Chess
Norway Chess: Praggnanandhaa stuns Caruana, becomes world no. 10 in live ratings
Praggnanandhaa now has 8.5 points out of 15 in the Norway Chess competition, putting him in third place on the table.
R Praggnanandhaa in action during a chess event. (Photo Credits: ChessBase India)
Indian chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa continues to amaze the world as he produced yet another jaw-dropping performance to stun world number 2 Fabiano Caruana in round five of the Norway Chess competition on Saturday night.
Praggnanandhaa had upset the world no 1 Magnus Carlsen in round three.
The 18-year-old from Chennai now has the distinction of beating the number one and two in classic chess for the first time.
The two wins over the higher-ranked grandmasters helped Praggnanandha break into the top 10 of live ratings.
Praggnanandhaa now has 8.5 points out of 15 in the Norway Chess competition, putting him in third place on the table. The Indian GM will face Alireza Firouzja with the Black Pieces in the sixth round on Sunday.
"PRAGG IS BACK Young prodigy Praggnanandhaa stuns the chess world again by defeating World No.2 Fabiano Caruana in Round 5! After toppling World No.1 Magnus Carlsen in Round 3, he's now beaten the top two players in classical chess for the first time ever, rocketing into the top 10! What a tournament for the Indian prodigy #NorwayChess," the Norway Chess wrote on X.
Magnus, on the other hand, won against Firouzja who made an elementary mistake in the rook endgame. Hikaru Nakamura had no trouble beating the reigning world champion Ding Liren to become world no. 2 in live ratings.
Earlier, after winning his first classical chess against five-time world champion Carlsen at the Norway Chess, Praggnanandhaa, last year's FIDE Chess World Cup runner-up, suffered a defeat against USA's Hikaru Nakamura in Round 4.
Vaishali extends her lead
In the women's section, Anna Muzychuk's second consecutive classical, this time over GM Pia Cramling, put her in sole second place, just a point behind the leader R Vaishali, who has earned 10 points thus far.
Koneru Humpy, however, lost against women's world champion Ju Wenjun in Armageddon and is languishing at the fifth place. With this win, Wenjun has won all five matches in Armageddon, finding herself in third place at the halfway stage.
As the tournament progresses, the competition is only expected to intensify with seven rounds to go. The dynamic nature of Norway Chess continues to captivate audiences, promising more excitement and dramatic turns in the days ahead.
Vaishali will face Ju Wenjun in the sixth round today, while Humpy will face Pia Cramling.
