Pragg Crashes Through

R Praggnanandhaa was eighteen when he beat Magnus Carlsen with the white pieces in round three of the 2024 Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger, a result that continued a pattern: Praggnanandhaa had already beaten Carlsen twice in faster time controls in 2022, but this classical win carried extra weight.

From a Sicilian Kan, Praggnanandhaa built a kingside pawn storm with f4 and f5, and Carlsen's position gradually came under pressure on the light squares and the long diagonal. The breakthrough came with 37.Rxh7, crashing into Carlsen's king position for good; Carlsen resigned immediately rather than play on with his king wide open.

The win was part of a run of strong results that established Praggnanandhaa, born in Chennai in 2005, as one of the small handful of players with a real head to head record against Carlsen at classical time control, a list that includes very few names from his own generation.