Three losses and one draw in four games on the first day of a tournament, what would have been more debilitating for a player to return in spirit on Day 2. But India’s 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa came out bolder and stronger beating world champion Magnus Carlsen in the ongoing Airthings online rapid chess tournament.
The Indian Grandmaster pulled off a big win on Monday after he stunned Carlsen in the eighth round. However, the Indian Grandmaster lost in the 11th round when he was up against Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. He also scored a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov early on Tuesday.
Having started the day with a draw, the 16-year-old defeated the highly rated Esipenko with 42 moves in the 12th round on Tuesday.
He would be seen tussling the pawns against Vincent Keymer of Germany, USA’s Hans Moke Niemann and Russian Vladislav Artemiev respectively in rounds 13, 14 and 15 later on Tuesday night. If he does make it to the Top8, then there are qualifier knockouts, followed by the finals on the 26th. On 27th February, the young man leaves for a tournament in Italy.
Airthings Masters 2022 commenced on February 19, where a total of 16 participants will compete in the round-robin stage of the online event, with eight moving on to the knockout stage.