn't think the game was particularly great or anything like that. I realised I didn't really play well. It was like fifth game of the day or something and we were already tired and it was obvious that we were not playing our best,' he said. 'It gave me a lot of confidence and I realised that the top players are not invincible… you can beat them. Until you actually get that first win, you always feel like they are in a different world. But once you beat them, you know it's possible,' he added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Praggnanandhaa decodes Magnus Carlsen's greatness - 'He's just universally strong'
Magnus Carlsen R Praggnanandhaa, one of the few chess players who has troubled World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen , revealed what makes the Norwegian so great. Praggnanandhaa first defeated Magnus Carlsen at the Champions Chess Tour in 2022. His maiden classical victory over the Norwegian came at Norway Chess 2024. In July 2025, he achieved a remarkable feat at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event, beating Carlsen twice in just three days. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'He has this intuition in every position, which is just amazing," Praggnanandhaa said on Raj Shamani's Figuring Out podcast. "Like when you actually see his game — even in shorter formats — he usually plays the top three choices of the computer every single time. That intuition is something that he developed over a period of time. Poll What do you think is the key factor behind Magnus Carlsen's success in chess? Intuition Mental Strength Knowledge of Classics Endgame Skills "He's one of the players who knows a lot of classics from the past. He has read a lot, and I think that's one thing he has that helps him. "Also, mentally he's really strong. You can never see him collapse in a tournament completely. Even when you actually make a mistake when he's lost, he's there fighting every chance he's getting, and he pushes till the end. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like They Were So Beautiful Before; Now Look At Them; Number 10 Will Shock You Reportingly Undo He tries every resource possible. "He exhausts them, and I think that's one of the reasons he's at the top. When he was coming up, he was playing these endgames which, in earlier days, people thought were completely fine. They would just make draws because of mutual respect for the players. "They would think it's okay, no one is going to win this, let's make an early draw. But Magnus started playing all those positions. "He started grinding and then started winning also. So he's just universally strong, and he's mentally strong as well, which is really…' Praggnanandhaa added. Praggnanandhaa also revealed the reason why, whenever they lock horns, the match ends up being exciting. 'I have never thought about this actually. If I have to speak about the style, he's more of an intuitive player," he said. "His intuition is so good. Even though my intuition suggests a move, I usually try to go into details. "It's possible that I can catch him there because he hasn't gone into the details. Sometimes intuition can also be wrong, and I can catch him. Our games are always exciting.' Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Indian Express
a day ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Praggnanandhaa explains what makes Magnus Carlsen great and answers what he has that world no 1 doesn't
R Praggnanandhaa, considered one of the brightest prospects in Indian chess's golden generation, came into the limelight after he defeated World No 1 Magnus Carlsen 2022 in an online chess game when he was just 16 years of age. Since then, the Indian has faced the the Norwegian master quite a few times and has maintained a good record against him. At the 2024 Norway Chess, the now 19-year-old also notched up his first classical win over Carlsen. In July 2025, Praggnanandhaa pulled off a stunning double over Carlsen within three days at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event. On Raj Shamani's Figuring Out podcast, Praggnanandhaa explained what makes Magnus Carlsen great and answered what he has that world no 1 doesn't. 'He has this intuition in every position which is just amazing. Like when you actually see his game — even in shorter formats — he usually plays the top three choices of the computer every single time. That intuition is something that he developed over a period of time. He's one of the players who knows a lot of classics from the past. He has read a lot and I think that's one thing he has that helps him. Also mentally he's really strong. You can never see him collapse in a tournament completely. Even when you actually make a mistake when he's lost he's there fighting every chance he's getting and he pushes till the end like he tries every resource that's possible. He exhausts them and I think that's uh one of the reasons he's um he's at the top and when he was coming up. He was playing these end games which people in earlier days thought it was completely fine. They will just make draws because of mutual respect for the players. They'll think it's okay no one is going to win this. Let's make an early draw. But Magnus started playing all those positions. He started grinding and then started winning also. So he's just universally strong and he's mentally also strong which is really…' Praggnanandhaa said. Asked what Praggnanandhaa has that Carlsen doesn't, the 19-year-old said: 'I have never thought about this actually. If I have to speak about the style, he's more of an intuitive player. His intuition is so good. Even though my intuition suggests a move, I usually try to go in details. It's possible that I can catch him there because he hasn't gone into the details. Sometimes intuition can also be wrong and I can catch him. Our games are always exciting.' Carlsen is a five-time world champion, who was never defeated in a world championship until he walked away, thus abdicating his throne. Carlsen is still world no 1 in all three formats. He has been world no 1 in every monthly rating list published by FIDE since July 2011. He first became world no 1 in 2010, but Anand dethroned him soon.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
When Praggnanandhaa beat Magnus Carlsen: ‘Told my father, he just said 'good' and went back to sleep'
Beating Magnus Carlsen, the greatest player of the generation, calls for much celebration and higher recognition from important people in a country like India. It was no different for chess prodigy, R Praggnanandhaa, when he trumped the Norwegian chess king at 16. Praggnanandhaa recently shared a hilarious anecdote of what happened when he defeated Carlsen for the first time in 2022 in an online chess game. It was that game that made Praggnanandhaa a household name in India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar among those who posted congratulatory messages on X. But back in Praggnanandhaa's own home, the reaction was much more muted. 'Since it was 2 am in the night, at that time my parents were asleep. I went and woke my dad up and said: 'I won'. He said, 'Good' and then he went back to sleep because he had to go to the office the next day,' Praggnanandhaa said on Raj Shamani's Figuring Out podcast. Asked what he was thinking, Praggnanandhaa said: 'I wasn't thinking anything. I was just playing and I got my chance out of nowhere. Everything happened in like a few minutes. It was an online rapid game. I was quite happy. 'I was just excited like I wasn't expecting it and then suddenly… I mean the game was also going in a trend where he was putting pressure on me and then suddenly I got my chance. I I had to play some accurate moves which I did and I won. So um I was just very happy and then I also didn't expect so much reaction from outside after that. So that was also I think a good thing for the game. I think it brought more attention,' Pragnanandhaa added. 'I was more excited about the fact that I just beat Magnus than the actual game. I didn't think the game was particularly great or anything like that. I did analyze it later. I realized I didn't really play well. It was like the fifth game of the day or something. We were already tired and it was obvious that we were not not playing our best but I won and I think it was important for me back then. It gave me a lot of confidence and I realized that the top players are not invincible, you can beat them. Until you actually get that first win, you always feel like they are just in a different world. But once you beat them, you know that it's possible. Praggnanandhaa beat Carlsen for the first time at the Champions Chess Tour in 2022. Then, at 2024 Norway Chess came Pragg's first classical win over Carlsen. In July 2025, Praggnanandhaa pulled off a stunning double over Carlsen within three days at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event. After handing Carlsen a defeat in a classification game for quarter-final spots earlier in the tournament, Praggnanandhaa handed Carlsen a fresh defeat late on Saturday evening in the classification games to end up in third spot at the event. However, after that win, Carlsen bounced back by handing Pragg three defeats in a row to win the contest in a tiebreak.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
When Gukesh played world's best chess streamer Gotham Chess, and destroyed him in 9 moves
Just how good are world champions in chess? One of the most popular chess streamers, Levy Rozman, who goes by the name Gotham Chess, recently found out when he played a three-minute game in the Freestyle Friday tournament against the 18-year-old phenom Gukesh Dommaraju. It must be pointed out that Freestyle Chess is something that Gukesh, who last year became the youngest world champion in chess history, struggles with. Here's how the game went. It was played in the Fischer Random format — or Chess 960 or Freestyle Chess, as it is popularly known where all four bishops were in the corners instead of the rooks, the knights were on c and g files while the rooks were on b and f files. The kings were on the d files while the queens were on the e files at the start of the game. Gukesh started by playing 1.e4 and Rozman responded with an 1…f5. 'It's interesting. I can bring my queen out now,' Rozman said on his livestream of the match, because the queen was on the e8 square. Rather than capture the pawn advanced by Rozman, Gukesh pushed his pawn one more square ahead. On the third move itself, Rozman brought his queen out, looking to attack his opponent. 'Kind of ludicrous position here. But I am going for something,' Rozman said on his stream. On the fifth move, the queen gobbled up defence-less Gukesh's h pawn and threatened to capture Gukesh's bishop too, stationed on the h1 square. What Rozman did not know was that the engine at this point was giving a massive advantage to the teenage world champion. 'I mean I'm up a pawn, bro,' Rozman said on his stream. 'It's not anything to scoff at.' The Indian teenager pushed his g pawn out, the clear a diagonal for his bishop to move. On the 8th move, Gukesh showed his cards, bringing out his knight on f4 to trap Rozman's queen. The streamer almost spat out his drink at the move, exclaiming: 'What the f***.' 'Holy! That's crazy! My queen's just trapped. Oh my God! Well I got slightly destroyed there. I can't do anything,' he added. He managed to capture the square with his pawn, only for Gukesh to reclaim it with his remaining knight. Rozman resigned right away. Later when he learnt who his opponent was, Rozman burst out laughing, saying: 'I got destroyed by Gukesh!' Here are all the nine moves of the short game: 1. e4 f5 2. e5 g5 3. d4 Qh5+ 4. Nge2 b5 5. Nd3 Qxh2 6. g3 h6 7. Bxa8 Rxa8 8. Nef4 gxf4 9. Nxf4
