At 16, India’s big chess hope scales first peak, beats his own hero and World No 1 Magnus Carlsen

Praggnanandhaa was so drained by the exacting game of quick wits that all he wanted was to catch some sleep. “I just want to hit the bed,” he told the International Chess Federation website with groggy eyes. It’s likely that he wouldn’t have gotten any sleep at all.

It was his “I can’t believe it” moment, the moment that was always a part of his wildest dream. Norwegian World No 1 Carlsen, the undisputed emperor of chess, a bonafide GOAT, the marketing face of the game, was always his idol. “Beating him once is my biggest dream,” he had told this newspaper soon after becoming the second youngest Grandmaster in the world four years ago. “He (Carlsen) has a solution for even the most complicated problem,” he had explained.

But this time, there was no solution and Praggnanandhaa’s dream was finally realised. That he’s just the third Indian, after Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna, to accomplish the rare feat of beating Carlsen underlines his incredible potential. That he toppled him in 39 moves and with black pieces, a perceived handicap in the game, brightens the dazzle of his victory.

Aggressive from the start, he pushed Carlsen onto the back foot but missed a glorious chance to kill the game in the middle stage. But he regained his wits and bounced back, piling relentless pressure on Carlsen, who cracked and blundered.

Perhaps, more importantly, India has discovered a potential successor to Anand as well as a poster boy for the imminent chess boom in the country — the Indian Chess League is set to unroll from June with a prize money of at least Rs 2 crore.

Praggnanandhaa’s resurgence is also a timely fillip for the game’s profile in the country. It was a timely reminder of his talent, too.

Outside the close-knit chess fraternity, he was almost a forgotten figure after narrowly losing the race against time to become the youngest Grandmaster in history, a record then held by Sergiy Karjakin before it was claimed by American prodigy Abhimanyu Mishra. The world often forgot that he was still a child, not even a teenager, and the expectations were often unrealistic.

But the relative anonymity of that period eased the pressure. “There was no unnecessary distraction and he could focus entirely on his game. He was not obsessed with that record, but there was too much attention on him. But after that, he was certainly more relaxed and put in a lot of hard work,” says his father Ramesh Babu.

The step into the big league, pitted in regular match-ups with seasoned pros, was not without a stutter or two. But far from being disillusioned, setbacks and near-misses toughened him. “He is always cheerful and willing to learn, especially from his mistakes. He hates losing games, but does not sulk and moves forward. These traits will ensure that he would be a top player in the future,” childhood coach R B Ramesh had told this newspaper earlier.

Soon after, Anand, who had picked him and Iranian-French GM Alireza Firouzja as the future stars of chess, took him under his wings for the Chess Olympiad and smoothened the rough edges, the occasional tendency to make hasty moves and embrace risks. Adding caution to his aggression made him a better player — one who could be the flag-bearer of Indian chess after Anand’s days.

Carlsen was not the only elite player he scaled in the tournament. Hours before beating him, he had out-smarted Armenian GM Levon Aronian. Some time ago, he had defeated Wesley So and Michal Krasenkow, too. He has broken into the 2600 Elo pointing ceiling, a rarefied space in chess.

He is, after all, just 16. At this age, Anand was not yet a Grandmaster. But despite the number of points he may go on to pile up in his career, or whoever he would defeat in the future — he wants to be a world champion — he will not forget the first time he beat Carlsen, his hero and inspiration. The night he wanted to sleep, but could not.