 "R Praggnanandhaa is among a handful of Indian chess players to have defeated world No 1 Magnus Carlsen. Image credit: Grand Chess Tour/Freestyle Chess")
The Indian chess community could be forgiven for having mixed feelings about world No 1 Magnus Carlsen, one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen who has a habit of making headlines for the wrong reasons at times. Whether it is the potshots he has taken at India’s young stars who have headlined several events in the last two years or some of his antics on board including angrily slamming his fist on the table after suffering his first ever defeat against reigning Classical world champion D Gukesh .
‘Incredible to witness what he keeps achieving’
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa, however, remains all praise for the Norwegian, who is a five-time world champion and holds the record for the highest-ever peak FIDE rating (2882).
“Magnus Carlsen has always set the benchmark for what excellence in chess looks like. His consistency, creativity and deep understanding of the game continues to inspire many players every single day. Definitely incredible to witness what he keeps achieving,” Praggnanandhaa, who had been the Indian No 1 until recently, wrote in a post on X.
Despite stuttering a few times this year, Carlsen’s dominance of chess remains relatively unchallenged, with the 34-year-old successfully retaining defending his title at Norway Chess, his home event, and being crowned the winnner on Chess’ debut at the Esports World Cup . He has also triumphed in events such as the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia and the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.
Carlsen, however, has gradually been distancing himself from the Classical format and isn’t a regular when it comes to FIDE-organised events either, especially after his recent war of words with the Lausanne-based governing body. Having opted out of the World Championship cycle, Carlsen will not be seen in action in the FIDE World Cup that gets underway in Goa, India later this month .
Praggnanandhaa, however, will be in action in the World Cup, where he will be hoping for a better performance after an underwhelming campaign in FIDE Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand last month.