Did Praggnanandhaa Just Stun Carlsen in Las Vegas?

New Delhi, July 17 (NationPress) India's Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa achieved a remarkable victory against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Las Vegas. The 19-year-old outsmarted the five-time world champion in only 39 moves.

The Norwegian Grandmaster Carlsen, who has recently endured back-to-back losses to India's reigning world champion D Gukesh, faced another blow as he was defeated by the young talent in Round 4 of the group stage at this ongoing tournament, which features a 10-minute plus 10-second increment time control.

Praggnanandhaa, already a winner of three tournaments this year, has now triumphed over Carlsen in all three formats — Classical, Rapid, and Blitz. The Indian prodigy now shares the lead in the eight-player Group White with 4.5 points.

His journey began with a draw against Abdusattorov with Black, followed by a win against Assaubayeva. In Round 3, he conquered Keymer despite playing Black pieces, before his stunning win over Carlsen.

However, Carlsen, who was victorious in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam events in Paris and Karlsruhe and is the overall tour leader, has now been eliminated from title contention in Las Vegas.

After a challenging day in the round-robin phase, Carlsen ended up tied for fourth in his group and was knocked out in a playoff by Levon Aronian. He has now fallen into the lower bracket, where his highest potential finish is third.

The tournament's opening day, held in the ballroom of the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, comprised two eight-player round-robins — the White Group and the Black Group — with the top four from each advancing to the upper bracket. The bottom four proceed to a placement bracket, competing for final rankings and prize money, but no longer in the race for the Vegas title.

Carlsen kicked off the tournament with two wins but then encountered difficulties. Losses to Praggnanandhaa and Wesley So, coupled with two draws, left him needing a victory in the final round merely to force a tiebreak. After defeating Bibisara Assaubayeva, he lost both playoff games to Aronian, who secured the last qualifying spot.

In the same group, Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Javokhir Sindarov all finished with 4.5/7, leading the table. Aronian followed closely with 4 points, surpassing Carlsen.

In the Black Group, Hikaru Nakamura dominated with 6/7. Hans Niemann, who started strongly with 4.5/5, also advanced along with Fabiano Caruana and Arjun Erigaisi. Caruana had drawn his first six games before clinching victory against Niemann in a must-win final round.

With the U.S. debut of Freestyle Chess taking place at the Wynn Las Vegas, 16 players now move forward to the knockout stage. Half of them – including Carlsen and Keymer – must now contend from the lower bracket. The remaining players are one step closer to the USD 200,000 first prize.

On Thursday, we will witness the quarterfinals, after which the players eliminated from the upper bracket will transition into the lower bracket. The winners will continue to compete for the USD 200,000 first prize.