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Indian Express
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Praggnanandhaa beats Magnus Carlsen for 2nd time in three days in Las Vegas
Magnus Carlsen was once again handed defeat by R Praggnanandhaa in the first game of their duel for ranking places at the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour on Saturday evening. Pragg, playing with white pieces, forced the five-time world champion Carlsen to resign in 43 moves. In the game played in Position No 414 in a 10-minute time control, Pragg seized an advantage on the board as per the evaluation bar as early as the 10th move and never yielded his edge from that stage. . Position 414 sees a pair of knights on one side of the king while the bishop pair is on another side and the rooks standing as sentries on their regular squares on the edge of the board. The result comes just three days after Praggnanandhaa beat the world no 1 from Norway in 39 moves. A subsequent defeat to Levon Aronian resulted in Carlsen being knocked out of the race for qualifying for the Winners's Bracket. Carlsen started his campaign at Las Vegas with a couple of wins. However, he then sank to losses against Praggnanandhaa and Wesley So. Then there were two draws, which left him needing a win in the final round just to force a tiebreak. He beat Bibisara Assaubayeva. But then lost both playoff games to Aronian, who clinched the final qualifying spot from the White Group. 'I think it started well (on Day 1). I felt all right, relatively rested at least compared to other days. And then I don't know, I didn't enjoy the whole process of just being pretty isolated there for many, many hours and not being able to talk to Peter (coach Peter Heine Nielsen) or Ella (wife Ella Malone) in between rounds and not being able to use my devices and so on. What happened then was just kind of a complete collapse of my nervous system,' Carlsen told the YouTube handle of Freestyle Chess after his win over Vidit. 'I could have scraped through of course with some help but it would have been completely underserved. So, it was a complete collapse and yeah, sometimes you have one bad day and I've had that in Freestyle before in the preliminaries, but then there's been a bit of a wider margin to get through. This time it wasn't. It's not an excuse. I should make it regardless.' Incredibly, beating Carlsen is not new for the 19-year-old Indian GM. Praggnanandhaa had famously beaten Carlsen in the classical format at the Norway Chess tournament in 2023. Before that, he had defeated the Norwegian in an online game. Carlsen later bounced back by thrashing Vidit Gujrathi 2-0 to advance to the next round while the Indian was eliminated from the event, finishing joint 13th with four others. The Norwegian said that he had suffered a 'complete collapse of his nervous system' on the first day of the event and did not enjoy not being able to talk to his wife Ella or his long-time coach Peter Heine Nielsen between rounds. Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is a series of multiple chess events around the year, modelled on the grand Slams in tennis started by Germany's Jan Henric Buettner. In 2025, it was initially supposed to be held in cities like Weissenhaus, Paris, New York, New Delhi and Cape Town. But the New York event was shifted to Las Vegas while the India event was cancelled.
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Hans Niemann responds to claims he ‘hate-watched' Magnus Carlsen's loss: 'If you think ... '
Hans Niemann (Freestyle Chess/Lennart Ootes) American Grandmaster Hans Niemann has responded to critics who accused him of 'hate-watching' Magnus Carlsen 's shocking elimination at the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. 'If you think I was hate watching yesterday, what would you call what I've experienced the past three years?' Niemann posted on X, referring to the controversy that has shadowed his career since 2022. — HansMokeNiemann (@HansMokeNiemann) The opening day in Las Vegas delivered a bombshell: world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, co-founder of the Freestyle Chess format and leader in overall standings, failed to make it past the group stage. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Carlsen finished fifth in the White Group with just four points after three defeats, including losses to India's R Praggnanandhaa and American GM Levon Aronian, who beat him in the fourth-spot tie-breaker. ALSO READ: Despite being told 'Can't invite you to Las Vegas', Hans Niemann turns up, awaits Magnus Carlsen in 'Battle of Baddies' This format, unlike previous legs, features 16 players split into two groups, with the top four advancing to the knockout rounds. Carlsen's early exit, especially after dominating in Paris and Karlsruhe, where he scored a perfect 9/9, was nothing short of shocking. Poll Do you believe Hans Niemann was genuinely 'hate-watching' Magnus Carlsen's elimination? Yes, he seems to take pleasure in it No, it's just a competitive environment Unsure, it's complicated I don't follow chess closely Niemann, competing in the Black Group alongside Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, and Arjun Erigaisi, didn't hide his emotions while commentating on Carlsen's decider against Aronian. 'There are very few pleasures in life that compare to this feeling,' he remarked after Aronian took the lead in Game 1 of the tie-break. The reaction isn't surprising given Niemann's turbulent history with Carlsen. The two have been embroiled in a bitter feud since the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, when Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating. Niemann later filed a $100 million lawsuit against Carlsen and others, which was ultimately dismissed after an out-of-court settlement. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
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First Post
17-07-2025
- Sport
- First Post
Niemann takes a massive swipe after Carlsen fails to reach Freestyle Chess Las Vegas knockouts: 'Karma is a….'
Hans Niemann did not hide his emotions in the commentary booth as Levon Aronian defeated Magnus Carlsen in the tie-break to relegate the world No 1 and the current Grand Slam Tour leader to the fifth spot in the White Group, and subsequently denying him a place in the quarter-finals. read more Hans Niemann celebrated in the commentary booth as Levon Aronian defeated Magnus Carlsen in the group-stage tie-breaker, denying the latter a place in the Las Vegas Grand Slam quarter-finals. Image credit: Screengrab of Freestyle Chess's live stream of Las Vegas Grand Slam The opening day of the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will have left everyone in attendance as well as chess fans around the world with their jaws hanging. After all, world No 1 Magnus Carlsen – who is firmly in the lead in the overall standings – getting knocked out in the group stage. Freestyle Chess co-founder Carlsen finished at the fifth spot in the White Group with four points after suffering three defeats, including against India's R Praggnanandhaa as well as in the fourth-spot tie-breaker against American Grandmaster Levon Aronian. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Unlike the previous events in the Grand Slam Tour, the Las Vegas leg has 16 players divided into two groups, with the top four from each group qualifying for the quarter-finals which marks the beginning of the knockouts. And for Carlsen to not even make it to the quarter-finals after back-to-back wins in Paris and Kalrsruhe – registering a percent 9/9 in the latter – comes as a shock bigger than his semi-final loss against German GM Vincent Keymer in the tour opener in Weissenhaus. Niemann reacts to Carlsen's early exit from Las Vegas Grand Slam American Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who is playing in the Black Group alongside compatriots Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana as well as India's Arjun Erigaisi, couldn't help but take a big swipe at the world No 1 after he got relegated to the 'Losers' bracket. Niemann was commentating on the Carlsen vs Aronian tie-breaker in the commentary booth alongside GM David Howell and IM Tania Sachdev and did not hide his emotions during the course of the battle. 'There are very few pleasures in life that compare to this feeling,' Niemann had said in the commentary booth after Aronian defeated Carlsen in Game 1 of their fourth-spot tie-breaker on Wednesday after both players finished level on four points. 'You know what they say, karma is a…. I don't want to finish the sentence. Levon, I'm taking you to dinner tonight,' the 22-year-old added. Watch Niemann's reactions here: STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Niemann's reaction is understandable to say the least if one is aware of his history with Carlsen. The controversial GM, after all, had filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Norwegian chess icon after the latter had accused him of cheating in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup. And even though both parties reached an out-of-court settlement with his lawsuit ultimately getting dismissed by a federal judge a year later, Niemann and Carlsen have been hostile towards each other ever since, trading barbs from time to time. Niemann was scheduled to participate in the Paris Grand Slam but pulled out of the event in the last minute without offering an explanation.
Mint
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Praggnanandhaa beats World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen to score big win at Freestyle Chess in Las Vegas
Teenage Indian chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa maintained his streak of strong performances in 2025, registering a landmark victory against world number one Magnus Carlsen on Wednesday night. Serving another reminder of his adaptability and flexibility across all formats of chess, the young Grandmaster secured the victory at the crucial Freestyle Grand Slam chess event in Las Vegas. Playing with white pieces, Praggananandhaa dominated over the senior player with a strong display of his skills, especially in the last six minutes of the game. The win scored the chess prodigy an outright lead in his group at the tournament and cleared way to a quarterfinal standing. Praggnanandha clinched the joint lead in the White Group on 4.5 points after 7 rounds, indicating his progress was safe. While Praggananandhaa is no stranger to big wins against Magnus Carlsen, last night's victory was special as it signalled a comeback after a disappointing ninth place finish during an earlier leg in Paris. Alongside Pragg, Arjun Erigaisi also won from the Black Group by seeing himself in a strong third place. The event carries a total prize pool of $750,000 with $200,000 reserved for the winner. Each group has eight players in the line up and the top four will advance to the next stage while the bottom half will play against each other. World champion D Gukesh is going to give the event a miss as he will be playing the main event of the Grandmaster tour in about a month's time. Freestyle chess is a new name given to Fischer random chess or chess 960 where the position of the pieces is randomly changed at the start of the game. With little theory in the books, the version is gaining popularity as tame draws out of the openings have vanished and there are usually a lot of fighting games right from the beginning.
