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R Praggnanandhaa beats Magnus Carlsen for second time in three days, but world No. 1 mounts sensational comeback
R Praggnanandhaa secured his second win over Magnus Carlsen at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event on Saturday. Image: Freestyle Chess
Magnus Carlsen, it seems, has become a sitting duck for young Indian Grandmasters as 19-year-old R Praggnanandhaa defeated the world No.1 for a second consecutive time in a space of three days on Saturday in a classification game at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas. While Carlsen's recent streak of defeats against Indian chess prodigies, including consecutive losses against reigning world champion D Gukesh, earlier this year, highlights the mental pressure the legend is facing while coming across GMs from India, it has to be noted that he remains arguably the best player of the circuit. Which he showcased against Praggnanandhaa, as Carlsen won the reverse game in the classification match in the race for the third spot before beating the Chennai chess star in tiebreaks as well.
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Carlsen ended the day by reaching the Lower Bracket final by beating India's Arjun Erigaisi in the semi-finals after thumping Praggnanandhaa in the quarter-finals and will face close friend and world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura in the final for the third spot at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
Praggnanandhaa beats Carlsen before suffering consecutive losses
While Erigaisi didn't manage to put up a fight and went down 2-0 against Carlsen in the semi-finals, Praggnanandhaa continued his good form against the five-time world champion, beating the Norwegian in the first game of the quarter-finals in just 43 moves with the White pieces. Carlsen had a poor accuracy of 77.1 against Praggnanandhaa in that game.
Praggnanandhaa beats World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen again in Las Vegas! https://t.co/IAkS9xzu3J pic.twitter.com/HW0sImIZ3N — chess24 (@chess24com) July 19, 2025
The first game between Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa was played in Position No. 414 with a 10-minute time control. Position No. 414 features a pair of knights positioned on one side of the king and the bishop pair on the other, with the rooks stationed like sentries on their usual squares at the board's edges. Both kings also begin on their standard e-squares.
Also Read | Magnus's menace: How young Indian Grandmasters are proving to be his toughest challengers
Praggnanandhaa made an impressive start, forcing Carlsen to make a bold decision to sacrifice his queen for a bishop and knight in an attempt to shift the momentum by move 18. However, Praggnanandhaa held firm and by the 41st move, he advanced three central pawns and cornered Carlsen into a position where checkmate was unavoidable, forcing the resignation.
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Here's how Praggnanandhaa defeated Carlsen:
Carlsen bounced back by winning three consecutive games against Praggnanandhaa as he won the second game of the quarter-finals and also the two blitz tiebreaks to move forward in the tournament.
Earlier in the tournament, Praggnanandhaa had defeated Carlsen in just 39 moves, scripting his downfall in the group stage as the 34-year-old was eliminated from the title race.
The final of the Freestyle Chess Las Vegas Grand Slam will be played between controversial GM Hans Niemann and Levon Aronian.
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