R Praggnanandhaa, India’s 18-year-old phenom of the 64 squares, managed to defeat World No 1 Magnus Carlsen for the first time in a classical game late on Wednesday in a round 3 match at the Norway Chess tournament in Carlsen’s country.

What made the day sweeter was that while Praggnanandhaa ended the day at the top of the open standings at Norway Chess, his sister Vaishali ended the third round at the top of the women’s standings after edging past Anna Muzychuk in the Armageddon.

Carlsen threw what he himself termed a ‘risky’ opening at Praggnanandhaa, choosing not to castle at all. He instead tried to surprise the teenager from Chennai. But the ploy backfired. After initially being caught off guard, Praggnanadhaa managed to soon pile pressure on the five-time world champion.

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