Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa scored a remarkable win over world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Las Vegas, marking yet another milestone in his rapidly rising career.
The 19-year-old prodigy defeated Carlsen in just 39 moves during Round 4 of the group stage, using the 10-minute + 10-second increment time control format.
Carlsen, who had already endured consecutive defeats by India’s world champion D Gukesh in earlier events, faced another tough blow as Praggnanandhaa outplayed him convincingly.
With this win, the Indian teenager has now beaten Carlsen in all three formats of the game — Classical, Rapid, and Blitz. He currently shares the lead in Group White with 4.5 points in the eight-player round-robin.
Praggnanandhaa’s campaign began with a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov while playing Black. He followed this with a victory over Bibisara Assaubayeva and then triumphed against Vincent Keymer, also with the Black pieces. His win over Carlsen came next, further cementing his dominant run.
Meanwhile, Carlsen’s tournament hopes took a hit despite starting strong with two initial wins.
He later suffered defeats to both Praggnanandhaa and Wesley So, along with two draws, leaving him in a must-win situation in the final round. He managed to beat Assaubayeva but was then eliminated in the playoff by Levon Aronian, dropping him into the lower bracket, where the highest possible finish is now third place.
The Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam kicked off at the Wynn hotel ballroom with 16 players divided into two groups – White and Black. The top four players from each group advanced to the top bracket, while the bottom four now compete for placement and prize money, though they are no longer in the running for the title.
Group White saw Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov, and Javokhir Sindarov finish with 4.5/7 each, followed by Aronian with 4 points.
Carlsen narrowly missed qualification.
In the Black Group, Hikaru Nakamura emerged dominant with 6/7, followed by Hans Niemann, Fabiano Caruana, and Arjun Erigaisi. Caruana had drawn his first six games and then secured a vital win over Niemann in the final round to progress.
The U.S. debut of Freestyle Chess now moves into the knockout phase with 16 players. Carlsen, Keymer, and others must now battle their way through the lower bracket, while upper bracket contenders move one step closer to the grand prize of USD 200,000.
Quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday. Winners will continue their title pursuit while the rest shift into the lower bracket, still in contention for rankings and remaining prize money.