India Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa revealed his father’s stunning response after he shocked World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the primary time on the Champions Chess Tour in 2022, aged 16.“Because it was 2 a.m., my dad and mom have been asleep. I went and woke my dad up and stated: ‘I received.’ He stated, ‘Good,’ after which he went again to sleep as a result of he needed to go to the workplace the subsequent day,” Praggnanandhaa stated on Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast.Praggnanandhaa had first defeated Magnus Carlsen on the Champions Chess Tour in 2022. His maiden classical victory over the Norwegian got here at Norway Chess 2024. In July 2025, he achieved a outstanding feat on the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess occasion, beating Carlsen twice in simply three days.Speaking in regards to the recreation towards Magnus, the kid prodigy stated: “I wasn’t pondering something. I used to be simply enjoying and I received my probability out of nowhere. Every thing occurred in a couple of minutes. It was a web-based speedy recreation. I used to be fairly comfortable.“I used to be simply excited as a result of I wasn’t anticipating it after which immediately… I imply, the sport was additionally stepping into a pattern the place he was placing stress on me, after which immediately I received my probability.
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Which victory do you suppose was extra important for Praggnanandhaa?
“I needed to play some correct strikes, which I did, and I received. I used to be simply very comfortable and I additionally didn’t count on a lot response from exterior after that. In order that was additionally, I feel, factor for the sport. I feel it introduced extra consideration,” Praggnanandhaa stated.“I used to be extra enthusiastic about the truth that I simply beat Magnus than the precise recreation. I didn’t suppose the sport was significantly nice or something like that. I did analyse it later.“I realised I didn’t actually play effectively. It was just like the fifth recreation of the day or one thing. We have been already drained and it was apparent that we weren’t enjoying our greatest, however I received and I feel it was vital for me again then.“It gave me a variety of confidence and I realised that the highest gamers will not be invincible — you possibly can beat them. Till you really get that first win, you at all times really feel like they’re simply in a unique world. However when you beat them, that it’s doable.”