Chessable Masters 2022 R5-8: Praggnanandhaa beats Magnus Carlsen again

by Shahid Ahmed - 21/05/2022

Exactly three months after Praggnanandhaa beat Magnus Carlsen for the very first time at Airthings Masters on 20th February 2022, he did it again in the fifth round of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters. This time the world champion blundered a whole knight during the final seconds and resigned immediately in the next move. Pragg drew with Harikrishna in the next round, defeated Gawain Jones before losing to David Anton Guijarro to finish the day. Wei Yi maintained his sole lead 15.0/24. He is followed by Anton and Carlsen at 15.0/24 each. Giri is at sole fourth place 14.0/24. Pragg is currently sharing the fifth place with Ding Liren 12.0/24. Round 9 starts tonight at 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: ChessBase India live stream

A good day for Harikrishna

"I did not want to win that way" was Praggnanandhaa's answer when he was asked about his second triumph against the world champion, Magnus Carlsen in a matter of few months. Harikrishna had a good day as he drew with Sweden no.1 Nils Grandelius, Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen, before finishing the day with a win over Gawain Jones. Harikrishna moved up one place to seventh, from the previous day.

Praggnanandhaa beat Magnus Carlsen exactly three months after his first win against him | Photo: ChessBase India live stream

Round 5: Praggnanandhaa - Carlsen: 3-0

Praggnanandhaa faced an unusual line in the Ruy Lopez against Magnus Carlsen. It created slightly complex position.

Position after 27.f4

Praggnanandhaa tried to create something in the position 27.f4 Qe7 28.b4 Rbb8 29.f5 Nd8 30.Rd4 Nf7. However, there was not much left to extract.

Position after 40...Ng4??

With only eight seconds left on the clock, the world champion blundered his knight completely 40...Ng4?? 41.Rg7+ prompted an immediate resign because Black has no compensation for the lost knight.

World Champion Magnus Carlsen shocked by Praggnanandhaa once again! | Video: ChessBase India

Round 7: Harikrishna - Carlsen: 1-1

Pentala Harikrishna saved his game from a completely lost position against the world no.1 in the endgame.

Position after 26.Kh1

The game continued 26...Ng3+ 27.Kh2 Qf4 and the queens got traded in another three moves. Find out what was the better continuation for Black.

Jones - Praggnanandhaa: 0-3

Praggnanandhaa scored his second win of the day in the seventh round against Gawain Jones (ENG).

Position after 11...c4

12.Nxd4 cxd3 13.Nc6 Qd6 14.Nd5 would have been a relatively better continuation for White compared to what happened in the game. White went for an all-out attack 12.Bxc4 Nxc2 13.Qh4 Nxa1 14.f5 Nc2 15.fxg6 hxg6 16.e5 Bb7 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Ne4 Nd4 19.Nfg5. It is evident that it did not work and Black wrapped up things soon.