Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa claimed his maiden classical chess victory over world No. 1 Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, thus taking the sole lead in the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger.
The 18-year-old Indian, who has beaten Carlsen in the rapid/exhibition games quite a few times, took the leader’s position with 5.5 points after three rounds.
Praggnanandhaa was playing with white pieces and his victory pushed home favourite Carlsen to the fifth spot in the points table.
Classical chess, also known as slow chess, allows players a significant amount of time to make their moves, usually at least one hour. Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa had drawn their previous three encounters in this format.
Praggnandhaa’s sister R Vaishali held the top spot in the women’s competition, also with 5.5 points. She drew her game against Anna Muzychuk.
In other games, world No. 2 Fabiano Caruana of the United States defeated reigning world champion Ding Liren of China. Liren dropped to the bottom of the heap in the six-player field following the loss.
American Hikaru Nakamura won his Armageddon game against Alireza Firouzja of France to earn an extra half point and be third in the standings. Nakamura will be up against Praggnanandhaa in the fourth round.
