Chess
Indian chess players who have beaten Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen
After Ramesh Praggnanandhaa's latest victory over the Norwegian Grandmaster, we take a look at all the Indians who hold this distinct achievement in their career
After Ramesh Praggnanandhaa's smart move to snatch his latest victory over Magnus Carlsen, he has again shown himself as a Chess prodigy in the making. However, he is not alone in this achievement and joins three other Indians who have defeated Carlsen in different formats of the game. We take a look at all the Indian chess players who have beaten Magnus Carlsen to date.
Ramesh Praggnanandhaa
Just three months after beating Magnus, 'Pragg' was back again to seal another victory. It seemed as though this specific match would go for a draw but Pragg switched the game in his favour by capitalising on his opponent's mistake of misplacing a knight. This sealed the game and ended Magnus's three-game winning streak.
Pentala Harikrishna
The 1996 World Under 10 Champion showed early signs of being a chess prodigy and has effectively performed as per the expectations. Pentala Harikrishna defeated Carlsen in an online match at the St Louis Rapid and Blitz online Chess event. This victory surprised many given that Carlsen was already an experienced and reputed Chess player by then but was another feather in the cap of one of India's finest Chess Grandmasters.
Vishwanathan Anand
Anand and Carlsen have had a famous rivalry going on since 2007. Anand defeated Carlsen first in 2007 at the Morelia-Linares Chess event. He won again in 2008 at the Grenkeleasing event final. The latest victory came at the 2017 World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh.
Nihal Sarin
Nihal Sarin has beaten Magnus twice in his career. The first victory came in an unofficial event where Sarin beat Carlsen in an Online Blitz game in May 2020. The second official game came in April 2021 when Sarin beat the Norweigian chess player in a 3 minute Blitz format. He was 1 of 2 players out of 19 who beat Carlsen while none of the other players could even hold him to a draw.