Teenage Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa delivered a resounding statement at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas, defeating World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in a dominant Round 4 clash on Wednesday. In what many are calling a career-defining performance, the 19-year-old dismantled the Norwegian great in just 39 moves, reinforcing his rising stature on the global chess stage and continuing a troubling trend for Carlsen against India's new generation of stars.
Playing with the white pieces, Praggnanandhaa controlled the game from start to finish, registering a remarkable accuracy of 93.9%, compared to Carlsen's unusually low 84.9%. The match, played in a 10-minute + 10-second increment format, saw Praggnanandhaa outmanoeuvre Carlsen with confidence and composure rarely seen against the five-time world champion. The victory not only gave him the sole lead in Group White at the time, but also added another chapter to his growing legacy-having now defeated Carlsen across all three major time formats: Classical, Rapid, and Blitz.
"I like Freestyle more than Classical right now," Praggnanandhaa said in a post-game interview, his relaxed tone underscoring the maturity and fearlessness with which he approached the matchup. The Las Vegas leg of the Grand Slam is especially symbolic, as it's a tournament co-founded by Carlsen himself, built around the innovative Freestyle (Chess960) format. That made the Indian's win even more impactful, as he outplayed the tournament's creator on his own turf.
Carlsen's campaign in Las Vegas started solidly with back-to-back wins over Vincent Keymer and Levon Aronian, but the wheels came off midway through the group stage. After drawing against Javokhir Sindarov in Round 3, the loss to Praggnanandhaa in Round 4 marked a turning point. He then suffered another defeat in Round 5, this time to American GM Wesley So, followed by a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in Round 6.
Despite ending the group stage with a win over Kazakhstan's Bibisara Assaubayeva, Carlsen's tally of four points wasn't enough to avoid a playoff against Aronian for the final knockout spot from Group White. In an unexpected twist, Carlsen lost both games in the playoff, finishing fifth and crashing out before the quarterfinals-an uncharacteristically early exit for the player widely regarded as the greatest of all time.
Praggnanandhaa ultimately finished on top of Group White with 4.5 points, tied with Sindarov and Abdusattorov, but ahead on tiebreaks. His wins over Carlsen, Keymer, and Assaubayeva, combined with draws against So and Sindarov, proved enough to seal his progression to the championship bracket. Meanwhile, fellow Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi also advanced from Group Black, placing third behind Hikaru Nakamura and Hans Niemann. However, Vidit Gujrathi exited the tournament early, finishing last in the same group.
