Made India proud: Tendulkar hails Praggnanandhaa for beating Carlsen

Batting
legend Sachin Tendulkar congratulated 16-year-old chess grandmaster R
Praggnanandhaa after he became only the third Indian to beat World No 1 Magnus Carlsen
on Monday.  

The Chennai-born
teenager shocked the world in the eighth round of the online rapid chess tournament
Airthings Masters as he forced the Norwegian grandmaster into resignation, that
too while playing with black pieces.  

Praggnanandhaa’s
feat sparked an outpour of support on social media, with Tendulkar hailing the
win as “magical”.

Also Read | Kim Jong-un congratulates China on Winter Olympics, takes jibe at US

“What a
wonderful feeling it must be for Pragg. All of 16, and to have beaten the
experienced & decorated Magnus Carlsen, and that too while playing black,
is magical! Best wishes on a long & successful chess career ahead. You’ve
made India proud!” Tendulkar tweeted.

Viswanathan
Anand and P Harikrishna are the only other Indians to have beaten Carlsen in
tournament chess.

Meanwhile,
Praggnanandhaa followed up his historic win over Carlsen by defeating fellow
Grandmasters Andrey Esipenko and Alexandra Kosteniuk in rounds 10 and 12 of Airthings
Masters early on Tuesday.

Also Read | Novak Djokovic wins his first match after Australian Open saga

He,
however, drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov and lost to Russian GM Ian
Nepomniachtchi. Praggnanandhaa is in 12th place with 15 points.

Praggnanandhaa
will be up against Vincent Keymer of Germany, USA’s Hans Moke Niemann and
Russian Vladislav Artemiev respectively in round 13, 14 and 15 later on Tuesday.

Carlsen
bounced back from the loss to Praggnanandhaa with wins over Quang Liem Le and
Jan Kryzstof Duda but suffered an unexpected reverse against Eric Hansen of
Canada in 33 moves. He is in joint second place with 20 points along with
Artemiev and Keymer.

Also Read | Medina Spirit stripped of Kentucky Derby victory

The top
eight players after the preliminary rounds qualify for the knockout phase.

In the
Airthings Masters, a 16-player online rapid tournament, a player gets three
points for a win and one for a draw in the preliminary rounds. Seven more
rounds remain in the preliminary phase.