Chess | Beating Magnus Carlsen! Praggnanandhaa reveals ‘one-word’ reaction from his father after win | Chess News

R Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen (Freestyle Chess | Lennart Ootes)

India Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa revealed his father’s stunning reaction after he shocked World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the primary time on the Champions Chess Tour in 2022, aged 16.“Since it was 2 a.m., my parents were asleep. I went and woke my dad up and said: ‘I won.’ He said, ‘Good,’ and then he went back to sleep because he had to go to the office the next day,” Praggnanandhaa mentioned on Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast.Praggnanandhaa had first defeated Magnus Carlsen on the Champions Chess Tour in 2022. His maiden classical victory over the Norwegian got here at Norway Chess 2024. In July 2025, he achieved a exceptional feat on the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess occasion, beating Carlsen twice in simply three days.Talking in regards to the recreation in opposition to Magnus, the kid prodigy mentioned: “I wasn’t thinking anything. I was just playing and I got my chance out of nowhere. Everything happened in a few minutes. It was an online rapid game. I was quite happy.“I was just excited because I wasn’t expecting it and then suddenly… I mean, the game was also going in a trend where he was putting pressure on me, and then suddenly I got my chance.

“I had to play some accurate moves, which I did, and I won. I was just very happy and I also didn’t expect so much reaction from outside after that. So that was also, I think, a good thing for the game. I think it brought more attention,” Praggnanandhaa mentioned.“I was more excited about the fact that I just beat Magnus than the actual game. I didn’t think the game was particularly great or anything like that. I did analyse it later.“I realised I didn’t really play well. It was like the fifth game of the day or something. We were already tired and it was obvious that we were not playing our best, but I won and I think it was important for me back then.“It gave me a lot of confidence and I realised that the top players are not invincible — you can beat them. Until you actually get that first win, you always feel like they are just in a different world. But once you beat them, you know that it’s possible.”