Victory against Magnus Carlsen one of the best till date for me: Praggnanandhaa

16-yr-old Indian outwits King Carlsen in 39 stepsSixteen-year-old R Praggnanandhaa isn't an unknown commodity in Indian chess circles. But what he did in the early hours of Monday made the world of 64 squares sit up and take note. The young GM from Chennai became only the third Indian to beat world champ Magnus Carlsen after the legendary Viswanathan Anand and top star P Harikrishna.

Praggu's win in 39 moves came in the Airthings Masters, the opening leg of the Champions Chess Tour, which is a 16-player online rapid competition. The contest turned in Praggu's favour when the Norwegian - playing with white - committed an error in the 32nd move. The chess engines immediately showed a huge advantage in black's favour. Praggu made sure he capitalised on Carlsen's mistake and walked away with a victory seven moves later. The win made waves in the chess world but the Indian prodigy, who has been a world champion in the Under-8 and Under-18 categories, kept a calm front. There was, of course, a sense of happiness in his voice when TOI caught up with him. "Definitely one of the best wins till date for me. Beating Magnus gives confidence to any player and I am no different," Praggu said.

An advantage in the endgame against Magnus notwithstanding, Praggu revealed how he didn't want to take it easy. "Against a player of his calibre, you can never rest. I didn't want to let go of the advantage and was just very happy that the result went in my favour," he added. Carlsen wasn't the only top player Praggu aced on Sunday. He began the day by defeating the seasoned Levon Aronian, currently ranked sixth the world among active players, in an encounter that lasted 80 moves. He lost to Shahkhriyar Mamedyarov before drawing Anish Giri. R B