Latest news with #NorwayChess2024
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First Post
4 days 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
4 days 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!
Time of India
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Beating Magnus Carlsen! Praggnanandhaa reveals ‘one-word' reaction from his father after win
R Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen (Freestyle Chess | Lennart Ootes) India Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa revealed his father's shocking reaction after he stunned World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the first time at the Champions Chess Tour in 2022, aged 16. 'Since it was 2 a.m., 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. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Praggnanandhaa had 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. Talking about the game against Magnus, the child prodigy said: 'I wasn't thinking anything. I was just playing and I got my chance out of nowhere. Everything happened in a few minutes. It was an online rapid game. I was quite happy. 'I was just excited because 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. Poll Which victory do you think was more significant for Praggnanandhaa? First win against Magnus Carlsen in 2022 Winning twice in three days in Las Vegas His classical victory at Norway Chess 2024 'I had to play some accurate moves, which I did, and I won. I was just very happy and 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,' Praggnanandhaa said. '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 analyse it later. 'I realised 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 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 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 just in a different world. But once you beat them, you know that it's possible.' Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Indian Express
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Why Magnus Carlsen said F1 is the ‘most boring sport imaginable': ‘You just drive around in circles'
There is a renewed interest in the sport of Formula 1 these days, particularly since there is a Brad Pitt-starrer Hollywood flick 'F1' out in theatres that's getting rave reviews. But the sport itself has copped some criticism, particularly from the likes of Magnus Carlsen, one of the greatest chess players in history. Recently, while talking during the press conference of Norway Chess in Stavanger, Carlsen had expressed some strong opinions about F1, calling it the 'most boring sport imaginable'. That had gotten some strong reactions from F1 faithful, who pointed out that Carlsen plays a sport that requires just hours and hours of two people sitting across a wooden board and sometimes the board position not changing for long durations. But why had Carlsen called F1 the 'most boring sport imaginable'. We explain: The hilarious part about Carlsen's rant was that he was not even asked about F1. Carlsen was actually answering a question about which player from the line up at Norway Chess would do better than him and Hikaru Nakamura in the Confessional Booth, which is an innovation used by the Norway Chess tournament where a player can walk into a small room, known as a Confessional Booth, in the middle of their game and give their opinion on their ongoing game without actually being asked by anyone. Players like Carlsen and Nakamura were frequent visitors at the Confessional Booth at Norway Chess 2024, a tradition which they continued this time too. So when asked which player he thought would do better than Nakamura and him in the confessional, Carlsen went on a little detour. 'I personally think Formula 1 is like the most boring sport imaginable. Like you just drive around in a circle for a long time. To be fair, the start is exhilarating for the pure power of the cars but after that, very little happens,' said Carlsen as other players seated next to him like Nakamura, world champion Gukesh, women's world champion Ju Wenjun, Arjun Erigaisi and Anna Muzychuk grinned. You can read our analysis of how Gukesh defeated Magnus Carlsen here. But Carlsen soon came to the point about why he was taking a shot at F1. 'It's quite long winded and most people don't really follow what's going on. People watch F1 — as Hikaru was alluding to — because of personalities and marketing. I think very few things in themselves, for most sports, there are other reasons why people get engaged (in the sport). In terms of personalities, Hikaru is a streamer and you know it comes very naturally to him personally. I get bored during games sometimes. That's why I go (to the Confessional Booth). But I think we shouldn't force anybody to (visit the Confessional). This is for voluntary entertainment. I think for some people it can help when all of a sudden as you start talking about certain things that you're calculating it might free up your mind. Or some people work that way that they need to sort of spell it out. But you know it's an additional tool, it's one of many chances that we as players have to showcase what we have.' It must also be explained what Nakamura had said earlier at the same press conference that Carlsen was referring to. Nakamura was replying to a question about how boring chess press conferences and interviews are for the players. READ MORE | Magnus Carlsen reacts to Gukesh defeat: 'Poor from me, got soundly punished… but all credit to Gukesh' There, while admitting that press conferences are very boring for players, Nakamura had said that he understood the need for having them. 'It's very rarely something that we want to do as a collective. But at the end of the day, it comes down to what does the future of chess look like, whether interviews and showcasing our personality can really push the sport in a direction where there are more sponsors and more general interest. If you look at India as a very specific example, definitely these interviews like today will be in the newspapers, they will generate interest as there are a lot of fans who love the game of chess. So that's definitely a big benefit. When you look at the US or England or some of these Western countries, I'm not so sure the interest is at that level yet. But if you want to move in a direction where you hope chess can become bigger, then I think interviews are a necessary part of it. So for me, I don't really mind.' READ MORE | Garry Kasparov explains why playing Gukesh is 'like playing a computer': Have to beat him 5 times… he has many lives in each game Then, Nakamura had elaborated further. 'What do we want to see? If you want chess to become bigger, you need more interest. The only way I think you can really do that is with personality. I mean to give a nice quote. I think fundamentally, for most people, chess is very boring. If you're not very serious about the game, you can't really follow it very closely. I know there are a lot of things in chess — like heart rate monitors — to try and make it more interesting. But for most people it's just a very boring game. So the only way I think you can get beyond that is to find a way to showcase personalities that make the fans want to cheer for some of the players. Especially in India you see it, when you have a Gukesh or Arjun Erigaisi or Praggnanandhaa playing in say a World Cup, these sorts of events the Indians flock to and they will watch it. So I think that's more about the personality and who the players are and the country they represent. So if you can get the general public or the fans from countries behind the players, then the sky is the limit in terms of potential.'
The Independent
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Magnus Carlsen storms out of chess tournament after shock loss
Magnus Carlsen, the world's No. 1, lost to world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a classical game at the Norway Chess 2024 tournament after making a mistake under time pressure. Carlsen, who had been leading for much of the match, slammed his fist on the table after the defeat, apologised to Gukesh for his outburst, and stormed off. Gukesh acknowledged the win wasn't ideal but stated he would take it, while his coach credited Gukesh's stubbornness and resourcefulness. Despite the defeat, Carlsen remains tied at the top of the standings with Fabiano Caruana, while Gukesh is one point behind with four rounds remaining. Carlsen has held the world No. 1 ranking since July 1, 2011.
